deacon's corner

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor wrote in The First Letter to the Corinthians in the New Jerome Biblical Commentary that ”A Eucharistic community cannot be a true gathering in which there are the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. In other words, Paul … clearly states that a Jesus community itself is the necessary basis for any and every celebration of the Eucharist, not vice versa. A genuine Eucharist cannot involve only a few people who communally celebrate the Eucharistic meal while the majority are present basically as onlookers. The essence of his [Paul’s] reaction is that there can be no Eucharist in a community whose members do not love one another.”

How often have we proclaimed “I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God … and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” It is a sine qua non tenet of our faith; we believe that Jesus is fully divine and fully human. Early church fathers expended much thought and energy combating no small number of heresies concerning the dual natures of Jesus.

It is amazing how full our lives appear to be these days. With all of the labor-reducing, time-saving, energy-efficient, cost-effective devices at our disposal, you would think that we would have plenty of time to relax, read a book, and watch a sunrise or sunset, to think, to ponder or to pray. But do we?

Fear and love are mutually exclusive. There can be no fear in love for fear exists only in the darkness and the unknowing. Love can only exist where there is no fear because love only lives in the light of truth and understanding.

The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a time for rejoicing. We see his birth as a time of joy and we thank God for His wondrous love for all His creation. God is truly a loving God.

Courage. We are all too familiar with the telling of acts of heroism and courage performed by soldiers, first responders, teachers, and ordinary men and women. We generally look up to and revere those who have selflessly acted when many would not, often at the cost of their own lives. Of the nearly 3500 recipients of the Medal of Honor since 1861, fewer than 100 have been awarded to the living.

It is time. We have but few precious moments remaining until he comes. How quickly the days have passed; the hours have flown, gone before the mind can catch its first waking thought. So much to do, so little time.

Someone once wrote “We are God’s song….Let your life sing, let it sing. Let your life be what it is: God’s joyous, interleaved and always consonant melody, sounding outwards in deepest joy.”

Columnist Ann Landers was once asked “What question are you asked the most?” to which she replied “What is the matter with me? Why am I so lonely?” When asked for her response, she said “I tell them to get involved, do something for other people. The people who need help are all about you. Everywhere you look, you see them.” Sage advice for us all, whether we are lonely or not. After all, isn’t that what Jesus would tell us to do?

It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to realize that Christmas is fast approaching. The signs appear each year, earlier and earlier, with a breathtaking sense of urgency. Hurry, hurry, hurry, shop, shop, shop. We are inundated with messages from voices that plead, cajole, and insist that we purchase on layaway, buy now and ship early because there is absolutely no time to waste. We just passed through a grueling year of seemingly never-ending campaign robo-calls, television ads, and campaign literature in our mailboxes and on our doorknobs. And now we have to endure … Christmas.