Reflection for the 3rd Ordinary Sunday 2024

God has overlooked the time of ignorance, but now He demands that all people everywhere repent. 

Today we hear the account of the start of Jesus’ public ministry from St. Mark. We heard the account from St. John last week.

As you may recall, we did a bit of a riff on the age-old group dance, the Hokey-Pokey, wherein we were urged to put our whole selves in and to not just leave them there, but to get to work announcing God’s Kingdom. To be active in calling others for the Lord.

Our active engagement follows the model which we heard in the gospel: Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus, as he consistently does, wastes no time. His mission was urgent and His time limited. So is ours. We have much to do for God.

In our readings and gospel, we see people responding exactly that way. They drop everything to do as God asks. The people of Nineveh repent. Paul urges the Corinthians to focus on Kingdom tasks and not to be distracted by anything else. The people Jesus calls respond by leaving the worldly behind to focus on the work of the Kingdom, to be “fishers of men.”

In each of these cases there is an urgency that the people get. In the aha moment they are saying: ‘I get it, I must do this now. No time to delay. Nothing else is important.’

I would like to focus a bit on our Alleluia verse because it wraps this all up very well. 

The verse comes from Acts 17:30. Paul is in Athens, not one of his most successful missionary journeys. Yet on a hill near the Acropolis which was a public meeting place he calls people to Jesus and speaks of Jesus’ promised resurrection. He speaks of God’s demand on them.

Paul, like always, is being bold and the people, like those nowadays, want nothing to do with a God Who has demands. In fact, we can practically hear them whispering – who is this God to demand anything of me! Even among those who were kind of receptive their response speaks volumes: “We should like to hear you on this some other time.”

God does overlook the past, but once we are converted, have come to faith in Jesus, He places a demand on us, to announce the kingdom and bring people to repentance and salvation. ‘I get it, I must do this now. No time to delay. Nothing else is important.’

Bible Study for the Fourth Week of Christmas 2023/2024

This week’s memory verse: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28
  • 1/14 – Jeremiah 1:5
  • 1/15 – 2 Timothy 1:9
  • 1/16 – 1 Peter 2:9
  • 1/17 – Matthew 22:14
  • 1/18 – John 15:16
  • 1/19 – Isaiah 6:8
  • 1/20 – Galatians 1:15

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Grant that I respond to Your call and act upon it with immediacy. Assist me by Your grace to proclaim and acclaim You above all else. Amen.

Reflection for the 2nd Ordinary Sunday 2024

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Today we see Jesus beginning His public ministry with a call to those who might follow Him. They look: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Jesus responds: “Come, and you will see.”

We know these men were following Jesus. He knew it too and He cuts right to the point: “What are you looking for?”

This was more than a simple question as the English rendering posits it. In Greek these phrases about looking and coming to see are happening in the present and the action is being carried out.

It is important to know this because Jesus’ call to us is happening in the present and our response is to carry out all His call entails. More simply, Jesus’ call is now, and our response is to act now.

Further, “What are you looking for?” does not just mean what are you browsing around for. It means: what do you search for with desire?

While some might consider Jesus’ call to Andrew, John, and Peter to represent a call to formal ministry, and indeed that is there, that is not all it was nor the end of the story. We recognize Jesus’ constant call to all who follow Him. Over and over, we hear Jesus calling all of us to follow Him, to be His learners (i.e., disciples), and to do His Kingdom proclaiming work. 

We are to follow Him and do His gospel work actively, i.e., now and with a complete desire within us.

First Corinthians has Paul putting a very fine point on all of this. Our bodies are not our own, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and are for the Lord.

If you’ve ever done the Hokey-Pokey this is the part where Paul echoing Jesus says, ‘put your whole-self in’ and what is not in the song ‘and don’t jump out.’ We are called to put our whole selves in and to not just leave them there, but to get to work. Be in and present, active for the Lord.

Last week we focused on a word which bridges all seasons of the Church year. It is the word ‘announce,’ in Biblical Greek ἀπαγγέλλω (apangellō). That word, found more in scripture after the resurrection, is what we are called to do. To tell, declare, report, and bring word of all Jesus taught and did. Let us do it actively engaged and with our hearts aligned with Jesus’ desire for the salvation of all. 

Bible Study for the Third Week of Christmas 2023/2024

This week’s memory verse: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

Matthew 28:19
  • 1/7 – Acts 4:12
  • 1/8 – John 14:6
  • 1/9 – John 3:16
  • 1/10 – Acts 2:38
  • 1/11 – 2 Timothy 3:16
  • 1/12 – 2 Timothy 1:7
  • 1/13 – Philippians 4:13

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Grant that I adhere to Your will for my life. Make me a courageous announcer of Your Kingdom so that many may enter through the waters of baptism. Amen.

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of our Lord 2024

And a voice came from the heavens, “You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.”

Today we begin a transition into two short Ordinary Time weeks. After that we will notice a stark change as we enter the Pre-Lenten season. 

In this transition the moments of Jesus’ Nativity get closed out (excepting February 2nd – the Solemnity of the Presentation, forty days after Jesus’ birth) and His public ministry is begun.

If there is a word to bridge these times, and one that is self-contained in each season of the Church year, it is the word ‘announcement.’

Consider the times we have encountered and will encounter ‘announcement.’

The angels announce the Messiah’s birth. The humble shepherds announce what they have seen and heard. The Maji announce the coming of the Messiah to King Herod and all of Jerusalem hears of it. John the Baptist had been announcing the coming of “One mightier than I.” The decent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father from heaven announce Jesus as the Son of God.

Setting forth after His baptism Jesus will call His disciples, turn water into wine, and most importantly announce the immanence of the Kingdom – a charge equally given to every disciple: The Kingdom of heaven is at hand (note in Mark’s gospel account only four verses after His baptism).

Jesus emphasizes the work of announcement. It is the work we each must take up. It is a work that can be carried out in various ways, we don’t all need to be broadcasters using words – it may also be done in acts. It is anything we do that opens the kingdom to others.

Our work as announcers must also be evident in the attitudes we carry. That was the lesson Peter experienced before going to the house of Cornelius. Before going there – to the house of a Gentile Roman Centurion – considered unclean, God showed Peter that his attitudes had to change, that announcing the Kingdom was for those God intended, not only those Peter considered worthy by his own judgment.

With open hearts let us then be those announcers, broadcasters, proclaimers, trumpeters God asks us to be. The more we announce the Kingdom the more people will accept Jesus. 

January 2024 Newsletter – To Everything A Time

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

A number one hit with the oldest lyrics? That is Pete Seeger’s song Turn, Turn Turn covered by the Byrds in 1965. The lyrics from Ecclesiastes ca. 300 BC

The first eight verses of Chapter 3 tells us that everything is suitable for its time. God is in control, indeed sovereign, and that gives us reassurance and a sense of sobriety. We cannot necessarily fathom the mystery of God, but we can say that we are ok with the mystery He offers if we have faith in His goodness – the goodness of God Who gave His Son Jesus so that we might be saved. We just celebrated that beginning by allowing Jesus to be reborn into our lives.

I remember my mom talking about songs like Turn, Turn Turn with some sense of amazement – ‘they’re singing about the Bible,’ or words to that affect. Truthfully, it wouldn’t take too much effort in going through the pop and rock songs of the 1960’s and 1970’s and even beyond to see the influence of faith, the Church, and scripture in a good number of those hits. I suppose my memory of my mother’s talking about scripture in pop and rock music attuned my ear, gave me an awareness of God permeating every time and season, every method of expression.

It is a positive practice for us, as Christians, to remain aware, to listen and look, for God is continually making Himself known through ordinary means and in each time and season. We will find Him in music, literature, the beauty of nature, and in each other. Speaking of times and season, we just experienced a very short Advent which kicked-off the new Church year. Now we will experience a somewhat shorter Christmas season because Pre-Lent begins January 28th. Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent is just around the corner – February 14th. As we wend our way through God’s seasons and times, as we keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to the revelation of His mystery and His timeless grace, let us meet each season in this new year both reassured and open to Him.

Happy New Year and welcome to our January 2024 Newsletter. The Newsletter covers the good we are doing and will be doing as God’s people in our corner of the world. Need your house blessed? It is Epiphany / Kolędy House Blessing season so make your appointments with Fr. Jim. The annual parish meeting and elections are upcoming, please plan to attend. Why not run for office… We are once again holding our Outrageous Valentine’s Raffle to support our youth ministry. Get your tickets now. We give thanks for the many blessings in our lives and look forward to the events of 2024, Lent which is just around the corner, and our Basket Social! Also, check out the poetry of Rev. Walter Andrew Hyszko for the New Year. Check it all out in our January 2024 Newsletter.

Bible Study for the Second Week of Christmas 2023/2024

This week’s memory verse: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8
  • 12/31 – Psalm 66:16
  • 1/1 – Matthew 5:16
  • 1/2 – 1 Peter 3:15
  • 1/3 – Acts 1:8
  • 1/4 – Acts 4:20
  • 1/5 – Romans 1:16
  • 1/6 – Daniel 12:3

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Grant that I, like the Humble Shepherds, may act on faith and bear witness to you always and everywhere. Grant also an abundance of vocations to our Holy Church.  Amen.

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds 2023

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy…

My homily on Christmas was centered on Paul’s letter to Titus, someone we do not encounter very much in the Church year (4 times at most). As I mentioned, Titus was the first Bishop of Crete, that small Mediterranean island that lies between Athens and Rhodes.

On Christmas we focused on the confidence Titus needed because he was charged with developing the Church in Crete, a place Paul had never visited. 

As I also mentioned, there is a lot in Paul’s letter to Titus about Church organization, differing groups of people and their roles and responsibilities and how they are to grow in faith, but key to all of that was how the grace and love of God that appeared in Jesus Christ should cause us all to live and act, eager to do what is good. 

Indeed, we are to live with the confidence of a people who have been redeemed, saved, delivered, and cleansed; a people belonging to God.

About 86 years before Paul wrote his letter to Titus, Jesus was born, and the first to encounter Him besides Mary and Joseph were the Humble Shepherds of the area.

Like all of us, those Humble Shepherds had not done anything to merit the announcement they heard. They hadn’t even bought a lottery ticket. They weren’t thinking – I’m in it to win it. Yet the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared to them.

God’s coming among us brought about real change and it is change that will last forever. It will last despite the world’s denial, despite any negative thing we could think of, and it will overcome for as Jeremiah proclaimed: I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. That is God’s promise and Jesus’ coming did that!

What can we take away from this encounter with those Humble Shepherds who were so highly blessed? 

We can take an attitude of confidence because Jesus saved us despite ourselves. We can develop an active disposition – to get up, go, learn, then witness, and proclaim based on faith alone without any prompting, without fear. We can live as Jesus intends – in gladness and comfort knowing we are His. Come, let us go to the stable.

Reflection for the Shepherd’s Holy Mass / Pasterka at Midnight on the Solemnity of the Nativity 2023

We await the blessed hope, 
the appearance of the glory of our great God 
and savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness 
and to cleanse for Himself a people as His own, 
eager to do what is good.

If we happen to catch a few of those Christmas shows and movies, and if our hearts are moved when George Bailey comes home having realized the value of life and see the redemption of Mr. Gower (It’s A Wonderful Life), when Kris Kringle speaks to the Dutch girl and delivers the X-ray machine to the hospital, and renews the faith of Doris and Susan Walker (Miracle on 34th Street), when the Grinch’s heart grows, when the soldiers return in honor and respect for General Waverly and to give him themselves as a Christmas gift (White Christmas) we realize the coldness of the world and worldly has not entered in or taken hold of our lives. 

Watching these movies each year reassures my heart because I allow it to be moved. It shows me a people who through some unfortunate occurrence lost confidence in the salvation brought to the fore this very night. Blessedly, they regained it through the witness of people of faith. It gives me confidence that Jesus still holds unto me and to us. It reminds me of my blessed hope in spite of all things.

In tonight’s Epistle Paul is writing to Titus, not someone we hear a lot about. Titus was the first Bishop of Crete, that small Mediterranean island that lies between Athens and Rhodes.

At the time of this writing Titus needed confidence because he was charged with developing the Church in Crete, a place Paul had never visited. There is a lot in the letter about the organization of the Church, differing groups of people and their roles and responsibilities and how they are to grow in faith, and as we hear this evening reminders for how the grace and love of God that appeared in Jesus Christ should cause us all to live and act, eager to do what is good. His grace and love are meant for the constant renewal of our confidence in God’s love and goodness.

What is key for us to understand is Titus, the people of Crete, and Paul himself were living confidently in the fresh experience of Jesus’ coming. The Messiah, Emmanuel, had come to save those who would believe and that was already past tense. They, having experienced the redemptive sacrifice of Christ awaited His return. We likewise await His rebirth in our hearts. For those people of Crete, and us, it all comes down to how we live in confidence as redeemed, saved, delivered, cleansed people who belong to Jesus.

Today, tomorrow, and always let us allow the experience of Jesus’ coming live anew in us. Let His redemptive sacrifice fill our hearts with thankfulness and true joy – the confidence of redeemed, saved, delivered, and cleansed people who belong to Him.

Bible Study for the Octave of the Nativity 2023

This week’s memory verse: Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

Romans 13:11
  • 12/24 – 2 Peter 3:8-9
  • 12/25 – Galatians 4:4
  • 12/26 – Revelation 3:20
  • 12/27 – Galatians 6:9
  • 12/28 – Revelation 3:11
  • 12/29 – Luke 12:40
  • 12/30 – Revelation 22:12

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your re-Advent within me. Grant that seeing the lateness of the hour I may use Your grace for complete dedication to Your work.  Amen.