Today is the feast of St. Andrew, brother of Simon Peter. Jesus said to them, and to their business partners, Zebedee & Sons, 'follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'. It seems pretty clear that, right from the git-go, being a follower of Jesus meant that you have to go out and evangelize - become a 'fisher of men'. 

It occurred to me today that in inviting people to come to know and follow Jesus, we're asking them to sign up to be hated, persecuted and who knows what else in this current anti-Christian climate that we live in. Reports are that more people are being killed simply for being Christian right now than at any time in history. That's pretty astonishing when you think of how the the Roman emperors rounded up Christians and made public spectacles of their martyrdom, and how the mass-murderers of the twentieth century, like Hitler, Stalin and Mao turned the killing of human beings into an assembly-line process - they were just as content to kill Christians as they were to kill Jews or any other group. In the very birthplace of Christianity, the Middle East, Christians are at risk every single day of losing their homes, jobs and lives like never before.

So why would anyone volunteer for this? I think it's only for one reason - when a person has a personal encounter with Jesus, whether it's an emotional experience that shakes them to their core or just a simple acceptance of the truth of who He is, that person comes to understand that this truth is worth everything - that giving up all they have and all they are is a small price to pay for what they're getting from Him.

Anybody up for goin' fishin'?

                                                       jk

Jesus tells us to not let ourselves be deceived in these times when everyone has their own brand of 'truth'. Fr. Agbo tells us how we can know the truth in this environment.

USCCB Daily Reflection for Nov. 28

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia sing 'While the Music Played', a song they composed for their patroness.







While the Music Played

Today is significant for me on a couple of levels. One, it's the memorial of my patron saint, Saint Cecilia. She is the patron saint of singers, songwriters, musicians - and self-taught guitar hacks! Here's some info about her: St. Cecilia info link. And some more here: Saint of the Day link

Two, I can very clearly remember this date in 1963, walking home from school having just been informed by our sixth-grade teacher that President John Kennedy had been shot. Our teacher told us he'd been wounded, they didn't know how badly - but by the time we were on our way home, he was already dead. I guess that incident must have made a pretty profound impact on me because I really don't have many recollections of my grade-school years - but this one is very distinct. I remember watching the funeral procession on TV a few days later. Even at the age of eleven it was unsettling, as if something you believed to be solid and reliable had just crumbled to dust. It felt like the world was now completely de-stabilized, and from a secular, political viewpoint, it probably was. But I most remember that strong emotional component. Although it was never said in words that I could understand, there was a feeling in the air that Kennedy represented a new approach to world and national policy that was going to change all the old nasty stuff and usher in the age of Camelot. At the time, we didn't know what a truly fallible human being JFK really was - he wasn't around long enough. But my world, and the world for every American, was changed and our course altered by that watershed event.

Third, a couple of well-known writers also died on that day in 1963: Aldous Huxley, author of 'Brave New World'; and Clive Staples (C. S.) Lewis. Huxley had little effect on my life. I read 'Brave New World' in high school but it seemed somewhat anti-climactic to me after reading George Orwell's '1984' - both painted a horrific picture of the future of humanity, a view that I desperately hoped was wrong. C. S. Lewis, on the other hand, has had a very big effect in my life, although I only got to know him in my adult years. I learned about Lewis by becoming addicted to J. R. R. Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings'. I found out that Tolkein and Lewis had been colleagues and friends, so I tried reading some Lewis. I was hooked pretty quickly and have been ever since. He was an atheist who became a Christian, and arguably one of the greatest apologists for Christianity in the twentieth century. I've loved 'The Chronicles of Narnia' for years now; but in terms of just getting the message of Christianity out to everyday people in language that they can understand, his classic 'Mere Christianity' has to be among the greatest pieces of writing ever. He tells it plainly and simply and never lets the reader take the easy way out when certain aspects of the faith seem to be difficult to accept. I still read and re-read Lewis frequently. He's simply a champion.....

So, November 22 is a day that carries a lot of meaning for me. Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I'm praying for all of you to have a blessed and prayerful time.

                                                                                  jk

In today's gospel, we hear the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector - a rich guy who got rich by defrauding his own people. All the tax collectors did this - collect the amount of the tax due, which was already probably exorbitant, if we know anything about how the Romans operated - then on top of that, gouging some additional percentage which they pocketed in order to feather their own nest, pay bribes to keep the bad guys away - you name it. What really made them so hated, though, was that the Romans recruited them from among the local population - so they were Jews, men who had been raised to learn the law and the prophets - in short, people who should have known that this behavior was not just illegal, but immoral according to the Torah. Not real popular folks....

It's just one of these that Jesus makes a point of singling out. Zacchaeus has something going on inside of him because he's curious to see Jesus. That seems a little odd. Why does a guy who's making it in this world have any interest in an itinerant preacher, another one of those Messiah wanna-bes that showed up every so often? But something makes him want to know this one.

We don't know what the conversation was over lunch that day when Jesus visited the home of Zacchaeus; what we do know is the outcome - Zacchaeus is no longer the man he had been. In one day he turns from cheating his own countrymen into a philanthropist who gives half of his possessions - and that, no doubt, was a lot of stuff - to the poor, and pledges to pay restitution at four bucks on the dollar to the people he's swindled. Something very, very big happened in the life of this fellow as a result of his curiosity....

How does this affect us regular folks living in the USA in the twenty-first century? If you're like me, you probably classify yourself as middle-middle class - not real well off, but not hurting. We have everything we need and quite a bit that we just want, but we don't consider ourselves 'wealthy' by any means. And yet, if we look at the big picture, when compared to about 95 or 98 percent of the world's population, we're fabulously rich. We didn't get what we have by illegal means, like Zacchaeus did - we put in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay - but the effects of being comfortable are likely the same for us as they were for him. We tend to get complacent, maybe even develop a little sense of entitlement - after all, it's 'our' money, we worked for it. 

Jesus is always looking below the surface, though - to the person behind the occupation. What he was concerned with was who Zacchaeus was and what he could become. The fact that he gave away a boatload of his stuff wasn't what saved him - his heart attitude, open to the Holy Spirit, did that - giving his stuff away was just an expression of his gratitude for the free gift he had received, completely undeserved. Jesus wants the same for each of us.....

Praying for Willy and his surgeons today. 

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.

Kyrie - Matt Maher (audio)

Fr. Don Miller's reflection on today's readings

Fr. Don Miller gives some insights on today's readings that shed light on what 'the kingdom of God' is all about. It's in us, and I think we're seeing it more and more within our small family prayer group.


Daily Reflection, Nov. 16, 2017

'The Kingdom of God', Taize community

Christe Lux Mundi (audio link)

The lyrics to the song in the audio clip are:

Christe, lux mundi, qui sequitur te
Habebit lumen vitae, lumen vitae.

Christ, light of the world, whoever follows you
Has the light of life, the light of life.

I started this blog as a way for all of us to stay in touch and share things that we come across that we think might be uplifting or interesting to us as a group. I'm new to blogging, so there may be some fits and starts as we get it going, but my intention is to set it up so that all of us have access to it and can add content as we wish.

Let me know what you think of the idea!!

                                                                                               jk