In Your Friendship

In Your Friendship

December 15, 2012

Saturday in the Second Week of Advent

Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship.  Sirach 48:11

"Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.  So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands."   Matthew 17:10-12

Piety

Father, we prepare for the season of your birth.  As a baby your Son groaned into this world while Herod slaughtered the innocents to eliminate how your lowly innocence threatened his reign of terror.  Today, our hearts are heavy for all the holy innocents who remain victims of violence from Sandy Hook School to the Gaza Strip, the Holy Land, and Syria; from Columbine to Kabul; and from Aurora to Afghanistan.  As the wave of violence drones on, may our preparation for Christmas welcome the Holy Spirit and renew the promise of peace in the world.  As the Holy Innocents of Newtown fell asleep in your friendship, may you deliver peace, comfort and hope to their families and all the families in the world who have lost loved ones this year. Amen.

Study

Rarely does anything -- good or bad -- just happen without some preparation; some conditions; some cultivation.

If you want to grow tomatoes in the garden, you have to do some planting, some weeding, some watering, some pruning, and more before you have anything to add to your salad.

If you want to drive to California, you have to get a car, check it out with a mechanic, keep it maintained, and care for it properly to make sure you have the gas, oil, tires, and other systems working for your trip.

If you want to be in full communion with the Church, you have to study for the sacraments of initiation, pray that this is the right move, and act as if you want to be part of the Family of God.

This week, the world had a Cursillo moment.  The preparations were all in place.  The account established.  The Twitter name chosen.  The Vatican Press office conducted the briefings.  The world awaited with bated breath.  A lot was made about the news that Pope Benedict XVI was joining the "twitterati" and would be 'tweeting" messages out in multiple languages and answering one or two of the questions submitted to his account. Once the message went out, we moved on to the next news cycle without so much pausing to examine what the Pontiff said. Like the readings today which said Elijah had come and no one recognized him.

With the constant crush of news so focused on events and then moving on, we have to make sure that we recognize the moments when Christ is trying to reach us with His word and listen to it.  Just as the disciples had an "a-ha" moment coming down from the mountain after the Transfiguration, we have to be on the lookout for those times in our lives, too.

After the initial message, the Pope answered his first question -- and here is where the Cursillo moment occurred.

The Vatican had invited the faithful to send their questions to a special Twitter account.  Pop Benedict later sent two more tweets, in response to questions of faith sent in by Catholics from around the world.  In response to a question about how to be more faithful to Christ in day to day life, Benedict tweeted: "By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need."

Right there…in 140 characters is the essence of the Year of Faith aligned perfectly with the Cursillo tripod.

Piety -- by speaking with Jesus in prayer.

Study -- listening to what he tells you in the Gospel

Action -- looking for him in those in need.

Action

Think about how you will mark the Year of Faith with your own Piety, Study and Action. How will you usher more peace into the world?