Banish fear forever

Wednesday after Epiphany
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

The gospel reading this evening ends with a sad indictment of the disciples. After Jesus calms the angry sea and rescuing his friends from a watery grave, Mark writes, “[The disciples] were completely astounded. They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.” It is sad that they are astounded by Jesus' power to calm the sea and even sadder that they did not understand the signs given to them when he fed the five thousand. As sad as these failures are, it is saddest of all that their hearts have hardened against accepting the truth of Jesus' true nature and mission. What does all this sad failure tell us about the disciples? At the very least, we know why they were so frightened by the storm and by Jesus walking on the water to save them. With hearts hardened against both understanding and love, the disciples are left with no other way to see and feel the world than through fear. They are terrified at the prospect of drowning, and even the appearance of their Master on the waves is not enough to quell their fear. John writes, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” Christ is with us. There is no place for fear among us. So, take heart! 

When we say that a heart has grown hard, we mean that it is no longer capable—on its own—of serving its spiritual function: it can no longer love; that is, it can no longer seat Love Himself at the center of the human soul. Without Love Himself seated in the center of our souls, no soul can begin even to dream of seeing and understanding the miraculous signs Christ performs, much less see and understand his true nature and mission. Without Love Himself seated at the center of their lives, the disciples are ignorant and loveless men chosen by Christ to learn and love instead of fear; yet, their fear is what keeps them from learning and loving. Their fear reaches its terrific peak at Jesus' arrest in the Garden, and they surrender to the temptation to abandon him. Only after the descent of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love between the Father and the Son, do they find their hearts grown large enough to hold all the love they need to take on the Christ-nature and make his mission their own. But now, in a boat on an angry sea, they cry out in astonishment and fear, and they hear Jesus say, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” Take heart! Christ is with us. And there is no place for fear among us. 

Without Love Himself seated in our hearts, we cannot begin even to dream of seeing and understanding the miraculous signs Christ performs, much less see and understand his true nature and mission. And understanding that nature and mission is more than a matter of historical curiosity. By receiving his body and blood in this sacrifice of thanksgiving, each one of us who receives commits him/herself to taking on Christ's nature and to making his mission our own. We take one more step toward becoming fully human; that is, to becoming more perfectly human, completely giving ourselves over to the Father for His divine purpose. But fear stands btw each one of us and total surrender to God. The spirit of not-knowing-what-comes; the spirit of worry, anxiety, turmoil floats there tempting us to run, to just give up. And no amount of argument, evidence, or tears will move us around those gnawing spirits. John tells us, “. . .one who fears is not yet perfect in love.” So, we know that perfect love moves fear, and there is only one Perfect Love: God Himself. Thanks be to God that Christ is with us always. Now, take one more step toward becoming Christ for one another and banish fear forever. 

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Coffee Cup Browsing

Totalitarianism in the West: "To permit the State to claim authority over [moral] knowledge is to reduce morality to politics, which is to reduce it to power."

Swirling the Bowl: "persuasive evidence for the harmfulness of paedophilic relationships does not yet exist."

Legislating Happiness: "Inventing 'civil rights' that contradict natural rights does not solve a problem of personal unhappiness."

Is Sandy B.O.'s Katrina?  “Where is the government? We need gasoline! We’re gonna die. We’re gonna freeze.”

Doing the penance before doing the sin: "But the new liberal aristocracy is far less discreet than the old."
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Thanks

Rec'd Fanny Howe's volume of poetry, Come and See this morning. . .

Thanks to the anonymous Book Benefactor who sent this gem my way!

Fr. Philip, OP
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Celebrate Jesus as the Christ

Monday after The Epiphany
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Over the Christmas holidays I saw a commercial on the DIY channel: a young man and woman are talking about car insurance. The woman confesses that she believes everything that she reads on the internet b/c nothing false is allowed to be published on the web. The man looks at her incredulously and asks about her evening plans. She says, “I have a date with this guy from the internet. He's a French model.” Just then, an unattractive man with unkempt hair and giving off a creepy serial killer vibe shows up. He approaches the woman and says, with a heavy mid-western American accent, “Bon jour!” She smiles and walks off with him arm-in-arm. Besides good sense, what is this young woman lacking? The ability to discern the difference btw truth and deceit. She believes that everything she reads on the internet is true. Why? B/c the internet says so. The false reasoning of this circular argument escapes her. How often do we Christians mistake error for truth? How often do we accept falsehood as gospel-truth just b/c our favorite priest says so, or b/c an alleged Marian apparition in Boolakistan says so? “Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God. . .”

John urges his people to discern the difference btw the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit. How do we identify these two spirits? He gives us two tests: 1). “. . .every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God. . .” and 2) “every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God.” Think of this as the Epiphany Test; that is, the test to see whether or not the person teaching or preaching possesses a spirit of truth by acknowledging Jesus as the Christ. Now, it would be all too simple a thing if this test required nothing more than a declaration of faith in Christ. Even the Devil knows that Jesus is the Christ. In Greek, the word “acknowledges” is homologei, which literally means “of one mind” and is used to say, “I agree, declare, profess.” But it also has a specific flavoring when used for a Jewish audience: “I praise, celebrate.” What's the difference btw “I agree that Jesus is the Christ” and “I celebrate that Jesus is the Christ”? We can imagine the denizens of hell professing the former but not the latter. Like the magi of the Epiphany, a person possessed by the spirit of truth will always praise AND celebrate the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ! 

John's particular concern in his letter is the prevalence and influence of false prophets among his people. These prophets are Gnostic Christians who deny that Jesus was truly human. Their teachings threaten not only the integrity of the apostolic witness but also the unity of Christian purpose that the Church guarantees. John wants to encourage his orthodox flock, so he writes, “We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.” We could read this as a statement of class privilege, or a declaration that we are somehow better than others. In fact, with this statement John imposes on us a grave responsibility. If we belong to God, then we are responsible for telling the truth about the Christ so that those who do not yet belong to God may come to Him for His glory. Belonging to God is not a privilege; it doesn't set us above anyone. If anything, belonging to God requires us to serve in deed and truth. Thus, the necessity of being able and eager to discern the truth by first celebrating Jesus as the Christ. “We receive from him whatever we ask. . .” Ask to be possessed by the spirit of truth so that your deeds in love may serve His eternal purpose. 

P.S.  I found the commercial on Youtube after finishing the homily, so my quote isn't accurate.  Close enough. 

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The Magi and Our Bishops

This is the deacons' weekend to preach, so I thought a little taste of BXVI's homily for Epiphany Sunday would be good.  During this Mass in Rome, the Holy Father ordained four men bishops, thus the focus on the nature and character of the episcopate: 

[. . .]

Let us return to the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above all, men of courage, the courage and humility born of faith. Courage was needed to grasp the meaning of the star as a sign to set out, to go forth – towards the unknown, the uncertain, on paths filled with hidden dangers. We can imagine that their decision was met with derision: the scorn of those realists who could only mock the reveries of such men. Anyone who took off on the basis of such uncertain promises, risking everything, could only appear ridiculous. But for these men, inwardly seized by God, the way which he pointed out was more important than what other people thought. For them, seeking the truth meant more than the taunts of the world, so apparently clever.

How can we not think, in this context, of the task of a Bishop in our own time? The humility of faith, of sharing the faith of the Church of every age, will constantly be in conflict with the prevailing wisdom of those who cling to what seems certain. Anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the prevalent way of thinking, even in our own day. Today’s regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs. Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset is particularly urgent for a Bishop today. He must be courageous. And this courage or forcefulness does not consist in striking out or in acting aggressively, but rather in allowing oneself to be struck and to be steadfast before the principles of the prevalent way of thinking. The courage to stand firm in the truth is unavoidably demanded of those whom the Lord sends like sheep among wolves. "Those who fear the Lord will not be timid", says the Book of Sirach (34:16). The fear of God frees us from the fear of men. It liberates.

 

[. . .]
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Homiliaries?

My thanks to M.R. for sending me two volumes of fra. Adian Nichols' four volume set, The Year of the Lord's Favour: A Homiliary for the Roman Liturgy. 

These will be very useful in preparing homilies and in any future teaching positions I might occupy.

Fr. Philip Neri, OP

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In deed and truth, love

St. John Neumann
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

On Christmas day 2012, an on-line petition appeared on the White House website, calling on the president to declare the Catholic Church a “hate group.” The petition was posted as a response to Holy Father's Christmas address to the College of Cardinals. In part, the petition reads, “Pope Benedict said that gay people starting families are threatening to society, and that gay parents objectify and take away the dignity of children. . .The Pope also implied that gay families are sub-human, as they are not dignified in the eyes of God.” You will not be surprised to hear that the Holy Father said no such thing and that the hate-mongering charge against the Church is false to its core. So, why was this petition posted? It's mostly an intimidation tactic aimed at silencing Catholic opposition to same-sex marriage. But the spirit motivating the petition goes well beyond the politics of the culture wars. John writes that Cain murdered Abel b/c Abel's works were righteous while he own were evil. He says, “Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” Don't be surprised when your love for God and your pursuit of righteousness drives the powers of this world to loathe you. Evil always responds to rejection with hatred and violence. 

How do we—imperfect followers of Christ—respond to the hatred and violence of evil? John writes, “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us. . .Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” Love Himself laid down his life for us so that we might not only love him perfectly in turn but do so by loving one another as he loves us. The only proper response to the violence and hatred of evil is to love in deed and truth; that is, to draw upon the love Christ revealed to us in his sacrificial death on the cross: to die for one another as brothers and sisters, to die in love even for those who call us their enemies. John is crystal clear about this: “Whoever does not love remains in death.” It might help for us to remember that God—Love Himself—spoke the Word across the void to create in love everything that is. Evil is the void, that nothingness from the beginning, that longs for the corruption and destruction of all that God creates. Just as Love Himself filled the void with His creating love, so we too must fill the vacant spirits of human evil with the love Christ reveals on his cross. 

How do we accomplish this? Argument, rhetoric, snarky bumper stickers, nor well-intentioned laws can help us love as Christ loves us nor can they show those possessed by a spirit of violence and hatred the way out of evil. When Jesus finds Philip in Galilee, he says to him, “Follow me.” Philip tells Nathanael that he has found the Messiah, but Nathanael wonders if this is true. Philip answers in the only way he can: “Come and see.” In essence, Philip answers Nathanael's skepticism by saying, “Follow me and see for yourself that the Messiah is among us.” This is how we show those possessed by the spirits of violence and hatred how to be free of the void that's trapped them, “Follow me to Christ and see what love has done for us all.” Those who hate us b/c we love God and seek righteousness need our sacrificial love more than anyone. And we need—more than anything else—to love them. Loving those who love us is good, but what credit is it us to love the loving? We are charged to love in deed and truth, meaning our love is not to be compromised by fudging the truth for comfort's sake. We cannot love while lying about the truth of the faith nor can we honestly say, “Come and see” if what we have to show is false. The only answer to this world's violent hatred of truth and goodness is a loving soul's death for sake of righteousness. 

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Our Ruin & Repair

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Finding useful solutions to life's little problems is mostly about knowing the nature of your problems. How do you know that you've found a useful solution if you don't understand the problem? A corollary to this: finding what you seek is mostly about knowing what you are looking for. How do you know that you've found what you've been looking for if you don't know what it is you are looking for in the first place? These two rather obvious observations lead us to conclude that living life in this world is an adventure in asking the right questions so that we recognize the answers when we find them. Thus, when Jesus notices two of John's disciples stalking him, he asks, “What are you looking for?” Well, obviously, they are looking for him. Why else would they start stalking him? As Jesus walks by John and his disciples, John says of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Here, walking by, John proclaims, is the answer you've been seeking all your lives. Jesus is the answer, your answer. Now, what is the question, your question, that Jesus answers? 

Imagine you are standing just a few feet away from the scene described in this morning's gospel. You see John the Baptist and two of his many disciples hanging around talking. Then this famous preacher, Jesus of Nazareth, walks by and John—himself a famous preacher—shouts, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” John's disciples are startled at first but quickly collect themselves and start following after Jesus. Just as they walk out of earshot, you faintly hear one of the disciples ask Jesus, “Teacher, where are you staying?” And Jesus answers, “Come and you will see.” The whole exchange takes less than a minute but that's long enough for you to wonder: were John's disciples looking for this “Lamb of God” person? John's emphatic proclamation would seem to indicate that they were and then they fall in with Jesus to follow him. What message is this Jesus guy preaching, a message that draws John's disciples away from him? You soon realize that this little scene has done more than strike your curiosity. Now you're trapped asking your own questions about what it means to be the Lamb of God, and how a man can be called such a thing. Lambs of God are sacrificed in the temple for the remission of sin. The whole thing is at once confusing and intriguing. And your questions just keep piling up. Then the Big Question hits you, “What am I looking for?” 

If you are a follower of Christ, you follow The Answer. You've found what you seek; you've found your solution. That part was easy. The more difficult task is searching out and discovering the problem that the Christ solves. You might wonder: if I've found my solution in Christ, why bother with understanding the problem he solves? To fully grasp a solution, to fully understand an answer, it's necessary to understand the true nature of the problem; otherwise, you may never fully appreciate or wisely use the solution you've found. For all of creation, the Christ solves the problem of a broken relationship with the Creator. For us human creatures, as a whole, the Christ solves the problem of sin by making it possible for us to live again in original justice with the Father; that is, the death and resurrection of the long-awaited Messiah repairs the disease of original sin universally, for all. So the better question is: what habit or attitude prevents you from following Christ the Answer to the best of your ability? Perhaps the best way—and ironically so—to figure this out is to follow Christ the Answer to the best of your imperfect ability and let your walk with him reveal the very problems he is sent to solve. What are we looking for? Our ruin and its repair.*

* The contemporary American poet, Eric Pankey, in a poem titled, “Prayer,” asks this question: “What do you love better: the ruin or its repair/Desire’s affliction or fire’s harsh sacrament?”

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Arrival: Big Easy

Made it back to Nawlins' a few minutes ago.

Had a quiet, restful time with the Parentals and extended family.

God bless your New Year!
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Defining "Mary, Mother of God"

Doing my Dominican Duty: providing historical/intellectual ammo for any struggle you might have with fundamentalist relatives over the holidays!

The Solemnity of the Mary, Mother of God, celebrates the decision taken at the Council of Ephesus (431) against the teaching of the Patriarch, Nestorius, who held that a human person could not be said to have given birth to God. The Patriarch of Alexander, Cyril, argued that Mary, as the chosen instrument of the Incarnation, conceived and gave birth to the Word, Jesus, fully human and fully divine, one person with two natures. Mary, then, is properly understood to be “Theotokos,” God-bearer.

Cyril wrote (in part) to Nestorius:

"And since the holy Virgin brought forth corporally God made one with flesh according to nature, for this reason we also call her Mother of God, not as if the nature of the Word had the beginning of its existence from the flesh.

For In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and he is the Maker of the ages, coeternal with the Father, and Creator of all; but, as we have already said, since he united to himself hypostatically human nature from her womb, also he subjected himself to birth as man, not as needing necessarily in his own nature birth in time and in these last times of the world, but in order that he might bless the beginning of our existence, and that that which sent the earthly bodies of our whole race to death, might lose its power for the future by his being born of a woman in the flesh. And this: In sorrow you shall bring forth children, being removed through him, he showed the truth of that spoken by the prophet, Strong death swallowed them up, and again God has wiped away every tear from off all faces. For this cause also we say that he attended, having been called, and also blessed, the marriage in Cana of Galilee, with his holy Apostles in accordance with the economy. We have been taught to hold these things by the holy Apostles and Evangelists, and all the God-inspired Scriptures, and in the true confessions of the blessed Fathers."

Cyril published twelve anathemas against Nestorius. Cyril's letters and his anathemas became the primary texts from which the council fathers drew up their canons for the council.

The first anathema reads: “If anyone will not confess that the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (Θεοτόκος), inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh [as it is written, The Word was made flesh] let him be anathema.”

The fifth anathema reads: “If anyone shall dare to say that the Christ is a Theophorus [that is, God-bearing] man and not rather that he is very God, as an only Son through nature, because the Word was made flesh, and has a share in flesh and blood as we do: let him be anathema.”

As is the case with all Marian dogma and doctrine, we are immediately directed back to Christ as our Lord and Savior. No Marian dogma or doctrine is declared or defined in isolation from Christ. She is always understood to be an exemplar for the Church and a sign through which we come to a more perfect union with Christ. Though our Blessed Mother is rightly revered and venerated, she is never worshiped as if she were divine. She is rightly understood as the Mediatrix of All Graces in so far as she mediated, through her own body, the conception and birth of Christ, who is Grace Himself. In no sense are we to understand our Blessed Mother as the source of grace. Rather, she was and is a conduit through which we benefit from the only mediation between God and man, Christ. In her immaculate conception and assumption into heaven, our Blessed Mother is herself a beneficiary of Christ's grace. As such, she cannot be the source of our blessedness, our giftedness in Christ.

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Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty

From the USCCB: Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
 

Join the Movement

• What: The U.S. bishops have approved a pastoral strategy to advance a Movement for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty. It is essentially a call to prayer, penance, and sacrifice for the sake of renewing a culture of life, marriage, and religious liberty in our country. Click here for a one-page handout about the Call to Prayer that is suitable for use as a bulletin insert or flyer.
  

Unprecedented challenges call for increased awareness and formation, as well as spiritual stamina and fortitude among the faithful.

• Why: The well-being of society requires that life, marriage, and religious liberty are promoted and protected. Serious threats to each of these goods, however, have raised unprecedented challenges to the Church and to the nation. Two immediate flashpoints are the following:
  
  First is the HHS Mandate, which requires almost all employers, including Catholic employers, to pay for employees' contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs regardless of conscientious objections. This is a clear affront to America's first freedom, religious liberty, as well as to the inherent dignity of every human person.
  
  Second, current trends in both government and culture are moving toward redefining marriage as the union of any two persons, ignoring marriage's fundamental meaning and purpose as the universal institution that unites a man and a woman with each other and with the children born from their union. These challenges call for increased awareness and formation, as well as spiritual stamina and fortitude among the faithful, so that we may all be effective and joyful witnesses of faith, hope and charity. 
  

• When: In this Year of Faith, starting on the feast of the Holy Family (Dec. 30, 2012) until the feast of Christ the King (Nov. 24, 2013)
  

• Who: All of the Catholic faithful are encouraged to participate
  

• Where: Throughout the entire country; at your local parish, cathedral, school or home
  

 How To Participate: 5 Ways:

1. Host or attend a Eucharistic Holy Hour on the last Sunday of each month

• Two-page template for a Holy Hour
• Dates for Holy Hours
• Video: Adoration
  

2. Pray a daily Rosary

• How to pray the Rosary
  

3. Prayers of the Faithful at daily and Sunday Masses

• Suggested Prayers of the Faithful for life, marriage, and religious liberty, both at home and abroad
  

4. Abstain from meat on Fridays and fast on Fridays

• For the intention of the protection of life, marriage and religious liberty
• The practice of fasting: The general practice of fasting allows a person to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may be taken, not to equal one full meal.
• "The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church's penitential practice." - Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1438
• For more information on fasting and abstinence, see the USCCB Fast & Abstinence page
  

5. Participate in the 2nd Fortnight for Freedom (June/July 2013)

• Goal: A visible, vibrant reminder of the God-given nature of religious liberty, the right to bring our faith into the public square, and the rights of individuals and institutions to conduct their professional lives according to their religious convictions
• Key issue: Potential Supreme Court rulings on marriage in June 2013
• Key issue: The need for conscience protection in light of the August 1, 2013 deadline for religious organizations to comply with the HHS mandate
• Key issue: Religious liberty concerns in other areas, such as immigration, adoption, and humanitarian services

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Holy Families Meditation

From 2009:

Something to think about on this Holy Family Sunday. . .

Trinitarian Family:  Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Holy Family:  Jesus, Mary, Joseph

Eschatological Family:  Christ & Church

Social Family: Individual, family, State*

Ecclesial Family:  Bishop, priest, deacon, laity

Domestic Family:  Mom, Dad, kids, etc.

Individual Family:  body, soul, spirit

Now, starting at the top with the Trinitarian Family, move down the list of families and mediate on how each familial relationship is a more perfect relationship than the one below it.**

Then, starting at the bottom with the Individual Family, move up the list of families and mediate on how each familial relationship is an imperfect reflection of the one above it.

How does the more perfect familial relationships help perfect/complete the imperfect/incomplete familial relationships?

Report your findings.

*I added this one after getting feedback from knowledgeable HA readers.
** "more perfect" here is a way of saying "more complete given X's telos"
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Christmas Update

Christmas dinner was a lot of fun.  My family is loud, boisterous, and very funny.  The main course was casserole.  Many casseroles gave up their lives for our celebrations.  Oh, and there was ham. 

Going to see The Hobbit this afternoon with a friend from my seminary days.  

If I manage to sit still for 3hrs it will be a miracle.

Yesterday I took The Nieces out to do a little post-Christmas shopping.  I can honestly say that this was my first time shopping with two teenage girls in a costume jewelry store. Who knew such a thing even existed???

When I left NOLA on the 25th it was 74 degrees.  Now it is 33 in N. MS. Truly, I made some bad wardrobe choices.  Yikes.

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Rain, wind, snow. . .home at last!

Made it home yesterday (25th) right on time. . .

Just as I got a little north of Ponchatoula, LA a line of thunderstorms let loose. I managed to stay a ahead of the worst of it until I got to Jackson, MS.

Then. . .POW!. . .torrential rain, wind, lightning/thunder. Yikes! Cars on I-55 were creeping along at 35-40MPH. At one point I hit a spot of deep water and skidded. Needless to say, my prayer life intensified at that moment.

Radio stations all along the way were broadcasting those blaring/honking emergency messages about tornadoes. Just to enhance my harrowing driving experience, I listened to several screaming Pentecostal preachers railing against the world. How anyone manages to get that level of intensity and volume going for long is a mystery.

About thirty minutes north of Jackson, the rain stopped and all was well under I got home. Scuba Mom had a plate of homemade pralines waiting for me.  :-)

There's a light coating on snow on the ground this morning. 

The Redneck Squirrels are still in hiding. Chickens.
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The Nativity: God's plan to bring you home

Solemnity of the Lord's Nativity (Day)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

We start: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth—and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters—Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.” Let there be day and night; let there be water above and water below; let be sky and earth; beasts wild and tame, birds, and crawling things; and let there be Man, male and female, created in the image and likeness of their Creator. With God, at the beginning, when He created everything that is, was the Word, and “all things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” It is this Word-at-the-beginning that we come together this morning to honor, adore, and welcome. Not the Word in majesty and splendor; not the Word in his brilliant glory, but the Word-given-flesh: the child, Jesus Christ, the infant son of Joseph and Mary. His birth among us reveals a narrow path, a way and a means back to God's glory and truth. To those who receive him he gives power to become children of God. 

We honor, adore, and welcome Christ-dwelling-us; we accept and receive him as Lord so that we may become children of God. Of all the ways available to God to make us into His children, why did He choose to send His only-begotten Son among us as a child? The complete answer to this question won't be available to us until we see God face-to-face; however, our Holy Father, Benedict, gives us a glimpse, a partial answer. In his Midnight Mass homily in Rome yesterday, the Holy Father said, “. . .it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love him, so that we may dare to love him. . .It is as if God were saying: I know that my glory frightens you. . .So now I am coming to you as a child, so that you can accept me and love me.” We must remember that the incarnation of the Son was not the first time that God had tried to bring His human creatures back to Him. He appeared in glory to Moses. He guided His people out of slavery in Egypt as a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke. He sent one prophet after another to accuse His people of spiritual adultery and injustice and preach repentance. He sent the Law and demanded obedience. And over and over again, His people misheard, misread, disobeyed, rebelled. And over and over again, He forgave them and restored them to His grace. What we needed was a permanent solution. 

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews notes this turbulent history and points to just such a solution: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son. . .” All that had been revealed by God before the birth of the Christ is partial, incomplete. Just quick glimpses behind the veil that separates the Creator from His creation. With imperfect knowledge, and using broken human nature, we were unable to come fully back to God, unable to achieve—even with the help of the Law and the Prophets—we were unable to attain the perfection we were made to enjoy. Having willed that we once again enjoy the original justice of the Garden, God saw that it would be good for us to have perfect knowledge of His plan and a mended human nature to use this knowledge. To achieve this, He made the unique and final revelation of His plan for our salvation into a flesh and bone human child. Not only would this child show us the way back to God, he would be the way back, the only way back to our Eden. The key to His plan is the Christ Child and the virginal teenaged girl who gave him birth. 

What does the Christ Child reveal to us? John writes, “From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” From the fullness of Christ—from this one divine person with two natures: one human, one divine—from his fullness, we have been given one gift upon another, one grace after another. We have been given perfect human knowledge of God's plan for our salvation from sin and death. We have been given a map to follow along the Way. We have been given the Truth of this world and our place in the world to come. We have been given Life and life eternal. And we have been given all this for no reason than that God loves us as His children and wills that we live with Him forever. All there is to do is to freely receive all that He has freely given and then dwell as Christ does among the living and the dead. To make our reception of these gifts both fearless and complete, God sent His only-begotten Son to live among us as one of us. And he gifted us with a Blessed Mother who bears us up to His throne as one of her own to commend to us to His mercy. Christ and his mother bring into this world the unique and final revelation of God. 

We start again: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . .All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” His light shines in the darkness of sin and death, showing all who choose to see a Way to Truth and Life. For those who choose to see, and in seeing choose to follow, he makes a promise of life eternal. And so, we gather here this morning to honor, adore, and welcome him among us as one of us. And in eating his body and drinking his blood, we pledge ourselves to leave this place, taking him out into the world as a wonder and a revelation. God the Father through the Holy Spirit placed the Son in the virginal womb of Mary. She is our mother and our model when she says to Gabriel, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Leave this place then with your heart and mind left open to her example; leave here knowing, feeling, and believing that God loves you and wants you to live with Him forever. Leave here with the Blessed Mother's surrender resounding in your body and soul. And come back—again and again—to give Him thanks for His Christ, to give Him praise for His plan to bring you home. 

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