3rd Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, One early morning, when Bishop Fulton Sheen was opening the Church door, a young woman fell into the Church. ‘Who are you?, asked the Bishop?
‘Where am I?, she asked.
‘Well one thing is, you are drunk, he said. ‘Yes, I suppose I am.
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Then he told her, ‘Men drink because they love the stuff,’ ‘but women drink because they don’t like something else.’ What are you trying to escape from, by drinking?
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‘I’m involved in relationships with 3 different men,” she said, but they found out the truth, so I got drunk.’
‘Who are you? he asked. She pointed across the street to her picture, and her name in neon lights at the theatre. ‘Father, I’m the leading lady in that musical comedy.’
Sheen took the actress in, out of the cold, and made her some hot tea. He told her to come back later and talk to him that afternoon. I’ll come back, only on one condition, she said, that you do not ask me to go to Confession. ‘Very well then,” he said. ‘I shall not to ask you to go to Confession.’ ‘I want you to promise me that you will not ask me to go to Confession. ‘Ok, I promise you that I will not ask you to go to Confession,’ he said.
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So she came back that afternoon, and the bishop told her that there are two paintings in the Church that are very famous, would she like to see them? She did, and so as they walked down the aisle of the Church, he showed her the Confessional – he did not ask her to go to Confession – he pushed her into it!
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Well, it was really what she wanted, confession, and the bishop knew it. It was a turning point in her life, to begin new, and once again to follow Jesus. In fact, this actress left her career and became a religious Sister.
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Friends in Christ, Confession is the sacrament that heals us of our sins. Mother Church requires us to go at least one a year, and that is to keep us on the straight and narrow, to get a clean start and begin again. We have had hundreds and hundreds of confessions here at St. John’s so far this Advent, it is really inspiring. And I know that these young people here today – you will all be going to Confession this Saturday.
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Confession is repentance of our sins, it is to get a clean start in the Christian life.
The theme of the Gospel this Sunday and last, has been the call to repent, and prepare for Christmas. ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,’ says John the Baptist, ‘make straight the way of the Lord. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ At the heart of Christ’s teachings is repentance. The adulterous woman repented and was forgiven by Jesus. How many do we read in the Holy Gospels, came up to Our Lord and falling on their knees say, ‘Forgive me and help me,’ and he does. Turning from our sins often, should always be part of our life.
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At the end of every day, we should kneel down and make an examination of conscience. We think of how we lived, we thank God for his blessings, and we tell him we are sorry for our sins and faults. So daily, we ask the Lord’s forgiveness. But we also go to Confession.
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Someone asked Pope Francis, ‘Why can I not only confess my sins to God?’ ‘You can tell God ‘Forgive me’, he said, ‘But our sins are also against the brothers, against the Church, and for this it is necessary to ask forgiveness to the Church in the person of the priest.’ It is what Jesus asks us to do.
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God can heal cancer by a miracle, but he usually chooses to do it through a doctor;
God forgives sins, but he usually chooses to do it through a priest.
For sure we must confess our mortal sins, in order to receive Communion, and although it is required to go only once a year, it is a good practice to go to monthly to Confession. We receive grace every time, and it keeps us on track.
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A little boy, about 7 years old, told me, ‘Father, I will be going to confession every week,’ I told him ‘Very good,’ I do that also! And you know, that boy goes every week.
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When doctors do surgery on cancer, the question often asked is: ‘Did you get it all?’ Well, the priest is the doctor of the soul, and we want him to ‘get it all’ – we can’t withhold mortal sins, or else the cancer will continue.
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The priest who was the most famous confessor was our patron saint, St. John Vianney. He had amazing abilities as a priest. One time,[i] an old man who was a liberal-thinker, and who in his pride, thought that he was ‘above’ religion, happened to be on a tour of Ars, France. When St. John Vianney saw the man, he immediately took him by the arm and led him to Confession. ‘Now then, how long since your last confession?,’ he asked. With a smirk, he said it had been 30 years. Then John Vianney told him at exactly which church and on which day and in which town the man had made that confession. He was stunned! How could the priest have known all that? ‘And now you will make your confession,’ said Vianney. Out poured all his sins, and he promised to change his life, then and there. Instead of walking to hell, he got on the path to heaven.
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Another time,[ii] three ladies went to visit Ars, a mother, a grandmother, and a daughter. They had hoped to see the famous John Vianney, but he was busy hearing confessions. What the mother and grandmother did not know, was that the daughter had a mortal sin which was torturing her conscience, and she really needed to confess. As they were about to leave, John Vianney suddenly went out of his confessional leaving everyone standing in line; he went straight to the back of the Church and up to those 3 ladies, and asked the daughter to follow him to confession, which she did. The weight was lifted from her soul.
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Now friends, the priests here at our parish are not able to read souls like that, but we really will help people to make a good confession, and begin again. The Pope has said: ‘Don’t be afraid of confession, ‘when you are in line, you may feel [nervous], even shame – but then, when you finish confessing, you feel great – beautiful, clean, and happy.’
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Advent is a time of preparation, and we can prepare very well if we do it with Mary.
Mary, with you in our life, everything is sweeter, everything is easier. Help us and pray for us, that this Advent we will really experience the mercy of Jesus, which is the whole reason that he came.
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– a guide for going to Confession can be found at the top menu of this blog –
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[Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Cabrini]
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[i] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Gheon, p. 113
[ii] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Gheon, p. 110
Beloved in Christ, today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe[i]
To know about the origin of this Feast, we must go back to the winter of 1531. Juan Diego, a poor Aztec Indian living near Mexico City, encountered a strange event on his way to morning Mass. He heard music coming from Tepeyac Hill, and then a sweet woman’s voice calling his name. He climbed the hill and saw a lady, who looked like and dressed like his own people. She identified herself as the Virgin Mary, and told him to ask the bishop to build a church on the hill.
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So Juan headed to see the bishop, but it would not be easy. Even though the bishop saw that Juan was a humble, well-meaning Catholic, he was skeptical about the message. So Juan went and reported the bishop’s doubt to the Blessed Virgin; she asked him nevertheless, to persevere with the same message.
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Seeing his persistence and faith, the bishop asked for a sign, so that he could know for sure. She gave him a sign. Miraculously, in the middle of winter, roses bloomed on Tepeyac hill – yet there was a greater miracle to come. Juan gathered the flowers in the tilma he was wearing, and Mary, it is said, arranged the roses herself, with her own hands.
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He returned to the bishop and when he opened the tilma, allowing the flowers to fall to the floor, it was revealed that a beautiful image of Our Lady had imprinted itself on the tilma.
The bishop fell to his knees and believed. A church was built on the spot of the apparition, and 8 million people converted to the Catholic Faith.
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The tilma of Juan Diego has been the subject of much modern research. Woven of cactus fiber, it should have disintegrated in 20 years, yet after 500 years, it remains intact. Chemical analysis has not been able to reveal how the imprint was made. No paint or dyes were used. Additionally, the stars on the tilma match exactly the constellations of the Mexican sky in December of 1531.
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This dear Lady appeared at Tepeyac to show her love to the native people; but since 1999, Our Lady of Guadalupe has been declared the Patroness of all the Americas as well, so she is Our Virgin of Guadalupe!
Mary said to Juan Diego: “Understand my child, that nothing should frighten or sadden you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my protection?”
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She says the same to us.
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[i] Adapted from Catholicculture.org
Friends in Christ, today Our Lord says: ‘the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.’ What does he mean?
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There are two senses, in which Jesus is speaking. In the first place, he speaks about what is happening at that time. The Pharisees were not open to the gospel, in fact, they resisted and put up roadblocks for others. Christ said of them, ‘you have taken away the key of knowledge, you yourselves do not enter and you prevent others from entering.’
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John the Baptist was calling the people to repent of their sins, and even though the Jewish leaders tried to dissuade them from listening, they went in droves to repent and change their life. ‘And all the people heard him, and justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John’ – but the Pharisees rejected all of this and did not repent. The devil was trying to prevent people, but the they wanted salvation, they really wanted it. ‘The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, but the violent are taking it by force.’
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But Our Lord did not speak only of the events of that time, his words would always be applicable, even today. There are many lukewarm Catholics and other Christians in the world; in our homes, our workplaces, our schools. Many live as the pagans, just the same way, same ideas. The majority. But then there are those who are really living the kingdom of heaven, living out the Christ-life; there are not many.
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A man I spoke to recently said, that at his office, whenever a moral question arises, or a hot-button social issue, or a religious question, everyone knows who they are going to ask: him. He’s the ‘resident Catholic.’ If someone has a serious personal concern, and needs to talk to someone of Faith, they say, ‘you should talk to Joe, he’s close to God.’ There are other Catholics where Joe works, but they are lukewarm, and everyone knows it. They go along with the crowd, and so they are not witnesses to the gospel at all.
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‘Strive to enter the narrow gate, says the Lord; many will seek to enter but will not be able.’ The Faithful Christians are small in number, but they actually believe, and they will stop at nothing to follow Jesus Christ, and bring others along too.
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Recently a young woman in our RCIA class was quite sick, but she dragged herself to class anyway. I told her ‘go home and rest, just read the class notes.’ But I knew why she had forced herself to come: She wants in – she wants baptism – very much, she wants in, to the kingdom of God.
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We should want it that bad as well, if we are real Christians.
Friends in the Lord, we are here in the 2nd week of Advent, preparing for Christmas. So let us ponder the event that we are preparing to celebrate: God entering the world as a child. St. Augustine says, God came to earth mainly for one reason: so that we might know how much God loves us.
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Jesus could have saved us without dying on the cross. One drop of his Divine blood would have been sufficient for our redemption. As St. Alphonsus says,[i] he could have saved us without suffering, or humiliation, or the mockery he received. The Son of God could have merely offered a little prayer to the Father and we would be saved.
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The Lord could have saved us without becoming a shivering child in a manger, and hungry and crying. The Son of God did not need to grow up as a youth, carrying tools for Joseph as if a servant-boy, stumbling on his first little steps, stuttering in his baby words, and carrying firewood for Mary – God did not need to do this, to share our human life. But he did.
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What if Jesus Christ had asked us: What proof of my love do you want to see from me? And if a person would have been so bold, as to tell Christ, that to be convinced of your love, we would like to see the Son of God become a child like us, embrace our sufferings and fears, and be born very poor; to prove your love for us, we would like you to be despised and hated and put to death amidst curses and slander, and forsaken by all – who would dare to say this to Jesus Christ – that this is what we want, in order to know that you love us?
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But that which we would not have even dared to think of saying, he has not only thought of, but has done it, for love of us!
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St. Francis of Assisi so often thought about what Christ has done for us – coming to earth and dying, that in his frequent weeping over this, he became nearly blind. Being found one day weeping before a crucifix, he exclaimed: I weep over the sufferings of Christ, but even more, over those who forget him and do not love him.
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The Son of God might have appeared in the world at the age of a perfect man, but because little children attract to themselves greater love, Jesus therefore chose to appear upon earth as the poorest infant that was ever born. Why? So that we would love him.
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[i] See Sermons of Alphonsus Liguori, p. 52; also, The Incarnation, birth, and infancy of Jesus Christ, p. 294.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Beloved in Christ, today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is today that we remember, the Blessed Virgin herself was conceived, from day one, without Original sin.
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Recently we spoke of the importance of ‘types,’ of symbols of the Old Testament pointing ahead to the Redemption. One important ‘type’ is that of the first woman, Eve. The story of the fall, told in Genesis – the first Sin – it was initiated by the woman, Eve. Original sin was complete, when Adam, the head of the human race, confirmed the sin.
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But these signs anticipate the Good News that would come. A new Woman, Mary, will set salvation into motion, and this will be crowned by her Son, the true Head of the human race.
So we notice the parallels between Eve and Mary. Eve listened to the wicked angel, Satan;
Mary listened to the good angel, Gabriel.
Eve was disobedient to God, Mary was obedient to God’s will.
Eve gave the poison fruit of sin to the world, Mary gave us the saving Fruit of her womb.
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The parallels are purposeful. But another should occur to us as well: Eve was originally made without sin, she and Adam had grace. Well, what about Mary? Mary too was made without sin, but she remained sinless and faithful, and so became the true Mother of all the Living.
Mary was conceived without Original Sin, and that means that from the beginning, she was Full of Grace.
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St. Irenaus, 1800 years ago would say that although the human race found death through Eve, it is saved through Mary; and Blessed Raymond Jordano says, ‘every good, every help, every grace, that men have received and will receive from God until the end of time, will come to them by the intercession of Mary.’[i]
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We here, all know the wonders worked by our great Patron, St. John Vianney, the conversion of his whole parish. But we must also know of an important weapon St. John had to help him accomplish this: it was the Blessed Virgin.
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We may know that he had loved Mary from his childhood; we may also know that she appeared to him and he conversed with her; but we may not know, that he blessed a statue of Mary for each home in his village – they say it was a remarkable sight to see the statues of Mary that adorned the front of every single house in town.
St. John also gave each family a color picture of Mary for the inside of their home, blessed and signed by himself.
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In 1814 he erected a large statue of Mary Immaculate at his Church, and put around her neck a heart of white ribbon, with all the names of his parishioners written on it; and he consecrated his parish to – ‘Mary Conceived without Sin.’[ii]
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As she did then, so now – this Immaculate Mother can make our hearts burn with the love of Jesus – if we let her.
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[i] Glories of Mary, 112
[ii] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Henri Gheon, p. 228. Also, http://www.olrl.org
2nd Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, in the 10th Century BC, the Israelites were under the leadership of King Saul. It was a difficult period because they were constantly being attacked by enemy tribes.
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Now there came a day when Israel was in a face-off with the brutal Philistine tribe; on that day, Jesse called his youngest son David in from the field – he was a shepherd – and asked him to take some food to the front lines of the army, where his older brothers were facing down the Philistines.
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So young David made his way there, and on arriving, he saw the worry on the soldier’s faces and asked what is going on. ‘Hey kid, you see that tyrant of a Philistine down there – the one that is over 6 cubits tall – somebody has to fight him. If we lose, we’ll be slaves of the Philistines. But who do we have that can beat that giant? He said that, because Goliath’s height of 6 cubits works out to over 9 feet tall, he WAS a giant.
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So little David goes straight up to King Saul and says, I can fight him! ‘you kid?’ come on! Seriously King, in my work as a shepherd, I’ve killed a lion and a bear with my own hands, and I can beat Goliath.
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So Saul said, ‘Why not give the kid a shot?’ But you better put on my armor. So he put on his armor, and gave him his heavy sword, but it was way too heavy. ‘I’m not used to these, he said. So David took it all off, and without any armor, ran down toward Goliath with only his trusty sling-shot and staff. He stopped at the brook, to collect 5 stones and then ran toward the towering monster.
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Looking down at him, Goliath said with disdain: ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” I will give your flesh to the birds of the air. Then David said, “You come to me with sword and spear; but I come in the name of the LORD of hosts, this day the LORD will deliver you into my hand.
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David ran to the right, then to the left, and then, taking careful aim, shot a stone that embedded itself in Goliath’s forehead. The giant came towering down in a thud; then David took Goliath’s own, huge sword, and cut off his head.
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Friends in Christ, The victory of little David over Goliath is a ‘type’, a symbol that points to something greater. Goliath was 6 cubits tall, his spearhead weighed 6 hundred sheckels, and he wore 6 pieces of armor: 666. This cruel giant is a symbol of the Devil. And against all odds, a little shepherd – defeats him.
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David is a ‘type’ of the coming Savior, Jesus, who will call himself the Good Shepherd. It will be Christ who will defeat the Devil, the seemingly unbeatable monster, not by a sling shot, but with the Cross.
The story of the Old Testament is filled with ‘types,’ images, prophecies and symbols: and these ‘precursors,’ were preparing the way for the Savior. The final and greatest of these precursors is encountered in the gospel today: St. John the Baptist. St. John represents the last and final preparation for this long foretold Savior. He was the ‘voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord.’
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How many hundreds of prophecies pointed to this coming Christ.
His Incarnation was foretold: ‘the Desired of all nations shall come… thy King will come the just Savior.’
His birth was foretold: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.’
His mission and preaching were foretold: For it was written: ‘Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, I will save my flock.’
And his Passion: ‘they will tear holes in my hands and feet.’
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This Messiah had been foretold in types and signs for a thousand years, but then comes St. John the Baptist. His followers say to him, ‘Is Jesus the excepted Messiah?’ ‘Go ask him, says St. John. So they go to Jesus and say to him:’ Art thou he who is to come? And he answered them, ‘go and report to John what you have heard and seen; the blind see,[i] the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
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Why does Our Lord give this answer? Because he is reminding them of many things that were foretold about the coming Savior. Isaiah said that the Redeemer would cure the blind, and the lame and the deaf, and that the dead would be raised – all of which they were seeing Jesus do.
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You know, history is full of famous religious leaders. Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, LaoZi, Bahaullah, Joseph Smith, and many others. Of these religious figures then we must ask them: ‘What record was there before you were born, that you were coming?[ii] Buddha had no one to foretell his birth or his message. For Confucius, the events of his birth and his mother were not recorded, nor were they written down centuries before his arrival.
There were no predictions about Bahaullah, Joseph Smith, or Mohammed, or anyone else. They just came and said, ‘Here I am, you must believe me.’
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But the collection of the prophecies of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are simply staggering. It was a torrent of prophecy that preceded Him. Oh, He is the Savior, the one foretold!
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St. Paul, writing about the Old Testament says:[iii] ‘What things soever were written, were written for our learning: that, through the comfort of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
We believe. We believe Lord, that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who have come to save us from our sins.
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Advent is a time in which our hope is raised up.
‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?[iv]
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During this season, may the Blessed Virgin obtain a sure hope for us, in the confidence and faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Peter]
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[i] Isaiah 35:5; 26:19
[ii] It is Fulton Sheen who makes this point.
[iii] Rom 15:4
[iv] Rom 8:31
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was born during the 3rd century, in present day Turkey, and it is the memory of this great saint which has led to the stories of Santa Claus. St. Nicholas is a saint and confessor of the Catholic Church, and also he is very revered among Orthodox Christians.
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Nicholas was a monk in the monastery of Holy Zion; widely known for sanctity, he was elected abbot, and then a bishop.
During the reign of Diocletian, he was put in prison for preaching the gospel, but later he was released when Constantine came to the throne. For this reason he is venerated as a Confessor of the Faith.
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Many miracles occurred in the life of St. Nicholas, and for this reason he is also called Nicholas the Wonderworker.
He was present at the great council of Nicea;[i] During the council, Arius the heretic, who denied that Jesus is truly God, stood up on his seat to be better heard. Enraged by this offense against Jesus Christ, Nicholas went quickly over to Arius pulled him down by his beard.[ii]
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But bishop Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving; people in those days left their shoes outside the threshold of the house, and children would often find coins or candy in them from the kindly bishop. Many continue this tradition in homes today.
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It is related that a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a dowry for them. They were soon tempted to support their family by illicit means. But Nicholas felt sad about this, and so he decided to help; under the cover of night, he went to the house and threw a bag of gold coins through the window into the room where the father lay sleeping. He did this on three consecutive nights, and one time, the gold landed right in the man’s stocking which was hanging up to dry by the fireplace.
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After Nicholas’ death, his relics were placed in the city of Myra, and were highly venerated. When the Muslims conquered Asia Minor, the relics were in danger of being lost forever, so in 1087 a courageous group of men in Naples made a plan to recover the relics. Sailing in 3 ships, they reached Myra, and secretly stole into the city. As they gathered the bones of Nicholas, they were discovered, but raced back to their ships just in time; they brought the relics to Bari. The next day, 30 persons were cured by intercession to St. Nicholas. An oily substance valued for its medicinal powers, still flows from his relics today.
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St. Nicholas is a great friend and intercessor; he is the patron saint of children, of sailors, and of many other causes. He truly is, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
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[i] and died as bishop of Myra in 352.
[ii] and punched him!
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. John Damascene. St. John is famous for his fight against iconoclasm. Iconoclasm is the idea that it is wrong to use sacred images of Christ or the saints.
Icons – these were and still are very important in the faith of Easter Rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians. But there were times when strong passions flared up against their use, leading even to violence. This was called iconoclasm.
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The major iconoclasm period was 730 – 787AD, and in the end, the Church called a Council to deal with it, declaring at the 2nd Council of Nicea that it is fine to make images of Christ and the saints. St. John Damascene was one of the strong defenders of the right to make icons and images, and he wrote beautifully on this subject and on the sacred Liturgy.
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Today is also the Feast day of St. Barbara; although she is not on the public calendar, I know a number of people who have a special love for her, so we should say something about her.
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St. Barbara was the daughter of a rich man named Dioscorus who was a pagan. Because she was so beautiful, Dioscorus did not allow any man to see her. In fact, he kept her locked in a tower all the time.
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One day, her father went on a journey, at which point Barbara came down from the tower to see a bath-house that her father was having built. She saw in it, two windows that the workmen had made; thinking that 3 windows would well-symbolize the Holy Trinity, she said to them: ‘Make me here another window’, which they did. Days later in secret, a priest came and baptized Barbara in that bathhouse.
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When her father came home and she told him that she was a Christian, he was outraged, and dragged her before the Prefect who had her cruelly tortured. Then she was ordered to sacrifice to the gods. Barbara said: ‘I offer myself to God, Jesus Christ, who has created heaven and earth and all things.’
She was then ordered to be beheaded, at which point her own father dragged her up a mountain to kill her himself. Before her death, she prayed ‘Oh Jesus, I beseech thee to hear my prayer, that for all who call on you in my memory, you will not remember their sins.’ Then with a sword, Dioscorus put his own daughter to death. But when he was coming down the mountain he was struck by lightening and nothing remained of him except ashes.
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St. Barbara is the patron saint of architects, prisoners, soldiers, and cooks, but most importantly, she is the patron against a sudden death, that a person could receive the sacraments and die in peace.
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. John Damascene. St. John is famous for his fight against iconoclasm. Iconoclasm is the idea that it is wrong to use sacred images of Christ or the saints.
Icons – these were and still are very important in the faith of Easter Rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians. But there were times when strong passions flared up against their use, leading even to violence. This was called iconoclasm.
.
The major iconoclasm period was 730 – 787AD, and in the end, the Church called a Council to deal with it, declaring at the 2nd Council of Nicea that it is fine to make images of Christ and the saints. St. John Damascene was one of the strong defenders of the right to make icons and images, and he wrote beautifully on this subject and on the sacred Liturgy.
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Today is also the Feast day of St. Barbara; although she is not on the public calendar, I know a number of people who have a special love for her, so we should say something about her.
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St. Barbara was the daughter of a rich man named Dioscorus who was a pagan. Because she was so beautiful, Dioscorus did not allow any man to see her. In fact, he kept her locked in a tower all the time.
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One day, her father went on a journey, at which point Barbara came down from the tower to see a bath-house that her father was having built. She saw in it, two windows that the workmen had made; thinking that 3 windows would well-symbolize the Holy Trinity, she said to them: ‘Make me here another window’, which they did. Days later in secret, a priest came and baptized Barbara in that bathhouse.
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When her father came home and she told him that she was a Christian, he was outraged, and dragged her before the Prefect who had her cruelly tortured. Then she was ordered to sacrifice to the gods. Barbara said: ‘I offer myself to God, Jesus Christ, who has created heaven and earth and all things.’
She was then ordered to be beheaded, at which point her own father dragged her up a mountain to kill her himself. Before her death, she prayed ‘Oh Jesus, I beseech thee to hear my prayer, that for all who call on you in my memory, you will not remember their sins.’ Then with a sword, Dioscorus put his own daughter to death. But when he was coming down the mountain he was struck by lightening and nothing remained of him except ashes.
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St. Barbara is the patron saint of architects, prisoners, soldiers, and cooks, but most importantly, she is the patron against a sudden death, that a person could receive the sacraments and die in peace.
Friends in the Lord, as we begin this Advent season, Mother Church gives us to read from Isaiah the prophet. ‘On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from it’s roots a bud shall blossom, and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him.’
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Isaiah is a remarkable book, that in so many ways he foretells the coming Messiah, Jesus. Our Lord will be a descendent in the line of David, whose father was Jesse. So it DID come to pass, that a ‘shoot’ sprouted from the stump of Jesse.
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At the time of Isaiah’s writing, this passage had a reference to the fact that Assyria had caused a massive, wide-ranging destruction by it’s war-machine, leveling the entire world they knew. All that remained was Jerusalem, the ‘stump;’ this ‘stump,’ Jerusalem, was the one sign of life that survived the near-total destruction, bringing hope to the world.
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But the pen of Isaiah was guided by the Holy Spirit, and whether Isaiah knew it or not, he was also writing a prophecy of a coming Savior, who would come forth from this ‘stump,’ the line of David.
This is the 3rd Emmanuel prophecy, and it tells us some things about the coming Savior. He will have exceptional qualities, thanks to the Holy Spirit who will descend upon him.
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Here we find the list of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; Jesus will have the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s Gifts, and as we know, he will in turn impart these Gifts on us when we become his disciples.
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The Hebrew version of Isaiah lists only 6 Gifts, but the Greek Septuagint which was used by the early Church lists the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit. (The Septuagint divides the Gift of Fear into two: Piety and Fear of the Lord)
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.
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The Messiah who will be born will usher in a new era of peace. The Kingdom of the Christ will have the harmony that was first seen in the Garden of Eden, in paradise, which was broken by the wound of sin. Even violence in the animal world will disappear. ‘The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.’ Such a peace, is the Kingdom of Christ, this is the harmony that we seek, and will find in heaven.
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I once asked the school children, ‘What kind of world would it be if everyone lived the way Jesus wanted us to: No anger or hatred, no hurting or lies; only goodness and kindness everywhere?’ One child said: ‘it would be paradise.’
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And that is what this Savior wants to bring us to.
