As a parish priest, I have had the privilege of ministering to patients on their deathbeds, which has taught me many essential lessons about the meanings of life, illness, separation, and death. Sometimes, people have invited me to participate in consultations with patients' families and hospital teams when doctors explain patients' conditions to them. These conferences are often challenging for everyone involved, as grief, despair, sadness, confusion, and commotion take over. While we wish that no one would have to endure such anguish, accepting grief is a natural part of life that can help us cope with loss and change.
The role of our eyes is vital to our daily lives as they capture light and meaningful information from our surroundings and transmit it to our brains for processing and appropriate reactions. In today's gospel, the physical eyes are depicted as Jesus heals a blind man by applying mud to his eyes.
Norman Geisler once remarked, “The trouble wasn’t the apple on the tree but the pair on the ground.” Today’s first reading depicts the landscape of paradise that God created for Adam and Eve. However, while living in the pristine environment, they did not know the devil existed before they arrived! They stepped into the lands of the clever and sophisticated serpent. Due to their curiosity and pride, they were lulled deep into the devil's cadence. The counterfeit promises of the serpent eventually corrupted Adam and Eve, and they shied away from God’s glory.
Can you imagine the Ukrainians and Russian soldiers putting down their equipment and weapons to crawl up from their bunkers to sing a Christmas carol on this coming Christmas Night? The fact is that these were the conditions that occurred on the battlefield on Christmas Eve, 1914. It started with a German officer who sang Silent Night in German. His voice carried and was heard by the British side—who then sang back! Gradually, the troops of both sides found their way forward to each other, not to fight, but to share their food, drinks, and presents.
Our intuition is to express our comforting phrases and words when someone we know is enduring any difficult situation of loss or suffering. Some universal expressions are, "sorry for the loss of your pet, house, loved one, and so forth. Yet, we never heard people say of others, "sorry for losing your faith!" These can be comforting words when one's spirituality becomes shaken. Faith is fundamental to regaining our spiritual balance when our beliefs are shaken. Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. The gospel tells us that Mary and Joseph honor God through their actions; they took the Infant Baby to be circumcised and named Him, Jesus. Mary may not fully comprehend life-changing events; she “pondered them in her heart.”
We are affected by our expectations. For example, when we see something fascinating, our eyes signal our brains, which trigger various emotional reactions based on our experiences. Alternatively, we know when we've done a "good job" when the outcome meets the expected criteria. While our expectations help us expedite goal-directed actions, they can also trigger disappointment when the results do not match those expectations. This concept is reflected in today's gospel.
Preparation is essential in life. Since the future is uncertain, we must always be prepared for unexpected events that may occur in the days ahead. We can never be sure what happened yesterday will be the same today or tomorrow. Perhaps you have known or at least heard about, someone who left to go to work but never returned home. Even though they repeated the same routine, we wish they could have known what would happen in advance. Yet, life itself is mysterious.
All are invited to the closing of the Jubilee doors of the Chapel of the Annunciation by Archbishop Gomez at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel on Saturday, September 10, 2022
In honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month this April, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. invites you to join us in transforming awareness into action by participating in a special nine-day Novena for Protecting and Healing from Abuse, April 22-30. For more information and to join the Novena on April 22, please visit https://lacatholics.org/united-together/.
There are still some photos remaining from November's Month of Remembrance. If you brought a picture and haven't picked it up yet, you can find it in the church's "crying room."