Homily: 7th Day in the Octave of Christmas

Readings: 1 Jn 2:18-21; Ps 96; Jn 1:1-18

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Here we are on the last day of the year, ready to say, “Goodbye” to 2024, for which we thank God, and look forward to the beginning of 2025.

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Have you ever noticed that there are no road signs in The Villages that say, “Dead End”? You’ll see them everywhere else, in Leesburg and Wildwood and Lady Lake. But in The Villages the relevant signs read “No Outlet.” My guess is the developer decided that signs proclaiming “Dead” and “End” might not be very well-received in a large retirement community advertised as the “beginning of your new life.”

I really have no problem with that, because for a faithful Christian there are no dead ends. Indeed, the end is always the beginning of something immense and wondrous.

Mary Queen of Scots, who for centuries was treated horribly by most historians, is today undergoing deserved rehabilitation. Anyway, I once read that shortly before her execution she embroidered these words:

“In my end is my beginning.”

For the Christian, then, the life of faith is always the beginning; there really is no end. 

Anna, the Temple prophetess, demonstrated this in yesterday’s Gospel passage. Although she was at the end of her life, she was “looking forward,” not back. We see this, too, in today’s passage where John starts the Prologue to his Gospel with the words, “In the beginning was the Word.…” But in our other reading from John’s First Letter, he begins with the end…

“Children, it is the last hour…"

For John, “the last hour” is also a “beginning.” Of course, to John it's really all of one piece, just as it should be with us. Yes, indeed, God is the beginning and the end...the alpha, the omega...and He’s active through it all.

I think we sometimes forget that. Oh, yes, we know God made the heavens and the earth, but then far too many today go through their lives as if He’s no longer involved with His Creation, no longer involved with us. For we, too – each one of us – are His Creation, and His involvement with us couldn’t be more intimate, more involved, more pervasive than it already is.

John wants to ensure we understand this: the fullness of God’s love for us manifests itself through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. “Fullness” is the correct word, too, because God’s love begins with Creation, redeems us through the Incarnation, and leads us into eternity with His merciful Judgment…and that’s about as full as it gets.

Throughout it all, Jesus is the Word.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” [Jn 1:1].

And the Word of God is creative, for "all things came to be through Him..." And when God speaks, things happen:

“Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.”

The Father, then, speaks through His Son, the Word, and all is created. But when you or I speak, we’re lucky if anything happens. Heck, even my little dog, who left us last year, obeyed me only when it suited her.

And then John shares those words that mean so very much to us:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

Yes, Jesus became one of us, blessing our human existence with His Divinity, infusing us with His glory, if only we accept it.

Today, then, as we consider making New Year resolutions, perhaps we should just start anew.

I remember reading about a monk who confessed how he used to complain about the number of steps in his abbey. As he aged, he found that climbing those steps wore him down.

“I used to count them as I climbed,” he wrote, “just to help me get through them. But then, one day in prayer I realized my spiritual life needed, again and again, to start at the beginning. Now, as I go up the steps, I count each step aloud, “One, one, one…”

Consider today and every day a new beginning, asking God to come into our hearts and lead us as we struggle to follow Him on the Way.

Sisters and brothers, Sacred Scripture has depths beyond our understanding, and I often pray after our weekly Bible Study that I haven’t misapplied them or mangled them too badly as I try to share them with others. But, as we read God’s Word, and pray it, and live it, we become like the two on the road to Emmaus, because Jesus walks with us, from one beginning, not to the end, but to a new beginning.

God love you all...and Happy New Year.

Arundel Castle and Mary Queen of Scots

A few years ago Diane and I enjoyed a wonderful two-week vacation in the UK, followed by a trans-Atlantic cruise back home to Florida. Other than a few days in London, we spent most of those two weeks in the south of England. We established our HQ in the Hampshire village of Chawton, and from there roamed about the countryside from Kent to Somerset. 

Arundel Castle from the Gardens

On one of those day trips we visited Arundel Castle in West Sussex. (If you like, you can read the 2013 blog entry describing our visit there: Across the South.) The castle, which dates back to 1067, the year following William's Norman conquest, has been a home for the Duke of Norfolk for quite some time, about 400 years. The Duke also holds the title of Earl of Arundel and is apparently the top dog among the English peers. The current Duke, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, is the 18th Duke of Norfolk and like his ancestors has managed to keep the Catholic faith. One of those ancestors, Thomas Howard, the fourth Duke, was executed in 1572 by Elizabeth for being a bit too friendly with Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. With a family history littered with such events, you have to hand it to the Fitzalan-Howards for persevering in the faith.

The Duke and his predecessors have actually done a wonderful job of restoration and maintenance of the castle and its grounds. Diane and I were truly impressed and enjoyed our visit. Of course we took the tour, which included everything from the ancient Keep to the lovely Fitzalan Chapel. We were even permitted to view a few of the bedrooms in which some very important people have occasionally slept. The castle also houses a nice gift shop and a restaurant where one can grab a quick bite. 

With COVID waning, Arundel Castle is once again open for visitors. Sadly, though, some recent visitors came for more than the tour. They came to steal, and their theivery resulted in the loss of some priceless objects. One of these is the gold Rosary that Mary, Queen of Scots, held in her hand as she was executed at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587.

Mary, Holding Her Rosary at Her Execution

Other items stolen include coronation cups, also gold. This leads some to believe the thieves chose these items for their gold value and not for their historical significance. How very sad if these priceless artifacts are simply melted down for their metal value. Of course, the thieves' only alternative is to sell them on the black market to collectors who really aren't all that concerned about how they were obtained. Perhaps some good soul knows something and will lead to the recovery of the items. But as my mother used to say, "They're only things, so don't get too attached to them."

If you're interested, you can read about the theft here: Theft at Arundel Castle

I expect the castle's security has been raised a level or two, but I would still recommend a visit. Oh, yes, don't neglect the garden tour, especially when all is in bloom. And the town of Arundel is also quite nice. As I recall we had an excellent meal at one of the downtown pubs and enjoyed shopping at a local bookstore. All in all, a delightful day. We came away with some nice items, all paid for in the castle gift shop.

Homily: Baptism of the Lord

Readings: Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 29; Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17

Mary Queen of Scots, as she waited those long years in prison before being executed by her cousin, Elizabeth, had the following words embroidered on her cloth estate: “In my end is my beginning” -- words that, for Mary, symbolized the eternity of life that awaited her after death.

But they are fitting words, too, for many of this life’s transitions, for those times when something significant has ended only to be followed by something even greater.

“In my end is my beginning.”

In that sense they are fitting words for today’s very special feast: the Baptism of the Lord; for on this day we celebrate a day of major transition in the life of Jesus. With His Baptism by John, Jesus leaves behind that part of his life about which we know so very little. His Baptism brings those early years to an emphatic end. But His Baptism is also a beginning, the beginning of His public ministry, a ministry of teaching, preaching and healing that culminates in God’s great redemptive act. Yes, Jesus begins to walk the road that ultimately leads to His passion, death and resurrection.

“In my end is my beginning.”

It wasn’t John who decided to Baptize Jesus. It was Jesus’s decision. Just as the Son of God humbled Himself to become one of us, He willingly lowered Himself to be baptized at John’s hands, a Baptism in which we all share. It’s this humility Isaiah describes in today’s 1st reading, words uttered centuries in advance:

"He does not cry out; he does not shout; he does not make his voice heard in the street; he does not break the bruised reed; and he does not quench the smoldering wick." [Is 42:2-3]

Yes, Jesus, the perfect servant, teaches us something significant on this feast of His Baptism. For in that servitude Jesus shows us how to live the Christian life. In that servitude Jesus places Himself in the presence of the Father and the Spirit. In that servitude Jesus is loved by the Father who tells the world that this is His Son, the perfect servant, in whom He is well pleased. And in that servitude Jesus is loved by the Spirit whose presence manifests the perfect love of the Trinity to a sinful world awaiting redemption.

Yes, Jesus, the Son, was loved. Before the first leper was ever healed or a single parable was told, He was loved. Before any sinner was embraced; before the crowds began to gather; before palm branches were cut; He was accepted. Before Jesus began His mission; before He called even one disciple, God tore open the heavens, sent down the Holy Spirit, and cried, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” [Mt 3:17] What an ending! And what a beginning!

“In my end is my beginning.”

God’s love was present at the beginning of the journey, long before the ending was revealed. God’s approval came from the start -- before Jesus calmed the storm or set one captive free.  Jesus was beloved, even before the water became wine and before that wine, before that precious blood, was offered up for us. God’s love surrounded Jesus, not because Jesus did something, or said something, or proved something, but because He was something. He was the beloved Son of the Father.

For most of us, this kind of love is hard to understand and even harder to accept. The kind of love poured out for Jesus at his baptism…Is it really meant for us? Somehow, in our sinfulness, we’ve come to believe that God’s love must be earned, and that God’s blessings, like bonuses, are carefully calculated and rationed, the way we would do it. We see God as a sort of heavenly CPA, keeping track of our debits and credits, instead of the loving Father He has revealed Himself to be. Like Isaiah’s bruised reeds, we only feel loveable after we’ve walked on some water or fed a lot of hungry people. Smoldering wicks, we only feel accepted after we attract a crowd or successfully complete a journey. The kind of love poured out for Jesus — if it comes to us at all — should come as a benediction, not a beginning.

When Jesus plunged into the waters of the Jordan, he had nothing to repent. There were no sins to wash away, no emptiness to be filled, no brokenness to be made whole. But he came to the water, anyway. When Jesus plunged into the waters of the Jordan, he was not thirsting in the desert or yearning to be healed. But he came to the water, anyway.

Jesus waded into the river to join prostitutes and thieves, to join gossips and liars and haters. He joined rough soldiers and dishonest shopkeepers. He joined tax collectors and tax cheats. You see, brothers and sisters, Jesus doesn’t go into the waters of Baptism alone. He joins us in the water; he joins you and me to show us that God’s love is our birthright. God’s blessing is our gift, right from the start.

He comes into the water to tell us there’s no village too remote, no river too foul, no place of temptation so terrible that God is not already there, waiting to take us by the hand, to lead us to salvation. Recall the revealing words of Isaiah:

“I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” [Is 42:6-7]

Paul recognized this when he asked the Romans:

“…are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” [Rom 6:3-4]

Yes, brothers and sisters, in our end is our beginning. We are truly brothers and sisters, because through our Baptism we are the Father’s children, brothers and sisters of His Son, Jesus Christ. This Jesus plunges into the water to open our eyes: to show us that heaven has been torn apart for us. Jesus wades into the Jordan to open our hearts: to show us that the love we are given must bear fruit.

And the love we are given also sends us out: out into the desert, out into the crowds, back into the river with prostitutes and gossips and petty thieves…into the river with family and neighbors and friends…into the river with the homeless, the hungry, the hopeless.

Do you recall those words at the end of the Latin Mass? "Ite missa est." It’s often translated as, “Go the Mass is ended.” But literally, it means: “Go! It has been sent.” What has been sent? Well, theologically, the Mass, the sacrifice, has been sent to the Father. But something else has been sent: nothing less than the Church…and that’s you and me. We are sent out — not to earn God’s love and approval, or even to bring Christ to the world – but to proclaim that Christ is already with us. We are sent out to proclaim, along with John:

“Rise up! Shake the water from your eyes! God is with us, not because we did something, or said something, or proved something, but because we are something!”

Yes, brothers and sisters, through His Baptism in the waters of the Jordan, Jesus shows us that God’s love is eternally present for us. The beginning of our journey came about through an act of creative love.

And the end of our journey? Well, thanks to that same love, our end is just the beginning.