2017/01/15 — 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year A

With this Sunday, we have plunged back into Ordinary Time. Actually, the plunge took place last Tuesday, since the liturgical celebration of Christmastide ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This year, that feast was celebrated on Monday, January 9, and the remainder of the week constituted the First week in Ordinary Time. Nevertheless, there are resonances with the Christmas season, just as Ordinary Time merged into Advent, as we focused at first on the return of Jesus in glory at the end of time. Now, as we begin to look at the ministry of Jesus, we start with the testimony of John the Baptist to Jesus, which was also part of what we heard in Advent and on the Feast of the Baptism. In addition, we hear again from Isaiah prophecies about the calling of the Messiah.


The first reading — Isaiah 49: 3: 5-6 — is one of the four passages which are called the Servant Songs. They are read during Holy Week. Although the passage seemingly begins as an address to Israel as the Lord's servant, in the preceding and following verses, it refers to an individual. The servant's mission is one which God intended for him from before his birth. He is to bring the nation of Israel back to the Lord. Beyond that, he is to be a light to the nations, to bring salvation to all the world.


The responsorial psalm — verses of Psalm 40, with a refrain based on verses 8 and 9 — we make our own the Messiah's response the the Father's call. He, and we, will do God's will.


The second reading — 1 Corinthians: 1:1-3 — is in the customary form of of the beginning of letters at the time of Paul. The writer identifies himself: Paul. He adds identifying information and associates Sosthenes with himself. Next the addressee is named: the church in Corinth. Again, Paul expands the format by referring to their salvation in Christ, and noting that their call is one which goes to believers everywhere — just as the servant in the first reading is to bring salvation to the whole world. Finally there is a greeting: he wishes them grace and peace from God. Over the next six weeks, until Lent begins, we will hear further passages from the first four chapters of this letter.


The gospel — John 1:29-34 — is remarkable in the first place because Year A is the year in which Matthew's gospel is read on most Sundays. John the Baptist uses the phrase "Lamb of God" to identify Jesus. This reminds his hearers of the events of Passover, when the Israelites sacrificed a lamb, whose blood protected them from the tenth plague of Egypt, the killing of every firstborn. Jesus, Mary's firstborn and the Father's only-begotten Son, will save us from destruction through his Passover sacrifice of himself. We don't use the phrase often, but in Mass we address Jesus as Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in the Gloria on festive occasions and before Communion at every Mass. Then, holding up the host, the priest says, "Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb." This recalls the Israelites' eating of the paschal lamb, whose blood protected them. The image of the Lamb is also frequently used in the Book of Revelation to refer to Jesus as the redeemer, slain on earth and triumphant in heaven.

Next, John refers to his earlier promise of one greater than himself who was to follow him. Jesus is the one he expected, and he knows this through revelation: at Jesus' baptism, the sign God had promised happened. It is a sign which means that Jesus has been empowered by the Holy Spirit and will in turn confer that Spirit on others. making them sharers in his mission to bring salvation to the world — a call to which we responded in the responsorial psalm.

2016/12/11 — 3rd Sunday of Advent — Year A

It's late, but here's a brief review of last Sunday's readings.


As was the case on the Second Sunday, the readings present the figure of John the Baptist as the greatest prophet, who prepared the people for Jesus, while offering some thoughts about the Messianic Age.


In the first reading —Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10 — we are told of four aspects of the Messianic Age: deserts will bloom; God will bring about justice; the disabled will be healed; and the exiles will return. In the light of these promises, the people should be strong and fearless.


The responsorial psalm — Psalm 146: 6-10, with a refrain based on Isaiah 35:4 — some of the themes of the first reading are reprised, with emphasis on God''s power to save.


In the gospel — Matthew 11:2-11 — John sends disciples to ask if Jesus is really the Messiah, as he had thought. (Perhaps this was for the disciples' benefit, rather than reflective of any doubt on his own part.) Jesus' response is to point to healings such as those promised by Isaiah and more as indications that he was indeed inaugurating the Messianic Age. But the promises will not be completely fulfilled in the present life. This life is not heaven. We must await Jesus' return at the end of time.


The second reading — James 5:7-10  exhorts us to be patient while we wait. Farmers can't force the rains to come, and we can't force Jesus to return. But the farmer prepares for the rain, and we prepare for Jesus' return be being uncomplaining toward one another.


It is our faith that enables us to be patient. We see all the evil in the world — wars, violence, illnesses and premature deaths, all sorts of natural disasters — and we long for an end to them. Impatience could take various forms. One is to abandon faith and decide that there cannot be a God if these things can happen. But when we hold on to faith we realize that all these evils are merely temporary, and we have confidence that the world to come will not have such things and will more than make up for them. We may not understand why the fullness of the Messianic Age can't be with us already, but we don't despair of its arrival.

Lunch with College Classmates and Their Wives

From time to time I've mentioned getting together with a couple of college classmates Dan and John and their wives for dinner. (E.g., here and here.) Last Saturday, we got together for lunch. Another classmate, John B, and his wife also joined us. It was part of a fairly busy day. I had told them that I'd have to leave by 3:00 so I could get home in time to attend my parish's "Mass of Remembrance" and the unrelated dinner that would follow it. Lunch was to be at 1:00 at a harbor side seafood restaurant in Boston, about 45 minutes' drive from my home. After all that was planned, a fellow parishioner asked me to meet him in the morning to tell him what the scripture scholar, who comes to our parish a couple of times a year, had said in the last lecture of a recent three lecture series. That get together lasted from 10:00 to 11:30.

John and Maureen were there when I arrived a couple of minutes before 1:00, and Dan and Carolyn arrived soon after. John B and Winnie got delayed by traffic coming up from the Cape, but were there by 20 past. I followed John's example and had a bloody mary. As usual, we talked for a while, but owing to my time constraints we had our orders in by 1:45. I decided on the fish in a bag because it had mushrooms. The bag turned out to be cellophane, and the fish was steamed in it. It was brought to the table opened. It was good, maybe not the best fish ever, but enjoyable.

The conversation was pleasant. Despite Maureen's rule of No Politics, imposed after an evening in which we got into a fairly heated argument, this time we managed to get in a few brief exchanges about the election and the President-elect. I think we all agree that Trump isn't fit for the job, and much will depend on the people he selects and listens to. There was also a lot of talk about family (John and Maureen's extended family is fairly large) and some about travel. At one point a couple of books were mentioned, and I took the opportunity to give a strong recommendation for Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard, about James A. Garfield. As soon as I mentioned it, John B. chimed in (see what I did there?*) with an enthusiastic second to my suggestion. He then gave me a couple of other titles — one by Millard — that he thought I'd like. Sometimes there was one conversation going on, sometimes several smaller ones.

It was a fairly pricey afternoon. We decided to split the tab equally, and Dan took charge of the check. It think in included the tax in figuring the tip, and rounded up rather generously, with the result that the tip was about 28% of the total and 37% of the pre-tax amount. Anyway, we paid $50 per person. Parking in the garage was another $29 (The garage at the subway station nearest my home charges $5.) But it was worth it: I can spend as much on a dinner alone, and this was maintaining friendships.

I had a couple of apprehensions beforehand. One is that typically the conversation can go on almost endlessly (the waitress has to come back maybe four times before people decide to order), and that would have been a problem for my getting home in time for the Mass. But they took care of that. The other is that sometimes the conversation includes long stretches of Dan and John exchanging news about classmates with whom I was not acquainted, or only barely so, That makes for a pretty boring time. But this time there was little, if any of that. So it worked out well, and I was home in good time.

* In college, John B was a member of the a cappella octet called The Chimes. I only caught the allusion after I wrote "chimed in."

Another Pleasant Evening ~or~ They Won't Let Me Come Out

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to have dinner with a couple of college classmates (former Bananas) and their respective wives. We spent a pleasant three hours plus at a restaurant in the town where my grandfather lived when I was a pre-teenager. The guy who I met for lunch ("Dan") a couple of months ago is the one who arranged this get together, and he chose the location because it would be convenient for the other couple. It's about an hour's drive from my home, and he was surprised to learn that I knew my way to the town, since we had come there frequently when my grandfather lived there.

Anyway, it was a nice restaurant and we talked a lot about families (the second guy's ("John") "immediate family" — children, spouses, grandchildren — numbers about 24), classmates, and our doings. John's wfe's brother is a missionary priest, and there was a lot to tell about that. John and his wife spend three months a year in Florida. Dan is slowly retiring from work as a public defender. Dan and his wife had considered going the the one-man "Moby Dick" I had attended, and I told them it it was quite good, and "Angel Reapers" — a play with dancing or a dance performance with words, about the Shakers — was good too. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to mention that I had been very moved by "The Laramie Project" a year earlier. Dan got me to tell about my trip to Ireland last year, including the accidents. At one point someone asked if anything else interesting happened, and I was debating whether to tell about the lad in Claremorris who admired my hat and wanted it and said he'd suck me off for it. It might somehow broach the topic of homosexuality, but it was questionable for mixed company. I hesitated too long, and someone began another topic. At another point, I was ready to start talking about my blog, but as I drew a breath someone had something else to talk about.

So, it felt almost as if they were — unconsciously — preventing me from steering the conversation toward the topic of my orientation. Even at one point, John said something that might have led to talking about homosexuality, but it didn't go that way. Maybe God doesn't want me to tell them. LOL Well, Dan picked up the check, so now I've got to invite them to dinner (and John owes us, too — or at least he owes Dan). So there should be another chance before too many years go by.

Twenty years ago, probably ten years ago, I never would have considered coming out to them. But now I feel safe about it (but not safe enough to avoid the momentary hesitations which let the occasions pass) and somehow I want them to know, for it to be not just something they can figure out for themselves but an acknowledged fact. I think seeing how attitudes in society have changed has helped change my feelings about it as has my experience in blogging — both reading what others say and writing openly about myself. I'm not afraid that they will reject me.

But out or not, this is an example of the sort of friendly interaction a celibate gay guy can have. And it may well be that if I had not been so shy, I could have enjoyed a lot more interaction with these people over the years, but I allowed our get togethers to become very sporadic. So my advice is that shy guys cultivate friendships, especially with straight people. It can be relaxing to be in a situation where there is no sexual undercurrent; and for someone who is celibate it's good to have some real friends.

Epilogue: As we were leaving the restaurant, I tried to tell Dan quietly about the lad in Claremorris and his offer for my hat, but John's wife was close enough to hear and was paying attention. So when John asked what the story was, Dan said his wife could tell him.