In our Gospel today, Jesus places before us a great challenge, to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, to seek what is seemingly impossible by loving not just those who love us back, but those who might very well hate us. Jesus is telling us to go beyond loving our neighbor and to love our very enemy as well.

What’s more is that it seems that He is telling us that in order to do this, we are, in his words to: “offer no resistance to one who is evil.” And, while it is true that Jesus always encourages the more non-violent approach, these three ways He gives us show a more creative way in which to deal with our enemy.

In fact, He challenges the very popular phrase at the time, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” with the suggestion that we give the other cheek.

In the Middle East, during the time of Jesus, refined salt, like that in most of our salt shakers, had great value, in fact, it was only the truly wealthy that could own refined salt, so much so, that it came to be known as “white gold” and, it is said, that the Roman soldiers would be paid in salt, which, incidentally, is where the word “salary” comes from.

When Jesus entered our world, everyone was expecting the long-awaited Messiah, a man who would rule with an iron fist, a man who would be both king and warrior, a man who would conquer by the sword and be victorious by his military expertise.

No one expected their Messiah to be compared to an animal that was daily sacrificed on the altar, as it was on the night of Passover, no one was expecting Jesus to be a lamb, they were expecting a lion.

Traditionally, the time from December 25th, the Solemnity of Christmas and January 5th, was seen as the 12 days of Christmas. This is where the tradition of the 12 days of Christmas comes from, as well as Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, because the night of the 5th marked the 12th and final night of Christmas. During this time, it was also common to go wassailing.

When I was younger, I always felt something different about Christmas, but, especially, Christmas Eve, yet, it wasn’t the anticipation of presents, nor was it the gathering of family, as great as all of that was, it was something else, it was something more.

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Every week of Advent is dedicated to a particular theme, so that the first week is dedicated to The Second Coming, the second week, to St. John the Baptist, the third week, Gaudete Sunday and on this, the last week of Advent, we turn to Mary, she who was given the most important vocation of all.

Today, is a turning point in the season of Advent, it is the halfway mark, as it were, between this two-fold preparation that we have begun, for whereas our preparation has been for the Second Coming of Christ, today and for the rest of the weeks to come, we now direct our preparation to His birth.

It is not uncommon for a king, queen, prince, president, pope or dignitary to send an envoy to prepare for their arrival, making sure that everything is in order, making sure that the safety of the one to come is guarded.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. A day that marks the end of Ordinary Time, which means that, liturgically, that is, within Mass, time itself is changing, so that next weekend we will move into another season, the Season of Advent, the new liturgical year of the Church.

At around this time, every year, our readings drastically change, they go from being focused on the life of Jesus to the time when He will come again.  And, they do so not just to point to the end of the liturgical season, which brings forth Advent, a time of preparation not only for the Nativity but, also, for the Second Coming of Christ.
Lord, if you will
Lord, if you will
Lord, if you will
The Will of God
The Will of God
I have had multiple requests to find a means of making my homilies accessible for others, so this is my first attempt at doing just that. I don't quite know how long I will keep this going nor if I will enjoy "blogging," but here goes.

I chose the title based on that beautiful Scripture passage where a leper approaches Jesus and says quite simply and humbly: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." A full abandonment to the Will of God, and in it, there is a combination of confidence and humility, of "self-emptying" and of filling up, as it were.

I believe that our life hinges on God's Will and the more perfectly conformed we are to His Will, the more ours and His become one, so that, in essence, we truly say "my will is His Will and His Will is mine."

That is the heart of what it means, in my opinion, to follow Christ, and since I believe God has gifted me with an ability to preach whether for better or worse, I will use this site to post those homilies.
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