The Real Presence Within Us
August 19, 2018 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
“Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.”
These opening words from today’s reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians are as true today as they were almost 2,000 years ago. And they are a common theme in Paul’s letters as seen in his words to the Colossians:
“Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you should respond to each one.” (Col 4:5)
While the world of today is no more evil than during the time of Jesus, it isn’t any less evil, either. And with 2,000 years of Christianity under our belt, you’d think that we would be wiser today than those first Christians in the early days of the Church, but we’re not. Not really. We fail to take advantage of the opportunities to live our faith for bettering the world around us. I don’t mean that we aren’t charitable to those causes that we deem worthy of our resources, but we are often arrogant, disrespectful, judgmental, hostile, antagonistic, vengeful and insensitive toward others, especially with those we disagree with or find fault with. In other words, we are human. We are sinners.
And we cannot overcome our shortcomings without the Wisdom of God through His Holy Spirit.
All three of today’s readings points to man’s need for Wisdom, and equates it to the most fundamental of human needs – food and drink. Just as the human body cannot function unless it receives nourishment and will eventually die without it, our souls need spiritual nourishment in order to survive. That spiritual nourishment is personified in the form of Wisdom. We often call her the Holy Spirit.
Wisdom isn’t Knowledge. We can study and learn all the secrets of the universe from a scientific perspective, but do any of them help us in making the most of the opportunities that God presents us for the salvation of souls, especially our own? With all of our science and technology, are we any “wiser” in how we should behave when dealing with others?
If not, then what is this Wisdom that Scriptures are speaking to us about, and where does it come from?
I recommend that when you go home tonight that you take a couple of minutes to read Proverbs Chapter 8, which is the Discourse on Wisdom. In it you will see how the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are reflected in and flow from Wisdom – such as Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Strength, and Prudence.
Which brings us to today’s Gospel passage from St. John’s Bread of Life discourse. The Jews have been given an opportunity to dine on the feast of Wisdom shared by Jesus but they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts toward Him and so, upon hearing Jesus speak of being the living bread come down from heaven, cannot understand the significance of what he is telling them. Next week we will hear the conclusion of the Bread of Life discourse and how even many of those who followed Jesus, who saw His wondrous signs and fed upon His life-sustaining words, rejected them and so they too turn their back on Wisdom. Sadly, we too often reject God’s Wisdom.
Proverbs 8 ends with this promise and warning:
Now, children, listen to me; happy are they who keep my ways. Listen to instruction and grow wise, do not reject it! Happy the one who listens to me, attending daily at my gates, keeping watch at my doorposts; for whoever finds me finds life, and wins favor from the LORD; but those who pass me by do violence to themselves; all who hate me love death.” (Prov 8:32-36)
Therein lies the challenge for our lives today. As Paul warns us, “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.” Are we making the most of the opportunities present to us? When we receive the Eucharist, are we then taking that presence of Jesus into the world according to His Will in a manner that combats the evil that exists around us?
When we receive the Holy Spirit present to us in the Eucharist, it needs to change our attitudes, our behaviors, and our very presence to all those we encounter. We must be willing to bless the LORD at all times with His praise always in our mouths and on our lips, and we should let our souls glory in the Lord so that those who are marginalized, who are suffering, who are blind or deaf to God can see and hear our joy and rejoice with us.
We seek eternal life. To get it, we must live in a manner that shows, as St. Paul tells us, that it is no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us.
And every Sunday, when we receive the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus, we renew Christ’s presence in our body. So as we go forth from Mass and encounter the evil of the world, let us be wise and make use of every opportunity God has presented us with to share His love, knowing that He is in us and we in Him.
Sunday, August 19, 2018
The Song of Mary
The Song of Mary
August 15, 2018 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – (ABC)
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
Each year for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary we listen to this passage from St. Luke’s Gospel which contains the prayer known as Mary’s Magnificat. Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]"), it is a canticle, or a hymn or other song of praise taken from scriptures or other holy texts. It is also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary or the Ode of the Theotokos – the Mother of God. It is recited daily by all who pray Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, especially by clergy and religious.
And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name…”
Why would Mary respond to Elizabeth’s greeting with this song? I think the answer in part lies in the question that Elizabeth asked her: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
There is so much that comes to us through Elizabeth’s one simple question which can be summed up as “why me?” Elizabeth knows that something extraordinary is happening to her again – the first time was when she conceived her son, St. John the future Baptist, and the prophecies that were associated with his conception. This time she recognizes that through Mary, her cousin, God is once again at work in her – Elizabeth’s – life. She feels the movement of the child within her womb in response to the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb.
And the song which Mary sings in response to that question is an explosion of joy which comes from the glory and grace which fills her womb. Mary isn’t bragging about the fact she was chosen from all possible mothers for Jesus; rather, she is excited that God is fulfilling the promises made to ALL of Israel throughout the generations by God through the prophets. Just like Hannah when she prayed with Eli after the birth of Samuel, both mothers know that God is alive and active in the world by what He will do through them, not just for them.
The Magnificat is more than just a prayer by a blessed and holy young mother-to-be. We too are called to proclaim this prayer every day of our lives. Each line reminds us that we are also blessed by God beyond all measure. As we look at each line, we should substitute ourselves as the proclaimer:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
We are all lowly servants for God. While Mary is, as stated by St. Augustine, the first disciple and a model for us all, we too are His disciples and should rejoice that He favors us with His love and mercy.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.
We recognize in the lives of all the holy men and women we call “saints” that we too have the opportunity to be a blessing to those around us. From the moment of our birth we have been blessed with the gift of life and the freedom to choose to serve Him in glory.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
While we may face trials and tribulations in this short span of our earthly existence, we know that His Mercy is there to support us and strengthen us if we just call upon Him.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever."
His Mercy is not just for a select few. It is for all of us, for those who came before us, and for our children and those who come after us. God is alive and active in the world even today, and for all eternity.
The Assumption, which we celebrate today, confirms this pledge to us. As Mary, through the Assumption, gives us a glimpse of our own future of hope, her continued presence in the world today also shows us that we too can expect wonderful things from God when the time comes for us to join Mary in Heaven.
August 15, 2018 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – (ABC)
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
Each year for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary we listen to this passage from St. Luke’s Gospel which contains the prayer known as Mary’s Magnificat. Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]"), it is a canticle, or a hymn or other song of praise taken from scriptures or other holy texts. It is also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary or the Ode of the Theotokos – the Mother of God. It is recited daily by all who pray Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, especially by clergy and religious.
And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name…”
Why would Mary respond to Elizabeth’s greeting with this song? I think the answer in part lies in the question that Elizabeth asked her: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
There is so much that comes to us through Elizabeth’s one simple question which can be summed up as “why me?” Elizabeth knows that something extraordinary is happening to her again – the first time was when she conceived her son, St. John the future Baptist, and the prophecies that were associated with his conception. This time she recognizes that through Mary, her cousin, God is once again at work in her – Elizabeth’s – life. She feels the movement of the child within her womb in response to the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb.
And the song which Mary sings in response to that question is an explosion of joy which comes from the glory and grace which fills her womb. Mary isn’t bragging about the fact she was chosen from all possible mothers for Jesus; rather, she is excited that God is fulfilling the promises made to ALL of Israel throughout the generations by God through the prophets. Just like Hannah when she prayed with Eli after the birth of Samuel, both mothers know that God is alive and active in the world by what He will do through them, not just for them.
The Magnificat is more than just a prayer by a blessed and holy young mother-to-be. We too are called to proclaim this prayer every day of our lives. Each line reminds us that we are also blessed by God beyond all measure. As we look at each line, we should substitute ourselves as the proclaimer:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
We are all lowly servants for God. While Mary is, as stated by St. Augustine, the first disciple and a model for us all, we too are His disciples and should rejoice that He favors us with His love and mercy.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.
We recognize in the lives of all the holy men and women we call “saints” that we too have the opportunity to be a blessing to those around us. From the moment of our birth we have been blessed with the gift of life and the freedom to choose to serve Him in glory.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
While we may face trials and tribulations in this short span of our earthly existence, we know that His Mercy is there to support us and strengthen us if we just call upon Him.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever."
His Mercy is not just for a select few. It is for all of us, for those who came before us, and for our children and those who come after us. God is alive and active in the world even today, and for all eternity.
The Assumption, which we celebrate today, confirms this pledge to us. As Mary, through the Assumption, gives us a glimpse of our own future of hope, her continued presence in the world today also shows us that we too can expect wonderful things from God when the time comes for us to join Mary in Heaven.
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