Father John J. Lombardi
Those words above, from
one priest, struck like an arrow, in another priest
"we are radically incomplete we human beings."
Sometimes it's hard to
admit as modern Catholics, and self sufficient,
successful Americans, we want to maintain, most of the
time, a cool, assertive, controlling and directive
persona making sure "we're never out of
control." We usually don't like to think, "I
am a work in progress"; quite the opposite, we
think we have all we need even if we go to Church and
believe in God.
When we're really
honest (i.e., on a "bad hair day" or
"manic Monday") we may admit we are, really,
incomplete, and that this world including ourselves can
use a lot of fixing. Things aren't really so tidy and
copasetic.
As a matter of fact,
when we really look into reality, we can see a lot more
suffering and incompleteness children starving, families
being torn apart, depressions of mind and spirit in the
dark doldrums of Winter, children being abused or
manipulated by a materialistic culture, the elderly
being preyed upon, and countless abortions.
We need Jesus.
Jesus is the only
answer to all the varied, intense and consistent
incompleteness of life, and Christmas is the ultimate
answer to all our troubles "That God so loved the
world He gave His only begotten Son that whoever
believes in Him may not perish but have eternal
life." Jn. 3:16
Notice that Bible
statement, which may seem to us, by now a cliché : that
those who do not believe in Jesus and align their lives
to Him will perish. Life without Jesus without God is a
form of perishing, suffering and nihilism
(meaninglessness).
These remaining hours
and days of Advent (a Latin word which means "to
come to" in this case, to God!) let us, in our
hearts, blood and "spiritual guts" really long
for Jesus, perhaps in a way we never really have before:
as the ultimate answer to life, to any and all problems.
The word radical comes
from the Latin, radix, meaning "root." When
the priest said, above, that we humans are radically
incomplete, he meant it: that, in our very physical,
spiritual and chemical make up, we are incomplete,
transitional, "not final". Instead of leaving
us where we are "sheep without a shepherd"
Jesus left Heaven and came to Earth to rescue us, redeem
us and lift us up to the Father. He chose not to condemn
mankind and the material world (even though it is
sometimes in rebellion); He chose to restore and
"upgrade" the cosmos by becoming, part of it,
subject to it, showing us that He wanted to redeem our
world.
Let us continue to long
for Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary that He
take root in the "inner mangers of our
hearts," so that even in our incompleteness we are
fortified in Him, our one and only Savior.
As long as we live
with, in and through Jesus, we are being made complete;
though our final completion will occur in Heaven, where
we will see, taste and experience, with the Blessed
Virgin Mary and all the Saints, the Uncreated, Most Holy
Trinity, and where there will be no more tears or
suffering. St. Catherine of Siena once said it this way,
"All the way to Heaven is Heaven, for our Lord
said, 'I am the way.'
"Remember, while
it's still Advent keep longing, hoping, waiting,
desiring for Jesus to complete us!
To honor Jesus in His
Birth, let us venerate His beautiful Mother, with a
prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
"Hail! Lady and
Queen, Virgin who became the Church, chosen by the
Father in Heaven, consecrated by His beloved Son and His
Spirit, the Comforter, in you was and remains the whole
fullness of grace and everything that is good. Hail His
palace, Hail His tabernacle, Hail His dwelling, Hail His
robe, Hail His handmaid, Hail His mother!… …Holy
Virgin Mary, among all the women of the world, there is
none like you. You are daughter of the Most High King,
Father of Heaven; you are the Mother of our Most Holy
Lord, Jesus Christ. You are the bride of the Holy
Spirit. Pray for us, with St. Michael the Archangel and
all the powers of Heaven, to your most holy and beloved
Son, our Lord and Master: Amen."
MEDITATION: How will I
prepare for Jesus' birth? even in these final hours and
days of Advent there is time for preparation, through
silence and meditation, prayer and Bible reading and
longing for Him in my heart Do I deeply realize my very
life, hopes and emotions and goals are incomplete
without Jesus? Do I sometimes try to fill this
incompleteness with things and persons other than Jesus?
CHILDREN AND VIGILANCE:
modern life is sometimes a battleground for children's
souls. Prophets and saintly people (on all ends of the
political, spiritual spectrum) warn us of conforming too
much to the culture. Recently a mother asked her
children to memorize a couple Bible verses: Rm 12:2:
"Be not conformed to the world but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind," and "Phillipians
4:8, "Whatever is true, honest, just, whatever is
pure, lovely, gracious, if there is any excellence and
worthy of praise, think about these things."
Children are being assaulted through computers,
literature, movies and electronic games that abuse
sexuality and other persons, promote violence and
immorality, and glamorize paganism. Parents really need
to be vigilant not to let "the world" into
their children's precious hearts and innocent souls. See
I Jn. 2:15 17, esp, now when so many children's gifts
are marketed and given away.
QUOTE of THE WEEK:
"Even when I'm home I'm homesick." Anonymous…
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other Sermons by Father John J. Lombardi