These words from the story of the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-12) came to mind earlier today when listening to a discussion about the Virgin Mary.  I hope no Christian would argue with this advice, whatever they think of Mary. But let’s go a bit deeper into the importance of these words.  These are the last recorded words of Mary in Scripture.  Truly inspired (as we know all Scripture is) aren’t they as this sentiment extends into perpetuity.  From the moment of birth she pointed away from herself to God (today’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception brings this out starkly).  Then she consents to having the incarnate Lord in her womb saying, “May it be done to me according to your word,” that is, the word of God, or better, the Word of God (cf. Jn 1:1).  Again she points away from herself to her creator.  She is God’s perfect instrument.  Now this son (Son) grows up and we are told that he “was obedient to them” (Lk 2:52).  Here again Christians should agree that imitating Christ is what we are called to do.  He obeyed His mother (with a perfect obedience, we might add, as no one ever could fulfill the fourth commandment as He did).  So should we.  “Do whatever he tells you” she tells the servants at the wedding.  They do, likely incredulously, put clean water in with the dirty water as instructed by Jesus.  He rewards them, and all attendees, with the best wine.  Mary, realizing the predicament, went to her Son for help.  She went without prompting, knowing the need and trusting her Son can take care of it.  She proves a wonderful intercessor as her faith yields a greater bounty than anyone could have anticipated.  Let us imitate Christ by obeying His mother and calling on her as a powerful intercessor for us with Jesus.  In turn, He will provide us what we need in a way much more wonderful than we could ever expect.

The gospel reading for today (Mt 8:5-11), the first weekday of Advent,  gives us the episode of the centurion coming to Jesus on behalf of his suffering servant.  The Roman approaches Jesus telling Him of his servant’s sorry state.  Jesus offers to come and cure the sick man, but the soldier deems himself unworthy to have Jesus come into his home but rather knows that Jesus has the power and the authority to cure from afar.  Immediately following this proclamation, Jesus stands amazed and tells the crowd that this is the most faithful man He has encountered yet.  Jesus closes by telling them that the Kingdom will welcome many faithful foreigners.

What does it take to amaze Jesus?  I only found one other place in the Bible outside this encounter (which is also recounted in Luke with some different details) where Jesus was described as being amazed.  That is in Mark 6:6 where Jesus is amazed at the unbelief of Him of those in His hometown of Nazareth.  Extraordinary faith (of a man who likely knew very little about Jesus but still believed) vs. extraordinary doubt (of a community that knew very much about Jesus but still could not bring themselves to belief).  These are the only things that cause Jesus to marvel (as the RSV puts it).  We, thus, can amaze Jesus as well.  But how will we amaze Him?  Will it be through humility, like the centurion, who recognized his own unworthiness, but put complete faith in Jesus as a man who could do anything, at anytime, from anywhere?  Or does our familiarity breed, if not contempt (hopefully!), an approach to God that yields half-hearted prayers that we really don’t expect to be answered?  Note that the Roman soldier does not explicitly ask Jesus for help but simply explains his concern.  Maybe he was going to say more, but Jesus, recognizing the situation, offers to cure the sick man.  The Lord knows what we need before we even ask for it (cf. Mt 6:8).  He is more than willing to give us every good thing.  Will we amaze Jesus with our faith or the lack thereof?

For Thanksgiving, we are given a short excerpt from Sirach (50-22-24) for our first reading.  The passage speaks of a wondrous and good God who brings joy and peace to those whom He has grown and fashioned from before they were born.

In reading this, particularly the excerpt above, we cannot help but think of how “pro-life” is the Lord God.  This “fostering” and “fashioning” is not simply biological.  Through the conjugal act God brings into a being a unique human person and infuses a soul into him.  We are body and soul and are only complete when we have both.  God fosters our physical and spiritual growth.  His will is to fashion all persons so that they remain fully in His image and likeness.  Sin erodes this.  Grace restores it.  But to even face that challenge and struggle the child in the womb (from conception) must be allowed the opportunity to fulfill his potential.  Sirach is not alone in Scripture in clearly stating the personhood of the unborn, but he is an early conveyor of this truth.  A world that kills its children in the womb serves also to spiritually harm those who make it out.  The challenges and struggles already mentioned that we all encounter are not eased by the immorality and bad example of a society that has so little regard for the most vulnerable that in many places their destruction is enshrined in human law.  All too often, cooperation with God’s plan to foster growth is worked against.  Defying God’s will is not a recipe for true and lasting joy and peace that He so wants to give to those who honor Him with their lives.

Today’s headline comes from the last sentence of today’s gospel reading (Lk 21:12-19).  Here, Jesus is addressing a crowd, telling them that seizure and persecution will lead the faithful to give their Christian testimony aided by the Holy Spirit.  What follows from this will be hatred and, for some, even death for those who confess Jesus as Lord.  Yet, amazingly, “not a hair on your head will be destroyed” (v. 18).

Several things come to mind while reflecting on this passage:

1. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” wrote Tertullian at the beginning of the third century.  Jesus foretold this slaughter in today’s excerpt from Luke.  Not only did those who died for their faith  secure their lives, they also brought to Life (“Jesus said…’I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'” — Jn 14:6) many others as the Church grew exponentially in those early years of persecution.
2. Ever since, the persecution of Christians has spiked and waned but has never ceased.  The twentieth century was a bloodbath for Christians the world over and seems to be on the increase in the new millennium.  This page is eye opening and this book has received excellent reviews.  Let us pray daily for the perseverance of these brothers and sisters in Christ and for the conversion of their tormentors.
3. Are we in the West ready to experience this oppression as well?  To a certain extent, already, those who hold fast to basic tenets of the faith, like opposition to contraception, abortion, homosexual “marriage,” pornography, and religious intolerance, already find challenges in certain arenas.  As government and society grow more and more hostile to religion in general, Christianity in particular, and Catholicism most of all, will we keep the Faith when the going gets rough causing us to sell out Jesus?  Judas did just this for thirty pieces of silver.  What will be our price?  Political correctness?  Going along to get along?  Mollifying family?  Keeping “friends”?  Obeying an unjust “law” in order to avoid trouble?  Keeping a job which forces us to violate our consciences?

Martyrdom (white or red, i.e., suffering or death) still leads to the growth of the Church, which should be the desire of every Christian.  We are comforted if we do not forget the last two lines of this passage.  No harm ultimately will be done to us if we persevere.  We will save our souls if we remain faithful.  And whatever happens to this mortal body will be erased at the end of time with a beautiful, glorified, immortal body.  Keep the Faith!

The headline comes from the last line of today’s gospel reading (Lk 18:1-8).  In this reading Jesus uses the parable of the persistent widow who regularly confronts a dishonest judge to rule in her favor.  He does so not because she is in the right, although he admits she is, but because he fears she will do him harm.  If a dishonest man heeds a persistent adversary how much more will and honest Father heed a persistent friend?

I find the closing sentence to be quite possibly the most chilling line in the gospels.  I don’t believe Jesus was saying this for effect or as hyperbole.  I imagine he looked very sad when He uttered these words,  Would He find true faith upon His return?  Would the Good News be embraced and spread like wildfire?  In any case, would the message get lost, as in the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1-8), with the seed of faith ultimately only falling on a hard path, rocky ground, or amongst thorns?  Even if the seed falls on rich soil, will time, apathy, or even rebellion eventually erode this fertile earth?  Upon Jesus’ return will He call us a “faithless generation” as He did the citizens of Caesarea Philippi (Mk 9:19)?  Certainly, the world seems more and more upside down each day.  Pray that our faith may be strengthened and that through our witness God will use this evidence of faith in our actions (“faith working through love” — Gal 5:6) to bring many to a new, renewed, or increased faith in Him.

On yesterday’s Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr, the optional reading was a fine and appropriate one, John 12:24-26.  But the quote above (Jn 6:54) was the one that immediately came to my mind.  Why?  One of the most famous statements of Ignatius’s, almost always excerpted on this day, which he wrote in one of his seven letters to a disciple and various communities, this one to Rome, on the way to his death. is the following:

“I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread.”

This reminded me of Jn 6:54 because of something that gets lost in translation in this passage from the Bread of Life discourse.  Here Jesus more strongly emphasizes the reality (not merely a symbol) and necessity of the Eucharist by using the term “chewing” or “gnawing” where we read “eats.”  So when we hear Ignatius speaking of being “ground by [the lions’] teeth” to “become Christ’s pure bread” the imagery makes the connection between the two excerpts very clear.  Just as Christ offers Himself to us in a real and substantial way in Holy Communion, the culmination of the re-presentation of His sacrifice on Calvary, so Ignatius offered himself completely (in body and soul) to Jesus as a sacrifice.  Ignatius prayed that his suffering and death would make a pleasing offering to the Lord; undoubtedly it did as today he is known as Saint Ignatius.  But it goes further.  As Tertullian said in his Apologeticus, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”  Ignatius’s example, followed by many before him and many more since, makes it clear that offering ourselves completely to Jesus has far reaching implications for the Kingdom of God as well.

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  It commemorates a naval victory against Muslim Turks at Lepanto (off the coast of Greece) in 1571 thus sparing Christendom in Europe.  “Pope St. Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked on the day of the battle through a campaign to pray the Rosary throughout Europe.”  See the rest of the CNA article on this event here.

The rosary is a powerful prayer.  It begins with a the Sign of the Cross and a profession of faith, the Apostles’ Creed, continues with an Our Father, three Hail Marys, followed by a Glory Be.  Each decade then begins with an Our Father, then ten Hail Marys, closing with a Glory Be (and optionally the Fatima Prayer).  Five decades complete a particular set of mysteries, while twenty decades complete all the mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous).  A handy one page visual of how to pray the rosary can be found here.

If you are not in the habit of praying the rosary, I strongly encourage you to find the time to do so.  If you do not know it or remember it, the handout just mentioned and a rosary is all you need to begin (the latter is available in any religious goods store or your local Catholic parish — I hope).  If you prefer to say it with a recording, it is available several times a day on EWTN (you DO know where it is on your cable/satellite, no?), on the internet, local Catholic radio if it is in your town or Catholic radio on the internet,  Good CDs/downloads of the rosary are also common and can be used in your car, while walking, or when exercising.

There is always time for prayer.  Turn off that second hour of news in the evening and take just a quarter of that time to say five decades.  Take a twenty minute walk to the store instead of a five minute drive — you’ll be healthier spiritually and physically.  Keep the CD in your player in the car so you can recite along with it when driving to and from work, or when running errands.  Who knows, maybe you can encourage any passengers to join you.  A great way to start the day, maybe a CD alarm clock or a DVR’d rosary is the best way for you.

And please do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Do not feel that if the conditions are not ideal, or if distractions are piling up, or if you are unable to concentrate that you should give up or never start.  That is the devil at work.  Turn the distractions and anxieties into intentions (it is always good to have a special intention for which the rosary is being offered).  While we should strive to grow ever better in conversation with God, He will meet us where we are at and help us to grow in our spiritual life.  Just do it and persevere.  If you miss a day, just start up again the next.  If something pulls you away in the middle then try to get back to it later in the day.  If you cannot, know that the three decades, or three Hail Marys, have not gone to waste.

If you are a reader, and need some encouragement, start with St; Louis de Montfort’s edifying and inspiring Secret of the Rosary.

Finally, if you find yourself objecting to this prayer, or others are doing that for you, be assured that by honoring Mary you are honoring her Father, her Son, and her Spouse (the Holy Spirit).  Read here to be comforted and strengthened in your resolve; pass it along to help those who find the rosary problematic to understand the Catholic approach to Mary.

May God bless you and Mary, Queen of the Rosary, assist you.

The second reading today comes from Paul’s second letter to Timothy (1:6-8, 13-14).  Taken from some of the earliest sentences in this epistle, Paul reminds Timothy from the outset, before saying anything else, that the latter has the Holy Spirit within him and that he should tap into that charism to avoid any chance of cowardice.  Rather, power, love, and self-control are the rule, giving him the strength to speak the truth (i.e., “the sound words you heard from me” — v. 13) and bear with its accompanying hardships (see above).

Sharing the gospel can be very challenging.  Might I lose friends and family (see Mt 10:37)?  What are the right words to move hearts (Lk 12:11-12)?  Do I even understand it well enough to convey it properly (see Acts 8:30-31 and 2 Tim 3:16-17)?  I am not living it perfectly (maybe far from it) — who am I to preach to others?  Of course we should be constantly reforming our lives, conforming them to Christ, by eliminating sin and vice and growing in holiness.  This is the best method of and the greatest tool for evangelization.  But it doesn’t stop there.  By virtue of our baptism we are children of God and have the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.  Confirmation strengthened that.  We are called to “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15).  This is our duty as Christians.  A command, not a request.  What should we expect in return?  Nothing.  If hardship comes our way, we count on the Holy Spirit for help: “a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord” (Is 11:2).  But, whatever comes of our work for God, always remember the words from today’s gospel reading, in the wisdom of the Church so appropriately paired with the epistle above, in which Jesus says: “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do'” (Lk 17:10).  Such humility safeguards all the virtues and conforms us to a Savior who is the exemplar of meekness and who works through our lowliness to achieve His ends.

Today’s first reading for the Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time is taken from Nehemiah (2:1-8).  Nehemiah spearheaded the reconstruction and resettlement of Jerusalem upon the return of the exiled Chosen People from Babylon.  In this reading, Nehemiah, a court official of the Persian king (“cupbearer” per v. 1:11), after asking for God’s help (see above), implores the king to allow him to take a leave to rebuild his ancestral home of Jerusalem.  He is inspired to do this because of sad reports he receives (in the first chapter) of the survivors remaining in a devastated Jerusalem.  The king agrees to this, even granting Nehemiah’s request for papers to ensure safe passage and timber for use in the project.

Reading chapter one, we discover that Nehemiah fasted and prayed in repentance for the sins of the people for four months prior to asking the king for the favor of allowing him to leave the king’s service for a time.  Then, as we see above, he invokes the Lord’s help immediately before addressing the king and asking him to allow him to move forward with the major endeavor of rebuilding Jerusalem.  Nehemiah was right to be “seized with great fear” (v. 2) in requesting such a major undertaking of a man who had unconditional power over him and who ruled the empire that devastated his people to begin with.  Yet Nehemiah trusted in the Lord that his prayers of the last several months were heard and that his immediate request for aid from Him would give him the proper words, and the king the proper disposition, to assent to this plan.

Would that each of us invoke the Holy Spirit before answering any question or engaging in any conversation!  What better way to help ensure a proper response or fruitful, productive, and inoffensive (to God and others) dialogue than to ask for God’s help in our dealings with every person.  Gossip, deceit, vulgarity, and uncharitableness do not stand a chance with a constant and sincere invocation of divine assistance.  Let us keep in mind Nehemiah’s example, not just when we speak to individuals or groups of a certain stature in the eyes of the world, but also in our interactions with every person since we all are made in the image and likeness of God and we are all called to be kings (see CCC 786).

(Acknowledgement: The Navarre Bible commentary was helpful in providing background to the book of Nehemiah.)

Today’s Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels blesses us with the opportunity to hear of how angels have been guarding and guiding men throughout salvation history.  The quote above, taken from Ex 23:20-23 while Moses was still on the mountain receiving the commandments, is uttered by God.  Not only is the angel sent by Yahweh to guard the Chosen People (their guardian angel), God also promises that the angel will guide them in their journey.  But he must be heeded as a messenger of God or the people will suffer the consequences (as we find out happened time and time again).

The Responsorial Psalm comes from the beginning of chapter 91 and concludes with this verse: “For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go” (v. 11).  As this passage has been recited throughout the ages, how often must the pray-er have hearkened back to the aforementioned Exodus passage in which God commanded His angel to guard His people if they remain faithful.  The Navarre Bible puts this title on the psalm: “A person protected by the Lord has no reason to fear evil.”  A completely apt, eminently comforting, and practically useful thought of which we should be consistently mindful.

Finally, the gospel (Mt 18:1-5, 10), in which Jesus, in response to a question about who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, calls a little child to Him and proceeds to tell His listeners that they must humble themselves like the youngster to be considered the greatest.  In the intervening verses that went unread, Jesus tells us that we are not to lead into sin or scandalize these small ones.  Besides harming others, our immortal souls are endangered when we do not eschew sinful behavior.  The reading closes with the words: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

Belief in angels is a truth of faith.  As far as personal guardian angels are concerned, the evidence of their existence is strong per the verse from Matthew just cited.  In fact, St. Basil says, “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life” (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 336).  It is easy to forget this spiritual friend, or relegate him to a quaint childhood belief that we have grown out of.  This should not be so, though.  The prayer we learned at an early age should still be invoked daily today and every day:

Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day,
be at my side
to light and guard,
to rule and guide.

Angels provide enlightenment, protection, and guidance.  We are unwise if we do not utilize the help of these heavenly messengers.