That's the Ticket

Loving like hell to get into heaven

1 John 4:7-10

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

             One of the most vexed questions of all human history is who will be saved, who will make it to heaven; just like we’ve been asking in college football all year: “Who’s in and who’s out??”  The Jewish people in the Old Testament believed they were “God’s chosen” so only they would be saved.  Christians argue over whether only Christians will be saved.  There are many Christians who doubt that Catholics will be saved, and I am one of them!  I’m not sure I’ll be saved!  By the way, doesn’t it send a cold shiver up your spine when your pastor wonders if he’ll be saved - what does that mean for you guys?  I’ll never forget a brief conversation I had with a grocery store cashier shortly after Pope John Paul II died.  He noticed my Roman collar and said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”  I replied, “Yeah, he was one of the good guys.”  The cashier was apparently wan

ting to cheer me up, so he added, “Well, there’s one Catholic that’s going to heaven!”  I smiled and said, “Well, I hope there’s room for two Catholics up there.”  Nowadays, people wonder if their family pet will go to heaven.  Brother Richard Sanker, who taught at Catholic High, said, “If for you to be happy in heaven, you need your dog there, then your dog will be there.”  Notice, he said that your dog will be in heaven for YOUR happiness, not for his.  The modern mentality knows that all dogs go to heaven, but are not sure if Pope John Paul II will.

             Today’s reading from the first letter of John seems to weigh in on this issue as well.  John the Seer says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.”  Now, obviously, the Bible says a lot of other things about salvation, too, but one key ingredient is love.  In other words, if there’s one crucial condition to get into heaven, it is love.  If you don’t have love, you don’t get in.  Whatever else you have on your resume, love is the only credential that counts in heaven.

            Throughout history there’s been an undercurrent of thought called “apocatastasis.”  It’s the idea that eventually everyone will be saved, and that ultimately there will be no hell.  I think anyone who can pronounce the word “apocatastasis” should be saved.  Now, in contrast to apocatastasis – universal salvation – the Catholic Church soberly says, “The teaching of the church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1035).  In other words, just like heaven is a possible destiny for us, so, hell is a real possibility, too.  But the good news is that the same ticket gets us into one and keeps us out of the other, namely, love.  You see, the Bible and the Church don’t teach that everyone will be saved, but they do teach that everyone has a shot at salvation, even Pope John Paul II.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hardly a Snack

Seeing the God of small things

Matthew 2:1-6

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,  behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,  “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled,  and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,  for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

            Let me ask you: is “bigger always better”?  We certainly hear that slogan touted a lot, especially by us Americans.  For instance, men love big trucks with HEMI engines because bigger and faster is obviously better.  Women love 8-inch heeled shoes because being taller is much better.  And we enjoy watching T.V. shows that boast, “Go big or go home!”  Someone sent me this riddle recently: Who's bigger: Mr. Bigger or Mr. Bigger's baby?  The answer is Mr. Bigger's baby.  Why?  Because he's just a little Bigger!  (Aw, come on, you know you'll tweet that after Mass!)  Have you seen the rectory, the house where the priests live, lately? Talk about big!  I was giving a group of people a tour of the rectory, and showed them the spacious bathroom and enormous shower of the pastor.  One person commented, “Don’t you think it’s a little strange that you don’t have a door on your shower?”  I replied, “You know, the day I need a door on my shower is the day I ask to be transferred out of I.C.!”  So, even American priests believe bigger is better.

            Scott Hahn tells the story of Cardinal John Wright who worked at the Vatican for 10 years.  Hahn writes this, “[Cardinal Wright] was a theologian of great subtlety and wit.  An outsized and corpulent man – in other words, he was a big guy – he knew how to use his size to make a rhetorical point.  Once while talking to a group of seminarians  he observed, ‘Why do so many people insist on calling the Mass a banquet?’  He paused and rested his hands on his belly, [and said] ‘It hardly seems a snack to me,’” (Consuming the Word, 146).  I wonder if Cardinal Wright ever drove through Amarillo, TX and took a turn at the 72 oz. t-bone steak.  Everything is bigger in Texas, they say, because clearly, bigger is better.  Right?

            In the gospel today, however, God displays a decisive predilection for the diminutive, for what’s small and seemingly insignificant.  That is, God believes that smaller is better.  Here are 3 examples just from today’s gospel.  First, God leads 3 Magi from the East by the light of a small star, a star most everyone else missed, especially King Herod, who should have been watching for it.  Second, the scribes tell Herod that the Messiah will be born in a small, backwater town called Bethlehem, which no one thought about.  Listen to the prophesy, “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah (apparently, everyone thought they were the least!); since from you shall come a ruler to shepherd my people Israel.”  By the way, do you know what the word “Bethlehem” literally means?  It means “house of bread,” which is perfect, because that’s where Jesus, the Bread of Life, would be born, where he who is “hardly a snack” would become the main course of the heavenly Banquet.  And here’s the third example from the gospel: Jesus comes as a tiny Baby, humble, vulnerable, insignificant and ignored, which is exactly how he would died.  You see, to us Americans all this would seem absurd, where's the red carpet, where's the glamor and glitz?  But that’s exactly how God prefers to act, and a careful reading of the Bible will show this is how he operates throughout the entire Scriptures.  For God, less is more, smaller is better and the weakest will rule the world.  Unlike us Americans, God doesn’t charge in with “shock and awe” but uses instruments that seem banal and boring, which most people miss: welcome to the Catholic Mass!  You see, that's why the Catholic Mass is banal and boring, and something most people miss!  Remember how full the church was at Christmas?  “Why do so many people insist on calling the Mass a banquet?  It hardly seems a snack to me!”

            Do you know what is the single greatest gripe that people have against God?  It’s that he doesn’t answer our prayers.  I bet you have complained about that; and so have I.  We ask for signs to know what to do, we ask for healing for cancer, we ask to pass a test or to get a job.  I ask for people to give more money in the collection!  And what do we hear from heaven?  Holy crickets chirping, in other words, nothing!  But is it because God ignores us or is too busy to bother, or worse, because he’s punishing us?  No, not at all.  He’s always answering our prayers – I believe he answers them even before we utter them – but we miss his answers.  Why?  Because we’re looking for shock and awe answers, but God give us a little Baby in Bethlehem.  We want a 9 course meal with a 72-ounce T-bone steak, but God sends us something that’s hardly a snack.  You see, our problem is we believe bigger is always better, but that’s not what God believes and that’s not how God behaves.  We have to recalibrate our Catholic sensibilities and see God working in small and subtle ways.  That’s the lesson the Feast of the Epiphany tries teaches us every year by directing our attention to a small star; that's how God works.  It’s a lesson we Americans have a long way to go to master.

            Several years before I arrived at Immaculate Conception, there was a parishioner here named Jack Shields.  Like several other faithful parishioners, Jack and his wife Jean attended daily Mass at 7 a.m. daily and devoutly, never missing daily Mass, rain or shine, sleet or snow.  He was so zealous about attending Mass every day that one day Msgr. Galvin, the former pastor, asked him, “Jack, why do you go so faithfully to daily Mass?”  Jack answered Msgr. Galvin, “Monsignor, I’m afraid to miss Mass.  I can’t live without the Eucharist, without receiving Jesus in Holy Communion every day.  Communion is everything to me.”  For some people the Bread of Communion is more important that life itself; because it is the Banquet of eternal life.  For other people the Bread of Communion is hardly a snack.  What is it for you?

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

Key to the City

Loving our brothers and sisters

Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God

for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

            I have a big announcement to make!  Are you sitting down?  I have found the key to the city of Fort Smith!  No, Mayor Sandy Sanders didn’t give me an official key to the city; rather, I know now how to unlock the mystery of this town.  The key is this: learn the people’s maiden names!  You see, once you learn maiden names, you quickly realize that everyone is related to everyone else!  That’s why only highly trained people should gossip in this town, otherwise, you learn too late that the person you’re talking TO

is actually related to the person you are talking ABOUT.  I’ve been to several family’s homes who proudly display their family tree –the giant red woods of Northern California have nothing on these family trees!  I always try to make a mental note of the maiden names.  For example, I’ve learned that I don’t talk about the Wewers when I’m with the Meyers or the Reiths.  I should say something nice about the Seiters if I’m talking to the Fitzgeralds.  I never bring up any dirt on the Caldareras when I’m with the Hornungs, or discuss the Donaubauers when I’m with the McNally’s!  It’s too bad I was born in India – you can all talk about me!  Of course, there’s nothing bad to say.  Seriously, though, I do love Fort Smith and learning about our parish family.  We are a very close-knit community; we are not only a spiritual family related by baptism, but many of us are even related by blood.

            Today’s gospel contains one of those lines in the Bible that always makes me stop and reflect because it’s where Mary stops to reflect.  It reads: “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”  You know, I always wonder: what was the content of Mary’s contemplation that day?  Think about it: she had just given birth to a Child who was the Son of God and her own Son, and suddenly all these strangers – shepherds and even kings – were coming to adore him.  I think part of her reflection was a glimpse that these strangers were also somehow her Child’s siblings.  This thought would grow stronger when, many years later Jesus would one day declare: “Who are my brother and sister and mother?  The one who does God’s will is brother and sister to me” (Mk. 3:35).  And it would become piercingly clear when Jesus would say hanging from the Cross: “Woman, behold your son” (Jn. 19:26), meaning look at John.  In other words, Mary began to see that if these shepherds and kings are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, then that would logically make Mary their mother!  Mary was sitting there that cold night in Bethlehem thinking the same thing I did shortly after I arrived in Fort Smith, “Dangit, all these people are related!”  You see, just like we are spiritual brothers and sisters of Jesus, so we are also spiritual sons and daughters of Mary.  The classic phrase in Latin was, “filii in Filio” – sons in the Son.

            This was the spiritual content of Mary’s reflections and this is also the theological content of the feast we celebrate today, Mary, Mother of God.  In other words, precisely because Mary is the Mother of Jesus, she is also our mother, since we’re Jesus’ siblings.  In a certain sense, the key to unlocking the mystery of Fort Smith is also the key to unlocking the City of God, namely, realizing that everyone in the city is related to each other.  So what that practically means is that you can’t gossip about anyone in the City of God, because the one you’re talking TO is related to the one you are talking ABOUT.  Even if the one you’re talking about is me!  But more importantly, this means we’re a close knit community and we love each other, not just because it’s a commandment – because someone told us to – but because Our Mother would be very disappointed in us if we didn’t.

            You see, one and the same key unlocks both the city of Fort Smith and the City of God – and the key is to see how people are related to each other.  In both cities, therefore, just keep your eyes on the women, especially those women who are mothers.  And start learning some maiden names!

Praise be Jesus Christ!

The Church Lady

Appreciating the role of women

Luke 2:36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.  She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.  And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.  The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

            I’m not a big fan of Saturday Night Live, but I must confess that I did rather enjoy the skit called “Church Chat” with the proverbial “church lady.”  Have you seen it?  It’s rather funny, with an elderly lady, dressed very conservatively, her hair wound tightly, who blames most of the world’s problems on Satan.  In every skit, she concludes by asking rhetorically, “Could it be…Satan?!”  Now, stop looking around the church to see if you can spot any church ladies here this morning!  The skit is obviously a spoof and not intended to be serious.  But every church can count among its congregation a good number of true “church ladies,” by that I mean women who dedicate themselves to prayer, to sacrifice, and to helping the needy.  How many men have become Catholic inspired by the example of a devout Catholic woman, often their spouse?  Our RCIA class is full of such men!  Anyone who thinks the Catholic Church discriminates against women because only men can be ordained priests needs to take a closer look at who’s really running the church.  The men may be the priests, but the women are doing everything else!  The church ladies are in charge!  And, in my humble opinion, that’s not such a bad thing.

            In the gospel today, we meet the original church lady in the Bible, Anna the prophetess.  After a 7-year marriage she became a widow and she dedicated herself to prayer and fasting.  It was this deep spiritual life that immediately disposed her to recognize who the child Jesus truly was, and she declares it to everyone, just like church ladies do today.  You see, Anna didn’t waste her time blaming Satan, she spent her time blessing God, and that’s what true church ladies always do.

            On August 15, 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote an apostolic exhortation called “Mulieris Dignitatem” (Latin for, “The Dignity of Women”), in which he basically called every Christian woman to become a true “church lady,” in the best sense of the word.  The saintly pope described a true church lady as a kind of “perfect woman” and wrote, “The ‘perfect woman’ (cf. Prov. 31:10) becomes an irreplaceable support and source of spiritual strength for other people, who perceive the great energies of her spirit.”  Now, listen to this next stunning sentence: “These ‘perfect women’ are owed much by their families, and sometimes by whole nations” (MD, 30).  In other words, women, especially these perfect women, have played a huge role in the history of the world, and in the history of salvation.  The pope sees Anna the prophetess as one of those “perfect women,” who inspire and strengthen others.  And, by the way, who are "these others" that these perfect women inspire and strengthen?  Could it be…MEN?!

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

Sleep Tight

Sleeping with the angels

Luke 2: 25-32

 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.  This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.   It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.  He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law  in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared  in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”

            Do you have a nightly routine before you go to sleep, or as you prepare for bed?  Some people religiously brush their teeth and floss, others wash their face, I suppose women must have to remove make-up or put cucumbers on their eye-lids and curlers in their hair. Can you tell I’m not married?  Remember the T.V. show “The Waltons”?  Every episode ended with the Walton family’s nightly routine: they each said “good night” one by one, “Good night, John Boy,” “Good night, maw,” “Good night, paw,” etc.  We do the same thing at the rectory each night.  If you drive by about 10 p.m. you’ll hear, “Good night, Fr. Andrew,” “Good night, Fr. Pius,” “Good night, Fr. Jason,” “Good night, Fr. John Boy.”  We’re a very close-knit fraternity.

            Actually, what priests DO say as their last words of the day are recorded in today’s gospel, the so-called “Canticle of Simeon.”  When Simeon sees the Baby Jesus, he recognizes him as the promised Messiah, and says – really he sings – “Lord, now let your servant go in peace, your word has been fulfilled; my own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people.”  In other words, once Simeon saw Jesus, he could sleep in peace – and ultimately die in peace – because bundled up in Jesus was every blessing for which humanity hungers.  Every night as Simeon fell asleep, he only needed to count one sheep, the Lamb of God, and all the blessings he brings.  And that is every priest’s nightly routine, and that helps him to sleep with the angels.

            My friends, do you have trouble falling asleep, or suffer from insomnia?  Sometimes, sleep aids are helpful, but I try to avoid them.  Instead, try counting the one Sheep, like Simeon did, and remember all the ways you saw God’s salvation during the day, that is, count all your blessings.  It’s funny how powerful prayer is as a sleep-aid.  When I lead the prayer at home with my family, as soon as I make the Sign of the Cross, my nephew makes this huge yawn!  That was just the Sign of the Cross, I’m afraid the Rosary would make the poor kid comatose.  So, after you brush your teeth, and wash your face, and put in your curlers, say a prayer like Simeon before you close your eyes, count the blessings and salvation you saw that day.  That will help you to sleep with the angels, too.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

Room for Religion

Living our faith in daily life

 Luke 2:22-23, 38-40

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses,  They took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

              I have a curious habit at meal-time that our parish staff loves to tease me about.  We often eat lunch together, and when it comes to dessert, I always leave one bite on my plate uneaten.  Eventually, someone got up the courage to ask me why I did that, and I replied, “It’s for Elijah.”  Obviously, that wasn’t a very adequate answer, so when they pressed me to explain, I said, “I thought you’d never ask!”  I went on: “The Jews have a custom of leaving a place-setting for Elijah at the Passover Meal.  According to tradition, Elijah will return to announce the coming of the Messiah at the Passover meal, and the Jews want to be prove they are ready for him.”  So, to show a little solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, I leave a little dessert for Elijah.  Just in case he comes at lunch time, I can say, “See, Elijah, I saved some cheesecake for you!”  Now, this practice also has a pragmatic, practical side: That custom constantly reminds me to leave a little room not only for Elijah but really to leave room for my religion.  It helps me remember that faith shouldn’t just be something we do for an hour a week on Sunday and then leave on the church steps and ignore for the rest of the week.  We should find room for our religion in our daily duties, even in our daily dessert.

             Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  I think one thing that made the family of Nazareth especially “holy” was that they lived their faith in lots of little ways every day; they made room for their religion.  For example, today’s gospel says: “When they had fulfilled the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.”  That phrase, “fulfilled the law of the Lord” is used 6 times in today’s gospel.  You see, the Old Testament contained 613 rules and regulations for Jewish life, all the way from washing dishes to how far to walk on the Sabbath.  In other words, Jewish faith was not a purely private matter just for the Sabbath synagogue, but something that was woven seamlessly into the fabric of life.  I’m sure Mary and Joseph set an extra place for Elijah every Passover, even though they didn’t have to: the Messiah was already sitting at the table for every meal!  You see, as the Holy Family “fulfilled the law” they made ample room for religion in their family life, helping them to be a holy family.  Holiness means integrating your religion into your whole life.

            Speaking of making room for religion, that reminds me of this Little Johnny joke.  One day a Sunday school teacher of preschoolers wanted to test their understanding of how real Jesus is.  So, she asked her class: “Where is Jesus today?”  Steven raised his hand and said, “He’s in heaven.”  Mary was called on and she answered, “He’s in my heart.”  Little Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, “I know, I know!  He’s in our bathroom!”  The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response.  The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds.  Finally, she gathered her wits and asked little Johnny how he knew this.  Little Johnny said, “Well, every morning my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door and yells, ‘Good Lord, are you still in there?!’”  Now, folks, that is NOT what I mean about making a little room for religion in our family life.

            May I share with you the one criticism I consistently hear about Catholics?  This is probably the most scathing comment anyone could hear.  It’s that we’re hypocrites.  People say: Those Catholics party all week long, go to confession on Saturday, and file down the aisle for Communion on Sunday.  Now, we all know that’s not true: Catholics don’t go to confession!  But the rest of it may be true, isn’t it?  Now, obviously that’s a caricature, an exaggeration, but every exaggeration still bears within it a grain of truth.  The root of the problem is we have not made room for religion all week long, in little ways, observing all the customs and commandments of our faith like Jesus, Mary and Joseph did.

            Here’s a real easy way to see how much room you’re making for your religion in your life.  You can always tell what’s important to someone by how they spend their time and where they spend their money.  Take a minute today and glance at your calendar – how much time do you spend on your religion in a given week?  Then, take a quick look at your checkbook – how much money do you spend on your religion in a week?  Then, look at where you DO spend most of your time and money and that will tell you what’s MOST important to you; in other words, that’s what you’ve made room for in your heart.  Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that we very much needed the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s, but the reformers reformed the wrong thing.  There was nothing wrong with the way the Church taught, her doctrine, but there was a lot wrong with how Catholics behaved, how we lived our faith.  And that is true today.  I am convinced that if Catholics truly lived our faith – made room for our religion daily – the whole world would be Catholic!  Let me give you an example of one Catholic who’s doing that: Pope Francis.  He knows there’s nothing wrong with what the Church teaches, but we have a lot of room to grow in how we practice our faith.  Pope Francis doesn’t leave Elijah a bite of his dessert; he left Elijah his whole papal apartments when he moved out!  Is it any surprise more Catholics are returning to church, after seeing his example?  Non-Catholics now speak about the Catholic Church with more respect and reverence.

            Make a little more room for religion in your heart, by spending more time and money on your religion, and so people will stop caricaturing Catholics as hypocrites.  Maybe you can begin by leaving a bite of your dessert for Elijah.  But just make sure the room you leave for religion is not only in the bathroom.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!

Christmas Contemplation

Seeing God’s goodness in everything

Luke 2: 7-14

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

                                                                                         

            One of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays is called “As You Like It.”  Have you heard of it?  Even though it gets little publicity, it contains one of my favorite lines in all Shakespeare.  Duke Senior, exiled by his jealous brother, finds refuge in a deep forest.  The Duke, however, is not bitter or resentful as you might expect.  Instead, he’s actually optimistic and even joyful in his new home.  He explains why to one of his attendants: “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything” (As You Like It, II, i).  That’s my favorite line: “Sermons in stones and good in everything.”  Now, to tell the truth, I’ve heard some sermons that sounded more like the preacher was throwing stones.  Haven’t you?  That always reminds me of the joke about the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus says sternly to the crowds: “Let the person who is without sin cast the first stone.”  Then, suddenly from the back of the crowd, a lady throws a rock that barely misses the woman.  Jesus says, “Mom, stop it!  I was trying to make a point.”  (If you didn’t get that, you must not be Catholic.)  But the duke somehow heard God’s voice in trees and brooks and stones, and he saw God guiding his life even though he himself was in exile, that is, he saw something “good in everything.”

            Many years ago, when Pope John Paul was a young priest, he traveled to Paris with a friend.  Standing in a crowded subway, Karol Woytila (the pope’s original name), spontaneously stretched out his arms and declared, “What a great place for contemplation!”  His friend looked at him bewildered and said, “What??  People are rushing back and forth, some people are shouting, children are crying, trains are screeching and you fell like contemplating??”  The pope perceived the same thing that the duke discovered: when you look carefully at creation, you glimpse God’s grace and goodness in everything.  Stones can preach sermons, and crowded metros are monasteries of contemplation.

            In the gospel today, an angel invites shepherds to gaze closely at creation – really to contemplate – in order to see something marvelous and miraculous.  The angel announces: “And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”  The swaddling Baby was a sign of God’s grace and goodness in something ordinary, just like God’s goodness is swaddled in stones and subways.  But the angel wanted them to see more than that.  What was that?  Well, at Christmas, God becomes a man, and in a sense, eternity enters into time, heaven enters into earth, the Creator becomes part of his creation, Shakespeare becomes an actor in one of his plays, just like Alfred Hitchcock used to make a cameo in all his movies.  And when God did that, he touched everything with grace, and in the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ famous poem: “The world became charged with the grandeur of God.”  In other words, the angel invites the shepherds to a kind of “Christmas contemplation” not only to see how the Baby of Bethlehem begins a new creation, where there are “sermons in stones and good in everything,” but also to see that God is with us, he is one of the actors on the stage of our lives and we are never alone.  You see, when Jesus stands beside you, he helps you hear those sermons in stones and you feel like contemplating in a crowded metro.  You see good in everything.

            Now, here’s an unexpected place to find the goodness of Christmas.  On Christmas Eve a young man thought it would be nice to buy his wife a little gift for the next day.  Always short of money, he thought long and hard about what the present might be.  Unable to decide, he entered Bloomingdale’s cosmetic section and asked the girl, “How about some perfume?”  She showed him a bottle costing $150.  He muttered, “Too expensive.”  The young lady returned with a smaller bottle for $75.  “Oh, man,” he said, “still far too much!”  Growing rather annoyed, the sales girl brought him a tiny $25 bottle and offered it to him.  The young man said, “What I mean is that I would like to see something really cheap.”  So the sales girl handed him a mirror.  Some of you men may want to stop by the store on the way home and buy a bigger bottle of perfume.  That man heard a sermon in a mirror that day.  Christmas means Jesus is always beside us and speaking to us.

            Folks, I know it can be hard to contemplate God’s goodness sometimes, especially at Christmas time.  The commercialism has all but suffocated the spiritual meaning of the season.  Those who have lost loved ones through death feel their absence acutely at the holidays.  Families broken by divorce and deep divisions feel Christmas gatherings are for

ced and phony and can’t wait to leave.  Nonetheless, I am convinced there is “good in everything.”  Let me illustrate this Christmas contemplation with an email I recently received.  It’s a list of things to be thankful for.  It read: “I am thankful for the wife who says it’s hot dogs tonight, because she’s home with me and not out with someone else.  I’m thankful for the husband who’s on the sofa being a couch potato because he’s home with me and not at the bars.  I’m thankful for the teenager who’s complaining about doing the dishes because it means she’s at home and not on the streets.  I’m thankful for the taxes I pay because it means I’m employed.  I’m thankful for the mess to clean up after a party because it means I’ve been surrounded by friends (keep that in mind tomorrow).  I’m thankful for the clothes that fit too snug because it means I have enough to eat.  I’m thankful for the lawn that needs mowing, the windows that need cleaning, and the gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.  I’m thankful for the huge heating bill because it means I am warm.  (Here’s my favorite.)  I’m thankful for the lady behind me in church that sings off key because it means I can hear.”  My friends, the mystery of Christmas means you begin to see and hear and feel everything differently because Jesus is at your side speaking to you through all these things.  You will never stand alone on the stage of your life and delivery a soliloquy like Hamlet.  Christmas means you will never be alone.

            “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything.”  Why?  Because Christmas has changed all creation into a monastery for contemplation.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!