For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

God’s holy mountain will enjoy rock-like security, Isaiah announces in today’s first reading.

On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah:

    “A strong city have we;
        he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.
    Open up the gates
        to let in a nation that is just,
        one that keeps faith.
    A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;
        in peace, for its trust in you.”

    Trust in the LORD forever!
        For the LORD is an eternal Rock.
    (Isaiah 27)

Our world today is thirsting for the security Isaiah promises. Listen to the growing cries around us for safe cities, safe neighborhoods, safe schools, safe roads, safe water.  We’re looking for a health care system, a work environment, a food supply, a government, a nation, a world that’s safe and dependable. Today, too, we’re worried about a planet that’s threatened.

Humanity and the earth itself need security to flourish. 

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Jesus says in today’s gospel.

We weaken the words of Jesus if we hear them only as words of personal assurance. They are meant for “everyone.” Jesus calls for society and the world itself to act on his words.  

The holy mountain promised by Isaiah is not just a place of personal security. It’s not the mountain the bird flies to when danger comes. ( cf. Psalm 11   ) It’s a mountain that  needs a “nation that is just and of firm purpose” to enter its gates, Isaiah says.

We hear a common longing in the words of the psalmist:

“There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

for this I long,

to live in the house of the Lord,

all the days of my life,

to savor the sweetness of the Lord,

to behold his temple.

For there he keeps me safe in his tent

in the day of evil.

He hides me in the shelter of his tent,

on a rock he sets me safe.” (Psalm 27)

How should we pray in Advent? One suggestion: Look at the psalm responses to the scriptural readings during the season.. Here’s one from the Mass for the 1st Sunday:

“ To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Make your ways known to me, O Lord;
   teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my savior,
   and for you I wait all the day. “

Advent’s a teaching time, and God is our teacher and guide. 

The Advent prayers are prayers to make our own. Here’s part of the 1st Preface for Advent:

“We give you thanks, Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord, For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we who watch for that day  may inherit the great promise In which we now dare to hope.”

God’s daring plan calls for daring hope from us.

Here’s part of the 2nd Preface for Advent                                   

“We give you thanks, Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord,For all the oracles of the prophets foretold him, the Virgin Mother longed for himwith love beyond all telling. John the Baptist sang of his coming and proclaimed his presence when he came. It is by his gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of his Nativity so that he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise.”

We share with the prophets, Mary, and John the Baptist, who rejoiced in the gift they were given, Jesus Christ. 

Collect, Monday, First Week of Advent

Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God, as we await the advent of Christ your Son, so that, when he comes and knocks, he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise. Who lives and reigns…

Prayer after Communion 

Replenished by the food of spiritual nourishment we humbly beseech you, O Lord, that, through our partaking in this mystery you may teach us to judge wisely the things of earth and to hold firm to the things of heaven.

Prayer after Communion

May these mysteries  in which we have participated, profit us, we pray for even now, as we walk amid passing things you teach us by them to love the things of heavenand to hold fast to what endures. Through Christ our Lord.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

The Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer of the church, offers a rich feast of psalms, canticles and readings from scripture for morning and evening prayer. Prayers of the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, from the Book of Daniel 3, 14f are frequently  found  in the church’s morning prayers.

The three young men were bound and thrown into a fiery furnace by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar because they won’t worship a golden idol he set up. But the fire doesn’t destroy them,  “Unfettered and unhurt” they walk freely in the fire, protected by an angel. They’re unharmed, saved by their faith in God.

The young men in the furnace belonged to a Jewish community in exile, with no priest, prophet or leader, no temple to offer sacrifice, but they willingly shouldered the world they lived in, which had become a fiery furnace.

They have sins and mistakes of their own, but the young men believe in God who promised offspring like the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea. “We follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and seek your face. Do not put us to shame.”

A good prayer for days and a world that become a fiery furnace. With  hope in God’s promises, trusting and uncomplaining, we can walk freely in the fire too, “unfettered and unhurt.” Azariah’s (Abednego) prayer for mercy. is found on Tuesday morning Week IV.

The second prayer from the Book of Daniel is long prayer that’s the canticle for Sunday morning in the 1st and 3rd weeks of the Liturgy of the Hours (Daniel 3, 51-90). A shorter form of the canticle is found in Sunday morning prayer for the 2nd and 4th weeks. (Daniel 3,54-57)

It’s a prayer of thanksgiving. When King Nebuchadnezzar saw the three young men walking unharmed in the fiery furnace he ordered the furnace heated seven times stronger than before. “But the angel of the Lord went down into the furnace with Azariah and his companions, drove the fiery flames out of the furnace, and made the inside of the furnace as though a dew-laden breeze were blowing through it. The fire in no way touched them or caused them pain or harm. Then these three in the furnace sang with one voice, glorifying and blessing God:
“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord,
You heavens, bless the Lord,
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.
Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;
All you winds, bless the Lord;
Fire and heat, bless the Lord;
Cold and chill, bless the Lord;
Dew and rain, bless the Lord;

Frost and chill, bless the Lord;

Ice and snow, bless the Lord;

Nights and days, bless the Lord;

Light and darkness, bless the Lord;

Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;

Let the earth bless the Lord,

Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;

Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord;

O Israel, bless the Lord;

Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord;

Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord;

Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord;

Holy men of humble of heart, bless the Lord;

Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
For he has delivered us from Sheol,
and saved us from the power of death;
He has freed us from the raging flame
and delivered us from the fire.” (Daniel 3, 51-90))

This is a resurrection prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving. We pray the canticle from Daniel on Sunday because it is the Lord’s day, the day of his resurrection. We’re not the only ones promised resurrection. All creation has that promise, and so we call all creation to bless the Lord.

The three young men and their prayer in the fiery furnace was a story early Christians greatly admired. They frequently placed the representation of the three young men in the catacombs as a reminder that God hears us in the fiery furnace, whether it’s the fiery furnace of  life or of death. God not only promise us life. God promise all creation resurrection and life.

“When my mother would bring me as a little girl to the Buddhist temple in Korea, she would tell me to bring along some bread for the holy man there; he would be hungry,” my good friend Duk Soon Fwang told me not long ago. 

“When I became a Catholic, I found the story of the little boy who brought bread and fish to Jesus my favorite story. I have always wanted to paint that story. The little boy has no name. I wonder if his mother told him the same thing my mother told me. He could be me.”

During a recent visit, Duk Soon was working on the painting and she told me she wanted to show Jesus with his hand blessing the little boy but wasn’t sure. Maybe she could do what the painters of icons do, I suggested. Jesus’ hand, with the two index fingers joined together showed he is God and man, and his three other fingers indicating the Trinity.

The little boy is blessed by Jesus, human and divine, and by the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God blesses the small gifts we bring. 

Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to give thanks for the small gifts. God blesses them.  Remember the little boy.

NOVEMBER 22-28: READINGS AND FEASTS.

NOVEMBER 22 Mon Saint Cecilia, Virgin Martyr Memorial Dn 1:1-6, 8-20/Lk 21:1-4

23 Tue Weekday [Saint Clement I, Pope and Martyr; Saint Columban, Abbot; USA: Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, Priest and Martyr] Dn 2:31-45/Lk 21:5-11

24 Wed Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs Memorial

Dn 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28/Lk 21:12-19

25 Thu Weekday USA: Thanksgiving Day] Dn 6:12-28/Lk 21:20-28

26 Fri Weekday Dn 7:2-14/Lk 21:29-33

27 Sat Weekday [BVM] Dn 7:15-27/Lk 21:34-36

28 SUN FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Jer 33:14-16/1 Thes 3:12—4:2/Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

Thursday is ThanksgivingDay in the USA, a day we spend at home with family and friends. The readings for most of this week, from the Book of Daniel and the Gospel of Luke, describe a world turned upside down. Hardly readings for enjoying a family feast in the security of your home.

Three martyrs also are remembered this week.

But faith embraces a world upset and a world secure.

Next week Advent begins. Christ comes.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

Two November feasts take us into the future to heaven itself where God’s mysteries are made known.

All Saints

The Feast of All Saints reveals humanity’s destiny. God calls all humanity to be numbered in that “ great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue,” which the apostle John sees in a vision of heaven. {Revelations 7, 9-13) 

We are called to be children of God. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.Yet so we are…Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” (1 John 3: 1)

The Book of Revelation describes the revelation heaven shall be in symbolic terms. It’s “the wedding feast of the Lamb.” Gathered before the throne of God at that feast, as God’s children and bride, the saints sing. Here’s how it’s revealed in the Book of Revelation:

“O Lord our God, you are worthy

to receive glory and honor and power.

For you have created all things;

by your will they came to be and were made.”

God will reveal to us, his children and bride, the glories of creation, “all things that came to be and were made.” What we only see partially now, we will see fully then. We will know then more completely what science has begun to know now. We will see then with new better eyes what mystics and poets see now in a small way. 

There’s also a revelation of Jesus Christ, “the Lamb that was slain.”

Worthy are you, O Lord

to receive the scroll and break open its seals.

For you were slain;

with your blood you purchased for God

men of every race and tongue,

of every people and nation.

You made them a kingdom,

and priests to serve our God,

and they shall reign on earth.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

to receive power and riches,

wisdom and strength,

honor and glory and praise.”

Revelations 4; 11;  5:9, 10-12.

(Wk 1, Tues eve; Wk 2 Tues eve; Wk 3, Tues eve; Wk 4, Tues eve.  Vespers All Saints.

Jesus Christ reveals himself as “the Lamb that was slain.” God reveals his love. We see  God who emptied himself and took the form of a slave, who took on human likeness and human weakness, who took on death, even death on a cross.  

The love of God that was hidden, unknown, unappreciated, not understood, is revealed. We will see the love of God that was disguised as it worked through human complexity, human sinfulness, the tragic circumstances of life and the world we live in. We will see the power of Christ’s blood, his wounds, his tears, his prayers, his patience, his mercy that fashioned a kingdom, a people from every race and nation, and we will sing. 

“Alleluia, the Lord our all-powerful God is King; let us rejoice and give him praise, Alleluia”

All Souls

On All Souls Day we hear humanity, weak and sinful, saint and sinner, seeking the mercy of God. We lose hope so easily in God’s call and in our own ability to respond to our God, and so we ask God to be merciful to us and those who have gone before us in death. Our prayers on All Souls Day begin with the promise of God St. Paul recalls in his letter to the Corinthians: “Just as Jesus died and has risen again, so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep, and as in Adam all die so also in Christ all will be brought to life.”

All humanity seeks the merciful face of God on All Soul’s Day, not just those who hope in the resurrection of Christ.   

“Remember our brothers and sisters, who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection, and all who have died in your mercy. Welcome them into the light of your face. 

And have mercy on us all, we pray, that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, with the blessed Apostles and all the saints who have pleased you throughout the ages, we may be coheirs to eternal life and may praise and glory you, through your Son, Jesus Christ.”

( 2nd Eucharistic Prayer)

Death and our strong ties to this world saddens us and weakens our faith. Praying for the dead not only benefits those who have gone before us but also deepens our faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fullness of his mercy.

Listen kindly to our prayers, O Lord,

and, as our faith in your Son,

raised from the dead is deepened,

so may our hope of resurrection for your departed servants

also find new strength.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen

The feasts of November point us to the life we’re promised. At the same time, they strengthen us to wait “in joyful hope.” God is with us.

O God, you are my God, for you I long;

for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

like a dry, weary land without water.

So I gaze on you in the sanctuary

to see your strength and your glory.

For your love is better than life,

my lips will speak your praise.

So I will bless you all my life,

in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,

my mouth shall praise you with joy.   Psalm 62

Here’s Handels magnificent ending to his Oratorio, The Messiah:

NOVEMBER 15 Mon Weekday

[Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church]

1 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63/Lk 18:35-43 

16 Tue Weekday

[Saint Margaret of Scotland; Saint Gertrude, Virgin] 2 Mc 6:18-31/Lk 19:1-10 

17 Wed Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious Memorial 2 Mc 7:1, 20-31/Lk 19:11-28 (

18 Thu Weekday [The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles;

USA: Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin] 1 Mc 2:15-29/Lk 19:41-44 

19 Fri Weekday 1 Mc 4:36-37, 52-59/Lk 19:45-48 

20 Sat Weekday [BVM] 1 Mc 6:1-13/Lk 20:27-40

21 SUN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE Solemnity

Dn 7:13-14/Rv 1:5-8/Jn 18:33b-37

The readings from Luke’s gospel this week begin with Jesus’ ascent to Jerusalem from Jericho where he meets the blind beggar and Zacchaeus, the publican. The ascent and the meeting are part of a messianic event. The gospels for the remainder of the week describe him entering the city, weeping over it and cleansing the temple. The Messiah has come.

The readings from Maccabees remind us that our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating Hanukkah.

This liturgical year is ending. The Feast of Christ the King announces it.