Homilies

Some Reminders:

1. The Conference of Catholic Bishops is opposed to the bill before the Congress as written on this Friday because it does not have the safeguards against using federal money for abortions and is too costly. Interestingly enough, 37 states are ready to go to court to stop some of its provisions. There is a bulletin insert.

2. Next week is Holy Week. Please check the bulletin for the schedule for your planning. We will need ministers for the various ceremonies. You can volunteer in the sacristy.

3. Thursday, there is the Empty Bowls event at Wittenberg. Other opportunities are in the schedule in the Parish News.

[4. Saturday evening] St Mary’s, Urbana, hosts a presentation of “Socrates meets Jesus” this evening.

This past Friday evening, I went to the Nehemiah fund-raiser at First Christian Church on Middle Urbana Road. As I listened and watched and took part in what I could, I was struck by several things. One was the theme of looking upward to heaven and longing for it. Another theme was that of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Ultimately this can be summarized as being ultimately saved and being whole in Jesus Christ so that we can sing that all is well with our souls.

I can imagine this happening to the woman featured in our gospel today, but not all at once. Just think of this woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Her sin in our Catholic terminology would have been a mortal sin. It was a direct violation of the sixth commandment. It was breaking a sacred bond between two married people. It was a direct offense against God since it was the breaking of a sacred relationship God had chosen to symbolize his relationship with his people. It was a mortal sin in our Catholic terminology. It had in effect killed her relationship with God as well as with the people affected. And the stability of society is threatened when the stability of relationships between parents are broken. Her punishment was to be stoned, probably to die from the wounds that the stones would inflict. I imagine that her whole life was passing before this woman as she feared death itself. There seemed to be no escape from her fate. Even if she should survive the stoning, she would be a marked woman. She could only hope for forgiveness from God whom she would meet in judgment. And God’s judgment could be severe. But he was also a compassionate and merciful God if one turned from his/her sin according to the prophets.

How relieved this woman must have been after Jesus did what he did! He did not cover up what she did. He did not condemn her. He simply got those standing in judgment over her and wanting to see what he would do to see that they too stood in judgment before God at that very moment. How could they condemn when they too had sinned? She stood before Jesus forgiven her guilt, but told to go and sin no more. People would not forget. She would be marked by her past. But if she acted forgiven and changed, people would begin to view her differently. Trust in her could return.

Paul reminds us that we too have not yet attained “perfect maturity” and ultimate salvation. We should keep pursuing the goal of “God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus” in our own lives. We cannot justify ourselves before God simply by what we have done to keep the commandments. Staying out of trouble is not enough. We need to love others as God does. We need to work for the salvation and well-being of others. That is one of the features of programs and outreach efforts in the Nehemiah Foundation and others in Springfield in which we should be involved. It is what our bishops have urged since 1931 in universal health care just as they have stood for the right to life of those conceived and made in the image and likeness of God and given an immortal soul no matter what race or creed or other criteria we use to differentiate. What God wants is a new creation, a renewal of the whole human race. Jesus came to be savior of all as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The unworthiness we ought to feel before the Almighty has been overcome by the blood of the Lamb. We can be assured of forgiveness in the sacraments if we are truly sorry and repentant. It is good for us to celebrate this as people here and in penance services and in events like the Nehemiah one. There are still two more penance services this week. One is at St. Mary’s Monday at 7pm; the other is Wednesday at St. Bernard at 7pm. We too can be as relieved as the woman in today’s gospel. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And like Paul we come conscious that we have not yet achieved perfect maturity. Like him we need to reach out to others to help them know the forgiveness of God as well as his judgment and how we can be renewed and become renewers for others by reaching out.

Several reminders:

1. Boy Scouts are collecting food for the Food Bank. Please bring in your donations and place them in the boxes at the doors.

2. Saturday is the Mens’ Conference at Music Hall in Cincinnati. There are more details in the bulletin. I know that it has been a good experience for a number of men from this parish and elsewhere. I encourage your attendance.

3. There are several people to keep in prayer. Angela McClellan and Wilfrid Golden were hospitalized. Fr. Jason has broken a leg in an accident. Karen Murphy still awaits a liver transplant. Elaine Herman died. Her funeral was Saturday. And Thomas Young, 36, died unexpectedly. His funeral will be here at 1pm on Monday with visitation at noon at Conroy. Please keep Wendy and the rest of the family in your prayers

4. The Bishops are asking that we notify our congressional representatives about the health care reform effort before congress this week. My summary of our position as Church is this: Health care is a fundamental human right that begins with conception. There are flyers at the doors.

5 Monday evening at 7pm and Thursday at 7pm, there are penance services. Monday evening is at St. Teresa with five priests. Thursday is at St. Raphael.

I believe that today’s readings address this issue well.

Most of us are familiar with the process.

As in all sacramental liturgies, there is first a greeting and introduction followed by a liturgy of the word and then a liturgy of the sacrament, and a conclusion.

The center for a Penance Service is the reception of the sacrament of Penance also called Reconciliation and Confession.

Our lives as Catholic Christians begin with our initiation into the Body of Christ through baptism. This initiation is completed through confirmation and first communion.

In baptism, we become members of the Church, formally brothers and sisters to one another and to our Elder Brother who as the Son shows us how to live as children of his and our Father in the power of their Spirit. We become new creations in God, freed from the guilt of original sin and able to stand in a right relationship with God as our Father, sharing in God the Son and our Savior’s relationship with him, through the power of their Spirit of adoption.

At the time of our baptisms, either we or our parents made promises that we should make our own and should keep. These promises are our six “I do’s” - to reject 1) Satan, 2) sin, and 3) his empty promises and to believe in God as 4) Father, 5) Son, and 6) the Spirit and in the Church.

I believe that these promises should be at the center of our spiritual and prayer lives. Unfortunately we do not always live up to these promises. In fact, we break them by our sins against God - not putting him first, misusing his name, and not taking time for him. We sin against others through disobedience and disrespect of authorities, not protecting the health of others, abusing relationships, not taking care of our own property or working for what we need, not standing up for the truth, and not disciplining our desires. We sin against ourselves - by not taking care of our health such as our mental health. Dr. Jim Perry of St Teresa has an opinion piece in Sunday’s News Sun that is very good on healthy self-respect. It is the foundation for loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Sometimes we only focus on how we have done wrong or not done what is right. For me that is that narrow examination of conscience.

What I believe what God wants is captured better in the experience of the Prodigal Son. He did come for his sacrament of reconciliation with his Father well prepared as sorry and with clarity in expressing his sin. The Son realized that he was better off as one of the group of people cared for by his Father. And so the Father not only accepted his confession but reinstated as his Son in grand style in the midst of that group who celebrated his return.

We are that group of people gathered here to celebrate our Passover in Jesus the Christ or in Hebrew Joshua the Messiah. The new Joshua has brought us into the Promised Land through a similar parting of the Jordan in our baptisms. That land is more like a state of being than a physical place. It is being a member of a group in a right relationship with God. And so, we bring our own offerings from the first fruits of our labors to the Lord, that is, our own tithes, and eat the new manna from heaven. We do not partake in a bloody sacrifice, but in a spiritual one offering ourselves as the Lord did and partaking in the new Passover Lamb as food for our own journeys.

When we realize our own sin, we confess it like the Prodigal Son. And it is good that we do this also in the midst of the group such as in a Penance Service.

Furthermore, not only are we forgiven, we should become ambassadors of that forgiveness and reconciliation to others. believe that what our world needs most is forgiveness and healing. Be a part of the solution, not of the problem. The gridlock in Congress is a symbol of our gridlock as a society. The wars elsewhere are a symbol of our interior wars. And so, I encourage you to make use of the sacrament of penance or reconciliation or confession and to encourage others to do the same.

Celebrate who you are and refresh your status before God and the Church and our world. Be reconciled and be reconcilers as those who bear the name of Jesus as Christians. He who was not sin became sin for us to reconcile us through his death and resurrection.

1. Catholic Ministries Appeal Commitment Sunday: a. Sorry not all received the mailing. B. If you have your envelope, drop it in. C. If no mailing this week or even now, get a packet at the door. The appeal is important.

2. Elaine Herman, aka Marjorie, is not doing well. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, accidents - they happen every day. Bad things do happen to good people. Despite our best efforts at prevention, bad things do happen to good people. And yet, we need to be people who pay attention to the warnings and danger signs in reference to our own behavior. Only we can be responsible for our own behavior. God is not going to hold us responsible for what others may do to us unless our behavior has directly provoked their response. If you shoot someone who in turn wounds you, you are responsible for your shot and for having put yourself in danger. It is that old parental question about who started it. That seems to be a key to how Jesus first responded to the news item brought to him in the gospel.

Lent is about turning to the Lord, a time of conversion. And Jesus reminds us in the face of life as it is that our time for conversion is limited. God is extremely gracious to us, but God does expect results. Our time is limited.

I believe that God permits bad things to happen because that is simply life as it is and has been since the very beginning since there is a food chain and natural processes which mean a natural cycle of life and death. of action and reaction, and on the human level of freedom. Being free to love means being free to choose not to love. Being free to do the good is to be free not to do it. Evil is first of all an absence of an appropriate good. Grass in a pasture field is there to be eaten. It may be bad for the grass, but not being eaten is not an appropriate good for the grass.

Bad things can happen to good people by accident and because of the bad behavior of others. That is life. What God guarantees in giving us the gift of life is eternal life, not life eternal on this earth. And the quality of that life after death is dependent not on others, but on our own choices. What God wants from us is to produce good fruit, a life of virtue, a life of good choice that is second nature. We are all living in a time that will be the end of our own age upon this earth. How soon or how far away is unknown.

What can be known is that God is here and with us. God is here. The summary of Jesus’ preaching was: The kingdom of Go d is right here and now. Repent, turn your life to God, and believe in the good news of his love.

God is here and now. In our first reading, God gave his name to Moses as Yahweh, “I am. I am here as I am here. I will be there as I am here now.” God is both the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and of Moses, and of Jesus, and of you and I. God is here as Being with a big B for us who participate in being because of his choice that he will never take back. God chose to make us because he chose to love us from all eternity and will do so everlastingly from the moment we began in time. His love is guaranteed. What is not is our response to that love.

God is here walking with us. His presence is symbolized by the candle that is lit by the tabernacle and his presence there as food for the journeys of our sick and as a presence to nourish us on our journeys. We should never forget his presence and our need to acknowledge that presence.

Others look at God’s presence in their holy place like Moses. The Missionaries of Charity like Mother Teresa make everyone who enters their chapels take off their shoes. At the Al-Nur Islamic Center, one must also take off one’s shoes in the mosque area where the Quran is read. God is present in his Spoken Word.

We believe that God is here in a special way, but he is present as God everywhere. And he asks for our response in the present everywhere in whatever we do or choose not to do. Yahweh is God’s name forever. God is the Ever Present to be remembered in that way through all generations. He wants us to be people like Moses who see what is not right and who respond as he want us to respond. We are his instruments, his servants, his children making his known his love and his care by our response, by our choosing to do the good we know is the right thing to do. Earthquakes, tsunamis, accidents happen. That is life. What is needed is our good response. It means doing what we can both in prevention and in the care we can. We are not responsible for what others may do to us, but we are responsible for our own actions. Let us make this Lent a time to examine how we live in the present responding to the God who is All Present and who wants us to respond to what we see like Moses and Jesus and people of every generation.

1. Baby bottles for Pregnancy Resource Center - return

2. Post cards for Immigration Reform -Take, sign, return

This past week has been marked by more snow. The predictions are for even more. One of my friends sent me a picture of a sign on a church: “If you are praying for snow, please stop.” Enough is enough.

Many have spent some time inside watching the Olympics. There have been ups and downs based on circumstances as well as the skill levels of the athletes. I am proud of our athletes who can take defeat as well as success in stride. That is life.

This week we will be sending one of our own to the Rite of Election at Immaculate Conception in Dayton. Sharon Lizza who has already been baptized in a non-Catholic denomination has chosen to join the Catholic Church by coming into full communion at the Easter Vigil. At noon, we will have the Rite of Sending for her to join with the 1,000 other people joining the Church at this Easter Vigil.

We will have also had this Saturday morning along with a funeral for Anna Mary Martin the retreat for those being Confirmed on March 2.

Sharon Lizza and those being confirmed are completing their initiation as full members of the Catholic Church. There are three sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation, and first communion. Baptism brings us into the Church as pew people. Confirmation gives us responsibility to witness to Jesus and help bring in others. Eucharist is the ongoing food for our journey as we gather to grow in hearing in our story and in receiving the Lord as strength to live out that story.

Moses reminded the people who were preparing to enter the promised Land after wandering in the desert for forty years that they should give thanks to the Lord for the first fruits of the soil. What they would bring would be set by the priest in front of the altar of the Lord. That scripture is why I put the collection each week in front of the altar after it is presented with the gifts.

This presentation of our first fruits is again another reason for our practice of tithing from what we have received that week or that month since sometimes our schedules of being compensated differ as well as what we might have made.

And yet as important as the actual gift is what accompanies it. And this is that profession of faith that the Israelites made in their being brought out of the land of Egypt and being ushered into the Promised Land. For us it is our profession that God has saved us in Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection. It is something that we not only say with our lips, but believe in our hearts. We express the love God has for us in our love of others.

And we do this also in the following the example of Jesus in facing the temptations he did. We do not take shortcuts to satisfy our own needs even though they are very real as was Jesus’ hunger. We do not show off to achieve fame and glory We do not test God to see if he is who he is.

Remember how that gospel ends.

“When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.” We are going to be tempted as was Jesus every time he drove out a demon. The demon would say who Jesus was. Jesus did not do this to show off. In fact, he told the person cured to go to the priest and offer what was customary. Jesus did change wine into water and multiply the loaves and fishes to help others, but he avoided the glamor and publicity of being crowned the bread king. He refused over and over to act as a political Messiah even though this is what a number wanted from him. He had laid aside his divinity to assume fully our humanity in everything but sin. And he practiced over and over being obedient to God as a human Son of God. He could claim to be Our Way, our Truth, and our Life. He led a life that we can follow in our own humanity. Being right with God is being a true son or daughter.

Jesus proclaimed his mission at Nazareth as being one of proclaiming the good news to the poor, setting free the captive, and so on. We know from Isaiah that God prefers these activities over an superficial physical fast. And Jesus uses those corporal and spiritual works of mercy as his criteria for judgment.

We pray this Lent for those being received into the Church and for those being confirmed. We ask the Lord to help them mean sincerely their own promises to stay away from sin and to put into practice their belief in God as Father, Son, and Spirit and in the Church. Let us pray that we too can renew those same promises with as much sincerity at East time.

Please pray for Sharon and for those of our young people to be confirmed. Pray for all those preparing for sacraments at this time.

1. Mary Rita Shea, our former neighbor, died and will be buried from here on Monday morning at 10:30. Visitation is at Conroy Funeral Home, from 1 to 3pm Sunday.

2. John Albert Brown, who worked at the News Sun, died also Friday. His funeral will be at the Conroy Funeral Home on Thursday 1pm with visitation 1 hour prior.

3. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Masses will be as usual for the Holy Day, 7 and 9 am with the evening Mass on Wednesday itself at 7:30pm.

4. Today is World Marriage Day. There will be a special blessing for all married couples at the end of the petitions.

5. Keep Karen Murphy in your prayers. She is at the top of the transplant list in her category. However, the matching donor will be someone who has died who previously expressed the choice to be a donor or whose family is choosing to make the gift of life.

We hear Paul tell the Corinthians that Christ raised from the dead is the first fruits of those who have died. Organ donation is another in which death can give rise to new life.

6. There are many things in your bulletin today. Do not lose things like the brochure for the Men’s Conference. Take home a black book for Lent. It begins today.

In Jeremiah, God contrast the two lifestyles: 1. “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” This one is like the barren bush in the desert with no change of season in an empty earth. 2. “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord.” This one has deep roots near a stream that cools its and has no distress even in a drought. This one in Psalm 1 is blessed for delighting in the law of the Lord as he/she meditates on it “day and night.”

We celebrate World Marriage Day this weekend. Truly blessed are those who root their marriages in a vocation from God. His love has called them together as a sign of that love to one another and to their families and to the world. Their lives can be full ones that can weather being poor or hungry or tears and hardship for the sake of doing what it is right because their love is grounded on the Lord and has rooted deeply embedded in him and in one another. They take time to meditate on the call of the Lord to them that is a law for them to follow in their expression of consent to one other. They formed a covenant in his covenant with them. They make this law one on which they meditate day and night.

Their may not be the kind of union fostered by our sometime pagan culture of the flesh and what makes one wealthy and always filled with the best and always blissfully happy. They may choose not to have the best of everything so that they can build a future for themselves and their family that is well grounded in prudence, forethought, and personal relationships that are marked with the virtues that come from good morals and good, ethical living in every aspect of their lives. They make the practice of their faith important in their lives. They are here weekly. They pray together at home and alone. They talk about what is important and affirm each other and others in their lives. They seek what is good for themselves and their jobs and their families and friends. They seek to be good citizens who are active in building their communities.

They know that it is God who has called them together and that they need to express this in gratitude to God and to one another. They know that God did this because he loved them and that he wants them to love both each other and others as he has. God blessed the first married couple in the garden as good. And God make them his partners in continuing his good creation. We thank the Lord for this gift and celebrate it in those around us. And we pray that they will continue to be like those trees planted near the water whose roots are deep and who can weather whatever may come.

And please do not forget that having that kind of foundation in rooting one’s life in the Lord and meditating on his way of life is extremely important for all. It is most important for those getting married. Life does not get easier. Those who plan to marry to change the other are usually disappointed. A sign of God’s love calling two to be together is that they are better together. And those who are widowed or who are separated do much better when as individuals they have such a firm foundation. The foundation is most often stated in the Bible as for the just person irregardless of marital status. Let us rejoice and be glad.

1. As soon as I am finished with my homily, I will invite the ushers to come forward with their baskets for a special blessing at the end of the petitions.

2. At the end of Mass, I will give a general blessing for St. Blase. And anyone who wishes to get an individual one should come forward at that time for an individual one.

3. When you go home today, I ask you to take home a copy of the bulletin and a sheet of postcards. Immigration reform has been reintroduced to congress. I ask you to fill out a sheet of postcards urging congress to consider the issue. I ask that you return the sheet or the cards so that we can send them in together. There is a flyer with instructions in the bulletin.

4. We celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America today. It is also Boy Scout Sunday.

5. We also celebrate World Day for those in Consecrated Life, i.e. our religious brothers, sisters, priests, hermits, and those in secular institutes. These are those who have made vows or sacred promises to consecrate their life to the perfection of love either in community or associations or alone in service to the Church.

In today’s readings, five people are called by God to do special work. Isaiah is called as a prophet. Simon known now as Peter, James, and John are called to become followers of Jesus and fishers of men. Paul is called to be an apostle to the non-Jews. In each instance, the person called feels unworthy. Isaiah considers himself a person of unclean lips. Paul was a persecutor of Christians. Simon Peter considers himself a sinner.

But, in each instance, God who calls knows and accepts each and bolsters that person with his grace. Simon Peter and the others had already experienced the marvelous catch. So when Jesus told them not to be afraid, they could believe that he meant what he said. After all they on their own had been hard at it and had caught nothing. Paul says so well: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”

This day I ask you to do three things:

First, I ask you to pray for all those whom God is calling today for his special work that they trust that God will give them the grace they need to do his work. All those of us who minister in the Church are conscious that it is God who often plants the words and the wisdom we give. I know that the Holy Spirit is at work especially when I am at a loss. It is God who enables us to do his work. Pray especially for those ministers whether ordained or lay or religious who are overwhelmed with their own inadequacies.

Second, pray for those who are elected or chosen to be our civil servants at all levels from our president on down to the people who collect our garbage and clean floors and toilets. We know how some shy away from public service because someone is always on the lookout for a flaw. It can be tough. But if we are the right person for the job, God will give us the strength to do it. After all he is the source of all true authority.

Third, pray for those who are confined and all those who are their care-givers. In a very special way, if one has become homebound due to illness or weakness from age, that person has been chosen to carry a special cross after Jesus. That is one reason why are anointed for strength. And the source of that strength is the Holy Spirit.

If God calls one, he will give that person the strength needed for his work. And he certainly asks us to bear with our sufferings in union with Jesus for the salvation of his world. Some of those confined are confined due to their sinfulness such as those in prison. We pray that their time be a time to accept the consequences of their action and to reform. We pray for their families, for those who care for those imprisoned, and for their victims. Reconciliation and renewal take a lot of time and require much forgiveness and reintegration. And some are confined due to circumstances of weather such as this weekend. We pray for them that they can keep holy this Lord’s day in praying together at home or watching the Mass on television.

If God has called us to do something or to make the best of a tough circumstance, he will give us the grace to do it or to face it. We may not feel worthy or able. And yet, when we come face to face with God the Almighty like Isaiah, we might well say as we say so often at Mass: Lord, I am not worthy, but say the word and I shall be healed.

1. 4:30 We recognize one of our own with a birthday today, Marge Tyree at 84. I will give her a blessing at the end of the petitions.

2. There is our annual Ushers meeting this Tuesday evening at 7pm in Fr. Collins Hall. We ask all our present ushers to attend. Anyone interested in ushering is more than welcome to come. We need additional ushers at some Masses and backups at others.

3. February begins Monday. It is a month with varying purposes. One of which is heart month because of Valentine’s Day. And so, it is fitting that we have as our second reading, Paul’s hymn to love as our second reading. I ask you to think about that reading a lot this month. And I have challenged many of you who are married or engaged to think of what you are going to do to celebrate these relationships. One way is via the two big dances coming up. This Saturday there is one sponsored by the Marriage Resource Center. A week from this Saturday is the one here at St. Teresa. Even if you do not dance there is good fellowship here.

4. I have been highlighting more and more Pope John Paul II’s theology of the Body. And one of those themes that grows out of it is that marriage is a sign of the union between God and his people and Christ and the Church. This is a dynamic union, not a static one.

One reason for the celibacy of the priest and bishop in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church is that the priest by ordination is configured to the person of Jesus Christ as the head of the Church. And just as Jesus was not married but in a covenant relationship with his people as the Bridegroom, so should be those who are standing in for him. One means for the dynamic union of a pastor and his people to function is via a parish council. And we will be installing and blessing the members of our parish council at the 10am and noon Masses. A parish council is envisioned as that group who are advisers to the pastor in looking at the life of the parish, evaluating it, and helping the pastor develop the directions and policies which will help keep it healthy and grow.

Parish council meetings are meant to be a bit like family meetings or the meetings that husbands and wives ought to have to discuss how things are going with the family. My experience is that these meetings can sometimes get a bit heated because of disagreements. And sometimes they can be a bit depressing because it seems that things are not working as well as they could and we are stuck and cannot see our way forward.

I am grateful that we have good people on parish council and that this group and others in the parish are functioning now. Maybe we could do much better, but we are much better off than when these committees were not functioning here.

What I know for sure is that I cannot function alone as the pastor and that I need to listen as well as to act in a way that may not please some.

5. I know that sometimes my challenges to you and calls for action may not be popular. And yet, I cannot stop preaching what I see as the gospel for today.

I do not fear the reaction Jesus received at Nazareth. I know too well that I am not him and do not have the same kind of gifts. At the same time, I can become anxious and fearful or depressed. I find hope in the commitment and enthusiasm of many here that we can meet our challenges.

There is a need for reform in our society and even in our church and in our parish. 6. One of those issues that faces parishes throughout the Archdiocese is that of finances. And so, Archbishop Schnurr hearing what had happened and what was suggested by his advisors has blessed an initiative to start in a few months on stewardship. We have been struggling on how to do it best here. My thinking at this time is that we are in a better position to do what we too have talked about in the past but may not have had all the tools to implement and do well. I know I understand a lot more than I did when I came here. Will what the Archdiocese is asking us to do be a magic bullet? I doubt it, but it seems like what we have been talking about. My hope is that we will be able to become committed and follow through. To me it seems that we have been building the infrastructure since I came.

I welcome Archbishop Schnurr coming to celebrate the 80^th year of Catholic Central this Tuesday morning. St. Teresa was founded with a school. We are committed to Catholic education. Making it work has been our biggest challenge. I am sure that will be part of our interactions with him. I am glad that he will be coming later to kick off a year of thinking about stewardship along with all the parishes in our Archdiocese. And I am glad that he will be coming in March to confirm future and present leaders in our faith community.

As we prepare to enter into what is our 80^th year as a parish this fall, I ask for your commitment. We need to do more to celebrate who we are. We need to continue the discussions about how we can become better. And we need about all to love one another in the way that Paul proclaims in that second reading.

1. I thank you for your generosity to the Haiti relief collection last week. If anyone still wishes to give to that collection for Catholic Relief Services, you can put your donation in a special envelope in today’s collection. If you write a check, please make it out to the parish and write “Haiti” in the memo.

2. In our prayers today we will remember Jack Lohnes who died late last Saturday and was buried Friday. We will also pray for Karen Murphy who is back on the transplant list and for Meredith Setterfeld as she recovers from her illness.

3. Friday was a special day of penance and prayer and action on behalf of the unborn on the 37^th anniversary of the Supreme Court Roe v Wade decision. I am glad to know that we had people marching in Washington and in the vigil Thursday evening across from the White House.

Today, I encourage you to help do something in our area by taking home a baby bottle from the Pregnancy Resource Center and bringing it back soon filled up.

4. Parish Council meets this Wednesday evening. We had two people nominated by parishioners who have agreed to serve. Since we only had the two openings, Rob Jones and Salvador Barragan are now on parish council. All of our parish council members will be installed and blessed next Sunday.

5. Some have noted the upset in Massachusetts where a Republican now holds the seat opened up by the death of Ted Kennedy. It is a pro-life victory.

My greatest hope is that the transparency and change promised in breaking the gridlock can happen again. I cringed at Ted’s view on abortion, but admired how he was willing to work across the aisle and was willing to wait and knew how to compromise. He could accept delay and defeat on issues. Health care reform was far more important than winning on all points of his liberal agenda.

6. The people gathered at the Water Gate in Jerusalem are accepting Ezra and Nehemiah’s call to a reform agenda upon their return from exile in Babylon. We know that they saw the reason for their exile had been the turning away from God as a people. That is why a number were sad that day. Instead Nehemiah encouraged them to rejoice and celebrate God as their strength. God’s words as we sang in our response are Spirit and life.

7. In our own day, there is a similar need for reform. In this week’s Catholic Telegraph - a very good issue - Fr. Jim Shappelle pointed out that since Roe v Wad there had been 48,000 Catholic abortions in Cincinnati according to realiable statistics. We need to practice better what we preach. We need to inform and form our young people better. I think that Pope John Paul’s theology of the body needs to become more mainstream in our thinking. We need as parents and as a Catholic community to stand behind those making difficult decisions for life. That is why we need to support our Pregnancy Resource Center and our Parent-Infant Center. We need to help those who still suffer from the post-traumatic-abortion syndrome I have witnessed first-hand in ministering to several young people as well as to too many older women who were dying or in nursing home and needed confession to be reconciled with God and within. I am glad that we have Project Rachel in our archdiocese. There is a need for the positive kind of reform championed in our first reading.

8. This kind of reform is one that is realistic. In Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body, he champions that kind of chastity outlined in Paul in our second reading. It is one where modesty in dress is simply appropriate. We dress in a way that honors and uses greater propriety for those parts of the body that could otherwise provoke wonderment. We seek to be a whole person and not just an object for lustful stares. Before original sin, there was no shame nor need to hide. Because of it, there is a need to dress wisely so there is no need for shame nor to hide. We simply seek to be free to be the persons God made us to be and to love others as God loves us as persons, not as objects to manipulate.

9. We are people who follow Jesus in his own custom of coming to Mass on the sabbath day. Jesus kept the sabbath day by coming to the synagogue each week. We know as he did and as the people gathered before the Watergate that we need to keep hearing God’s Word and keep renewing our commitment to live in accord with our beliefs. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us too to bring glad tidings to the poor and suffering in Haiti and in our own city. We need to proclaim liberty to those enslaved by pornography and a lust-soaked media and advertising. We need to help those who have lost sight of how to view people as first persons to love. Too many people are seen only as objects of lust and/ or of economic conquest and domination. We need to help those who are oppressed by poverty and a broken immigration system. Jesus’s Spirit is upon us. Let us fulfill what we have heard in our own hearing.

Today I ask you to think about several things: 1. I ask for your compassion and your generosity to the people of Haiti in our second collection for them. If you are putting in a check, please make it out to St. Teresa with Haiti in the memo. The moneys collected will go directly to Catholic Relief Services for immediate relief. Their archbishop and many of their churches and ministers were casualties of the earthquake. There is both immediate and long-term needed in this poorest country. Many of their churches were destroyed. I know I am still waiting to hear from the priest whom I got to know from my former parish’s twining with his parish and tithing 5% of our weekly collection.

2. I encourage all parents and anyone interested in the education of our youth to attend this Sunday’s evening’s presentation on building Home of Faith by Curtis Kneblik of Transfiguration Spiritual Center at St. Joseph at 6:30. Curtis is a good presenter. His topic is most important especially for parents and those preparing for the sacraments.

3. I encourage you if you have not yet done so to contact your US congressional representative and our senators about the Health Care Reform Bill. President Obama did promise that federal funding would not be used for abortion. I read that Senator Reid said that the Hyde provisions were in the new bill. I know that some do not believe this. I’m not sure. I know that Secretary Clinton is working for the inclusion of reproductive rights internationally. And I think I know what she includes in those rights from her track record. Whether there is a dividing line her between these spokesmen, I do not know. However, what I do know is that we need to exercise our own clout as individuals and reinforce what we do believe. Human life is an inalienable God-given right from the moment of conception, the scientifically accepted moment that human life begins. It is this fact that is the basis for the human right to life that must be protected in law as a civil right.

4. Monday begins a week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The only common prayer event I know of in this area is the charismatic County-Wider Prayer meeting at Crossepointe Community Church at 3515 South Limestone, Thursday evening at 7pm. However, I encourage you to pray with another person of faith in our community. Another chaplain from the Clark County Jail Chaplaincy and I pray together weekly for the needs of inmates. I encourage you to pray likewise with another this week as a brother and sister in Christ. We have many gifts and talents to use. As Christians, we will be working at relief efforts together for Haiti. Let us work together in prayer as a foundation likewise for unity.

5. I ask for your prayers for Karen Murphy that she receives the liver transplant that she so desperately needs. Jack Lohnes and several others had surgery this week.

6.Our gospel today is the Wedding Feast of Cana from St. John. I encourage you to think of the imagery in this event especially since it is now one of the Mysteries of Light in the Rosary. There is the wedding itself. It is a beautiful image that God used in the Old Testament to speak of how intimate he wanted to be with his people. They had chosen to break off the relationship and to be unfaithful. And yet in Isaiah 62, we hear how God was restoring his people to their status as his Chosen, his Beloved, his Espoused. God’s joy in his people will be like that of a young man and his virgin bride.

In the gospel, we have the first of what St. John calls the “signs” of Jesus. These signs point to who and what Jesus is. Jesus works his first sign at a wedding. The waiter in charge thinks that the groom has presented the new wine.

Jesus has assumed the role of the groom at this wedding through the miracle. The sign for St. John is God’s pointing out Jesus as the new bridegroom for his people.

Jesus used this imagery in his ministry. The joy of heaven is like that of wedding banquet for which the guests should be prepared because one should always be ready for the invitation may come suddenly. And Jesus casts his coming again as the coming of a groom at a time we do not know.

The kind of unity Jesus wants for us with God and with one another is something that he prays for at the last Supper, and it is precisely that intimate unity that a husband wife should have. In fact that is one reason why marriage is regarded as a sacrament for us. It is a sign of the unity of God with us.

Jesus is the Lamb of God and his Church is the Bride of the Lamb. The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ. Jesus is the husband who would give his life for his bride so much did he love them.

This image means that our God is still passionately in love with us his people. Our God is not a distant, uninvolved god as some would picture him. No, our God is involved with us.

Our God is involved with us as a husband is with his wife in the kind of partnership that they are to have that involves the whole of their lives as two unique individuals. We are co-creators with God. That is the task God gave us in the beginning according to Genesis. We are responsible for the world. God acts in and through us. May our efforts for Haiti, for the cause of life, for the unity Jesus wants for us, and to build homes of fath bring us closer together in intimacy with our God as his bride.

1. Happy New Year 2. Pick up your envelopes 3. Karen Murphy was taken to the ER this Saturday morning. Please keep her in your prayers.

We hear Paul tell us: “It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed.” I believe those words spoken by Paul to the Ephesians about the Gentiles as coheirs with the Jews and being “members of the same body and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” are just as true for us as for his original hearers.

At that first Epiphany, there were the magi who represented the Gentiles and who came from the east guided by a star to the house where the Holy Family were then residing in Bethlehem. These magi also represent us in our own time. We are people who come here to this house of the Lord to present ourselves and our gifts to the Lord who is both the true King of the Jews and who is our Savior and who is our God.

The word “epiphany” means a manifestation of God. God has also appeared in our own time in varying kinds of ways if we but open the eyes and ears and movements of our hearts. I am sure that he has guided me in varying ways. As frustrating as the time delays were in my return trip from my brief vacation, I am sure that he was guiding me to keep my blood pressure down and to remain a lot calmer than I might have otherwise. From wondering what I could do to make sure that this congregation had Mass on New Years’ Eve when I could not make contact at first, I was assured that Fr. Marv Hackman would be here. It made the frustrations much easier to take. I am glad to Deacon Jack and Fr. Paul Hurst for their help as well as to Fr. Marv. I am sure that and several others that happened were ways in which God made himself manifest to me. And if you open up the eyes and ears and movements of your own heart, I believe that you too can say that God has been manifest in your life if not recently at least in another time in a significant way. It may be that calmness that is reassuring from within. It may be that cluster of events that could not just have happened purely on their own. It may be that word or gesture of another that came at just the right time and was a grace-filled moment. We come together as people from so many different cultures and times to praise the Lord with the gifts of our own gold and frankincense, with our treasures and our ways of honoring God as God. We are people of every nation on earth honoring our God this day. We come to honor our God who is present in Word, in sacrament, and in one another. There is a special power in the Word of God proclaimed well in our Mass and liturgies. There is a special presence of God when we gather for the sacraments which are signs of God’s being with us at significant moments and times of our lives and giving us what we need at the time, even if it is but a boost on our journey as the Bread of Life.

And God is present when two or three gather in his name. That may be in this assembly, but it may be only a gathering of two people in prayer or of meeting in an encounter in which the Lord’s work is done as a work of mercy or gesture of love. God is Love and the ground of our being. If we are going out to another in an act of love, in seeking the good of another as the focus of our action then God is there loving that other person and inspiring and loving us in what we can only call a grace-filled moment. I recall this Saturday morning. As I approached Community, I reached for my holy oil only to realize it was still in my carry-on bag from my journey. It was not present for me to use, but I am sure he was present as Karen’s family and gathered around her to pray together. It was a grace-filled moment.

That is why Jesus could describe that judgement scene as he did in Matthew 25 where the just were unaware of his presence in those gestures of feeding the hunger, giving drink to the thirsty, visiting the ill and those in prison and so on. God is Yahweh, there as he is there as he told Moses in the Burning Bush.

We come today as the magi did to offer God homage for being here and present among us. Let us never forget that he is present in his Word, in his sacraments, and in one another as we do his Work. We are coheirs with Christ who is both our God and Savior and our elder brother. Let us rejoice with the magi as we do what they did to recognize and rejoice in our Emmanuel, God with us.

As we come together on this New Year’s Day, we come to celebrate Mary as Mother of God. It is officially the eighth day of our Christmas celebration. And in our Judaeo-Christian tradition, we end this high holyday celebration at Mass. We come as people like Mary treasuring all these events that happened in our hearts. It would be the eighth day after Jesus’ birth and a most special day. It was the day on which Jesus as a new-born Jewish baby boy would have been circumcised and thus ritually become a Jew. It was the day on which he was officially given the name Jesus, the name given him at the time of his annunciation by the angel and his conception by the power of the Spirit. He is the one whose name who means God is Salvation and help. Mary knew that she was to be the privileged mother of the Messiah, the Savior of his people. But did she or even Elizabeth realize that Jesus was God, God the Son at that time? I am not sure and do not think so. It was awesome enough to know that God had favored her so very highly as to be the mother of the Messiah.

What we find Mary doing is reflecting on all the special happenings in her life and the life of her people as the angels and the shepherds and others come. God is at work blessing his people. How great is that experience all by itself! It is awesome to realize how much God loves us as humans so much that he would send us a Savior. And yet, his favoring us is much more than simply sending us some to rescue and ransom us. That is powerful enough all by itself.

No God so loves us that he sent his Son so that we might receive adoption as his beloved children able to cry out “Abba, Father!”, able to share in heaven as our inheritance.

This is a mystery. It is beyond our full comprehension, and yet it is something we can never stop appreciating and seeking to understand or truly accept. And part of that mystery is that God the Son would be born of a woman under the law. This means that she would be giving birth to the Person of God the Son in his fully human nature in such a way that he would fully human. He would be indistinguishable for the most part from any other human child. It would be others giving him praise, not any action of his own to draw attention to him at that time.

This is a mystery of our faith that was and still continues to be a subject of some discussion and debate among some although it was defined as such in the early councils of the Church. In 431, Mary was officially proclaimed Theotokos, God-bearer, Mother of God in his human nature. One does not give birth except to a single person even if that person has two natures, one who and two what’s. It is not us as humans making a human God. Instead, it is God becoming human, making a human nature his own. This is God’s choice, not ours. It is God’s full gift of himself. And it is a choice of God that needed to be accepted in obedience in contrast to Eve’s choice not to accept God’s command for Adam and she to live. That is how she would become the new Eve.

We continue to celebrate God’s great Love in giving us himself in the Person of the Son in and through Mary. And as we celebrate God’s showing us his face and blessing us, let us not forget that we are called to imitate the faith of Mary. Let it be done to me according to your Word. Let me become a means of your Grace and your Love. I may not feel worthy of this gift. I may not understand fully that you God want to favor me in this way. And yet, like Mary, as we reflect on the many things that God continues to do in our lives to help and save people, we are called to make that same act of faith. Let it be done according to your Word. God has come to us in Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary and foster-son of Joseph. And God continues to come to us in Word and Sacrament and in one another. What is most important is that we imitate the faith of Mary: Let it be done to me according to your Word. Let God be God and do his work as he chooses, not as we might think he ought to act, but in his way. Let us rejoice and be glad in him as we celebrate his choice of Mary as his Mother.

1. Today as the feast of the Holy Family is another occasion to wish Merry Christmas to any of our guests and parishioners who could not be here for the day itself.

2. Since Pope Benedict has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Pilarczyk and since Archbishop Dennis Schnurr is now our head bishop, only Archbishop Dennis’ name is mentioned in the Eucharistic Prayer.

3. Fr. Mark Schmieder, a former associate pastor at St. Teresa, has died. Please keep him in your prayers.

4. Friday is a Holy Day of Obligation and First Friday. There is a modified holyday schedule - Thursday evening at 7:30pm (usual), 9am (usual), and 6pm to close out Exposition (instead of the 7am as usual for those who have to work). Adoration with exposition begins after the 9am.

5. You can pick up your 2010 collection envelopes as you exit the parking lot door. That door is open 24hrs a day if you wish to come back later.

Every once in a while I notice a pattern occurring in confessions and once in a while someone hits it on the head. One of those things many of us have been taught or should have been taught is that we have the obligation to avoid those things that are “near” occasions of sin. For instance, if someone is so tempted by the candy counter in the store because the smell will lead them to reach for a piece and shoplift it, then that person has the obligation to stay away from the candy counter. That candy counter is a near occasion of sin because the theft is almost certain. And so, the pattern I have noticed this year due to someone’s asking a question is the struggle for some of being with family members because the probability of an argument or hitting or teasing is almost certain. It is almost saying that my family is a near occasion of sin. While I must tell the alcoholic to avoid having the first drink and that it would be best to avoid those persons with whom one usually drinks if they are not willing to accept one’s sobriety, it is hard to tell a husband or wife or son or daughter to avoid those with whom one lives. That is why I often suggest that the person pray over such situations to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in changing what one can change as well as to accept what one cannot change. And yet, I also need to say that one is not obliged to stay in a situation where there is active abuse occurring. Church law permits a separation of spouses under these circumstances. What should be avoided is the pattern of thinking or behaving that leads one to sin.

For this reason, I believe that today’s readings for the feast of the Holy Family are most important. I chose to stay with the traditional set because of the patterns from this year’s round of Advent confessions.

In Ben Sirach 3, we hear those traditional principles for family life. Since God has given his authority to fathers and mothers, God expects of us that we honor them. Honoring our parents means accepting correction from them since they want to help us avoid sin. When we honor and obey our parents as we should, our prayers are heard. Family life is easier and provides a great foundation for becoming a parent oneself later on. This honor does not stop when one leaves home. In fact, it becomes extremely important as parents age and need help themselves. I know how much time I needed to spend taking care of my parents from the time of my father’s heart attacks in 1968 until the death of my mother in 2001. And since then I have had a primary responsibility for my one uncle who died in 2005 and now a family friend with no children whom my mother asked to look out for me before she died.

And also clear from Paul that the parent should earn that honor by parenting well and not abusing one’s authority. And the same goes with the pattern of relationships between husbands and wives. They should be characterized by the exercise of all those family virtues which we find in Colossians as well as in Ephesians where his often misunderstood words have as their motto: Be submissive to one another out of reverence for Christ.

We need to love and respect one another as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved. Therefore our relationships should be characterized by the consistent practice of the family virtues. A virtue is a strength of character practiced enough that it has become second nature. Paul lists those strengths of character as heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. Let the peace of the Lord control your hearts. Be thankful. Let God’s word dwell within you. And whatever, you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Learning to live in that way with those strengths of character can be a challenge with which many of us still struggle even . But this year in Cycle C of our readings, we can take comfort in that there were growth moments even in the Holy Family. Today’s gospel from Luke 2 is the story of the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. In what would have been a special moment in his life before his Bar Mitzwah, Jesus would have been studying extremely hard to pass the tests before this rite of passage in the life of a Jewish young man. And so, he had been listening to all those wise persons with whom he had the opportunity to interact. He wanted to be pleasing to God, his Father and ours, as well as to Mary and Joseph. And so, he got lost as a number of those becoming teenagers in doing what seems right at the time, but may not have been appropriate. It would be a learning experience for him in his humanity which was like ours in all things but sin. Mary and Joseph had presumed that he would be with his peers since the groups from varying towns would have travelled together and split up into adults and children. And Jesus was so preoccupied with his study that he lost track of time and the others. There was hurt and misunderstanding in the Holy Family even though it was without sin. Jesus learned and went home both obedient and grew in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

Let us ask the Lord today for these same graces as we seek to learn from the Holy Family and put on those virtues which Paul recommends. Christmas is God’s gift of his Son to us to teach us first how to live. Jesus spent most of his thirty-three years doing that before he died for us as a final act of obedience to God even though it happened in a messy and sinful way at the hands of others. Some people abused the civil law as well as the law revealed by God to the people to achieve their selfish ends even though they felt justified in trying to protect the people from the Romans. We live in a messy world too. Let us seek to live rightly and to teach others to do so even though others seek a different way that sometimes is abusive and manipulative of what is right. We seek to live in thanksgiving to God for the gift of his Son by imitating his example of how to live.

1. Tonight we gather in a church that is the warmest it has been since the middle of September. I am very grateful that we have heat and that there is an end in sight for all the work. I am grateful to those who contributed to this effort. And I encourage those who wish to go downstairs afterward to look at what has been accomplished. One can now go from either end of the church to the bigger restrooms under the front entrance. The finish work will take some time, but should not be as disruptive to our normal life as a parish. Demos gracias porque tenemos calor en esta iglesia.

2. Those who would like to get their 2010 envelopes can pick them up in the servers’ sacristy afterwards.

3. At 6am Monday morning Cincinnati time, Pope Benedict announced his acceptance of the resignation of Archbishop Pilarczyk so he could retire. At that time, our former coadjutor Archbishop Dennis Schnurr became the 11^th Diocesan bishop and 10^th Archbishop of Cincinnati. Archbishop Dennis’ will mentioned in the Eucharistic prayer, no longer Archbishop Pilarczyk’s. Tenemos un neuvo arcobispo Dennis Schnurr. Papa Benedito acceptó la resignación de Arcobispo Pilarczyk.

At the celebration honoring Archbishop Daniel’s 50^th anniversary as a priest, 35^th as a bishop, and 27^th as our Archbishop, he used five words which he was taught as a child as the framework for his homily that you can read for yourself in this week’s Catholic Telegraph. Those five words are: “Please,” “Thank You”, and “I’m Sorry.” I would like to follow his example as the basis for my homily this evening. Domingo Arcobispo Daniel usó las palabras “Por favor”, “Gracias”, y “Lo siento.”

First, I need to say like the Archbishop that “I’m sorry.” I know too well my own imperfections and sinfulness. I like to please people and have a hard time saying “no” and cannot do everything I promise.. I sometimes do not remember things people tell me and do not follow through. And I lose notes. And I make mistakes that also can hurt people. For all of these and more I need to say that I am sorry. Yo hacio errores y pecados. Necesito dir “Lo siento.” Necesito un Salvador.

I know that I need a Savior. I know that there are some people to whom I will not have the opportunity to express my sorrow or whom I have hurt with whom I cannot make up. There are messes I cannot straighten out. I need God to bring good out of a bad situation of my making.

I know that the world in which I live is a messy one. Only God can ultimately straighten it out. Our world needs a Savior. Nuestro mundo tambien necesito un Salvador.

Second, I need to say “Thank You”. I need to say “thank you” above all to God. God so loves me that he sent his Son as my Savior. For this I am more grateful daily. And I am grateful to God for so loving the world that he sent his Son to be Savior for the whole world. Necesitamos dir “gracias” a Dios por Jesucristo que el es mi y tu Salvador , el Salvador della tierra.

This is at the heart of our celebration this night. What had been promised to Adam and Eve at the time of their original sin came to be a reality in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in Mary who said “yes” to God when asked if she would accept this role. Dios hizo hombre y nacido en Maria por el poder del Espiritu Santo porque Maria dicho “Si”.

For this we say “thank you” in a most special way by kneeling or genuflecting if we are able at the words in the Creed: “By the power of the Holy Spirit...” Demos gracias a Dios en la profession de fe por un accion de honor quando professemos las palabras recordandas la incarnación.: “Por la obra del Espiritu Santo.....”

I know I also need to say “thank you” to all those people who have been both gracious and forgiving to me. I know that I need the support of so many people to be able to do and to be what I need to be the person I am and am called to be in my role with you. And that is a key reason for our gift giving at this time of year. Demos gracias en la Navidad a muchos que han hecho bondad a nosotros.

3. I also need to say “Please”. “Please” be patient with me and with each other. God is not finished with us. Por favor, tenen patiencia con mi y unos a otros. Dios no ha terminado su trabajo en mi y ustedes. “Please” be yourself. God made you the unique individual you are for a reason. He has a plan for you that is built around the person you are with all your talents and gifts and experiences. “Por favor”, sea tu mismo. Dios hacio tu por un su razon por su proposito. “Please” live as a Christian and be a child of God in all your relationships. God so loves us that he sent his Son to be our Way, our Truth, and our Life, a model to follow. “Por favor, seguir Jesus come su via, su Verdad, y su Vida.

We have gathered this night to celebrate God’s great gift to us of the savior each of us needs, to thank God and one another for all the gifts we have received, and to pledge that we will follow Jesus as the Son in being likewise God’s sons and daughters. Merry Christmas, a blessed one. Be the person God made you to be. Be thankful by living as God’s beloved child who shares God’s anointment as a fellow kingdom builder. Esta noche celebremos los dones de Dios a nosotros especialmente su mismo en la persona de Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios y el hijo de Maria, Dios hizo hombre. Demos gracias especialmente por ser los niños de Dios en nuestras vidas diarias. Felice Navidad.

1. Bulletin is full. Please read about St. Vincent de Paul and the Jail Chaplaincy needs.

2. Heat upstairs. Need to finish Fr. Collins Hall. Please, go downstairs to see what has been done and what still needs to be done.

3. Archbishop Pilarczyk’s 50^th anniversary as a priest, 35^th as bishop, and 27^th as our archbishop.

4. Fr. Mark Schmieder - former associate - not doing well.

5. [7:30] Joe Lynch, Demetrious and Alexis Dimitriou will be installed as eucharistic ministers at the end of this homily.

6. Need for ministers for the Christmas Masses especially the 11pm Mass during the night on Christmas Eve.

This past Saturday morning at 5:00am, 142 of our Latino brothers and sisters began to gather in our then 42% church for the seranade of our Lady of Guadalupe called the Mañitas. It was a moving time for those gathered around the varying pictures and statues of our Lady surrounded by roses and pointsettias.

In 1531, our Lady appeared to Juan Diego as a pregnant native princess. The symbolism was very real: God loves you as you are, native one, precious to him. God loves you so much that he became like you in all things but sin through this woman who looks like you.. You are precious and dear to God. And so, Mary sends Juan Diego to the bishop and asks that a shrine be built where she appeared. The bishop brushed off the first visit and was irritated enough the second time that he demanded a sign. The good thing was that Juan had grown bold enough to insist on talking to the bishop. Although Mary had stopped Juan the first two times as he was going to Mass, the third time he was on his way to visit a sick uncle. Mary assured Juan that his uncle would be okay and asked him to pick roses and put them in his cloak or tilma. When Juan went to the bishop and opened up his cloak, he had opened up a most beautiful image of Mary that we treasure in pictures and statues today. That cloak is hung today in the basilica behind glass to protect Mary’s honor . The cloak is amazingly intact although its material should have deteriorated many years ago. And it has survived a major attempt to destroy it with a bomb a number of years ago now. There is a twisted piece of metal near the image now as a remnant of that incident. That very concrete experience of God choosing them in and through Mary as his beloved children shapes the mentality and devotion of so many of our Hispanic brothers and sisters. No matter that others may have been their conquerers and invaders. They mattered very much to God.

These brothers and sisters of ours from Central and South America, some of whom are now citizens by choice or by birth here, are filled with joy. That joy is very similar to what was experienced by Elizabeth who was moved by the Holy Spirit at the greeting of Mary. Elizabeth recognized that Mary was the mother of her Lord because John had leaped in her womb. Elizabeth recognized how blessed Mary was because she had believed and trusted in the word spoken to her by the Lord.

We are people who need to trust in the word of the Lord spoken to us. That is a word we can read and hear. It is a word on which we can meditate in varying ways such as the rosary and in other forms of mental prayer as we focus on the experiences being suggested by the image of the event in the individual mystery. It is a word meant to echo in our hearts as use the fuller response of Mary in her Magnificat as part of our official evening prayers. It is a word meant also to echo in our hearts as we use the Benedictus of John the Baptist’s father Zechariah in our official morning prayer.. We too are called to prepare the way of the Lord. That way may be very clear to us to follow. At other times it may be a way we are called to point out. And so it can be a word that sometimes echoes in our hearts as we take the time to ask for God’s Spirit to guide us in understanding and making decisions or respond to the Spirit who comes to us. Elizabeth was overjoyed because she was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit revealed to her that Mary was the mother of her Lord because she was open to the Spirit. Elizabeth felt John the Baptist move within her womb. She was open to hearing who it was that greeted her.

And it is good to let ourselves experience this joy. After all joy is first of all an appreciation of the present moment in which we have something we desire or seek or which comes into our life at that moment. Joy is a basking in the goodness of the moment. And joy connects us with the person who comes or who is involved then.

Elizabeth was moved to joy because Mary had trusted enough to say "yes" to the angel. And how did she say "yes" to the angel Gabriel? "I am the maidservant of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word." In other words, let God's will for me be done.

Let it happen as God wants.

And this is how we too should approach things. We need to seek what is God's will for us. This is what the author to the Hebrews says of Jesus. Jesus did not come to offer holocausts and sin offerings. Jesus came to offer himself. Jesus came to do God's will.

And how do we discover God's will? Often it is going to be in the simple tasks that lie before us as part of our state in life and in our circumstances. Cleaning toilets or doing homework may not be attractive things, but they may be what is needed at the time.

Sometimes it is going to be in that to which we are drawn strongly. There is something seems like the right thing to so such as visiting this woman whom we have just heard is pregnant.

Sometimes we are not sure. Then we need to do some more praying and sometimes talking it over.. We need to pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance and knowledge and wisdom. We need to pray for prudence. Our attitude needs to be one of openness that God will fulfill his promises and give us what we need. Mary certainly trusted. Elizabeth did too when her baby stirred. And so can we. We need to trust the present moment and be joyful. But we also need to be hopeful. We need to wait for the Lord in joyful hope. May each of you be filled with God's Holy Spirit and be joyful and hopeful.

1. There are two collections today. The second is to Share in the Care for our Retired Religious with the Retirement Fund for Retired Religious.

2. We should be gathering this coming Sunday in the church. You may go over there after Mass to pick up your envelopes.

3. Do not forget the one change in our traditional Christmas schedule. The Christmas eve Masses will be at 4:30pm and 11pm The Christmas Day masses are 10am and Noon. Carols will begin at 10:30pm for the Mass at night.

4. I encourage you to remember the inmates in the Clark County Jail this Christmas. By next Wednesday, I have promised 1,000 cookies from St. Teresa packaged 4 cookies to a baggie for each inmate. We are also collecting white underwear and socks for the 200 men and 40 women. The men are our primary focal point. You may also wish to adopt a child of an inmate. Please let me know your name and address so that we can mail you the proper information later this week

[5. I encourage you to include our shut-ins in your Christmas greetings this year. There is a list of them in this week’s bulletin.]

6. Tuesday evening at the end of our Finance meeting, we will draw the winner of the Reverse Tithing Raffle. Get those tickets in. Thank you for all you do.

The whole country has taken on the atmosphere of Christmas. Some may only want to call it the Holidays since our Jewish brothers and sisters are now celebrating Hannukah, the Festival of Lights commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabeean revolt against a tyrant who wanted to stamp out any customs contrary to his Greek pagan ones and had desecrated the Temple and forced many to eat pork and not circumcise boys with the threat of death. The lamp of the Temple burnt miraculously for seven days, thus the festival of lights. Some Africa-american celebrate Kwanza. But for most of the Christian world, the birth of Jesus is the primary reason for the season. And yet, our customs may differ. In some countries, the primary gift giving time occurs with the December 6 celebration of St. Nicholas. Elsewhere, the key giving day is on the 12^th day of Christmas, Ephiphany Day. In this country, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and give gifts almost simultaneously even if the celebrations are spread out simply because we are connected to so many people in so many places. This is the season for remembering those connections.

It is that time of year when we can believe in love in that sense of recognizing and appreciating others and seeking each’s good in some way. It is love in C.S. Lewis’ senses of friendship and need love as well as that erotic attraction as well as in the agape sense of loving as God loves us. It is a season when we are drawn outside of ourselves and focused more on others even if at times we do have our own Christmas wish list. I encourage you to include our shut-ins in your Christmas greetings this year. There is a list of them in this week’s bulletin. Today is Gaudete Sunday in our church tradition. We are joyful as we anticipate the Lord’s coming again in glory as the judge of the living and the dead because we know that Jesus has already come as our Savior and remains with us as Emmanuel. His presence among us now is well-known since we acknowledge it in our profound bow or genuflection toward the tabernacle as we come into the church or the old church, now our gym.

And so, as we reflect more somberly on our need for a Savior, we do not do this in a way that we become depressed and hopeless because we know that God loves us so much that he sent his Son not to condemn the world and to let sinners perish but rather that they believe in him and have eternal life.

Jesus came as our Savior. The people who came to John the Baptist also knew that they need to change their lives. John preached to them the good news and encouraged them to do what they did in moderation and to share with those who had less. We do the same when we recognize the dignity of the people around us and wish them well.

We should do this as individuals and as a church community and as a nation. . We may not agree with President Obama on some significant issues, but did hit the mark well in his speech in Oslo accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. We must seek to live in peace with our brother and sister human beings, but we also have the right to legitimate self-defense and even go to war for the right reasons. It is the season to celebrate the birth of the Lord who would rescue us by his death and resurrection just as our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the religious side of their own armed resistence to a tyrant who sought to wipe our their religious practices by violence. We need to seek the way to peace together by first recognizing the dignity of others and trying to persuade them that peace is better than war, but peace has to be built around the justice where people can live in peace. May our efforts to do this among ourselves pay dividends in our relationships with others. I am hopeful and joyful that they can.

Today we begin a new church calendar year with the first Sunday of Advent and the lighting of the Advent wreath at the end of our petitions. It is the day to begin our preparations for what God said through Jeremiah : “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Jacob.” And that event was the first Christmas.

In this year’s preparations, the choir asked me to poll the parish about an issue that has been raised by some. The Christmas Mass during the night has been celebrated at midnight for a number of years. However, it can be celebrated at a different time. In fact, once Fr. Rees celebrated it at 10pm as happens now at The request has been made that this year we celebrate the Mass during the night at 11pm. This would give those who might get confused a chance to be here for the end and probably for communion. But I would not make such a change without consulting everyone here. And so, I ask the question: How many here would prefer the Christmas eve night Mass at 11pm? How many at midnight?

I will let you know the results next week so that we can try to get the word out to the larger community who may only come for Christmas and Easter.

Today we will light our Advent wreath at the end of the general intercessions or petitions. The Advent wreath is a way of remembering that God has and does fulfill his promises over a period of time. We know that God seems to take more time than we might want to fulfill our hopes and dreams that are in accord with his will. I know how much I wanted to see this parish back on its feet in a shorter period of time than it is taking. We need to trust that he will provide if we are faithful. And so, I recommend that each family and each unit of this parish use an advent wreath. And to help in this regard, our Scouts will be offering an opportunity to buy some simple candles that can be used for a wreath at home. They can be used in the simple wire frame that was popular some years back here or in the kind of candlesticks that many families have at this time of year. Even if you choose not to light the candles, the symbolism is important.

We are preparing to celebrate the great coming of our God to us at Christmas, but we also prepare for his coming again at the end of time in glory and for his coming for each of us at death. I am a firm believer that God speaks his Word to us now in our own generation in a way that speaks to our own experience even though what was said originally may have been addressed to a particular group at a specific time for a specific reason. And so, I believe that we can spot those signs Jesus gives in the gospel in our own time. How many saints have seen the glory of God and proclaimed that glory as they sensed their own deaths at hand! How many have been changed for the good because of a near death experience! And yet on the other side how many are troubled by anxieties of daily life or in this season as portrayed at Thanksgiving and Black Friday with the kind of carousing and drunkenness that comes with over-partying and an obsession with gift-buying and giving that can paralyze and exhaust our energies. It is a time to think of others who are dear and who are most in need. And it is a time to use our energy and our resources wisely and well. How we shop and treat others in the process may be even more important than what we may get. For at the end of our own lives and hopefully at the end of our day, we need to stand before Jesus as the Son of Man and the judge of the living and the dead and to give an account of our lives. That is one reason why this is a season for repentance and for reconciliation. The penance service season for the Springfield-Urbana parishes begins this Monday here at St. Teresa at 7pm. We prepare our hearts and seek as we heard St. Paul tell us “to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.” We seek to be conducting ourselves in a way that is pleasing to our God.

I encourage you to use this new year of grace to grow in your own appreciation of how good God has been to you and to us as a group. Yes, we may have our own tribulations, but God will get us through if we continue to seek to be faithful. We take this time to be more grateful in action and to be reconciled since we often falter and sometimes fall in our efforts. It is the intention to show thanks and to be loving that counts most in the long run. Every gift is after all only a symbol of our appreciation. God has given us so many gifts that we need to be ready to show that we are thankful in how we love one another as he has loved us. Advent is a beautiful time. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Reminders: 1. There is a retreat going on in the school this weekend of people with a Filippino heritage. We welcome them to the 4:30 Mass.

2. There is a second collection today for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. There is a flyer in the bulletin about this effort. I encourage your generosity.

3. The work on restoring the heat has begun. Installing the new ductwork begins this week. Things have come together and are moving. I thank once again those who have been contributing to this cause. I can’t promise a date that we will have heat back on, but we need to pray that things continue to move forward and that we have the best weather possible for the next few weeks.

4. Envelopes for next year are now available in the Religious Ed/Bible Study room downstairs. However, to get to the envelopes and to take a peak at Fr. Collins Hall, one must go down by the rear stairs. The floor in Fr. Collins Hall has enough dust that it is a bit slippery. We cannot open it lest someone fall.

5. As a result of not being able to use Fr. Collins Hall, Donuts with Father for our second graders will take place in the basement of the primary side of the school. The confirmation program will also take place there. Enter via the basement door closest to my garage.

6. Finally, the Senate is voting this Saturday to begin debate on the health care reform bill. Our bishops ask us to continue to inform our senators about our stance on the moral issues involved. There is a flyer for your reading and action in the bulletin.

We have come today to celebrate the end of our church calendar year with the solemnity of Christ the King. Today, Jesus points us in two distinct directions that are most important for us to grasp and to live out this mystery of our faith.

The first direction in how we understand Jesus to be a king. Jesus makes it very clear time and time again in the gospels that he is not a king in the political sense of that term for his people nor as we often think of kings. Jesus is the king of truth pointing us in the way of God. Over and over, Jesus speaks more of the reign of God with the very concrete meaning that everything should be subject to God and follow those basic natural and moral laws with which he both made the world and by which we are to be his co-creators and stewards. Original sin and every other sin is choosing one’s own way over God’s. It is a choosing not to obey God, to break his law in some way.

Jesus is the king of truth. And truth is ultimately that correspondence of what is said and believed with the way it is and the way God made it to be. There is only one God who is the source of all. And it is this God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come” who chose to show us how to live in and through Jesus Christ, God who became human in his Person as the Son equal to but subject to the Father in the power of their Spirit. God the Son, the Perfect Image of the Father through whom and in whom and for whom all were created in a right relationship with God, became one of us to show how to live rightly. And he did this in a way that corresponds to our messy existence as a result original sin that has continued to snowball. But grace, God’s gift of himself, is more powerful than sin. For Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty.

The second direction in which Jesus points us in the gospel is for us to realize that we are his subjects and attendants. We like the apostles and first disciples did not at that moment fight to stop what was happening in a violent way. But they would witness to the truth that good overcame evil in the resurrection of the one who would not deny who he was and that we are meant to follow his example of being subject to God and meant to live in accord with his values as the correct blueprint for our lives. We are a “kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and forever.” We do what we do in fighting in a non violent way for human rights that are in accord with those things our founding fathers and mothers stood for in the Declaration of Independence enshrined in the Constitution which was not perfect. That is the reason it does have amendments from the beginning. And sometimes it means being involved in efforts to ward off defensively enemies who have directly attacked our freedom as a nation among other nations. That is the reason we have a United Nations and people involved in war and police actions within the last hundred years. Yes, we may have our political disagreements about these actions and responses; but there are fundamental moral values involved. The more we strive to be true to our fundamental values and to continue to discuss the proper ways to achieve them in a world as such is meant to be God’s kingdom subject to his values, the better off we will be. Things do not move as quickly or as well as we want. We here at St. Teresa know this too well. We are good people. We need to follow Jesus our King as best we can as he did in the same messy world in which he was conceived and in which he was “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” whom we are called to follow. Let us rejoice and be glad to be his subjects called to continue his work in building and strengthening and defending God’s reign over us.

St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church

1827 N. Limestone St., Springfield, Ohio 45503

Father Ed Gearhart - Pastor

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