Holy Hour for Life 2024

Holy Hours for Life, Forgiveness, and Healing.

Some of you may have heard of the name of Richard Dawkins. He is an 82-year-old British biologist and author best known for his atheism and his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. He is probably best known for his 2006 book, 'The God Delusion'. Though perhaps now falling a little out of favor with some due to his extreme antagonistic positions and sometimes offensive manner, he has been and remains a firm favorite of the young atheists being named one of the four horsemen of the atheist apocalypse, along with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. A simple YouTube search will provide plenty of material to listen to if you are so inclined.

I am not here today to directly respond to any one or other points or arguments that Richard Dawkins or the other three horsemen promote. I am here though as a simple deacon living the simple life who knows that thoughts, ideas, and words are powerful and can move individuals, families, communities, and entire countries in one direction or another. This is after all the profound reality of the freedom that we have in that we can purposely change our world, for better, and of course for worse. From the personal micro scale to the global scale, we are profoundly powerful creatures – able to give up candy for Lent in one moment and capable in a blink of an eye to wipe out a vast expanse of our world if we were so inclined.

For sure some would absolutely want to and do attempt to depose God. And for sure many very smart people argue against the very existence of God, calling him the Sky Daddy and arguing that a world without the God delusion would be better for all.

And yet you and I know, in the very deepest part of the fabric that we are made from, that God is, and that God loves. To depose God is to fly in the face of all that is true, good, and beautiful. It is to rudely interrupt the song of the universe and of all creation that sings of the transcendent truth that God is Love and that we, his creation, are the object of his love.

To depose God also results in something else. Into the vacuum comes crashing the power of the individual. With God removed we have only ourselves to enthrone – to establish as the all-powerful and ultimate judge of what is good and what is bad. And that has been, and continues to be, the scary reality of a society voiding itself of the truth of the God who creates, loves, heals, and saves. Left to our own devices we are left to judge as we will: old people become an unwanted burden, sick people become a financial burden, women can become men, and men can become women, and the unwanted baby becomes a cluster of cells with no more value than a bunion, or as we hear now, an unwanted virus. In removing God, we have lost our humanity, we lose our individual identity, and we lose the chance at a prosperous and healthy future for our families and for our country. Barring God leaves only Nietzsche’s Will to Power, a barren and cold place where the devil walks freely twisting minds and hearts and signing up recruits whether they know it or not.

The Supreme Court decision of Dobbs vs. Jackson has certainly had an impact on the abortion front but without the change of hearts and minds there is only so far, this can go. Now it must be personal discussions to be had around the family table or in small offices and other places, where we can speak to each other face to face. We are to be ready in sharing why we think life is precious from conception to a full and complete natural death.

In so many places God has been dethroned. But my friends not here and not now. Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe, the one who humbled himself to come and be with us – to heal us, teach us, love us, is with us here and now. He is the one who sought out the lost and the hurting and continues to do so. He is the one who healed by word and touch. The one who sweated blood, was crowned with thorns, whose hands and feet were pierced through, He is with us now. He is here and He loves you as He loves all his brothers and sisters for, so we are, related as closely as blood kin. Look upon him. Our infinite God humbled so we would not be alone especially in our moments of difficulty, tragedy, fear, or isolation. Our infinite God presenting an infinite ocean of mercy.

We are all in need of a savior since it is impossible for us to cure ourselves. Jesus is the divine physician who comes to visit with those who need him – to heal them, reconcile them to the Father, so once again we may have the fullness of life and the joy that comes with it. We read in Sr. Faustina’s diary Jesus’s words, “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he (the sinner) has to my mercy.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, 723). Those words are worth taking to prayer and pondering.

Though perhaps already forgiven if there is a healing needed to reenter the fullness of life, then now is the time to speak to our Lord who is and who will always be enthroned, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and our loving brother. Irrespective of the reasons why we are here tonight, the Lord has drawn you to himself today here and now, so that you and he may have time – quietly, intimately.

We present to Him all that burdens us and then we leave it behind as we dive into the ocean of His mercy.

May Jesus Christ bless us and keep us.
Amen

Deacon Peter, Arlington, Massachusetts
January 19, 2024

A - Fourth Sunday in Advent (Christmas Eve)

In our first reading today from Samuel we hear how King David comes to realize that while he rests in his house of cedar the ark of God is still to be found in a tent.  The ark as we know contained the two tablets of the ten commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  It also contained Aaron’s rod and some of the manna that had come down from heaven as food for the Israelites.   Most significantly though this ark was the presence of God that accompanied the Israelites as they traveled towards the promised land.  So, King David quite rightly wanted a more fitting house for the Ark of the Covenant.

But in the night God speaks to King David’s prophet Nathan and says, “would you really build a house for me to dwell in?”  For God is not to be limited or contained by any building or by the thoughts, ideas, or notions that man can come up with.   God says he will build a house but this one will not be one made of wood but one that is forged in kinship and family.  And this house will become a kingdom – a kingdom that will endure forever.      How far little David had come.  From being a shepherd who played upon a harp, to the one who faced and killed Goliath, to becoming a great commander and then the king of Israel, and now chosen to be the seed from which an eternal kingdom would grow.   

A thousand years later, what was said to Nathan would come to pass when an angel appears to Mary.   To little Mary the angel speaks and asks for her consent to become the new ark now made of flesh and blood.  The angel would ask for her yes.  A yes to the undoing of all sin.  A yes to the restoration of relationship between God and every man, woman, and child, a yes to a profound mystery that even Mary could not entirely understand.   A yes to bring to pass the promise of God spoken to King David by way of the prophet Nathan all those years before.  If we truly come into this moment when the angel asks for Mary’s yes then we too experience a moment of profundity, a stillness, as it were, as if all nature waits, as if on a precipice.  Saint Bernard of Clairvaux says it for us, “O Virgin, the angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion.  The price of our salvation is offered to you. Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet.”   And Mary says, “let it be done”.  This her fiat, this is her consent given once but to be repeated so many times throughout her life and especially at the trial, judgement, and execution of her son. 

Today we stand on the edge of Christmas.  With bated breath we await the silent night when we can join in the holy celebration of the birth of our Lord.  We gather and prepare with family and friends in love and with a new spirit of life knowing this joyful time is almost upon us.   

Mary, the mother of God, is our example of how we can and should respond fully to this season of birth, life, and healing.  In this final day of preparation, we ask the Spirit to show us where we still say no and to guide us to a more complete yes to our God. Lord, I give you my consent to be, with me, in me, and so through me your will may be done.

You and I are already living in the promised Kingdom of God. The God of Infinity has diminished himself to be with us – not in an Ark or a house of cedar, but in our hearts and souls, and here on the altar.  As we receive the gifts and graces of this season we prepare our gift back to the Lord – which is to love him only more perfectly.

Mary, we love you and truly thank you for your yes to our Lord.  Guide us and give us strength to say yes as you once did, and by means of this may we too change the world in ways big and small. 

Deacon Peter, Arlington, Massachusetts
December 24, 2023

Lectionary: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14c-16, Psalm 89:2-5, 26, 28, Romans 16:25-27, Luke 1:26-38

A - Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

During the prayers of the faithful each week we remember those who are willing to risk life and personal injury in the service of others.  This includes the military, the police, first responders, front line workers in hospitals, and so on.    With each of these groups we recognize how courageous they are in performing their duties.  This is the reason that we hold them in such high esteem.  C.S. Lewis the famous and much-loved children’s author and spiritual writer said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.” 

To be courageous is to face reality head on.   Our own dear Saint Agnes would do just the same when at the young age of thirteen she would stand firm at a time when persecution was running rampant in Rome under the Emperor Diocletian.  Little Saint Agnes was burned and beheaded for her demonstrable faith and courage.    

Courage is not a lack of fear, courage is the willingness to act and do what is needed despite being afraid.  Be it Saint Agnes, a soldier in the First World War going over the top of the trenches, or a fireman rushing into a burning building, overcoming fear is courage.

In our Gospel today we read about the master who entrusts his servants with his possessions.  There is a diversity of opinion about how much a talent was worth, but the point is that even one talent is worth a lot of money and with it much can be done.  This master is looking for his servants to be good and faithful and to invest his possessions, his money, in a way that shows a good return.   The same number of talents is not given to each but rather the wise master gives according to each servant’s ability, to one he gives five talents, to another two talents, and to the last only one.   Upon the master’s return the servants are asked to account for how they spent the talents they were given.   I think it is inevitable that we are drawn to that last servant who hides his talent in a hole in the ground because he feared his master; because the master had such high expectations for a harvest, even where he himself had not planted.  Judging his masters’ expectations correctly, the servant still failed to produce what was expected and so ultimately, he would lose everything before being thrown into the darkness.  But why did this servant fail?  It is true he was wise enough to know his master expectations and yet despite that he failed to act.  

This parable is given to us, so we too know that God expects something of us.  We are each given many and varied gifts, both material and, most importantly, spiritual.  To bury these in a hole in the ground is to quench what was given to us at baptism and again in confirmation.    In baptism we each received the gifts of the Holy Spirit made present in the very depths of our being.  This includes the gift of fortitude or courage.  A gift that helps overcome fear; overcomes it but not eliminate it.  Emboldened by the Holy Spirit we find the strength to resist evil, to do good despite what the world throws at us, and to walk, limp, shuffle, jog and run towards our master.   You see the servant with the single talent was fearful, lacking courage.  His fear stemmed from his perceived servile relationship with his master.  Though wise in knowing what his master expected, he could not see beyond that.  He could not see that his master had given him a tremendous gift as a sign of his master’s trust, affection, and confidence.   It is the failure to do this that ultimately caused the servant’s demise.  For sure we can dwell on the fate of this one servant, but the parable also speaks to those who no longer live in a servile relationship with their master.  You and I have a different sort of relationship with God; a filial relationship.  By means of our baptism we can call our Father “Abba,” we call Jesus our brother, and Mary our mother.  How beautiful.  Our spirit no longer feels the dread of an unhappy master coming home, rather we have a filial fear born of love for our heavenly family.  Some writers have ascribed spiritual stages to our servants.   A servile fear being equated with the purgative phase in spiritual development, where we need to turn away from our old habits and sins and have a conversion of heart.  And a filial fear equated with the illuminative phase where we grow in virtue and love for God and neighbor.  Here we willingly and increasingly want to follow our Lord and happily invest our talents in ways that promote the Kingdom of God.

Any casual review of the news shows that our world is getting more dangerous, more difficult, and darker.   From wars and the plight of the needy, to the overt assault on human dignity, and the targeting of children and families; the very fiber of our global society is under strain.   There is work for us to do each day.  In action, in word, and by example, from wearing a cross around our necks, to saying grace publicly at Jimmy's Steer House on Mass Ave., to giving a reason for the hope that lies within us to the seeker, our talents should not be found lying undisturbed at the bottom of a hole in the ground.    Our natural and spiritual talents are entrusted to us for our own prosperity and good, and for the good of others.  Ultimately, they belong to the Father, they are his possession.

We are proud of those that serve in uniform with such courage, we are proud of our courageous martyrs and saints.  We are proud of the faith that we profess.  So, as you leave here today, be courageous and likewise let us make our Father proud.  

Deacon Peter Bujwid, Arlington, Massachusetts
November 19, 2023.
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31, Psalm 128:1-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, Matthew 25:14-30