A Marriage Destroyed, Repaired and Restored

Homily from the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C

This couple I know got married a while back.  They were the perfect couple.  

When he first saw her, he said, “This is the girl of my dreams.  There is no one else for me.”  They fell completely in love and got married.  In the beginning, everything was perfect.  They loved and respected each other completely.  They shared everything.  They had a great relationship with God.  They were the perfect couple living in a perfect world.

Then things went sour.  Their communication with one another started to fall apart.  As did their communication with God.  Their attention turned to material things.  They started hiding things from one another.  Indeed, they started hiding themselves, their own lives from one another.  The perfect couple and the perfect world fell apart.

However, a few years after the breakup, this couple’s family intervened.  Specifically, their mother and son, stepped into the picture to patch things up.  Mom noticed right away, as a mother would, how things weren’t as they once were.  She saw that the joy this couple once had had now run out.  And being a wise mother, she knew she couldn’t fix this on her own, she didn’t have the power to do so.  So she called the son for help and he came to the rescue.

You know the names of the perfect couple whose marriage went sour.  Their names are Adam & Eve.  In the beginning, everything was perfect.  Until they decided they knew better than God.  Then their world (and ours) came tumbling down.  And their marriage (and ours) came tumbling down.

And you know the names of the mother and son who intervened.  Their names are Mary and Jesus.  At Cana, Mary saw that the couple’s wine had run out.  They had lost their joy.  And she knew, she didn’t have the power to fix what had gone wrong.  However, she knew better than anyone else who to go to.  So she called her son for help and Jesus came to the rescue.

However, Jesus’ rescue mission didn’t consist merely of changing water into wine.  And his rescue mission didn’t consist merely of repairing the marriage of Adam and Eve.  Rather, his rescue mission restored our marriage.  Our marriage with God the Father.

Today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah says, “As a young man married a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.”

God wants to marry us.  God is our Builder.  He is the bridegroom and we are the bride.  He wants an indissoluble union with us.  He freely chooses to enter into a covenant with us and he invites us to freely choose to enter that covenant with Him.  He is faithful to us and he wants us to be faithful to him.  And he wants our union with him to be fruitful.

So he sent us His Son, Jesus, and gave him to our Mother, Mary, so that the two of them, together, could unravel and reverse the destruction wrought by Adam and Eve in Eden.

Whereas, Eve lead Adam to take of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;  Mary, the New Eve, lead Jesus, the New Adam, to change water into the fruit of the vine.

Whereas, Adam and Eve reached for the fruit from the branch of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Jesus, the New Adam, reached for the branches of the Tree of Life, the Cross, and allowed his outstretched arms to be nailed to it.

Whereas, God the Father cast Adam into a deep sleep and from his open side took a rib and formed it into his bride, Eve; God the Father cast Jesus, the New Adam, into the deep sleep of death and from his open side brought forth his bride, the Church, through the blood and water, signs of the Eucharist and Baptism, that poured from his heart

Whereas Adam and Eve said “no” to God’s will through their disobedience; Mary, the New Eve, said “yes” when the angel Gabriel announced it was God’s will that she be the mother of Jesus.  And Jesus, the New Adam, said “yes” to God’s will that he give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus calls Mary “woman” at Cana, saying that his hour had not yet come.  When his hour at last had come when he was nailed to his cross, he again calls Mary “woman” when she entrusts him to the Apostle John.  He calls her “woman” not out of disrespect, but because Mary is the new woman, she is the model of Mother Church.  And so the two times, Jesus calls Mary “woman” are two weddings: the wedding at Cana which foreshadows the wedding at Calvary, when Christ unites himself to his bride, the Church, by doing what all spouses should do for each other: hand their lives over to each other.

From the Cross, God “marry’s” us.  The wedding at Eden was a marriage destroyed.  The wedding at Cana was a marriage repaired.  And the wedding at Calvary is a marriage restored.

I want to conclude by recommending two suggestions for your marriage:

First, if you are a single person, still discerning marriage (and all are called to a marriage of some kind: either marriage to a husband or wife, to the Church as a priest, to Christ as a religious sister or brother, or to Christ and his people as a generous single person) if you are still discerning your vocation: pray for your future spouse every day.

You may not even know who they are.  You may not know what they’re doing at this precise moment.  But someday, you will meet them.  And when you get down on your knees and ask them to marry you, when they say “yes,” you can say to them,  “I have been praying for you every day for the last however many years.  I didn’t even know you then.  But I prayed just for you and just for this moment.”  

They will already love you if they’re saying “yes” to your proposal.  Think for a moment how much more they’ll fall in love with you when they learn you prayed for them for years before you even met.

And second, if you are already married and you and your spouse look more like Adam and Eve after the Fall in Eden than you do the newlywed couple at Cana, ask for some family intervention.  Ask your mother, Mary, and the Son, Jesus for help.  One place you’ll find them for sure, is here in the Church through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

Click here to go to Third Option.

Another is through “Third Option.”  “Third Option” is an on-going group program to build better marriages.  It’s designed for all married couples and can be used for marriage enrichment or crisis intervention.  

When couples struggle they’ll say they’ve tried everything.  What they usually means is they tried the same two extreme options over and over: they’ve either stuffed their anger or attacked with it.  The “Third Option” is the healthy middle ground that teaches relationship skills such as handling anger constructively, ending the blame game, understanding expectations, forgiveness, rebuilding trust and control issues.

Our group meets twice a month at an off-campus location to provide complete confidentiality.

There are brochures in the gathering space and next to the exit by the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.  Pick one up. Or, if you don’t wish someone to see you picking it up, call our office and ask to speak to a priest.  You don’t have to say why to the secretary.  And the priest will help you.

It’s ironic: Every marriage is Eden in the beginning.  Everything’s perfect.  But ironically, it doesn’t always feel like paradise.  Eden after all is the place where the first marriage was destroyed.

And every marriage is Calvary.  There are moments of pain and crucifixion.  But ironically, Calvary is the place where our marriages with God and with our spouse are restored.

Signing on the Dotted Line

Homily from the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord - Year C

If you’ve ever entered into a contract, you know that the gesture which “seals the deal” and finalizes the terms of the contract is affixing your signature; “signing on the dotted line.”

We can look at baptism as a kind of “signing on the dotted line.”  In the Gospels, we’re told that John the Baptist went around “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  

So the people came to John the Baptist, they acknowledged themselves as sinners, and, in doing so, expressed repentance and their desire to have their sins forgiven by God.  And by kneeling down in the Jordan River and permitting John to pour water over their heads, they proverbially “signed their names on the dotted line” agreeing to enter into a life of conversion and to turn away from sin.

So why on earth would Jesus “sign on the dotted line” through baptism?  Jesus, of course, is without sin.  He has no need for baptism.  So why does he do it?  Why does he kneel down in the Jordan River and permit John to pour the waters of baptism over his head?

Jesus “signs on the dotted line” not for his sake, but for ours.  Jesus allows himself to be baptized not because he has to be cleansed of sin, but because we do.

Pope Benedict XVI puts it in these words in volume one of his three volume series, “Jesus of Nazareth.”:  “Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon his shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan.”

Baptism is offered for the forgiveness of sins.  So, Jesus begins his public ministry, with baptism because his entire life and his death will be offered for the forgiveness of our sins.  Here, at the beginning of Jesus’ public life, we see him already anticipating his death on the Cross.

After all, Jesus often referred to his suffering and death as a “baptism.”  When James and John ask to sit at Jesus’ right and left in the Kingdom of Heaven he asks them, “can you... be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mk 10:38)  Meaning, “Will you be able to suffer and die as I will?”  In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus, anticipating his passion says, “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished.” (Lk 12:50)

By being baptized, Jesus is “signing on the dotted line” in a contract with his Father.  Through his baptism, Jesus is saying to the Father: “I will give my life for them.  So that, just as you Father call me your beloved son, so they may also become your beloved sons and daughters.”

When you and I were baptized, we “signed on the dotted line.”  Meaning that we become disciples, faithful followers, of the one who “signed on the dotted line” for us for the forgiveness of our sins and our salvation.  Or, as Pope Benedict says, “To accept the invitation to be baptized now means to go to the place of Jesus’ Baptism.  It is to go where he identifies himself with us and to receive there our identification with him.  The point where he anticipates death has now become the point where we anticipate rising again with him.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go to the place of Jesus’ baptism; to the Jordan River in the Holy Land?  To even walk into those same waters where Jesus himself walked?  Where he lowered himself with the burden of our sins upon his shoulders?

Actually, that’s precisely one of the recommendations we’re given by the Church in this “Year of Faith.”  The Vatican recommends going on a religious pilgrimage this year.  Perhaps to the Holy Land, or to Rome, or to one of the Marian Shrines such as Lourdes, Fatima or Guadalupe.

Now, obviously it won’t be possible for all of us to make a pilgrimage for all of us, or even many of us, to one of these suggested sites.  However, I would like to suggest all of us, who are able, to go on a more attainable religious pilgrimage: sometime during this “Year of Faith” let’s go, if we are able, to the place where we were baptized.

Font where Bl. Pope John Paul II
was baptized.

Blessed Pope John Paul II did this several times.  He went there in 1966, when he was Archbishop of the Diocese of Krakow.  He visited again on the 50th anniversary of his baptism when he was a Cardinal.  And again in 1979, when he visited there as Pope.  And each time, he kissed the baptismal font.

Let’s go on pilgrimage to, and pray at, the exact spot where we were washed of Original Sin.  Let’s go to the place where we reborn into new life as adopted sons and daughters of God the Father.  Let’s go to the place where we were made living temples of the Holy Spirit and members of the Body of Christ, the Church.  This year, let’s go to the place where we “signed on the dotted line.”

Don't Wander. Follow A Star.

Homily from the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord - Year C

I need a volunteer.  I’ve hidden something very important somewhere in this building and I want you to go find it.  It’s very, very precious to me.  Next to the Eucharist, it may be the most important things in my life.  It’s bacon.  I’ve hidden some bacon somewhere in this building.  Now go find it.

How?  You need a map.

While they’re looking for the bacon, have any of you seen the Catholics Come Home commercial with Lou Holtz?  It’s fantastic.  You may know Coach Holtz is Catholic.  In fact, he’s a daily communicant (which means he goes to Mass and receives communion every day.)  And in the video, he invites those who may have fallen away from the practice of the faith to come back home to the Catholic church.  If you want to see it, just tune in to the National Championship game Monday night where it will air on national television.  Coach Holtz begins the video saying, “For victory in life, we’ve got to keep focused on the goal; and the goal is Heaven.”

We all want to go to Heaven.  That’s our goal.  But ask yourself this question:  How are you going to get there?  What’s your plan?  What’s your roadmap?  

Just like our friend here who couldn’t find the bacon without directions, we can’t get to Heaven without directions either.  If we try to wander our way into Heaven, the chances are very slim we’ll get there.

When the Wise Men decided to go look for the child Jesus, they didn’t wander aimlessly across the desert hoping to run into him.  They followed instructions.  They followed a roadmap.  They followed the guiding light given to them by God: they followed the star.

I made a resolution to lose 20 lbs this year.  That’s my goal.  But I won’t reach my goal without a plan; without a guiding star if you will.  So, my plan is to go to the gym, once a week in January.  (Baby steps.)  In February, I’ll go twice a week.  Come March, we’ll see if I’m stupid enough to go three times a week.

Heaven is a destination like any other.  Actually, Heaven is a destination unlike any other.  So we should have a plan to get there unlike any other.

God has given us a guiding light for getting to Heaven: Christ and his Church.  Before Christ ascended to Heaven, he gave his Apostles one last instruction: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19)  Where did you receive that gift of Christ, your baptism?  Here in the Church.  

Where did you first hear the Word of God and where do you continue to hear it week after week?  Here in the Church.  

Where do you receive the gift of Jesus Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist?  Here in the Church.

Where do you gather together with your brothers and sisters in Christ to offer sacrifice and worship to the Lord?  Here in the Church.

So, what is your plan for getting to Heaven? (and trust me, I ask this question of myself as well.)  How are we going to move closer to Christ and closer to Heaven this year through our life in the Church?  Some of them are givens like going to Mass every Sunday, praying every day, going to Confession regularly.  But what will you do differently this year?

What is your concrete plan?

• Will you read a book of the Bible this month?
• Will you read a spiritual classic by one of the Saints this year?
• Will you go on a Christ Renews His Parish weekend?
• Will you attend the diocesan men’s conference or women’s conference?
• Will you seek the answer to your question about the Catholic faith by asking a priest or listening to Redeemer Radio?
• If your marriage needs help, will you seek counseling or attend Third Option?
• If you repeatedly struggle with vice of anger or gossip or pornography or any other habitual sin will you seek the loving counsel of a priest in confession and take concrete steps to turn away from it?
• Will you try to patch up that relationship that has gone sour?
• Will you go on the Edge or Life Teen retreats this year?
• Will you clean out the closet of any clothes you haven’t worn in a year and give them to the poor?
• Will you clean out the pantry of food you can share with the hungry?
• Will you make a weekly or daily visit to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel?

There are literally hundreds of things we could do this year to move closer to Christ and Heaven.  But none of them will matter unless we actually choose and do one or two of them.  This is the time of year where we make resolutions.  Today, let’s resolve to get to Heaven.  But let’s not wander our way there.  Let’s take a moment now to prayerfully discern in silence the concrete plan, the guiding star, we’ll follow as we journey this year to Christ and our Heavenly destination.

Lou Holtz Calls Us Home

Check out this awesome "Catholics Come Home" video featuring Lou Holtz.  It will air nationally during the BCS Championship game on Monday.

God bless and Go Irish!!!

"And the Friend Jumps In the Hole."

Homily from the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God - Year C

A few years ago there was a popular television show called The West Wing and it was about  the behind the scenes activity of the White House.  In one of the episodes, one of the characters tells a friend a story about a man who fell down a hole.

"This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out.  A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.  Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on  Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.'"

That’s basically what we’ve been celebrating this past Christmas.  That when God sees humanity fall into the hole of sin, He doesn’t just throw down a prescription or a prayer on a piece of paper.  Rather, he jumps down into the hole with us by becoming one of us; by being born as a man, in order to show us the way out of the hole of our sin and into grace.

That’s really what we’re celebrating today on this Feast of Mary, Mother of God.  It may sound like a feast to honor Mary (and it is, in part).  But primarily, it is a feast to honor Jesus for coming to save us by being born as one of us and lead us out of sin.

We call Mary, the Mother of God all the time.  We have no problem with it.  However, centuries ago, some people did have a problem with it.

Way back, in the 5th century, one person in particular, a bishop named Nestorius said we shouldn’t call Mary the Mother of God.  He was concerned with a couple things: first, that calling Mary the Mother of God suggested she was some sort of goddess; and second, that the all-powerful God could not possibly suffer and die.

Nestorius basically said that Jesus’ two natures: his divine nature as God and his human nature as man could not be united in the person of Jesus Christ.  That somehow, Jesus put aside his divine nature for a time; then was born as a man and took on human nature; suffered, died and was buried; then put back on his divine nature at the resurrection.

However, the Church said, that’s not what we believe.  Because no mere man can save humanity.  Only God can save us.  Jesus is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.  And for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

He, who is of the same substance, or consubstantial, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, also became consubstantial with us.  He, who possessed the divine nature took on our human nature so he could lift us human beings into his divinity.

In a few moments, when we prepare the altar for the Eucharist, I’ll pour a little bit of water into the wine.  One of the things the water and wine represent are the two natures of Christ.  The water represents his human nature and the wine represents his divine nature.  And as I mix them, I silently pray, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”  As St. Paul said to the Galatians in our second reading: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4-5)

That’s why Jesus jumped into the hole with us.  Because he knows we don’t belong there.  And he knows the way out.

In the story, the guy who jumps into the hole says, “I’ve been here before, I know the way out.”  In a sense Jesus has been here before too.  Not that he’s ever fallen into sin.  Rather, he knows what true human nature is.  He is the perfect human being.  He understands what His Father’s design for humanity was before Adam and Eve fell and took all of us with them into that hole.  So, it we want to know what it really means to be a human being in it’s fullest meaning, we must look to the person of Jesus Christ.

New Years is the time we make resolutions.  Allow me to suggest one; and I’m going to make it extremely broad so that you can discern how you want to do it.  This year, let Christ lead you out of the hole.  

We will be tempted to turn to so many other things to try to pull ourselves out of our holes: diets, self-improvement, intellectual pursuits, more money.  And while all of these can be goods, none of them can take the place of the supreme good: Jesus Christ and none of them, in and of themselves can lead us out of our holes.  Only Christ can do that.

Let Christ be the one who leads you out of your hole.  Recognize, that we’re all in the hole.   And at the same time, recognize that this isn’t our true nature.  It’s not where we belong.   There is a way out.  It may take a lifetime and beyond to get out of it completely.  But recognize that Christ has jumped down into the hole with us.  And he’s the only one who can get us out.  So let’s follow him more closely in 2013.

What Makes a Family Holy?

Homily from the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

The Church calls the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph “holy.”  So, what makes a family “holy?”

If your kids were to ask you why are Jesus, Mary and Joseph called the “Holy Family”, perhaps our shortcut answer would be “Because they’re Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  However, Jesus, Mary and Joseph’s holiness does not derive from their identity.  Rather, their holiness derives from what they do.

First, Joseph.  You get Joseph’s story primarily through the Gospel of Matthew.  So, what’s Joseph doing there?  Well, there’s a consistent theme for Joseph in the Gospel of Matthew:

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said... ‘do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.’” (Mt 1:20)  “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and he took [Mary] into his home.” (Mt 24)

Later, when Herod is threatening the life of Christ, “the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt...” (Mt 2:13)  And “Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.” (Mt 2:14)

And then, “When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and Egypt and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel...” (Mt 2:19-20)  And so, “He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.” (Mt 2:21)

Joseph was a dreamer.  He must have had dreams of his own - plans; what he wanted out of life.  However, time and again we see Joseph follow not his own dreams but the dreams of his Father in Heaven.

Second, Mary.  You get Mary’s story primarily through the Gospel of Luke.  So, what’s Mary doing there?  When the angel Gabriel announces to her that she is to be the mother of Jesus, she responds, “May it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38).  Mary must have had plans of her own.  Her own idea of what she wanted her life to be.  However, as soon as she hears the will of God, she reconfigures her life according not to her own desires, but to His: “May it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)

Lastly, let’s take a look at Jesus in today’s Gospel.  Jesus is 12 years old.  And Mary and Joseph lose him.  They search for Jesus for three days.  (Can you imagine?  You’ve been entrusted with the Son of God and you lose him and for three days have no idea where he is?)  

Then, they finally find him in the temple.  “And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’” (Lk 2:49)  Other translations have Jesus say, “Did you not know I must involve myself in my Father’s affairs?”

Jesus isn’t in the temple to show off how smart he is or how well he knows the Scriptures.   He’s not there to teach the temple elders a thing or two.  He’s there not to take care of his own affairs, but to be about the affairs of his Father.  From the very beginning of adolescence, Jesus is about doing his Father’s will, not his own.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph aren’t holy because of who they are.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph are holy because of what they do.  And they are always doing the will of the Father and rearranging everything in their life in order to do the will of the Father.

Our lives are not our own.  Our lives belong to God.  Our lives are not about us.  Our lives are about God.

Holy families are families whose members put the needs of others before their own needs.

Most especially God’s needs.

Stone & Linen

Homily from the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord - Year C

“When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’” (Lk 2:15)

Imagine for a moment, you are one of these who were the first to hear about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  Imagine that you are one of the shepherds.  Tending your flock, in the middle of the night.  Keeping warm near a midnight fire, surrounded by the smell and sound of your sheep.

And suddenly, the darkness of night is broken apart by the blinding light of the glory of the Lord in his angels.  Who announce to you that in the city of David, Jerusalem is born the Messiah and Lord.  They tell you to go look for him.  However, the only clue they give you to find him is that he will be wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

So what exactly do you go looking for?  What does a manger look like anyway?  

All of us can picture a manger in our mind’s eye can’t we?  The youngest of children could draw a picture of a manger.  The manger scenes in our homes, our church, on Christmas cards and in paintings all look the same: a wooden trough filled with straw.

A manger as it would have
appeared at the time of Christ's birth.

However, it may come as a surprise to you to learn that the vast majority of mangers in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago were not made of wood.  In reality, most mangers made of stone.  They basically looked like small stone bathtubs.  And this is where the animals went looking for food.

But one of these mangers in the vicinity of Jerusalem held not food for animals, but a baby.  A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes - strips of linen.  The shepherds must have been awfully confused.  Why in the world would the Messiah, the Savior sent by God, be found in a stone manger wrapped in swaddling clothes?

They would not know the answer fully for another 33 years.

The shepherds found the baby in a stone manger wrapped in swaddling clothes at the beginning of his life because that is the way he would be found at the end of it.

Listen to how St. Luke tells the story near the end of his Gospel: “Now there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph... He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was awaiting the kingdom of God.  He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock hewn tom in which no one had yet been buried.” (Lk 23:50-53)

From the very beginning of Christ’s infant life, as we look upon him in our mind’s eye, laying in a stone manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, we see the reason for his birth: that this baby, wrapped in linen and placed in stone crib, one day he would  sacrifice his own life for ours, and be wrapped in linen and placed in a stone tomb.

Every child in the history of the world is born to live.  This child however, was born to die.  So that you and I might have eternal life.

And think about how Jesus gives us eternal life.  He calls to us, asking us to come looking for him.  And we find him exactly in the same way the shepherds found him on Christmas morning.  And exactly the way the women found him on Easter morning.  We find him, his Body, as they did, resting on stone and wrapped in linen.  Today, we find Jesus resting on the stone of this altar, sitting upon the linen of this altar cloth.

Just as he allowed himself to be wrapped in linen and placed in a stone manger, a feeding trough for animals; so too, again, he allows himself to be wrapped in linen and placed on this stone altar so we might come here to feed on his Body and Blood and receive eternal life.

Just as he allowed himself to be wrapped in linen and placed in a stone tomb, where he would conquer death and rise from the grave; so too, again, he allows himself to wrapped in linen and placed on this stone altar so we might come here to rise from the death of sin.

And the Good News my friends, is that because of this, Jesus didn’t offer his life for us only as a one-time event 2,000 years ago.  Neither does he offer his life for us only at these annual celebrations.  Jesus offers you and I his life every Sunday, every Holy Day, indeed every day, right here on this altar.

Let us continue to seek and find Jesus Christ, week after week, exactly where those shepherds and women found him: wrapped in linen and placed on stone.  “Let us go, then... to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’” (Lk 2:15)