Jesus, Remember Me

11-24-2019Pastoral ReflectionsRev. Brian F. Manning

When driving around, I observed that some stores, especially mall areas, are putting up their outdoor Christmas decorations. I also saw one house in a nearby town that also is undergoing extensive outdoor decoration. This house is always a magnificent display of Christmas light and joy. I look forward to seeing it in mid-December. I also noticed that advertisements are now stepping up to a higher level of announcing gifts for Christmas. The subtlety which is used in the Summer and Fall about Christmas has been replaced with much bolder announcements. This start up and rev up to Christmas is a sign to me that our Church year is at a near end. Indeed this Sunday is the last Sunday of our Church year. Next Sunday we also start our roll up to Christmas with the First Sunday in Advent. Our scripture at Mass will start to hint about the meaning of the Birth of Jesus Christ, often called the Incarnation. Much like society, we start to dress our church and our life with the possible meaning of Christmas for us. This Sunday, however, the last Sunday of our Church Year, is the great and grand Feast of Our Lord Jesus Chris, King of the Universe; often called simply the Feast of Christ our King. Although our popular culture is fascinated by the daily lives of the Royal Windsors today in Great Britain, we really do not understand what a king or royalty is. We are blessed to live in a democratic republic with everyone as equals. Our faith tradition says that we all are children of God and made royal by our baptism. Our faith tradition tells us that there is no exclusive set of “better people” born by family blood. Indeed, for many of us royalty is an outdated notion. Thus, our Celebration of Christ as our King takes only the good symbols and elements of royalty and kingship. We must leave aside the lesser and darker history of royals and kingship.

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Depend on the Lord

11-17-2019Pastoral ReflectionsRev. Brian F. Manning

We are coming close to the very end of the Church year; it is next Sunday that we celebrate the Feast of the Lord Jesus, King of the Universe. This large and loud outpouring of praise and glory to our Savior is a fitting end to the liturgical year of our church. We conclude the telling of the story of Jesus Christ for this past year and we get set this coming week to begin telling his and our story again the following Sunday, the First Sunday in Advent. We must remember that, although we do not always recognize it, each one of us is a different person from who we were 52 weeks ago. When we end the story of Jesus this year, it is different for us from one year ago. When we start the story again, we will and should hear it differently from how we did one year ago. Sickness, health, graduation, success, failure, struggle, new relationships, broken relationships and all sorts of events and happenings have been in our lives. All of these change us in obvious and perhaps subtle ways. Thus, each year when we listen to the Gospel story of Jesus, we should hear it differently. But our greater task now is to ask about the Gospel of this weekend and its possible meaning for us.

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Destined to Be with God in Heaven

11-10-2019Pastoral ReflectionsRev. Brian F. Manning

It is common throughout human culture that if you believe there is an afterlife it is often viewed as the fulfillment of the privations and difficulties of this life. Heaven is often seen as a feast of unlimited food and drink; for others, heaven is a warm and safe place free of violence. What about us? We who are primarily overfed, warm and safe people, how do we envision heaven? As our culture often fulfills every comfort and desire that we have, the idea of an afterlife has diminished. Indeed belief in the reality of God has also declined greatly. The “nones” of today are really saying that they believe only in this life, and in fact just in themselves and their singular life. In many ways, the new “temple or church” is the fitness center or gym. In many ways, we have raised our children to come to this belief of themselves as the ultimate focus and end of their lives. Popular culture has made heaven to appear to be a cluster of stained glass “angels” which we hang in front of our windows to capture the sun and make the angels sparkle. What is guiding truth for believers in the Roman Catholic Way of Life is that we do not truly know what heaven is, but by our faith we know that it is. Today’s scripture helps us to deal with the troubling question of eternal life and heaven, which are for some Catholics a difficult question and for other Catholics a clear matter of faith.

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God Loves All that Is

11-03-2019Pastoral ReflectionsRev. Brian F. Manning

As we remember, in “Ordinary Time” the Sunday scripture is to help us to focus on the meaning of our lives and how we follow in various ways the Catholic Way of Life. The scripture through its narrative and symbols offers to us many, many possibilities of insight and understanding. Some of these are welcome, and some are not. Our lives today do not include much time for reflection and insight. The time at Mass and the reading of sacred scripture can help us discover and discern ways to make our lives deep and fuller.

It is important to remember that the Book of Wisdom was composed by Jews who were assimilated into the Greek culture of that time and were living in Alexandria, Egypt. Because this book was originally composed in Greek, it was never allowed into the official Canon of Hebrew Sacred Scripture. From sociological history, it is very clear that Alexandria was one of the most important centers of culture and learning in the eastern Mediterranean area. The many Jews who lived in this vibrant city wanted and enjoyed living and relating to people who were very open and also looked for change as a way of life. Thus this book of bible responded to the desires of the people for change, but also gave insights and explanations of the old ways of Judaism.

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