Saturday, December 31, 2016

A PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR


"Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life with fear. Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise, God to whom you belong will in his love enable you to profit by them. 
He has guided you thus far in life. Do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all trials. Whenever you cannot stand, He will carry you lovingly in his arms.

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same Eternal Father who takes care of you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day of your life. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace then, and put aside all useless thoughts, all vain dreads and all anxious imaginations."


Saint Francis de Sales 
(1567-1622)

Friday, December 30, 2016

SOME DIOCESE OF KINGSTOWN LEADERS


Getting It Done in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  
Some of the priests, deacons, Sisters and lay leaders of the Diocese of Kingstown



I've gotten to know some of these wonderful people in the last two years. The amazing thing is that there are others not in this picture.  

Thursday, December 29, 2016

AFTER ALL THIS TIME

THRIVING AFTER FIFTY PLUS YEARS

The just shall flourish like the palm tree,
shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon. 
They shall bear fruit even in old age,
they will stay fresh and green. 
Psalm 92:15

My sister, Brenda, gave me this plant 50 years ago while I was in the seminary. I kept it for four years and then when I left the seminary in 1970, I gave it back to her. She has kept it going ever since and has divided it between her two daughters. It's still going and looks as healthy as ever! 





Tuesday, December 27, 2016

SPIRITUAL READING AVAILABLE


Homilies, past and present, can be found on this blog. Present homilies will appear as posts on this blog very soon after they are given. For a list of printed homily collections, click on the LINKS on the right and scroll down to MY BOOKSTORE. There you will find past homilies and other spiritual reading material. Under LINKS, scroll down to MY COLUMNS IN THE RECORD to access my weekly column, An Encouraging Word. 

DAILY MASS READINGS can be accessed each day by clicking on that link under LINKS on the top right hand column.  

Sunday, December 25, 2016

CHRISTMAS HOMILY



CHRISTMAS
2016
“If It Isn’t Messy, It Isn’t real”
Rev. J. Ronald Knott



She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
Luke 2:7



I have a saying, “If it isn’t messy, it isn’t real.” If you listen to the Christmas story closely, you will soon realize that it is one of the messiest stories you can imagine. This story isn’t cute or sweet. It was more like one disaster after another. There is the pregnant, unmarried Mary and her soon-to-be husband, Joseph. About the time this birth was to take place, Joseph and Mary were required to take an eighty-mile long donkey ride to register for the census - to the backwater village of Bethlehem. Away from home, Mary goes into labor with no place to give birth, but a barn and no place to lay her baby, but in an animal’s feed box. The only people to rejoice with this young couple were a bunch of smelly shepherds. Shepherds were despised by religious people of those days, not only because they were considered “low life,” but also because they were the “un-churched” of those days. From what we read, the birth of our Savior was a disaster on all fronts, one of the messiest stories imaginable.

If Mary and Joseph had been at home, all their Jewish neighbors and friends would have gathered outside the home to await the birth with musical instruments. When they would have announced, “It’s a boy!” they would have struck up the band. Luke, knowing that this was not just another Jewish boy’s birth, but the birth of God’s son, has a multitude of singing angels from heaven wrap their wings around this pathetic scene to welcome this long-awaited birth. The bottom line of this messy story, Jesus deliberately identified himself with the “little people,” “humble circumstances” and the messiness of this world.

Luke, who brings us the Christmas story that we are all familiar with, is a champion of the “underdog.” The heroes of his stories are mostly the “losers” and “marginal people” of society: women, children, foreigners, the sick, the unchurched and the poor. The Christmas story simply reflects his theology that Christ came for all people, including people the connected of this world never imagined and God’s love will not be restricted to the few, no matter what the church or state says.

When Jesus grew up, the statement that the circumstances of his birth made, was spelled out in detail by his preaching and actions. He “welcomed sinners and ate with them.” The lost sheep is sought out. The prodigal son was welcomed home. The good and bad alike are invited to his wedding feast. His workers all received a full days pay, no matter when they started working.

One of the best compliments I ever got as a pastor, was one I got one Christmas when I was pastoring the Cathedral Parish. A man told me that the congregation at the Cathedral reminded him of the “Island of Misfits Toys” from the “Rudolf, the Red-nosed Reindeer” Christmas special. The “Island of Misfits Toys” was, of course, that special island where broken toys could go to be repaired so that they, too, could be part of Christmas. As most of you know, we specialized in welcoming marginal and fallen-away Catholics back to the Church. I never felt more like a true pastor than I did in those days. I never felt that I was acting more like Jesus, living the message of Christmas, than I did in those days.

Even though the Christmas message is over 2,000 years old, it seems that the world still doesn’t get it! Because reality is messy, there are some people in the world, and even in the Church, who react to all the messiness of life, not by embracing it, but by running from it. Religions seem to be all going back into their corners and making enemies of each other yet again, a sort of a “God loves me and not you” approach. Jews, Moslems and Christians cannot get along! Even some scared Catholics are trying once again to take back all that openness we were famous for just a few years ago! Instead of tearing down fences, they are committed to building them back!

Regardless of what people do or believe, I am convinced more than ever this Christmas that the bottom line of this annual celebration is the unbelievable love God has for all people, yes all people. That’s why smelly shepherds, young refugees, curious foreigners and various “nobodies” have major parts to play in this great story!