Preparing the Way ~ Reflection on the Birth of John the Baptist

The Birth of John the Baptist

Is 49:1-6

Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

Acts 13:22-26

Luke 1:57-66, 80

Life is truly a gift from God.  We all know the story of this elderly couple; Elizabeth being way beyond childbearing years.  Her husband is visited by an angel of the Lord who announces that a child will be born to them.  The disbelief of Zechariah, her husband, results in his losing the power of speech... However, nothing is impossible for God and in due time, Elizabeth delivers a son.  His name is John, says his mother.  When Zechariah concurs, his speech returns.

The people recognize that this child is destined for great things.  What could God's plan be for John?  As the years pass, it becomes evident that John is to be the last prophet before the coming of the Messiah.  He has come to prepare the way for the Lord, preaching a baptism of repentance.  He calls the people to change their lives.  His message is a powerful one and the people wonder who this prophet really is; but John reveals that he is only the herald...  that he is not even fit to unfasten the sandal of he who is to come - the redeemer.

John spent his life preaching the truth.  God gave him the courage to speak the truth to power; and we know it cost him his life.

What does God expect from us?  What could his plan be for us?  He has given us life for a purpose.  All we have to do is to read today's Responsorial Psalm 139 to know how much God loves us.  How he knows us so intimately - in everything we do and are... The psalmist expresses his gratitude for God's love and care so beautifully:  "I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works."  (Ps 139:14)

Perhaps God's plan for us includes preparing the way for others so that they may come to believe. We are asked to be holy as our Father is holy.  By our acceptance of the graces that God so generously places in our paths, this becomes possible.  Through our love of God and our care for the needs of our neighbor, we return the gift of our lives to our Heavenly Father who loves us so dearly.


 ~ Birth of John the Baptist - Society of St. Francis 

    

Taking God at His Word ~ Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Fathers' Day

Ez 17:22-24
Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
2 Cor 5:6-10
Mk 4:26-34

Are we really prepared to take God at His word?  In today's second reading, Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth that "we walk by faith, not by sight."  We recall the Old Testament story of Abraham and his son, Isaac.  God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations; and yet, God ordered him to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to Him.  Shouldn't that have put a pause in Abraham's mind of whether he should trust God or not?  But Abraham walked by faith in God.  He fully trusted that what God had promised him would come true...

In today's Gospel from Mark, Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to the sower who scatters his seeds on the land, not knowing exactly how or whether the seed would sprout.  The sower was willing to do the work required and to trust that his work would come to fruition and a bountiful harvest would result.

Again, Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God being like a mustard seed.  The seed might be small but in that seed is contained everything that will turn a sprouted seed into a large plant... that is even tall enough for birds to nest in it.

This Kingdom of God that we are given to believe in, requires faith and trust that God has indeed given us His word and His promise that it exists.  We are to nourish this faith and trust in God and to preach this word to the whole world by the way we live and love God and our neighbor...

Blessed are those who do not see or understand everything that God has wrought, but who believe and trust in Him anyway!


The psalmist says it best:

They that are planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall bear fruit even in old age:
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
declaring how just is the Lord,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong. (Ps 92)


 ~ The Mustard Seed

Photos by Ethel Cooley of recent parish events!.

Please check out these lovely pics that Ethel has posted on the St. E's Facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/StElizabethCatholicChurch?sk=wall&filter=2&notif_t=wall

Food for the Soul ~ Reflection for Corpus Christi, June 10, 2012

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Ex 24:3-8

Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18

Heb 9:11-15

Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

Today we celebrate Jesus' precious gift of Himself to us in the Eucharist.  No longer would people sacrifice animals to God in reparation for the sins of the people as the Israelites did long ago.  Instead, Jesus revolutionized such actions by offering Himself as the supreme sacrifice in an act of love that brought Him to Calvary and death on a cross meant for criminals.

When describing how in the old covenant the blood of goats and bulls sanctified those who were defiled, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews expressed beautifully how much more so "...the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God" would "cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God."

 In Mark's gospel, we hear again the story of that first Eucharist in the upper room where Jesus said: "This is my body...This is my blood of the new covenant which will be shed for many..."  The disciples ate and drank what they had received; and to this day, we follow their example because this Eucharist is truly food for our soul.  This Communion with the Lord helps us to satisfy the hunger that only He can fill.

Material things will disappear but the life of the soul is eternal. 

      

A Farewell Repast for Fr. Francois ~ Sunday, June 3, 2012

Fr. Francois will be leaving St. Elizabeth later this month so our parish family gathered together after Mass on Sunday for a farewell repast in his honor.  The Kitchen Committee decorated the parish hall and served the delicious food prepared by our excellent cooks.  One of the parishioners also put together a beautiful collage of photographs for Father as a remembrance of his ministry with us.

We ask God's abundant blessings on Fr. Francois in his future assignment.


~ Photographs by m.a.allen

Celebrating the Nature of God ~ A Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2012

The Most Holy Trinity

Deu 4:32-34, 39-40

Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22 (12b)

Rom 8:14-17

Mt 28:16-20

This Sunday we celebrate our God in Three Persons: Father, Son and Spirit...  Many have tried to explain the nature of the Trinity but most of us have probably simply accepted the truth of this mystery through faith.

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to go out to teach all nations and baptize the people in the "name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..."  In this way, Jesus shows us the "undivided unity" of these Three Persons.

We often view the Trinity as a family or a community of Three Persons, just as our own families can be looked upon as one entity with several members comprising it.  Similarly, our parish community.  But most importantly, we realize that our God in his Trinitarian form has entered not only into creation, but also into our lives.

We see in the first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses asks the people whether they have ever heard of a god taking a nation for himself and leading them to a promised land.  This is the same Lord who created man and woman and who even allowed the people to hear his voice speaking to them.  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did!  And this God is our God also! .

In Paul's letter to the Romans, we learn that we are led by the Spirit of God.  We are God's adopted sons and daughters and thus, inheritors along with our Brother, Christ.  This should be a reason for celebration and a call to us to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

With joy the psalmist sings:  "May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you."  (Ps 33:22)
 

 ~ The Holy Trinity by Giaquinto Corrado - Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain