When We Run Out of Wine

“The have no wine.” (John 2:3)

Last summer, I was driving with my parents to the gulf coast and listening on the radio to a homily that Pope Francis was preaching in Guayaquil, Ecuador.  The Mass was offered for families and the gospel that was proclaimed was the same that we just heard: the wedding at Cana.  The Holy Father focused on four simple words uttered by Mary: “they have no wine.”  St. John makes special emphasis that “the mother of Jesus was there” as if to tell us that someone was watching over the wedding just like Mary watches over all of us, and she notices that there is no wine.  Pope Francis points out that “wine is a sign of happiness, love, and plenty.”  We all need this wine in our lives (I’m speaking figuratively about wine at this point and not literally).  Yet, how many of us lack this wine?  How many of our homes, of our families, of our young people, of our elderly lack this wine?  How many do not take part in the “wedding feasts” of our lives?  Mary goes to Jesus because she wants everyone to take part in this feast, and more importantly the wedding feast of her Son, and to drink the new wine of the kingdom.

Now notice, the Holy Father says, the confidence in which Mary approaches her Son to make her request.  It is almost as if she is in prayer.  She doesn’t go to the steward as the servants do at the end, she goes straight to the source of life.  Jesus says his hour had not yet come, but the hour is hastened because how could Jesus turn down his mother’s confident request?  How often do we approach Jesus with a petition as Mary did with her confidence, with her humility, and with her love?  We need to approach prayer like this.  The Holy Father adds, “She teaches us to put our families in God’s hands; she teaches us to pray, to kindle the hope which shows us that our concerns are also God’s concerns.”

Then our Blessed Mother, without knowing what Jesus would do next, tells the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do.  Mary wants us to trust in her Son.  She wants us to obey her Son because he will indeed address our concerns and call us to service as he did the servants in the gospel especially when there is a lack of wine in our families.  This is where Pope Francis turns his attention to the family: “Service is the sign of true love. Those who love know how to serve others. We learn this especially in the family, where we become servants out of love for one another. In the heart of the family, no one is rejected; all have the same value.”

And Pope Francis ties all of these ideas about the new wine and the family brilliantly towards the end of his homily: “In the family, and we are all witnesses of this, miracles are performed with what little we have, with what we are, with what is at hand… and many times, it is not ideal, it is not what we dreamt of, nor what “should have been”. There is one detail that makes us think: the new wine, that good wine mentioned by the steward at the wedding feast of Cana, came from the water jars, the jars used for ablutions, we might even say from the place where everyone had left their sins…it came from the “worst” because “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). In our own families and in the greater family to which we all belong, nothing is thrown away, nothing is useless.”

Mary helps us to make small miracles out of nothing through her blessed intercession.  We long for the new wine that comes from Jesus.  We long for happiness, love and plenty.  We long for families that are united to Christ and become models for society.  And even in the midst of despair, in the midst of a world that has no wine, Pope Francis promises that the best is yet to come because there will be new wine: “The best wine will come to those who today feel hopelessly lost. Say it to yourselves until you are convinced of it. Say it to yourselves, in your hearts: the best wine is yet to come. Whisper it to the hopeless and the loveless. Have patience, hope, and follow Mary’s example, pray, open your heart, because the best wine is yet to come. God always seeks out the peripheries, those who have run out of wine, those who drink only of discouragement. Jesus feels their weakness, in order to pour out the best wines for those who, for whatever reason, feel that all their jars have been broken.  As Mary bids us, let us “do what the Lord tells us”. Do what he tells you. And let us be thankful that in this, our time and our hour, the new wine, the finest wine, will make us recover the joy of families, the joy of living in a family.”

…and help us recover the joy of being a child of God!

Grasping God's Hand

"I, the LORD, have...grasped you by the hand..." (Isaiah 42:6)

Last night I was sitting in the confessional and between confessions I started thinking of the verse above from today’s first reading.  How many people have walked into that confessional desperate, burdened by sin looking for the merciful hand of God? How many times have I, a sinner, needed His merciful hand as well? Then, in light of today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord, I started thinking of something that my spiritual director once told us in seminary: “when you walk out of confession, you are as clean and as pure as the day of your baptism.”  This is something I have told penitents many times when seeking absolution.  They need to hear it, and they also need to hear the words of God the Father at the end of today’s gospel: “You are my beloved son (child), with you I am well pleased.”  What words of comfort! Initially directed to our Lord, but now directed at us because we have become God’s children through baptism.  These words of comfort are of particular importance during this Year of Mercy.

Obviously, Jesus did not need baptism.  He was sinless which is why St. Gregory of Nazianzus, a Church Father from the 4^th century, says that Jesus comes to be baptized “to bury sinful humanity in the waters.”  Just like we are re-created in the confessional, Christ comes to begin a new creation in those waters.  Then St. Gregory begins a beautiful description of the exchange between John and Jesus:

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptized by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again….Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. …Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men…He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. (Oratio 39 in Sancta Lumina, 14-16, 20: PG 36, 350-351, 354, 358-359)

(There is so much wisdom to be drawn from the Church Fathers.  As priests, we read excerpts of their teachings daily in the Divine Office such as the one mentioned above from St. Gregory of Nazianzus.)

So Christ today begins the re-creation of humanity.  The skies literally open up (notice that in St. Luke’s gospel this happens while Jesus is praying) and we see the Spirit descending and hear clearly the voice of the Father talking to Jesus and to us.  These are the words of comfort that we long to hear when we are weighed down by sin as the Father stretches his loving and merciful hand towards us so that we can grasp it and says to us as he said to his Son and our Lord: “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased.” 

O Come Let Us Adore Him

“…and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.” (Matthew 2:11)

Yesterday I was meditating on all the wonders that Mary and Joseph saw on the day and in the weeks following the birth of Christ.  The shepherds came that very night, and now these strangers from the East come and prostrate themselves before their Son.  These magi went in search of a king to the point of putting their own lives at risk when they start asking questions in Jerusalem about where the newborn king of the Jews was.  Their lives were at risk because Herod, who was tyrannical as a king, could have killed them the same way he slaughtered the Holy Innocents.  Herod saw this Child as a threat while the magi saw him as a blessing they had to see.  Through the grace of God the Magi complete their journey when the star leads them to Bethlehem.  They prostrate themselves, and in the Spanish translation of this passage, the gospel says they “adore” the Lord. 

This verse jumped out at me when I was preparing my homily.  Here we are on the third day of a New Year making up all sorts of resolutions when there is golden one spelled out for us in today’s gospel.  Like the magi, we are called to seek out the Lord and adore him.  I have always said that one of the greatest treasure that we have in this parish is our Perpetual Adoration Chapel where Jesus is waiting for you, longing for you, thirsting for you.  That chapel is like the manger in Bethlehem where Christ, as an old song says, forever a child, waits for you so that you may adore him like the magi.  So how’s that for a New Year’s resolution?  Why don’t we spend more time in that chapel this New Year? In prayer, in adoration, or we could simply just sit there.  I say this because some of us may not know what to do or what to say in there when it is perfectly fine to just sit there in his divine presence.  St. John Vianney was once asked what he does in front of the Blessed Sacrament: “Nothing.  I just look at Him and He looks at me.”   That’s all we need to do.  The fruits that you will receive are endless, and the fruits this parish will receive will be beyond anything we could possibly imagine.

So Christ is waiting for you.  Sure the gym is a great resolution, a diet is reasonable, but oh how I wish that my chapel be as full tomorrow morning as every gym in Miami.  The change that we need in this New Year, and the peace that we long for are all in that tiny chapel.  I know I didn’t write a homily on Christmas or New Year’s Day, but the fine points that I touched upon in those homilies dovetail into what I just preached.   On Christmas, I invited the faithful to approach the manger and in silence simply: adore, pray, and listen.  And on New Year’s Day I tweeted four simple mini-resolutions for 2016: 1) be joyful, 2) be merciful, 3) be prayerful, and 4) be holy.  Very simple goals that the Herod’s of the world want to destroy.  Yet we are called to be joyful, merciful, prayerful, and holy.  All attainable goals, if we simply go and adore him.

What We Learn From the Small

"You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel..." (Micah 5:1)

 

When I opened today's readings for the first time this past week to read them, the word small for some reason kept jumping out at me. Today we gather on this last Sunday of Advent to celebrate, to rejoice in, and to remember that salvation came from a small town and from a small human being who also happened to be God.  That is the beauty and mystery of Christmas. The small, the meek, the innocent can teach us so much this blessed season.  This past week our school children doing their Nativity plays were so proud of the parts they played: Mary, Joseph, shepherds, kings, stars, and even the animals in the manger.  When I went around on Friday asking each kid what role they were playing, a first grader proudly asserted, "I'm the donkey!"  We all have a part to play in salvation...especially the small and especially our children. It's as if they understand Christmas on another level, perhaps they understand what we have forgotten as adults.

 

Mary, who calls herself the "little one of the Lord," visits her cousin Elizabeth in today's gospel, and their children  are the protagonists of the story while inside the womb.  An unborn child, John, is filled with the Holy Spirit and leaps for joy in the presence of the unborn Christ Child.  Yes, Elizabeth's words are powerful, as are Mary's words when she "proclaims the greatness of the Lord," but these two extraordinary women are only too happy to let their children teach us how joyful we should be this time of year.  This morning I brought the children up to the sanctuary to preach to them for the first time in a while and I shared with them the message of today's gospel.  I pointed out to them the empty crib of hay that laid at the foot of the altar and asked them what it meant.  One little girl very astutely explained that it represented our hearts that are preparing to receive Jesus this Advent.  This is why I love preaching children's homilies, especially around Christmas, because they "get it."  As I asked them if they were excited for Christmas, you could see the excitement and sense of wonder in their eyes, and not just for the upcoming presents, but they very matter of factly explained that it was because Jesus was coming. 

 

Towards the end, I stood up and asked their parents and all the adults the following question: Are we filled with the same child like joy as Christmas approaches? We should long to see our God as the shepherds did on that first Christmas night. If not, our prayer these final few days of Advent should be today's psalm response: "Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved." (Psalm 80:4)

 

 

Advent Miracles (Coming Home)

“The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear.” (Zephaniah 3:15)

The following is the true story of something that actually happened during my homily this morning.  Almost a homily within a homily:

Yesterday morning, our Emmaus brothers and sisters went out to deliver Christmas trees and toys to poor families in our area.  They chose the families, but I sent them to a particular family that really needed our help.  Earlier this month, I sadly had to officiate the funeral Mass of a 12-day-old baby.  No matter how long you are a priest, these are never easy.  I sat down with the mother half an hour before the funeral started to talk.  I started noticing that her and her family had never been to church before.  We talked about the loss of her baby.  She had two other daughters and a son who were not taking it well as one can imagine.  As I started to think of her other children, I asked her if she had gotten them gifts for Christmas, but she said no and that she hadn’t even put up a Christmas tree.  I told her not to worry because the Church would take care of it as I prayed that our Emmaus brothers had one more tree on their list left to give which they did.  But as I talked to this mother, my mind kept wondering how she got here.  She wasn’t baptized.  Her children weren’t baptized.  She kept asking me how to pray during this time of crisis and if she was allowed to come to our church on Sundays.  “Of course you can!  Anytime! But I have to ask you: who told you come here today to offer this Mass for your baby?”  She responded without hesitation: “There was this woman in the hospital with me while I was recovering, and when she found out that I lost my baby she told me: `You have to go to Immaculate to give her a Mass.’” Imagine that!  One of our parishioners, from her hospital bed!, was able to send this family to our parish and in turn allowed us to give them a proper Christmas…

(It was at this point of my telling of this story during my homily that I noticed three people walking towards me down the center aisle which is usually blocked off by the ushers.  I looked up and it was this mother I had been talking about with her two daughters!  I froze!  I looked up, smiled, and said to the mother, “I was just talking about you!”  I open up my arms to give her and her daughters a hug.  My congregation and I were speechless.  This wasn’t planned.  This wasn’t scripted.  Right at the climax of the story she just happened to walk into the church.  As I embraced her family, the congregation erupted in applause out of sheer delight or maybe just astonishment of what had just taken place or maybe to welcome this family to their new home.  When they sat down so I could proceed with my homily, for the first time in all my years of preaching, I was speechless. I turned around and looked up to the crucifix and turned back to the people and told them: “You know that line in the movie Analyze This when Robert DeNiro turns to Billy Crystal and points to him and tells him: `You! You are very good!  You are! You’re good!” And so I turned to the crucifix and uttered the same lines to our Lord.  How else could I react to what had just happened. So I gathered myself and fumbled my way to the finish line with the rest of the homily I had prepared...)

Yea, I don’t know what to say after that entrance except that they are here because one of you was like John the Baptist and brought someone closer to Christ by inviting them to our church, and they did it from their hospital bed no less.  We are always, at every moment, called to invite others to partake in our Savior’s joy.  And this is what this Sunday is all about because today is Gaudate Sunday, the Sunday of Joy!  We are called to rejoice because Christmas is almost here.  And boy are we rejoicing this morning with what just happened!  A sister and her family have come home!  Now we must go and invite others to come home as well.  There is much joy to spread and we want everyone home.

Just the other day, I was home listening to Christmas music and Darlene Love’s classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” started playing.  Every year on the night before Christmas Eve, David Letterman would have Darlene Love on his show to sing this song.  I would stay up to watch it year after year as my pump up song for the following two days.  Each year on the show, they would add more singers, more instruments and Darlene Love would sing it with more gusto, until they did it last year for the final time and really brought the house down.  There’s a verse in the middle of that song that has been stuck in my head for the last few days which goes: “They’re singing Deck the Halls, but it’s not like Christmas at all, because I remember when you were here, and all the fun we had last year.”  It’s as if we’re about to have this big party and we don’t want anyone to miss out on the joy.  Please come home has to be our mantra these last few weeks of Advent. 

God is calling us home, but we have to make the first move.  We have to respond to his invitation that he sometimes makes through his chosen ones. We have to open our hearts.  But our hearts our cluttered and weighed down by sin.  As we are called to rejoice today, some of us with cluttered hearts have no room for rejoicing.  But the prophet Zephaniah reminds us in the first reading that the Lord is in our midst.  He is coming to save us from our sins.  So what are you afraid of?  Why don’t you allow him to transform your heart with his mercy?  You have an opportunity this coming Tuesday when we have our Advent confessions to wash you hearts clean of sin and unclutter them so we can truly rejoice.  God so wants you to return to him so that you can be filled with his joy.  It’s time to come home for Christmas.

(As I uttered that last phrase of the homily, I paused and turned to the congregation and said, “I feel like everything I said after this sister walked in with her family was just nonsense.  Not that it didn’t need to be said, but I probably should have just stayed quiet and sat down after she walked in when all of us saw just how great our God is.  Yet this sister is a living example for all of us that we need to come home to God this Christmas.)

One last thing: After Mass, I think more people may have approached this mother and her family than said hello to me outside.  I totally didn’t mind.  Today I saw the compassion of the people of God as they kept asking me if this family needed anything else this Christmas.  When I finally made my way to the mother after my parishioners welcomed her, the first thing she said to me was “Sorry I was late.”  I started laughing because God whisked her through those church doors at the perfect time. A true Advent miracle! The Lord has done great things for us and we are indeed filled with joy!

Advent Witness

"...and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:6)

I have often preached that during Advent we must learn to always point to Jesus Christ through our words but primarily through our deeds.  This is what John the Baptist and what so many good and holy men and women do everyday.  We are called through our lives to make straight the paths of the Lord, to help prepare in the hearts of others the way of the Lord. People should see in us conduits, if you will, to growing closer to Christ, to getting to know Christ. We should be living examples and witnesses of the glory that is to come.

This past Wednesday, Pope Francis told a story that really moved me.  It was about an elderly missionary nun that he met during his trip last weekend to the Central African Republic.  Let's let the Holy Father tell the story:

At a certain moment, I met a Sister at Bangui who was Italian. One could see she was elderly: “How old are you?” I asked. “81” – “But not so much, two [years] older than me.” This sister was there since she was 23-24 years old: her whole life! And, like her, so many others. She was with a little girl. And the girl said to her in Italian: “Grandmother.” And the sister said to me: “But I, in fact, am not from here, but from the neighboring country, Congo, but I came in a canoe with this girl.” So the missionaries are courageous. “And what do you do, Sister?” “I am a nurse, but then I studied a bit here and became an obstetrician and I made 3,280 children be born,” she said to me. A whole life for life, for the life of others...this sister said to me that Muslim women go to them because they know that the sisters are good nurses and that they look after one well, and they do not engage in catechesis to convert them! They give witness then, they catechize anyone who so wishes. But witness: this is the great heroic missionary work of the Church. To proclaim Jesus Christ with one’s life!

Called to proclaim Christ with our lives!  How many of us do that? How many of us are as courageous as this religious sister to witness in a place that is hostile to Christians?  We have it easy.  We don't face those same hostilities, yet we sometime cower from just giving a nice Christian smile to a stranger.  One of great things that strikes me from this story from the Pope is the fact that the sisters minister to Muslim women without proselytizing, without overtly mentioning Jesus Christ.  They proclaim Christ with their witness.  They point others to Christ with their service, their ministry to all peoples.  This is what we must be during this Advent season: witnesses!  We must witness to the presence of Christ in our lives. We must witness that we ourselves are preparing our hearts for the coming of the Messiah.  We must witness that as Christians we are a joyful people, ready to serve all, ready to explain our faith to anyone who would ask.  This is how we prepare a way for the Lord.  This is how we make straight his paths. May we follow the example of this sister who ministers in relative obscurity in the Congo.  If we witness in the same way and with the same love then indeed "all flesh shall see the salvation of our God."