This Sunday, our second reading includes the words, “in truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever…acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” All the scripture passages for the Season of Christmas emphasize the conviction that the good news of God’s love is for all people. Pope Francis is fully in line with this thinking because he encourages us to develop a sense of world solidarity. A fundamental aspect of this idea is that all people are created in love by God. All are equally a part of God’s family. We pray that during this recently begun New Year, we can see evidence that we are doing our part in continuing to develop this sense of solidarity.

Isaiah 9:1-6; Psalm 96:1-3, 11-13; Titus 2:11-14; Luke: 2:1-14 The scripture passages we reflect on for our Christmas Masses are very familiar to us. We prayerfully ponder them again to allow our hearts to be touched anew by God’s goodness. Mentioning Caesar in the first line in the part of the Gospel where Luke describes Jesus’ birth sets up a deliberate contrast of Caesar with Jesus. Caesar might have thought that he had all the power, but Luke makes clear that “a little child shall lead them.” (cf. Isaiah 11:8) Also, Luke shows how inept the mighty Roman Empire was in using such an inefficient way to get more people on the tax rolls. Caesar Augustus, who ordered this census, was considered a divine child known as the savior of the Roman Empire. The birth of the real Savior would reveal the true source of power, mainly, the love of God that Jesus revealed. Some people think that Mary was well along in her pregnancy when she and Joseph made the 90-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The passage says, “while they were there the time came for her to have her child.” It never says how long they had been there. Another element to be careful about is the reference to their not being room in the inn. It was a symbol that connected with Jesus saying later in the Gospel that He had nowhere to lay His head. He came for a mission, and according to Jewish custom people were expected to provide for such people. Jesus being placed in a manger is a symbol for how He offers Himself as our source of nurturance; we share in His Real Presence whenever we share in Holy Communion. Another very meaningful symbol is that the shepherds were the first to visit Jesus. The shepherds were considered unclean because of their work with sheep. They were therefore not allowed to be take part in any Jewish rituals. Their visiting Jesus is a sign that Jesus came to transform the notion of who belonged and who did not. With Jesus, all were invited to be part of the community, evidenced by His constant interaction with those who were considered among the worst sinners of His day. Our parish follows the example of Jesus by our welcoming everyone to our community. This is not just some fanciful notion. As we notice in our Responsorial Psalm, there are words such as “all you nations.” Pope Francis encourages us to do all we can to share the good news of God’s love for all people. He asks us to ponder how we can most effectively think in terms of world-wide solidarity. Reflecting on our first reading, we have the privilege and opportunity to bring light to all the places in our world that are living in the darkness of poverty and discrimination. We are called to undo as many burdens from people’s lives as possible. We have the responsibility to do all we can to achieve world peace. If Isaiah could speak of lasting peace some 500 years before the birth of Jesus, the least we can do in honor of the Prince of Peace is to plot how we will rely less on weapons of war and more on negotiation. In honor of Jesus’ birth, we pray that we will be the best possible instruments of that love that brings true peace and lasting joy.

One option for this Sunday’s second reading is the passage from Colossians 3: 12-21. In these days of pandemic, financial challenges, and entrenched views about any number of matters, let us reflect on the words of this passage. Nothing will change who we are to God; we are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved. Let us choose to reflect on this reality on a continual and on-going basis. In pondering who we are to and for God, let us pray as well that we will allow ourselves and encourage one another to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. Let us choose to let “the peace of Christ control (y)our hearts, the peace into which (you) we were also called in one body.

We know that we are nearing the time when night is the longest it can be. We also know that there is no such thing as darkness; there is only an absence of light. Like John the Baptist, as our Gospel makes clear, we are to testify to the light that is Jesus. Given that we believe that the being of Jesus is wholly integrated in our earthly bodies, our privilege is to allow that light to shine as brightly as we can stand it. During this time of the year, we use a proliferation of lights as a way of being renewed. We pray that we will be a source of warmth and comfort for one another just as the glow of the lights are for each of us. Just as John the Baptist fully embraced his mission of testifying to the light, we give our testimony as we allow our bodies to radiate that light with our warm smiles and composure, our greeting one another as sisters and brothers of Jesus, and treating each other with the respect we pay to the sacred Presence of Jesus dwelling within us.

We begin the Advent Season by being reminded in our Gospel to be watchful and alert. While our celebration of Christmas Day and the Christmas Season will likely be very different from anything we have experienced before, let us prepare for the five feasts of the Christmas Season by refining the habit of taking notice of God’s presence as often as we possibly can. We have the privilege of doing what we can to change the culture of our country, world, and even our church. What would it be like for us to dedicate ourselves to inviting those we interact with to develop similar habits of being aware of the presence of the divine within and among us. One way we might do this is to hone our way of acknowledging each other’s presence as we greet one another with a sense of God’s peace dwelling within us. How would it be if we chose to find a way to enrich each other before we get on with our conversation or the business at hand?

It is somewhat interesting that words used to describe today’s feast of Christ the King can be seen as a distortion of the image of Jesus. When He walked our earth, He rejected most if not all titles. We read in St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians that Jesus chose to take on the role of a servant. In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to Himself as shepherd, living water, the bread of life, and the light of the world, among others. These words reflect that Jesus sees the goodness of God embedded in all of creation. A major part of Jesus’ mission was to call us to take care not only of each other but also all that God entrusts to us. A significant concern of Jesus is that we would put our trust in our all-generous God. This conviction calls us to be grateful for who we are and what we have. There is no need to abuse, hoard or misuse anything or anyone of what God has shared with us. Caring in this way comes about as we share with one another, especially the needy, as a concrete gesture of honoring Jesus.

The last couple of Sundays before the end of the Church Year (November 28, 2020) focus on end-life concerns and the second coming of Jesus. For some, a different view is offered. This different view is based on the conviction that we are in the process of on-going transformation. Our earthly death is a significant part of the transformation process which many believe will continue after our earthly death. After all, life is infinite based on our belief that God is infinite. Our transformation here on earth is propelled by our allowing Jesus to develop with us a personal, intimate relationship by which our relationship with God our Creator and the Holy Spirit likewise becomes more personal. For some of us it is difficult to accept that at our death we won’t necessarily be asked to give a report on what we have accomplished in life. What is most important at the end of our earthly life is the extent of our development of our relationship with the goodness and kindness of God. What we would otherwise point to as the good we have done during our earthly life will be by-products of how well we have come to know Jesus and how faithfully we have lived in imitation of Him.

In our second reading for this Sunday, St. Paul offers a solution to a concern of his day. People thought that Jesus would return in glory, most likely before any of His faithful followers had died. When these followers of Jesus did in fact die, the Church chose to develop a different understanding of when Jesus would return. Essentially, they left it all in the hands of God. How would it be if today people realized that some of what we hold sacred today might benefit from another look/see. One such issue is how the Church can make it possible for all Catholics to participate in Mass and partake of the Body of Christ on at least a weekly basis. When a delegation from the Amazon met in Rome within the last year, one of the ideas was to ordain married men to be priests so that Eucharist could be celebrated among the many people who were not able to enjoy this precious gift because of certain traditions. The backlash to this idea was intense. With the decreasing number of priests in areas of our own country, such as our diocese, what would it be like to consider how we can provide Eucharist for all established faith communities and for new ones to be established where new housing is being built?

Most, if not all of us, could benefit from some really good news now and then. Our second reading for this Sunday surely provides such great, positive and holy news. When we need to be renewed with a reassuring thought, let us go as often as is helpful to the words that remind us that “we are God’s children now.” Some of us might prefer not to be referred to as children. If so, we recall how Jesus welcomed children, embraced them, and blessed them. We pray that we never outgrow seeing ourselves as child-like, namely, always willing to allow Jesus to give us a loving hug and whisper into our ears that indeed we will always be renewed in the love that God shares so freely and abundantly.

We read in our first reading that when we lend money to someone we are not to demand interest. Also, if someone gives his cloak as a pledge, we are to return it to him before sunset. These guidelines would seem quite strange if we were to implement them today. However, how do we make the sensitivity and care reflected in these guidelines operative in the way that we deal with one another, especially with those in need whom we are moved to help out? It could mean that we don’t add extra burdens to those whom we help out. It would most likely mean that the question, “what’s in it for me?” would be answered by our saying that our helping out someone blesses us with the good feeling that we did something nice, caring and helpful to someone else in the name of our all-generous God.

Please note our food drive will be at the ORANGEVALE FOOD BANK SITE, address: 6483 Main Ave., Orangevale, NOT at Divine Savior. All donations for this food drive will benefit BOTH the Orangevale Seventh-Day Adventist Food Closet AND the Fair Oaks-Orangevale Food Bank. Click on the picture for more details.

Our first reading this Sunday (Isaiah 45:1, 4-6) reveals to us how surprisingly God can intervene in peoples’ lives. The prophet is recounting how God is using a pagan ruler to function on behalf of the people of Israel who had been driven from their homeland into exile. Rather ingeniously, Isaiah weaves together how God takes this person, Cyrus by name, by the hand and directs him to free the people of Israel. God has called Cyrus by name even though Cyrus does not know God. Through this unique individual people will come to know God as the One and only God. If Cyrus can be a faithful servant of God given his situation, then we ought to be all the more capable of doing marvelous things in praise of God.

Let's keep this tradition alive! Join the fun Sunday October 25th from 4 - 5pm for some fun and treats in the back parking lot! Click on the picture for more details.

Some of us wonder where God is, given all that is going on in our lives, including the pandemic, ferocious fires, a crippled economy, and protests in the streets. There is also confusion in our church, with some playing God and telling us how to vote and judging who is eligible to share Holy Communion. How important it is to reflect on these words from our second reading: “my God will fully supply whatever we (you) need.” One way to imagine God’s Presence is to see His Presence in those who are ill, in the trees that burn, in the poor and needy that are deprived of necessary goods, and anybody who suffers needlessly. What if we imagined God asking us, “where are all the people I created with intelligence, a heart and soul and intuition.” God would go on saying, “I sent Jesus who gave you the example of how to come together and love me, others and yourselves. I trust you all to work together to do your best in alleviating the needs of all people. Now, go for it!”

A different interpretation of today’s Gospel would have the landowner be a rich, absentee land baron who gobbled up the property of poor people and then hired them and paid them far less than what the market called for. One of the reasons the peasants would have lost their land was due to the exorbitant taxes levied by the Roman Empire. While Jesus was not advocating violence, He told this Sunday’s parable as a way of identifying with the indentured people who saw in Him someone who accepted them as they were and reaffirmed them as God’s beloved. The violence in the story was a symbol warning the Empire and super rich that their brutally possessive and entitled ways would be their downfall. We might ponder how this message speaks to what is going on today.

Our Psalm this Sunday has us asking God to do certain things for us. It is always interesting how some of our prayers seem to presume that God needs us to remind Him how to be God. For instance, our Psalm Response is, “Remember your mercies, O Lord.” The first two stanzas of this Sunday’s Psalm continue on this theme. We ask that God make known to us God’s paths. We ask that God guide us in God’s truth. We ask God to remember that God’s compassion and love are ages old. In the third and final stanza, we get to praying that the Lord is good and upright because He shows sinners the way and guides the humble to justice. As we pray these words, let us turn the tables a bit and remind ourselves of who God is and how God is interested only in guiding us to live fully in gratitude for all the gifts that God freely shares with us. May we find ourselves sharing them as freely as God blesses us with them.

My main theology professor would occasionally draw a vertical line on the board and write the word “God” on one side of the line and the words “Not God” on the other. For a considerable length of time, I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. It was probably my sense of grandiosity that blinded me from the profound truth made clear in this weekend’s first reading and Gospel. God’s ways and thoughts are not the way I act and think. Through the years I have grown in humility, meaning that I have been much more accepting of the truth about myself, God and all other people. While God might have given me the talents I have, I am in the end equal to everyone else in the eyes of God. I don’t need to feel cheated when someone else seems to have advantages or benefits that I don’t. And, I am more likely now to realize, with gratitude, that there are things I am good at that others might find more difficult and challenging.