Meditation on December 13, 2015 readings

Meditation on December 13, 2015 readings

Direct link to audio file: 2015-Dec-13_10-43-12

Reading 1
Zep 3:14-18a

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

Responsorial Psalm
Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6

R. (6) Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Reading 2
Phil 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

Gospel
Lk 3:10-18

The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.”

Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways,
he preached good news to the people.

Express Announcements ~ December 12, 2015

Express Announcements ~ December 12, 2015

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* The second collection this weekend is for the annual Catholic Charities Collection. Thank you for your generosity!

* Handcrafts from the Holy Land will be on sale after all Masses this weekend. A perfect Christmas gift from Bethlehem will complete your shopping list for Christmas giving and help people in great need in the land where Jesus was born.

* Join us Monday, December 14, at 8:15pm for our Taize Prayer Gathering in the Church. During this ecumenical prayer service, we ask God to bring healing to our world and end the divisions that separate peoples.

* Our Parish Christmas Collection will be taken up next weekend. This year, our collection will support The Holy Land Christians Society for the benefit of the Creche Orphanage in Bethlehem in the Holy Land, St. Joseph’s School in Gabis, Namibia, and the Fredericksburg Office of Catholic Charities. Thank you for your generosity!

* Watch your mailboxes! Our Christmas gift to you—our 2016 Parish Calendars —was mailed out on December 8.

* Please note that there will be no confessions on Saturday, December 26.

From Our Pastor ~ December 13, 2015

From Our Pastor ~ December 13, 2015

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

All of us have struggled with the reality of terrorism, particularly the randomness and the senselessness of acts of killing that are unthinkable to civilized people. All of us have imagined the pain of those who have been so broken by these criminals. It is natural to react in anger when confronted with our powerlessness
to do anything to prevent this violence.

But the anger that has boiled over largely has not been properly directed. In the absence of someone to blame, without a good explanation, it is often the case that people blame God. How could God allow this? Think. If he didn’t allow us to sin, nor could we freely choose to love. There would be no virtue in our human existence,
because we would not be free to act.

Or else we look around and see who else is to blame. I’m hearing this happen too often these days, even outside church after Mass! Extremists breed extreme reactions: this means they have accomplished their goal of instilling fear and violent response. What happened at the community meeting in Spotsylvania a few weeks
ago—we can call that exhibit A. Yet, I want to say that there are in our community so many more people who could have brought a balanced, rational dialogue to the front of the room had they attended. I only realized at the last minute there was a movement among some of our own parishioners to bring hate to the meeting. That
is why I attended. If needed, I was going to stare down Catholics and remind them who they are.

When Pope Francis was in Nairobi, though he didn’t specifically refer to the terrorism in Paris, he said that God must never be used to justify hatred and violence. This goes for both those who act in hate, and for those who respond in hate. The Pope warned the religious leaders that “young people are being radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies.” “How important it is that we be seen as prophets of peace, peacemakers
who invite others to live in peace, harmony and mutual respect,” he said. The Vatican has said the Paris attacks have heightened the Pope’s sense of urgency about the need for interreligious dialogue.

We must join in dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters, to learn that hatred and killing is not the core teaching of Islam, but rather an extremist interpretation of a faith that has been confused with and manipulated by political power from its earliest days. Fundamentalism, in every religion, in every country in the world, has long produced the tragic effect of violence, persecution and the downward spiral of hatred.

Unfortunately, we live in a world today corrupted by self-interest and ignorance, a culture that will believe any blog or sound-bite that seems to feed their fear and insecurity. Fundamentalism, by its nature, is the use of truth to serve the agenda of the individual. It is a twisting of something shared in common by all, whether in the form of scripture or tradition, to the exclusion of those who do not agree with the opinion of one person or sect. A sacred text, for example, may be read in different ways and interpreted in completely opposite, contradictory ways. This is true whether we consider the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Bible, or the Qur’an. Personal opinion reigns.

Leaders of Muslim communities across the world have come together with a consistent cry that this radicalization of Islam does not represent them. These are crimes and the ones who do these unthinkable acts in the name of God are criminals. We may not condemn an entire people for the individuals among them who are criminals. Consider, for example, how the extremists are attracting, “radicalizing,” people from all countries and diverse backgrounds— not religious backgrounds, but more likely backgrounds of emotional and psychological sickness—who are “joining up” with the culture of hate and killing to feel powerful.

Let’s remember what makes us Christian. We do not return hate for hate, killing for killing. While doing what is necessary for security and justice, we must remain open to dialogue so as to end the cycle of misunderstanding and ignorance, the very reality that the extremists are manipulating right now to promote fear, control our lives, and escalate world tension. Finally, we must intentionally discover, engage and promote what is good in each other in order to build a society that is free and seeks the good of all, building friendship through the encounter that will allow us to confront the evil of our world together and uncover a mutual foundation of peace.

God bless you.

Fr. Don

 

Meditation on December 6, 2015 readings

Meditation on December 6, 2015 readings

Direct link to audio file: 2015-Dec-06_17-12-36

Second Sunday of Advent
Lectionary: 6

Reading 1
Bar 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
put on the splendor of glory from God forever:
wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,
bear on your head the mitre
that displays the glory of the eternal name.
For God will show all the earth your splendor:
you will be named by God forever
the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.

Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
look to the east and see your children
gathered from the east and the west
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
but God will bring them back to you
borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.
For God has commanded
that every lofty mountain be made low,
and that the age-old depths and gorges
be filled to level ground,
that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
The forests and every fragrant kind of tree
have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;
for God is leading Israel in joy
by the light of his glory,
with his mercy and justice for company.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

R. (3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those who sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Reading 2
Phil 1:4-6, 8-11

Brothers and sisters:
I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you,
because of your partnership for the gospel
from the first day until now.
I am confident of this,
that the one who began a good work in you
will continue to complete it
until the day of Christ Jesus.
God is my witness,
how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer:
that your love may increase ever more and more
in knowledge and every kind of perception,
to discern what is of value,
so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.

Gospel
Lk 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,
and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region
of Ituraea and Trachonitis,
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”