DON’T  BE  AFRAID!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of the Immaculate Conception  is, “Don’t Be Afraid.”

At this Mass we’re celebrating Mary - the Mother of Jesus - the New Eve.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

In today’s first reading from Genesis 3: 9-15, 20, Adam says “I was afraid.”

God is looking for Adam  in the garden, where he is hiding from God. God says, “Where are you?” And Adam says, “I heard you in the garden, but I was afraid, because I was naked.”

And God says, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten the forbidden fruit.”

Then he blames Eve and they blame the snake.

We have here a profound story. It gets at the heart of who we are.

We want to walk with God. We want to be with God.  We want the world to be a beautiful garden. But we mess up. We eat the forbidden fruit.  That’s the naked truth.

And so we are afraid.

The word “afraid” appears 103 times in the English translation of our Bible. The word “fear” appears 454 times.

“Waira” is the root Hebrew word for “fear” or “afraid”.  Phobos” is the word for “fear”  in Greek. “Fear” and “afraid” are the key words in English.

And we hear 454 million times in our lives: “Don’t be afraid.”  We say that to ourselves and to others.

The naked truth is we are afraid.

We are afraid of God, ourselves, and others.

We’re afraid of failure, being seen, making mistakes, sinning, striking out, being rejected, failing.

TODAYS GOSPEL

In today’s gospel - an angel comes to Mary - it’s another basic human story - and says, “Hail full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

And she is greatly troubled. She ponders with an “Uh Oh!’ - the two sounds we say all our lives when we see a request coming, “Uh oh!”

And the angel asks her to bring Christ to our world.

The angel begins by saying, “Don’t be afraid.”

And she says that she can’t do it.  She’s not married. She has had no relations with a man.

And the angel says, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you, and you will bring the Holy One to this world.

CONCLUSION:   US

These two stories are our story.

We want to be with God - we want to walk with God - but like Adam and Eve and unlike Mary - we sneak like snakes and take the forbidden fruit.

Yet God still calls us to be his mother and bring the most high to our world.

And we’re afraid.

Yet God still calls us each day.   God still sends angels to us each day and says, “the Lord is with you” - And “Don’t be afraid.”

Hopefully we all say what Mary said, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”

December 8, 2018

PRAYER

IS JUST SHOWING

UP  AT THE WELL.

Want to pray?

Find yourself heading into a village.

Find yourself at the village well.

Find Jesus just sitting there

waiting for you.

“Well, well, look who’s here.”

Read John 4: 1-44 or so….

Go from there. Go into your

life - who’s who, what was what,

and what you’re thirsty for.

Do this and you’ll find out

in four months - at the harvest -

who you are, who Jesus is,  and

what your life is all about,

and whom you’re  really thirsty for.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

December 8, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“To this day, I still believe that the best compliment to a book or a sermon is, ‘I see what you mean.’” 

Renta J. Weems

December 7, 2018  Friday

TWO  BLIND  MEN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Two Blind Men.”

In the gospels there are a half dozen stories about blind folks who call out to Jesus for healing.

A key message would be the obvious: Cry out to Jesus on a regular basis to see better - and avoid being blind to the needs of others.

THE FIRST READING

The first reading from Isaiah would suggest we call out to God to ask Him to help us see the beauties of creation all around us - or to make that the work of our hands to make our gardens and our habitats better.

The first reading from Isaiah calls us to be holy - to not be ashamed to be a holy person, to be an honest person, to show reverence to God.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel has these 2 blind me crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us.”

Jesus then does what he usually does in these stories and these moments - he challenges the screamer to move from physical healing to soul healing  - and then to move to the faith level.

And both men receive their sight because of their faith.

And Jesus tells them to keep this quiet and they don’t follow Jesus’ admonition - and they proclaim his healing powers to the whole area.

Notice Jesus touches their eyes. He goes from the visible to the invisible.

ANOTHER TWO MEN

Since today - December 7^th -  is the feast of St. Ambrose, why not apply the story of the two blind me to the two men called, Augustine and Ambrose.

Ambrose and Augustine were both powerful men - who were fortunate to meet each other in the city of Milan.

Ambrose was sent to Milan to be the Roman governor there - and the people made him bishop.

As governor and as bishop - this short man - took no nonsense.

And boy could he preach. That is what drew Augustine to him - his intelligence and his theology. But first they argued and Augustine tried to figure out the message of the  gospels.

The blindness that Augustine had was cleared up with the help of Ambrose  - and he  saw the beautiful God - that we will hear about in Augustine’s Confessions.

CONCLUSION

Pray the prayer of the blind men in the scriptures. Lord have pity on us and help us to see.

Homily - Saint Ambrose

Isaiah 29: 17-24

Matthew 9: 27-31

December 7, 2018

STONES  HAVE NO PROBLEMS  

WITH FEELINGS 

Did you ever notice that stones 

don’t have too many problems 

with intimacy and comparisons? 

They just sit and watch like old 

people on a bus heading back to 

the nursing home or senior village. 

I guess they did it all in their time: 

being parts of mountains, bridges, 

walls, homes, churches, bars. 

They have felt the heat and the 

rain, the snow and the cold of 

time and war and history. 

Me. I don’t want to be stone - 

hard and cold. Hey 2000 years 

ago I might have killed someone. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

December 7, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“I find the harder I work, the more luck I have.” 

Thomas Jefferson

2 REASONS WHY 

WE COME TO MASS

INTRODUCTION

There are many reasons why people come to Mass. Here are 2 possible reasons why  we come to Mass.  There are many others.

Today’s readings give 2 good reasons: healing and hunger.

FIRST REASON: HEALING

The first reason is healing. 

When we go to the doctor, she or he asks, “Where does it hurt?

Once upon a time I cut my finger. It wasn’t a big cut, but I put a band aid on it.

I'm visiting my niece and family and I'm just sitting there on a couch.  I had forgotten about the band aid and the cut. Well, Patrick, my grandnephew comes into the room and spots the band aid, almost immediately, he walks over to me and points to my finger and says, “Boo Boo!”

I didn’t get it - but my niece Patty explained that he and kids often do things like that.

Well, if Jesus walked up to anyone of us here today and pointed at us and said, “Boo! Boo!” what hurt in us, would he have spotted?

Regrets, mistakes, sins, cuts, family wars, what have you?  That’s where we need and want healing.

Fill in the blank, “I’m sick of _____________.”

Is there a veil or a web that is blocking something in us or tying us up?

Jesus loved to ask: “What are you asking for?” or "What can I do for you?"

SECOND REASON: HUNGER

A second reason why we come to Mass is that we hunger.

In today’s gospel Jesus talks about a banquet. In today’s gospel Jesus talks about helping the hungry.

Each of us can say when we walk into a church, “I’m hungry.” “I’m thirsty!” “I’m empty, “I’m needy.” “I am not satisfied.”

Answer the question: What am I hungry about?

We are hungry for reconciliation. We’re hungry for fullness.  We are hungry for inner peace, meaning, for purpose. We are hungry for energy.  We are hungry for courage.  We are hungry for strength.   We are hungry for  love.

In today’s gospel, Jesus gives bread to the hungry and they end up with seven baskets full of food.

Commentators say the 7 might refer to some of the cities in the early church that are mentioned in  the  Acts of the Apostles.

All of us are hungry for- food - for inner  peace - for solutions to our problems,  etc.

CONCLUSION

Why are you here at Mass today?

You are here for various reasons. I shaped out two reasons.  Hopefully, looking  at your answers you are comfortable with your reasons. Amen.