January 12, 2009 | Volume 84, Number 6

ABOUT US

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B, January 18, 2009

by Richard Linneberger

Happy New Year!

As we begin another year of grace, it is also an opportunity to look back over the past year. The Lord gave us many different gifts.

At the same time, each of us probably looked for something in our daily lives. We may have been looking for something so simple as our car keys — they seem to have feet and walk away from where we last placed them!

Or some may have looked for much more serious and life changing things.

Some of our readers may have looked for a job or a new home for the family.

In 2008 what did you look for?

In today’s Gospel Jesus asks two of John’s disciples: “What are you looking for?”

Those same words are truly being addressed to us in 2009. Jesus asks each one of us: “What are you looking for?”

In talking about the recent Synod of Bishops which reflected on the Scriptures, Pope Benedict said that the word of God was given to humanity to “enlighten our path in the earthly pilgrimage toward the full realization of the kingdom of God.”

What are you looking for?

Let’s have Scripture give us food for thought — let’s allow Scripture to “enlighten our path” while we look. What are you looking for?

Are you looking for comfort?

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Mt. 11:28–30)

Are you looking for feeling you’re not alone?

Jesus said: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)

Are you looking for a sense of worth?

Jesus said: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” (Mt. 6:25-26)

Are you looking to face something difficult in your life?

The psalmist wrote about God: “Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage.” (Ps. 23:4)

Are you looking to know what God’s plan is for you?

St. Paul reminds us: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, (it is) what God has prepared for those who love him.” (I Cor. 2:9)

Are you looking for seeing things more clearly?

St. Paul tells us “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)

Jesus asks: “What are you looking for?”

Look to Scripture to help you find what you are looking for! Allow Scripture to “enlighten your path” while you look!

May you find what you are looking for!

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Different viewpoints on peace

by Mary Hood Hart

It’s easy to think of peace as the absence of something.

For families with young children, peace is the absence of chaos. When a relative or friend offers to take the little ones out for a few hours, mom and dad enjoy the peace of an empty house.

For families with rebellious teens, peace is the absence of discord. A meal together, without sulking or rudeness, is dining in peace.

For quarreling families or couples, peace is the absence of arguments, even though resentments may fester under the surface. There is peace on the surface of things.

For families with more serious problems, substance abuse or domestic violence, peace may be rare, but it is the absence of intoxication or abuse.

Yet whatever peace that exists at the moment contains within it the anxiety about future incidents and the trauma from those occurring in the past.

Some people may have great peace in their lives even when they are undergoing tremendous hardships. And others, though their lives are blessed and rich and relatively free of suffering, struggle to find a moment’s peace.

Upon reflection, we realize that peace is much more than simply an absence. For nations, peace is not the absence of war. Tyranny suppresses violence but most certainly does not bring peace.

Peace, when it is defined as an absence of chaos, discord or trauma, becomes temporal and conditional. Therefore, upon reflection, we see that peace is not, in its true form, an absence.

In the way that love is not an absence of hate, peace is so much more than the absence of difficulties.

True peace, like love, is more than an emotion or a temporal condition. It’s God grace.

When Jesus said, “My peace I give you,” he was not offering us a quiet Sunday afternoon. When in our liturgy, we say “Peace be with you” we are not wishing our neighbor a quarrel-free and chaos-free life.

When we refer to Jesus as the prince of peace, we are not suggesting that He is a grand referee who settles our differences. We are not suggesting that He is only to be found in quiet tabernacles or solemn, solitary prayer. In the midst of all life’s chaos, suffering, and difficulty, Jesus is the one from whom peace emanates and through whom peace among all people can be established.

Peace is God’s gift to us. Through the Incarnation, Jesus restores our relationships with God and with one another.

The peace Jesus brings manifests itself in justice, compassion, truth, and freedom. Jesus’ peace can be experienced in the most traumatic or violent circumstances, because it is not dependent upon external or temporal conditions. It is a condition of the heart.

As His followers, we are called to be, like Jesus, agents of peace.

When we manifest the love of Christ, and, like him, seek truth, charity, justice and freedom for all God’s people, we come to bring His peace to our homes, communities, and countries.

And, by cooperating in God’s work, we help to create a peaceful world.

May 2009 be a year of peace.

barbara hughes photo

Opening Doors

by Barbara Hughes

Opening the front door was a welcome experience. After 10 days of living out of suitcases while visiting family over the Christmas holidays, it was good to be home.

No matter how enjoyable a trip may be, there’s something reassuring about returning home and this homecoming was no exception.

As I crossed the threshold the first thing to catch my eye was the stack of mail that our son had collected and placed on the dining room table.

Among the envelopes waiting to be opened, was a Christmas letter from a priest friend. He began his greeting by referencing an Advent homily he had given during which he compared the paper doors on an Advent calendar with the many doors that may or may not be open for us as we go through life.

He went on to draw an analogy between the doors that wait to be opened with the gifts we are given at Christmas time.

Taking it a step further, he noted that gifts are doors that remind us of a possibility, an opportunity, a sign of something bigger and sometimes even a reminder of insufficiency.

After unpacking my suitcase, I decided to some spend time with his very thought provoking letter, but even after I set it aside, his reflection about the doors kept returning. Musing over the recent holiday visits with family, I recalled the many doors we had passed through.

Each time a door opened, we were welcomed and made to feel at home, but that was only the beginning. Within each home were many doors, not just physical doors, but doors that were a sign of something bigger.

Opening the door to our granddaughters’ rooms was an opportunity to enter their world. Sitting on the bedroom floor, arranging furniture in a dollhouse, dressing up Barbie dolls to stage a fashion show, and watching my grandson beat his dad at tennis opened doors to new possibilities, a way to get to know them.

Listening to them read stories and say their prayers before going to sleep allowed me to meet them where they were, intellectually and spiritually. It was the way Jesus consistently met people.

Later in the week we traveled with our newly baptized infant granddaughter to visit my sister who was too ill to attend the Baptism and that trip opened another door. Amid hugs and greetings, their family welcomed the infant they were meeting for the first time.

Laughter and lively conversation opened doors from the past even as we wondered about what was hidden behind doors yet to be opened.

It seemed that everywhere we went, doors were opening, inviting us to learn what was happening in the lives of family and extended family. In some cases we exchanged gifts, but with others just being together was sufficient.

There’s no doubt about it, opening doors takes effort, but it’s the kind of effort that makes life rich with meaning. A friend once commented that relationships take time, and so they do.

But the time and effort devoted to opening doors to others says a lot about who we are.

Jesus’ mission was always about opening doors. His ministry was about nurturing relationships, first with his Father and then with the people he encountered along the way. And it’s the same way with us.

In the Book of Revelation we read, “Behold I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will enter in and eat with you and you with me” (Rev. 3:20).

The Scripture passage has been replicated in the popular painting that depicts Jesus standing at a door knocking. If you look closely, you will notice that the door has no handle. The omission by the artist was deliberate, indicating that the door of our heart can only be opened from the inside.

If our life is Christocentric then our life will be relationship oriented, for Jesus taught us that whatever we do to one another, we do to him. Like most people, Jesus doesn’t force himself upon us. Therefore, we must make a conscious and deliberate effort to open the door to our heart.

Every time we open the door, we allow God’s grace to enter and strengthen us to open the door to others. Every day, indeed almost hourly, there are doors waiting to be opened. If our relationship with God is authentic, it will be woven into the fabric of our life and we will continue to open doors that lead us beyond a self-limiting world.

Behind every door is an opportunity to discover endless possibilities and meaningful relationships. Sadly, we don’t open every door that awaits us.

Sometimes fear or a lack of trust causes us to slam the door before we even get to know the person who is on the other side. At other times, we may pretend not to hear the gentle knock or we may drown the tapping with activities that we allow to take precedence over relationships.

When we fail, and we all do, we can be reassured that Jesus will never walk away. He continues to knock, inviting us to recognize him in the one who is knocking with the understanding that every door we open holds new possibilities, marvelous opportunities and something more wondrous than we could ever imagine.

The Catholic Virginian is a biweekly publication serving the people of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. This website includes some, but not all, of the articles from the print version of The Catholic Virginian.

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