Jesus was a member of a circle of young men around John the Baptist.  Men in groups tend to be very close and marked by the rivalry to be closest to the leader. I imagine the others first thought with today’s reading was “Why Him” and their second “What does the Lamb of God mean”? These are good questions for this weekend, and we will start with the second one.

A Lamb was a powerful symbol for Jews. It connected them to the exodus. In the exodus, God led the Israelites through the desert to the promised land, but it began with the Passover meal while still in captivity in Egypt. Jews celebrate the Passover meal every year and it requires a lamb. As they were now under roman domination many Jews felt that they needed a new exodus. But they wanted a lion: a general or a king who would throw off their captors. But this would be a single victory, there would always be a need for another. Jesus, the lamb, will not improve the world, he will change existence.

Lambs were also the sacrifice of choice in the temple. It was how the covenant between God and the Jewish People was proclaimed and maintained. If made with the right intention these animal sacrifices could show that God had forgiven an individual or group. Yet the idea that a person could be sacrificed for the covenant was never explicitly held in Judaism. That Jesus – the lamb – would take away the sin of the world, would be bewildering. His listeners would know that it was connected to the covenant and forgiveness but not how.

Continue reading “Homily – 2nd Sunday Ordinary Time (Fr. Smith)” →

Following Jesus can feel like riding a roller coaster.  There are ups and downs, trills and panic, excitement, and eventual relief but the image lacks one thing. We know where a roller coaster will let us off. We don’t know that about Jesus. We see in today’s Gospel that we may know where we will start but not where he will bring us.

The Magi didn’t even know that. Magi were originally Persian priests who advised the king especially by interpreting his dreams and consulting the stars. As we see Herod and his brain trust of priests and scribes took their reason for traveling to Jerusalem at face value. It was a common belief that the birth of a great person would be prefigured in the stars. Their news would have been profoundly upsetting to Herod who thought himself “King of the Jews.” He was so paranoid that he killed so many heirs that it was said to be safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son. Herod feared that this King would be the long-longed-for Messiah who would displace him. His advisors told him that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem several miles from Jerusalem and sent the Magi on their way.

Continue reading “Homily – Epiphany (Fr. Smith)” →

Because we first heard Christmas stories as children, we can think of them as nursery tales; simple and unsophisticated remnants of our youth. Those which are found in the scriptures, however, are embedded in the Gospels and are mature, profound, and part of a sophisticated presentation. None more so than Luke.

Luke is a very thoughtful writer, and we must read him carefully and often to truly understand him. Only then will the interconnections be revealed and become real. Luke wrote both his Gospel and the “Acts of the Apostles”, and we must take them as a whole. After many readings the importance of the parable of the Sower becomes clear. Remember the story: a farmer planted his crop by casting seeds onto his field. Some fell on a path and were trampled, some on rocky ground or among thorns where they could not grow but others on good ground where they produced fruit a hundred-fold.

Continue reading “Homily – Mary, Mother of God (Fr. Smith)” →

Christmas is a time for tradition. Many of these traditions, both for family and church, were interrupted during the COVID pandemic, and although we are not yet fully recovered some will be brought back this year with proper care and diligence. For the Parish, the most wonderful return has been our Christmas Pageant with the children in the religious education program. If you did not see it, please check this link. I hope that many of us will have been able to visit family and enjoy other Christmas activities from trimming the tree to decorating the cake.

The liturgy, however, never takes a vacation and always allows us a special participation in the celebration of the Nativity. The music, the creche and the stories allow us every year to reflect on what it means that God became man. It has been said that tradition is the living faith of the dead and it certainly a pattern that is handed down to us. (See Footnote 1 below.) These customs should not be changed too radically. That would prevent us from making our Christian history our personal one as well. Every year we should approach these symbols and stories and sing these songs with a deeper understanding of the mysteries they proclaim. Year after year this allows us to see if we have grown in our faith and understanding.

Continue reading “Homily – Christmas (Fr. Smith)” →

Good morning, once again and Merry Christmas!

Like I said, so great to be with you today. And, you know, I’m sure I’m not the only person here, but when it comes to Christmas time, it’s pretty much impossible not to think about our childhood, to think about growing up with our childhood traditions.

I think Christmas and just the magic-ness of the whole time seems to be so reminiscent of our magical-ness of growing up, you know, where we were just caught up in wonder and mystery, caught up in just waiting to see what type of gifts we were going to receive on Christmas Day.

And of course, for me, I was kind of very much into setting things up.

Continue reading “Homily – Christmas (Fr. Gribowich)” →

Today’s reading contains a most curious verse: “Joseph her husband; since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly” It clearly says that as he was righteous, which at its core meant law- abiding” he would not take Mary as his wife. Yet he did, does this mean that he forfeited being considered Righteous? For many of his contemporaries, it would. To understand this why we need to step back a bit.

Continue reading “Homily – 4th Sunday of Advent (Fr. Smith)” →

The New Testament, in general, and the gospels, in particular, can be very frustrating reading. They provide just enough information about Jesus and his companions to fascinate us but not enough to reveal who they were and what they felt. This is not an accident, none of New Testament writings are biographies in the modern sense. Yet sometimes we do get a glimpse of the person behind the text. Today we see a bit of the real John the Baptist.
Continue reading “Homily – 3rd Sunday of Advent (Fr. Smith)” →