2) THE VISITATION

Life is filled with visits – people connecting with people – people reaching out to each other.

What have been the 10 top or most prominent visits in your life?

What are your regular visitation moments each week?

A neighbor drops in for a cup of tea every Monday afternoon around three – and one cup of tea is never enough.

Co-workers chat and connect at a coffee break.

Friends sit down in the back yard to have a beer on a hot day.

Families get together when a kid celebrates her first communion.

Families come from far and near when a son or daughter plays in a big game or in a school musical.

Thanksgiving is a great time for families to connect and reconnect.

The pope travels to another country.

We go to the 25th anniversary and reunion of our high school class.

We drop into church to pray.

We drop into a nursing home every Thursday to see our aunt or the person we always sat behind at morning Mass.

We go to the funeral parlor to pay our respects to our next-door neighbor’s mom who died.

We bring communion to five people who are “shut in”.

We baby sit for our two grandkids every Tuesday.

We call up an old friend on the phone 2,000 miles away the first Sunday of the every month and we’ve been doing this for years.

A college kid sends an e-mail to a close high school friend every day – because right now they are different colleges – one in California the other in Virginia.

A parish has a team of folks who visit a local prison on a weekly basis.

Three brothers completely surprise their younger sister on her 50th birthday with a spectacular picnic birthday party.

Five farmers chat outside of church in Leipsic, Ohio every Sunday after Mass and their wives and their kids joyfully let them do it – without sitting in the car or van with their arms folded – looking at their watches every 30 seconds. It’s not just ladies who talk after church in Leipsic, Ohio.

In the gospel of Luke we read about Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth down near Jerusalem after she hears Elizabeth is pregnant.

And Elizabeth greets her with words repeated over and over and over again ever since, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”

Jesus is near.

Jesus is here.

Be aware! This might be a Visitation moment.

3) THE BIRTH

Everybody has a birthday.

What was the most significant birth in your life?

We were once waited for in the dark; and when we were born into the light, we were celebrated!

“It’s a girl!”

“It’s a boy!”

Oh what a beautiful baby!

And our mom and dad knew their story was in for a change.

Babies keep changing, need to be changed often, and they keep changing those who change them – especially when they cry in the middle of the night.

The magic of babies…. We were once a baby. Have we kept our magic?

Are we still a beautiful baby?

“Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1).

The baby screams in church. Some people scream inwardly, “Take that kid out of here!” Others smile, wondering, “What was I like when I was a baby?” Some babies’ cries in church are heard as prayers in church and they trigger adult prayers: “Thank you mom and dad for the gift of life.”

Our niece has twins.

Our sister-in-law can’t have kids, so they adopted 3 kids: one from Korea, one from Russia, one from Guatemala.

The girls in the eight grade class in a local Catholic school, baby sit for free every Sunday morning during the 9:00 AM mass. They also baby sat last Thursday evening, so parents could attend a talk in the parish hall on “5 Key Steps for Improving Your Marriage”.

The nurses in the local hospital spread the word, “Pray for a preemie baby that was born this morning. She is only 1 pound 9 ounces and needs all the prayers she can get.”

Each of us knows every year the day that is our birthday.

Even those who can’t sing, and never sing, and don’t like to sing, sing “Happy Birthday”, when they are at a birthday celebration – especially if it’s the birthday of their three year old grandkid.

And Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem and celebrated the first Christmas with Joseph and shepherds and then kings.

The last shall be first.

It’s time to journey to Jesus.

Jesus is here.

Come let us adore him.

4) THE PRESENTATION

What were the ten top moments you were present to in your life?

Life is filled with moments when we have to present ourselves: trying to get into a certain college; writing a resume in hopes of getting a job; giving a talk; going out on the first date with someone; coming into a church.

It’s 4 PM. The church is quiet and 3 people are sitting there in the semi-darkness praying. One person is praying for peace in the world. A second is praying for a daughter who is all “messed up”. The third is sitting there praising God for a lifetime of blessings.

The baptistry in the vestibule of the church is very noisy. Praise God. 6 kids are being baptized.

The church is packed. 114 kids are making their first communion.

The church is packed. 98 kids are making their confirmation.

It’s Holy Saturday night and the Easter Vigil is about to begin. 23 people are coming into the Church after months and months of attending the R.C.I.A. program every Wednesday evening, 7:00 to 8:30.

It’s a kids’ Mass and this little third grader slowly climbs the steps into the sanctuary, heads for the podium, adjusts some portable wooden steps, then grabs and grapples with the microphone, which makes a neck wrenching sound, and then this little third grader announces to the church full of schoolmates and teachers, “A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles” and her mother and father are off to the side crying as if their kid just won an Olympic Gold Medal.

It’s 13 years later and that same kid and that same mother and father are once more in the presence of a big crowd and this time their daughter is graduating from college, summa cum laude – and once more her parents are crying tears of joy.

It’s 2 years later and that same daughter is marching down the aisle of her childhood church, arm and arm with her dad, who lifts her veil, gives her a big hug and kiss and presents his daughter to his future son-in-law. Bride and groom then proceed up the steps into that same church sanctuary of her childhood to make their wedding vows. And “Yes”, once more her parents are crying.

Each morning God the teacher calls out our name. “Is my answer, “Present!”

And Joseph and Mary took their son Jesus and presented him to the Lord in the temple – and yes, they too, like all parents, cried their tears of joy.

Jesus is present.

Jesus is here.

Am I where I am?

Am I present?

Am I aware of the presents in life’s presentation moments?

5) THE FINDING

What was the biggest find in your life?

Is it a person, place or thing?

Have you ever been lost?

Have you ever been found?

Have you ever lost God?

Have you ever found God?

Have you ever looked for God?

A tourist walks into a famous cathedral in a foreign country as part of a guided tour of mostly retired folks. A ray of light from one of the stained glass windows is hitting a crucifix hanging by chains above the sanctuary. At that moment the tourist realizes he has lost his faith and now he has to begin to find it after all these years.

A junior at a state university sees a sign on a bulletin board about a weekend retreat sponsored by the Newman Club at the college – checks it out – attends the retreat – and comes back to church for the first time since his confirmation.

A woman is on vacation – playing miniature golf with her grandkids. And she realizes after 35 years of anger that she is only hurting herself by not going to church. When she drove to the parish office to see a priest after her husband died – 35 years ago, she saw the priest putting his golf bag and luggage into the trunk of his car. He said he was running late and heading to the airport. She hadn’t called. He said he was sorry he had to run. He gave her the name of the priest who was coming in that afternoon to cover for him while he was taking a week’s vacation. For 35 years she thought he should have dropped everything to listen to her. She now laughed at herself as she got a hole in one and her grandkids said, “Way to go granny.” She came back to church finally.

For Augustine it was listening to the sermons of St. Ambrose and in God’s good time picking up and reading Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

For Thomas Merton it was many experiences, but especially picking up and reading The Confessions of St. Augustine.

A woman finds a lost coin ….

A shepherd finds a lost sheep ….

A father spots a lost son from a distance on the road back home ….

And Mary and Joseph discovered they lost son, Jesus. They had left him back in Jerusalem. Each thought he was with the other. Such are the things that can happen when men travel with men and women travel with women – and their kids travel with either parent – as is the custom in Mediterranean cultures. And Mary and Joseph turned around, went back to Jerusalem together and found Jesus in the temple.

Jesus is everywhere.

Start looking! You just might find him.

Start looking. God might be looking for you?

Get found.

THE
MYSTERIES OF LIGHT

Life also has its mysteries of light – moments when we see the light – breakthrough moments – moments when things dawn on us – finally.

Here are 5 mysteries and moments of light from the life of Jesus, the Light of the world, mysteries and moments we all go through as well:

1) The Baptism of Jesus: those moments when we realize we are a child of God – that we are beloved – as well as all those surrounding us in human family – called to be washed in the waters of life.

2) The Wedding at Cana: those moments when we felt empty – in our marriages – in our family – in our life – and we finally understand Mary’s words, “Do whatever he tells you!” and we do what Jesus asks us to do as good stewards and our life is filled to the brim again – sparkling with the new wine of life.

3) The Proclamation of the Kingdom: those moments in life when this earth’s boundaries disappear – and we glimpse what Jesus was about – the Kingdom now, the Kingdom within, the Kingdom that has no boundaries, the kingdom that is forever.

4) The Transfiguration: those mountain moments in life when we see through everything and all is light – and we see Christ the Light of the world in every sparkling moment – but we know these moments don’t last and we have to go back down into the everyday valleys of life.

5) Jesus Gives Us the Eucharist: those moments in life when we are eating at the family table as well as in church and we have the experience of being in communion and covenant with each other.

1) THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

What are the baptisms you remember?

We walk towards a church. We open the door. We walk into the vestibule. We open a second door. We stop. We pause for a moment at the doorway of this sacred place, this sacred space. We dip the tip of our finger into the holy water font. We say the words that were poured over us with water at our baptism, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

And every parent at the birth and hopefully the baptism of every one of their children says from the sky of their minds, “This is my beloved daughter…. This is my beloved son. This child is a gift from God. I’m going to try to listen to her.”

And every parent at the baptism of every one of their children hopes that this child will be someone who will make this world a better place to live in – that this child will be a fifth gospel, the Good News according to (Name of the Child), that this child will be listened to, because this child and every child is New News, Good News from God.

Water. Water. Everywhere. Look at a globe. 75% of the world is water.

And every person knows the restorative power of a good shower or a slow bath – water bouncing or embracing our skin, relaxing our muscles, cleansing us, healing us, and putting a smile on our body and on our soul.

And every person knows the curing power of rivers and lakes, oceans and waterfalls: sacred places, sacred presences of the mystery of water and of God.

Not everyone can make a pilgrimage sometime in their life to the Jordan River in the Holy Land, but every person can close their eyes and be in the presence of the River called Jesus – and let his Holy Spirit descend upon him or her – and hear the sacred words, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river, he was joining in the call to repentance, the call to start again, to cross the Jordan river again – entering into the Promised Land and bringing about the dream of God – the reason why God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to freedom and a new life in the first place.

Baptism is a call to “Come to the waters.”

Baptism is a call to “Repent!”

Baptism is a call to enter into a new way of life with and in and through Jesus.

Jesus is here.

2) THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA

What were the weddings you remember?

And Jesus was invited with his disciples to a wedding feast in the city of Cana, in Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there.

Weddings are moments of new life. Weddings challenge the couple getting married to make great vows to each other – and to keep them till death do they part.

Weddings also trigger a cascade of marriage thoughts and memories in the minds and hearts and tears of those attending the wedding.

Wedding invitations get us to look at our calendars and our schedules. The couple who sent us an invitation hope we will say, “Yes we’ll be there.”

Weddings are moments of music and dance, prayers and hopes, food and drink, toasts and blessings.

Weddings bring about not only the marriage of a man and a woman, but also the marriage of families and traditions, stories and dreams.

And Jesus went to a wedding at Cana. His disciples went with him – as well as his mother. It must have been some celebration because they ran out of wine. Mary, a Jewish mother, stepped in and did what she did best. She asked her son, Jesus, to help. He said, “It wasn’t his time, yet.” Mary, knowing her son, said to the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you.” And Jesus did something. He gave this couple and every married couple – the possibility of the never ending wine of love – a never ending celebration of life – a never ending marriage of helping one another.

The Gospel of John tells us, “This was the first of the signs given by Jesus. It happened at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11)

A wedding is only a beginning. Hopefully, for the Christian, if it begins with Jesus, hopefully it will continue with Jesus. If it does the couple will see many more signs of life.
In time, the ordinary will become extraordinary. Couples see this with the birth of a child, especially the first child, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and family celebrations.

In time, water can become bread and wine. The rain, the sun, the earth, bring forth grapes on the vine and wheat in our fields. They come to our table as bread and wine – and then they become us – the body and blood of each other around the table.

All is connected. All is covenant. All is Eucharist. All is the great wedding banquet of life – that started at Cana – that started at creation – that continues with the daily mass of life.

Jesus is waiting to be invited into the marriage of your life.