Smile God Loves You, Ronnie Dauber

Click here to read today’s Sunday Mass Readings.

 

[Jesus said] …..you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”     Mark 13:35-37.

Click on words highlighted in red for further information.

Last Sunday, the feast of Christ the King and the last Sunday of the Church’s year, the gospel pictured the final time, the dread day of judgment, when we will all be judged on how we handled the divine gift of life, the divine gifts of our talents, and how we employed them in obeying God’s clear and distinct command to love God, neighbor and self. The Sunday before that we heard the parable of the talents, to be used in the obedience to that command. The Sunday before that was the story of the wise and foolish virgins, some prepared for that dread day, others not and immediately cast out into the darkness. So for the last three weeks, and again today, we are alerted to the need to be constantly on the watch, ready for anything we might encounter and know how to respond as God would will us to. But today, in the new church year, we (especially children) are indeed still on the watch, but perhaps with a little more focus. Christmas Day is the clear focus, December 25, no mystery there. That will be the day we rejoice in the arrival in our midst of a baby, weak, helpless, even homeless (placing him in the company of far too many people today), utterly dependent on those around him. Yet here was the God of Creation, of Eternity and of Love. The season of good will, peace and generosity is upon us, and how we respond this time is more focussed and localized. So how do we do all that appropriately? Well that is for each of us to answer in our own way, with the best intentions, with generosity and empathy. 

Growing up, children notice everything. We are like a blank notebook, with everything entered, even those things which make no sense, but might later. For example, growing up in London, I knew I had an aunt who was a nursing sister of the Dominican order of nuns. She lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where she had been stationed, I think, since the 1930s. She would send us goodies which, in postwar Britain, were pure luxuries, such as wonderfully fragrant talcum power, even my first battery-powered toy train. How she managed to do all that remains, to this day, a total mystery. Anyway, she announced that she was coming over to visit us for the first time (late 1950s I think). Well, my mother went into major preparation mode. Everything in the house was cleaned, scrubbed, polished, brushed, arranged and rendered spotless, including my sister and me. My lovely aunt Madge arrived, and it was almost like Christmas itself. But isn’t that what we are called to do to ourselves each December 25th? Shouldn’t we clean up any untidiness that might well be in our hearts and souls, and be made generously ready for the day? Shouldn’t we deal with anything that would upset the Lord to ensure that he receives a good, appropriate and generous welcome? And when I say Lord, we must – must – see him in those who are unable to enjoy the feast because of poverty, illness or misfortune. We have a duty to help them in whatever way we can. Suffering is not a theme at Christmas. Alleviating it in any way, is. We have four weeks to get to grips with ideas such as these. Unlike our day of judgment, whenever that might be, we know for certain that the 25th is indeed nigh, and it is up to us to prepare the way, for God, for neighbor and ourselves, to make it the feast it must be.

9th June 1979, my Ordination Day, Baltimore, Maryland.

Mother on my left standing next to her sister, my Aunt Anne; Aunt Madge on my right, with her friend Sister Patrick, from Kenosha. My dad, Aunt Madge’s brother, died two years before. They grew up in Ireland. Mum and Anne grew up in Wales.

 

PLEASE SEND THIS REFLECTION TO THOSE YOU THINK WOULD APPRECIATE IT.

THANK YOU.

Reflections on next Sunday’s Mass Readings will be posted on Wednesday.

Please send your reflections to: RogerJohn@aol.com

© SundayMassReadings.com