A reflection on the Mass readings from today -- 2 Mar 2016

In today's Mass readings Moses says to the Jewish people:

what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?

This reading is from the Torah, the Mosaic Law.

In the Gospel, Jesus says: 

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill.

How close was God to the Jewish people in the Exodus, when he took them and led them by his strong right arm from slavery in Egypt?

How close was he to them in the Person of Jesus, when they could touch him with their hands, see him with their eyes, hear him with their ears?

Mary, the Seat of Wisdom,  kissed him with her lips, washed him, changed his diapers, wiped his tears, nursed him, prayed with him.

How close is he to each and everyone of us when he speaks to us while the scriptures are proclaimed, and when he says to each and everyone of us "Kiss me with the kiss of your mouth" when we receive him in the Eucharist?  When he enters under our roofs?

What nation has gods so close to it as our God is to us?

Risen -- a very good movie

I just watched the newly released movie "Risen."

It is very good.

I read two reviews of the film before going to see it, and spoke with a couple people from my parish who've seen it, and all of them gave reviews praising this movie.

Bishop Robert Barron's  review is found at RealClearReligion here.
The USCCB reviews it here.

You should see it.

Funeral Mass Homily -- Antonin Scalia

FOX News has posted a video of the homily from the Mass of Christian Burial (Funeral Mass) for Justice Antonin Scalia.  The principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass was the son of the Justice the Reverend Paul Scalia.

It is an exceptional homily, and every Christian should hear it.  Note in particular the section around 12 minutes into the homily, where Fr Scalia quotes his father writing about funerals and eulogies.  Justice Scalia had written about "God's inexplicable mercy to a sinner."   This is a key phrase, as is Fr Scalia's point that Christ died and rose for all of us, and for each of us.

The Mass occurred in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.   The archbishop of Washington, and the bishop of Arlington Virginia were also at the Mass praying for Justice Scalia.

Nancy Pelosi and Abortion

There have been several posts today regarding some things said recently by Nancy Pelosi, democrat and minority leader of the US House of Representatives, and some reaction by NARAL.   Deacon Greg posts on this topic, noting:

Pelosi, of course, has in the past strenuously defended abortion, and has even called the right to abortion "sacred ground."

The most significant post, I thought, was this note by Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review on-line.  See number 7 of the 15 things that caught her eye today.  Quoting the late Cardinal Edward Egan of New York who responded to Pelosi in 2008:

Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.

Read her entire post.  Kathryn's point number 8 is also good.

Travel and Visiting Churches too

After Christmas I visited my daughter's family.  While there I was at Mass in two churches and two Parishes.

For the Feast of the Holy Family I was at Mass in Irondequoit NY
at the Church of St Cecilia, which is part of St Kateri Tekakwitha Parish.

For weekday Masses, I was at the Church of the Annunciation, in Rochester NY, which is part of the St Francis Xavier Cabrini Parish.

Advent on my mind

As the Season of Advent is coming to a close, and the season of Christmas begins, I have read a few articles on line recently that struck a chord with me.  Two by George Weigel, and one by Bishop Robert Barron.

First was Bishop Robert Barron who begins by citing the Mass Readings from the Third Sunday of Advent.  He concludes his article:

Such love is a consequence of grace, of the adventus of Christ, of being dipped into the fire of the Holy Spirit.  To welcome this grace that transfigures nature, to pray for it with all our heart, is what the season of Advent is finally about.

Next, George Weigel wrote an article at First Things.  In his first paragraph he writes:

... First Corinthians and Luke-Acts are built on the same deep theological insight: the incarnation of the Son of God, and his birth, ministry, death and resurrection, turned the world upside-down.

Near the end of his article he writes:

Seeing the world with the world's eyes gets the world out of focus.  Seeing the world through the gospels and their unique optic on reality helps bring what the world mistakenly calls "the real world" into clearer focus.  That kind of "seeing" begins at Christmas.

Finally, at National Review Online, Weigel writes an excellent article about Advent, Christmas, and two figures that are the pivot between "God's revelation to Israel and God's revelation in his Son."

Before closing with a hymn attributed to St Ambrose he writes:

Christmas is a richly symbolic, evocative antidote to the ideology of the imperial, autonomous Self: John the Baptist and Mary bear witness to the Law of the Gift inscribed in creation by the Triune God — the moral truth that fulfillment and human flourishing come through the gift of self, not the assertion of self. 

I recommend reading all three articles in this order.

A Poem with many esses

One of the Psalms, ps 119, has a canto for every letter of the Jewish alphabet.  Each strophe in a given canto begins with that letter.  It is a psalm in praise of the Law of God.

A few years ago I wrote poetry for a few letters of the English alphabet.  Many, but not all, of the lines began with that letter.

I wrote one poem for the letter 'S,' and I titled it using a Jeopardy category scheme.  This is pronounced like eschatology (see eschatology).

The readings from Mass for the last few weeks of the Liturgical year focus on the end times, as they do during the early part of Advent when we are reminded of the two comings of Christ.

I was reminded of this poem repeatedly over the last several weeks, and thought today would be a good day to post it on this blog.