Christmas Inbox Inspiration: December 25, 2021: Christmas, December 25, Cycle C

 Sunday – Christmas Inbox Inspirations

Christmas instead of Sunday 

Cycle C

December 25, 2021

 

Fear 

 

When I was a child, I was taught not to touch the top of the stove.

 

If I did this, I might burn my fingers. So, I was afraid of doing that and was careful not to touch the hot burners on the stove.

 

When we are children, we can also have other fears, like darkness, bugs, going to the doctor’s, large, barking dogs, and on it goes. We adults can also be afraid of things.

 

Some of our biggest fears today are the fear of losing a loved, the fear of getting seriously sick, as with COVID, and the fear of not having enough money for retirement.

 

At least one study says that 45% of us experience more anxiety and fear than we did 1 year ago. So, fear is a reality for most, maybe all of us.

 

Fear As Good and Not Good 

 

Now, sometimes fear is a good thing.

 

It’s okay to be afraid of things that are dangerous or a threat to us – like touching the hot burners on a stove. But fear can also cripple us if we let it overtake our lives. 

 

It can keep us from being persons who are basically happy and who act out of love for others. So, we need to be aware of the fear in our lives and how it affects us.

 

Fear in Bethlehem

 

That brings me to today – our celebration of Christmas.

 

The gospel tells the familiar story of the birth of Jesus. We hear that an angel appears to shepherds and that “they were struck with fear” – “with fear.”

 

The shepherds were experiencing something very different, something beyond their understanding and control. And they were instantly afraid.

 

The angel tries to reassure them: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy.” Those words – “Do not be afraid” – they occur many times in the gospels.

 

Here the angel is clearly saying: “Do not be afraid [of God – of God]! For today,…a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.” 

 

And then, very significantly, the angel adds this. “And this will be a sign for you: an infant lying in a manger.”

 

And there it is – right in those words – “an infant lying in a manger.” That’s the key to it all and that’s why the shepherds and we are not to be afraid of God. 

 

Fear of God 

 

Up until that moment, God had been perceived as all-powerful figure, distant, judging, punishing, even vengeful.

 

That was the dominant image of God in the Old Testament. And the result of that image of God was fear.

 

People felt diminished, insecure, guilty, ashamed, and fearful of what God would do to them, especially in the hereafter. We were afraid of God. 

 

So, what does God do? God comes to earth in a completely different way – the opposite of what we had thought. 

 

God flips it all around and comes as a baby: powerless, fully with us and like us, even vulnerable. And this is why the angel says to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid.” 

 

I mean, after all, who can be afraid of a baby? So, think about this: what a difference this should make. 

 

Now we, we human beings, we can feel secure, imperfect but still okay, loved, and at peace. Now we are to live, not out of fear, but out of love.

 

First, we see God’s love for us and for all people in the infant of Bethlehem. And then, we respond to that by living out of that love for God and others.

 

The result will be the angel’s closing words to the shepherds. “On earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

In other words, we will have an inner, core peace within ourselves. Yes, we will still have fears of darkness and sickness and other things.

 

But being loved by God in Jesus born in Bethlehem, and then loving God in return instead of fearing God – that will help to control our other fears. This inner core of love and peace will keep our other fears in check. 

 

Being Afraid of a Baby?

 

I want to conclude by quoting the author whose writing inspired me with these thoughts.

 

The author is a Dutch priest, Father Henri Nouwen. He writes this.

 

“Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel. By becoming a vulnerable child…God wants to take away all distance between the human and the divine.

 

“Who can be afraid of a little child who needs to be fed, to be cared for, to be taught, to be guided? How can we be afraid of a God who wants to be ‘God-with-us’ and wants us to become ‘Us-with-God’”? 

 

That’s what I am seeing, this Christmas of 2021.

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: December 22, 2021: Christmas - Humility

 December 22, 2021

 

 Christmas – Humility     

 

Dear Friends, 

Thirty-seven years ago, in 1983, I was part of a wonderful tour to the Holy Land. Among my many memories of that trip, I recall especially our visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. 

The doorway that you have to use to enter this church is only three feet high. The original full-size doorway was gradually lowered to this height to deter looters from entering with ease. That was done during one of the many periods of unrest and international battling over the Holy Land. At any rate, to enter the Church of the Nativity through this doorway, one must stoop and bow or even kneel. That is why this entrance is called the Door of Humility.  

 

This speaks to me in two ways.

First, the Son of God, Christ, humbled himself in taking on our humanity.

Saint Paul says this so beautifully: “Though he was in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself… coming in human likeness; and…he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

So, passing through the Door of Humility, bending or kneeling, recalls the sheer humility of Christ, of Jesus, born in Bethlehem.  

 

And second, it also makes us aware of our own need for humility. We need to be humble to be open to the One who is beyond us, to admit our need for the transcendent, to own up to our human finiteness. One of our contemporary Catholic authors says it very well:

“For humility is the gateway to faith. Without it, we rely simply on our own efforts, without recognizing our dependence on God. Without it, we rely simply on our own reason, without opening ourselves up to the possibility of the miraculous. Without it, we cannot fully enter into the world that God has in store for us.”

The Door of Humility at the Church of the Nativity has much to say to us as we celebrate Christmas.  

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

First quotation from the Letter to the Philippians 2:6-8.

Second quotation from Jesus: A Pilgrimage by James Martin, S.J.

Sunday Inbox Inspiration: December 19, 2021: 4th Sunday in Advent, December 19, Cycle C

Sunday Inbox Inspirations

4^th  Sunday of Advent 

Cycle C

December 19, 2021

 

Receiving Instead of Giving 

 

There used to be a popular comic strip called For Better or For Worse.

 

The comic strip was about a family named Patterson and it ran for twenty-nine years. It ended in 2008, but you can still access it on-line.

 

One year there was a humorous episode right before Christmas. Mom and Dad and six-year-old April are shopping at the mall.  

 

April is absolutely captivated by all the toys. “Look, Dad!  I want it for Christmas!  

 

“I want a ’16-inch Flower Power BMX’ bike. And I want  a ‘Creatto Crafting Kit’ and an ‘Ooze Labs: Soap and Bath Bomb Lab’ and a ‘Light-up Tracing Pad’ an’...an’…an’…”

   

Eventually Dad has had enough. “April, Christmas is a time for giving!  There is a lot more joy in giving to others.”

 

April immediately responds, “I know, Dad.  But somebody has to receive or there’d be nobody to give stuff to.”

 

Elizabeth and Mary 

 

Little April, of course, has a lot of innocent self-interest.

 

But April also leads us to a good insight. It may sound strange, but it is important for us to see ourselves first as receivers and only then as givers.

 

In the background to today’s gospel, we know that Mary’ cousin Elizabeth is an older woman, at least for those times. She is probably in her 40s, but the average lifespan is only about 50.

 

Elizabeth and her husband have had no children, and now, surprisingly, she is bearing a baby. She sees herself as a receiver of a gift from God.

 

Mary is Elizabeth’s much younger cousin. She doesn’t fully understand what is happening, but she trusts and sees herself as a receiver of a gift from God.

 

So, both Elizabeth and Mary see themselves as blessed by God – as receivers. And, very significantly, seeing themselves as receivers moves them to be givers and it also shapes how they give to others.

 

Receivers First, Then Givers 

 

This may be a different way of looking at things, but it is a valuable insight.

 

We need to live first as receivers, not exactly like April in the comic strip, but as receivers from God. We need the awareness that ultimately, everything in life is a gift from God.

 

That awareness should move us to be givers. And beyond that, our awareness of receiving will shape our giving.  

 

Receiving Shaping Our Giving

 

For example, this awareness that first we are receivers will lead us to be attentive to others and to give what they really need. 

 

In the gospel, Mary gives her time and assistance to Elizabeth when her cousin really needs it. We might give our time listening to a spouse or child or friend, and not just giving a sweater or something else, good in itself, but maybe not what the person most needs from us.  

 

The awareness that first we are receivers will also lead us to give without our ego needs getting in the way.

 

In the gospel, Elizabeth praises Mary as greater than herself, even though Mary is much younger and much less significant in the eyes of others. We might join in giving recognition to a fellow employee, without letting our ego need to also be recognized get in the way.

 

And the awareness that first we are receivers will also lead us to give with no expectation of return.

 

Mary gives her time to Elizabeth and Elizabeth gives praise to Mary – each of them doing this because they want to do it, because it is a good thing to do, and each of them expecting nothing in return. We might give a nice present to a friend because we want to do it, because it is good to do, and we expect nothing in return. 

  

Conclusion

 

So, it may sound surprising, but Christmas is first about receiving and only then is it about giving.

 

Our awareness that we are first of all receivers from God will also lead us to give and it will shape our giving. It will lead us 1) to give what others really need, 2) to give without our ego getting in the way, and 3) to give with no expectation of return.

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner 

Sunday Inbox Inspiration: December 12, 2021: 3rd Sunday in Advent, December 12, Cycle C

 Sunday Inbox Inspirations

3rd Sunday of Advent 

Cycle C

December 12, 2021

 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation 

 

When I was a child, my parents used to take my brother and me to confession about every two weeks.

 

Now, I imagine some of you are thinking: he probably needed it! Well, maybe I did, but in those days, a lot of people did this.

 

Today, the great majority of us don’t come to this Sacrament with that frequency. So, this morning, I want to reflect with you on two questions.  

 

First, why do we have this Sacrament of Reconciliation? And second, when or how often does our Church teaching require us to go to confession?

 

1.    Why Verbal Confession 

 

So first, why is confession part of our Catholic tradition?

 

Why do we have this practice of verbally confessing our sins to a priest and verbally hearing absolution? I think the answer comes down to this.

 

We are relational and social persons. Whenever we do something wrong, like children back-talking their parents, it has an effect on others.

 

And whenever we fail to do something good, like not taking up for a classmate who is being bullied, it has an effect on others. So, verbally confessing our sins and saying “I am sorry” expresses our relational and social nature.

 

On the flip side, hearing another person say words of forgiveness also responds to our relational and social nature. In Reconciliation, the other person is a priest who in this sacrament represents Christ.

 

There is a certain fullness and completeness to actually speaking my sorrow for sin to another person and actually hearing words of forgiveness. Our Catholic tradition of confession only makes sense if we first remember this. 

 

2.    When Or How Often 

 

That takes us to the second question: When or how often are we expected to go to this Sacrament?

 

Let’s put it in this context. Church law says that we are to go to Mass every Sunday – every Sunday.

 

The Mass is the highest priority. Church law also says that we are to come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation if we have committed serious sin.

 

So there is a big difference here. We are bound to come to confession only if we have been unfaithful to God or to our calling in life in some very significant way.

 

Now, the Church also encourages us to come to this Sacrament at other times. We are encouraged to use the sacrament for lesser faults or imperfections or sins. 

 

The idea is that this Sacrament can be helpful in our overall spiritual growth. It gives us God’s grace.

 

It can help us to grow closer to God. It is meant to be an opportunity – a good opportunity, not a burden.

 

The Reality

 

Now, I know that some of you find this Sacrament very enriching.

 

You use it regularly for your spiritual well-being. I also know that some Catholics find this to be a challenging Sacrament.

 

They do not use it regularly or see it as a necessary means for their spiritual growth. But they are living good lives and being good Catholics.

 

Two Recommendations

 

With that, I want to make two recommendations.

 

First, please review your own thoughts and feelings about this Sacrament. Just review this in light of what I have said today.

 

Consider its place in your life. Try to discern what place it might have in your relationship with God. 

 

And second, every day, in the evening, do a review of the day that is ending. Or, in the morning, do a review of the previous day.

 

Take a look at your day and see if there is any instance where you did not follow the way of the Lord. And then pray what we call an Act of Contrition.

 

We can also call this a Prayer for Forgiveness or a Prayer of Resolve. In my bulletin column this weekend, I give an Act of Contrition that I especially recommend. 

 

Praying this prayer will be a way to express our need for spiritual growth. And, during Advent, it will be a way to respond to John the Baptist’s call for repentance. 

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Sunday Inbox Inspiration: December 5, 2021: 2nd Sunday in Advent, December 5, Cycle C

 Sunday Inbox Inspirations

2nd Sunday of Advent 

Cycle C

December 5, 2021

 

Sidling Mountain 

 

I’m sure that many of us have been to Garrett County in Western Maryland.

 

Garrett County has scenic mountains, national forests, and the beautiful Deep Creek Lake. To travel there, you take I-70 west to Hancock, Maryland.

 

Then, you take route 68 west. And here is where you see something amazing.

 

The first mountain that you meet is called Sidling Mountain. Up until about thirty years ago, you had to follow a winding and dangerous road over the southern side of Sidling Mountain and around its highest point.

 

Then there was a major highway project. They literally blasted off the top and created a passage right through the heart of Sidling Mountain.

 

The result is that the center part of the mountain is now much lower and the new road is much straighter. It is a safer and faster way to drive west toward Garrett County.     

 

Gospel Images

 

What the engineers did to Sidling Mountain helps us to appreciate the images in today’s readings.

 

John the Baptist is preparing for the coming of Christ and is preaching repentance. He expresses this with images that he takes from the Prophet Isaiah and the Prophet Baruch in today’s first reading.

 

John says: “Every valley shall be filled in and every mountain shall be made low. The winding ways shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth.”

 

I have always liked these images. They express what this Season of Advent calls us to do to allow the fuller coming of Christ into our lives. 

 

Valleys and Mountains 

 

So, “Every valley shall be filled in.”

 

Sometimes there are points in our lives where we feel empty, dry, alone, maybe without any purpose. In these valleys, Advent lifts up hope – the virtue of hope.

 

This hope is not just optimism that everything will turn out as we want it. Rather, it is a vision for living that Jesus brings and that gives fullness and purpose to our lives. 

 

So, “Every valley shall be filled in,” and then, “Every mountain shall be made low.”

 

Sometimes we can slip into thinking that we are beyond or better than others because of our job, our religion, our race, our education, or our nationality. When we are on these mountains of pride, Advent reminds us of what we are about to celebrate at Christmas.

 

God became one of us and one with us in the birth of Christ. This moves us to the humble awareness that we are to see ourselves as one of and one with all human beings. 

 

Winding and Rough Ways

 

Then, “The winding ways shall be made straight.” 

 

Sometimes we can be tempted to be untruthful about something maybe to avoid being thought less of or to make ourselves look better. When we get into these winding ways, the Advent prophet John the Baptist is a good example for us.

 

He speaks in a direct and straightforward way. In doing that, he moves us to be truthful about ourselves, and to do that with ourselves and with others as the way to real wholeness and holiness. 

 

And finally, “The rough ways are to be made smooth.” Sometimes we may explode with anger at something a family member does or get into road rage when someone cuts us off in traffic.

 

When we find ourselves roughing up others up like this, let’s remember the patience of Jesus. He was always patient with the imperfections of people and only roughed up some who themselves were roughing up others.

 

Conclusion

 

So, these images today really speak to me:

v filling up our valleys of emptiness with hope;

v levelling our mountains of pride with humility;

v straightening the winding way of deception with truthfulness; 

v and smoothing the roughness of anger with patience.

 

This is an Advent plan – a way to allow Jesus the Christ to come more fully into our lives. And, if we do this, the result will be the last line of today’s gospel passage.  “All humanity will see the salvation of God.”

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: December 1, 2021: Getting Ready 1-2

 December 1, 2021

 

 Getting Ready -1  

 

Dear Friends, 

During December, most of the focus is on getting ready for Christmas.

Often enough, Christmas is presented as simply a holiday or week of holidays.

I realize that sometimes we say “Happy Holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!” We may do this out of respect for those of other faith traditions who are also celebrating special or sacred days during this month.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters are celebrating Hannukah right now, from November 28 to December 6.

African Americans will be celebrating Kwanzaa from December 26 to January 1.

In some public settings, we appropriately say “Happy Holidays.”

Having said that, our Christian and Catholic tradition calls us to get ready for something more than just holidays.

We are getting ready to celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ to us in Bethlehem.

We will celebrate that with great joy and sing Joy to the World.

In addition to that, Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, calls us to get ready for the second coming of Jesus, whenever that will be.

So, besides Christmas trees, red, green, silver, and gold decorations, streamers of lights, shopping for presents, baking cookies, and preparing for parties or special meals, we are invited, and even called, to do some personal preparation.

We are called to take a look at ourselves, at our inner self and at the quality of our outer living.

We are called to get ready for a fuller coming of Christ to us right now by opening our hearts more completely to him.

This is why, in our Church’s liturgy, we wear purple vestments during Advent.

Purple speaks to us of repentance, in contrast to the other colors of this season.

It calls us to get ready for the coming of Christ spiritually.

It responds to the call of the Advent prophet John the Baptist who was “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” 

I will continue these thoughts on Getting Ready in next week’s Inbox Inspirations.

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

The quotation above is from the Gospel for this coming Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, December 5, Luke 3:1-6.

December 8, 2021

 

 Getting Ready -2  

 

Dear Friends, 

The purple vestments of Advent call us to welcome Jesus more fully into our lives.

We are to receive him into every dimension of our being.

This will be our spiritual way to prepare for Christmas. 

To respond to this Advent calling, I make several rather simple recommendations.

First, identify the number one fault or imperfection or sin in our life right now.

Don’t try to list all of our faults or imperfections or sins.

Just get in touch with what the number one thing seems to be.

That will be enough.

Then, every evening, review the day that is ending, or every morning, review the prior day.

Look at it through this lens of the number one area where you need to grow.

See how you have done and ask God for forgiveness for any lapses.

Follow this with what we call an Act of Contrition.

We might also call this a Prayer for Forgiveness or a Prayer of Resolve.

I recommend the following prayer, different from what I learned as a child, but I find it to be positive and ending with the focus on God and God’s love.

“My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.

In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,

I have sinned against you, whom I should love above all things.

I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.

Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.

In his name, my God, have mercy. Amen.”

Finally, I recommend that we bring this number one area for growth to the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass.

Do this every time you come to Mass. 

In this way, allow God and God’s grace to slowly work in you on this. 

Keep doing this for weeks and months and give God a chance to help you.

I will continue these thoughts on Getting Ready in next week’s Inbox Inspirations.

 

Father Michael Schleupner

 

The Act of Contrition above is from The Rite of Penance of the Roman Ritual.

December 15, 2021

 

 Getting Ready -3  

 

Dear Friends, 

Last week I recommended that we get in touch with the number one area in our lives where we need to grow spiritually.

Identify just this one behavior and then review each day and see how you did on this.

Do this day after day and ask God’s forgiveness for any offenses.

I also recommend that we bring this same item to the Penitential Rite at the beginning of every Mass.

Do this week after week, probably month after month.

The idea here is to open ourselves to God’s action.

Let God work with us slowly but surely, maybe over a rather long period of time.

We may feel that we are not changing or growing and not getting anywhere.

However, it is something like our lawns in the spring and summer.

We don’t actually see the grass growing, but it is growing and all of a sudden, we know that the lawn needs to be cut again.

Our spiritual growth often happens in the same way.

So, maybe our issue is patience.

We are repeatedly impatient with someone and lash out in an angry way.

Maybe over time, God will give us an insight into our impatience and anger.

Maybe we will realize that we have some annoying habit similar to the other person’s, and that awareness will be a gift from God.

It may well lead us to be more patient with that person, just as we want them to be with us.

So, let’s allow God to work with and within us.

The English word Advent comes directly from the Latin word adventus which means coming. 

We are getting ready to celebrate the coming of the Lord that happened in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

In doing that, we are also getting ready for Jesus to come more fully into our lives right now.

My recommendations last week and above are intended to be a way to help us to do this getting ready.

May the joy, hope, and peace that the birth of Christ offers be with you! 

 

Father Michael Schleupner