December 22, 2024 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:04well the season of advent is coming to a
2. 0:07close it's been a time of preparation
3. 0:11anticipation and
4. 0:14hope it leads to what one song calls the
5. 0:18happiest season of all Christmas should
6. 0:21lead us
7. 0:23there the stars and Angels toy drive has
8. 0:26been a success this year I want to thank
9. 0:29every everyone who gave
10. 0:32generously should see the adults the
11. 0:35parents who are receiving these cards
12. 0:38and these gifts to give to their
13. 0:41children they are visibly Bri brimming
14. 0:45with
15. 0:47excitement with a joy that is The Wonder
16. 0:51of what this season
17. 0:54brings but beneath the surface of gifts
18. 0:57and lights and carols
19. 1:01lies the profound reason for this
20. 1:04season and this Sunday we're asked to
21. 1:07meditate and reflect what is the reason
22. 1:11for the
23. 1:12season and the reason is
24. 1:15this the call to
25. 1:18remember the Lord in his boundless love
26. 1:22for us that's the reason I'm going to
27. 1:25repeat it again the call to remember the
28. 1:28Lord and his bound boundless love for
29. 1:32us throughout salvation history one sin
30. 1:36stands out as the root of all other sins
31. 1:40of all other major
32. 1:43sins and the sin is
33. 1:47forgetting I can give you a whole list
34. 1:50of examples from scripture but here are
35. 1:53just a
36. 1:55few praise the Lord my soul and do not
37. 1:58forget all of his benefits Psalm
38. 2:03103 be careful that you do not forget
39. 2:06the Lord your God and failed to observe
40. 2:08his commands from
41. 2:11Deuteronomy time and again the people of
42. 2:13Israel fell into the forgetfulness as
43. 2:16the judges but after Gideon was dead the
44. 2:19Israelites made ba all their God they
45. 2:22forgot all that the Lord had done for
46. 2:25them
47. 2:28judges the of forgetting led the
48. 2:31Israelites to idolatry it led them to
49. 2:34rebellion and to deep
50. 2:37despair forgetfulness of the Lord isn't
51. 2:39just
52. 2:42neglect it's an open door for sin to
53. 2:46thrive this is what I want to drive home
54. 2:48to you today the seriousness of being
55. 2:54forgetful because it does open the door
56. 2:56to sin to thrive for priorities to shift
57. 3:01and for our hearts to grow
58. 3:05cold forgetfulness is this is precisely
59. 3:08the context in which the prophet Micah
60. 3:11from our first reading is delivering
61. 3:13this message
62. 3:15today Micah is not a household name like
63. 3:19Isaiah or Jeremiah he was an 8th Century
64. 3:23before Christ prophit and he spoke for
65. 3:27God during one of the darkest periods
66. 3:30that Israel ever
67. 3:32experienced the Jewish people were
68. 3:34facing
69. 3:36Exile coupled with the destruction of
70. 3:38Jerusalem and
71. 3:41Samaria God who had delivered them from
72. 3:44slavery in Egypt and led them to the
73. 3:46promised land now seemed absent to
74. 3:50them many must have wondered if God's
75. 3:53promises had been an illusion all
76. 3:56along amid this Darkness
77. 3:59Micah offers array of Hope and he tells
78. 4:03us in the first reading it is out of
79. 4:05this insignificant Village
80. 4:08Bethlehem the birthplace of David the
81. 4:12prophecies that a ruler of Israel would
82. 4:16emerge and this ruler will be the
83. 4:19Messiah would Shepherd his people with
84. 4:22the strength of God and extend his rule
85. 4:25to the ends of the
86. 4:27Earth Here Micah's word words reveal the
87. 4:30meaning of what the will of God
88. 4:34means his Plan of Redemption he teaching
89. 4:37us what is God's plan he will save us
90. 4:43and he will give us NeverEnding
91. 4:47mercies and God's plans unfold not by
92. 4:50force or decree but through the meek and
93. 4:54humble and through the events of human
94. 4:57history as they play out
95. 5:00Micah's prophecy Finds Its fulfillment
96. 5:02in today's Gospel where we meet two
97. 5:05remarkable women Mary and Elizabeth they
98. 5:09are fully attuned to God's Will and
99. 5:13remembering all that God had done for
100. 5:16them embodying the hopes and dreams of
101. 5:19Israel we see that being played
102. 5:22out Mary the Virgin with child Elizabeth
103. 5:26who conceived in her Advanced years both
104. 5:29represent the miraculous work of God and
105. 5:32that nothing is impossible for
106. 5:36God both
107. 5:38women lived out their
108. 5:41lives doing the will of the
109. 5:44father finding joy and freedom in
110. 5:48surrendering completely over to
111. 5:52God as Elizabeth proclaimed blessed are
112. 5:54you who believe that what was spoken to
113. 5:57you by the Lord would be fulfilled
114. 6:00their trust in God reminds us that this
115. 6:03that his will is not an obsolete it's
116. 6:06not obsolete to our freedom but is the
117. 6:09golden thread that holds human history
118. 6:12together and it gives us
119. 6:15meaning the prop the process of
120. 6:19understanding the presence of God and
121. 6:21remembering all that God has done for us
122. 6:24each and every moment of Our
123. 6:27Lives consider this true story
124. 6:31a young woman raised in a devout
125. 6:33Catholic home starts her first year here
126. 6:36at the University of Miami she's
127. 6:38excelling
128. 6:40academically in her Pursuit for Success
129. 6:42she begins to miss Sunday mass just once
130. 6:47then twice then it becomes a
131. 6:50habit she stops praying she sets aside
132. 6:53the Bible that her parents brought with
133. 6:56them to her new dorm room
134. 6:59while here at college and away from her
135. 7:02security she faces a major crisis in her
136. 7:05personal
137. 7:06life and she confesses to a friend I
138. 7:10feel so lost I feel so broken I don't
139. 7:15even know who I am anymore I'm drinking
140. 7:18way too much I've done things that I
141. 7:21would never have imagined I've allowed
142. 7:24myself to be with people and situations
143. 7:26that are not how my parents raised me
144. 7:29her friend gently asks
145. 7:32her when was The Last Time You
146. 7:34Prayed when was the last time that you
147. 7:37truly sought the Lord when was the last
148. 7:40time that you went to
149. 7:42mass the young woman paused her eyes
150. 7:45filled with tears and said I can't even
151. 7:51remember thank God this story has a
152. 7:54happy ending but this is the devastating
153. 7:57power of forgetting God and placing God
154. 8:01to the
155. 8:02side it happens
156. 8:05slowly catches up to you until we wake
157. 8:08up one day and find ourselves
158. 8:10spiritually
159. 8:13bankrupt Advent in Christmas exists to
160. 8:16safeguard us from this
161. 8:19forgetfulness God doesn't need our
162. 8:22celebrations or our dedications God
163. 8:25doesn't need our nativity scenes or our
164. 8:27Christmas trees are his
165. 8:30the liturgies because they serve for us
166. 8:34as anchors for our faith to remind us of
167. 8:37astonishing
168. 8:39truths that Christ is about to be
169. 8:42born that God did not have to save us he
170. 8:46did not have to send his only begotten
171. 8:48son to the world but out of pure love
172. 8:51and mercy he
173. 8:55does Advent urges us to pause to refle
174. 8:59reflect to remember the Lord who broke
175. 9:01into human history to save
176. 9:05us as we approach Christmas I ask you
177. 9:09have you forgotten the Lord lately have
178. 9:12you put other things as a
179. 9:16priority have you allowed distraction
180. 9:18and busyness worldly Pursuits to
181. 9:21relegate God to second third or even a
182. 9:24last place in your heart Advent is that
183. 9:27wakeup call wake up Catholics wake up
184. 9:32Christians take this time this week to
185. 9:35reconnect back with the Lord I'll give
186. 9:37you three simple tasks this
187. 9:41week one pray daily even it's it's just
188. 9:44to say Lord help me to remember you at
189. 9:47all moments
190. 9:49today second recommit yourself to Sunday
191. 9:52mass make it the centerpiece of your
192. 9:54week not an afterthought something that
193. 9:57you look forward to
194. 10:00be engaged at Mass participate fully at
195. 10:03full attention stop
196. 10:07daydreaming and third live in
197. 10:11gratitude thank God for the many
198. 10:13blessings and Mercies in your life you
199. 10:16are
200. 10:18blessed so let me leave you with a
201. 10:20simple but powerful
202. 10:22truth forgetting the Lord leads to sin
203. 10:25and to
204. 10:26despair but remembering him brings life
205. 10:30and
206. 10:31Hope on Christmas morning remember this
207. 10:35God so loved the world that he sent his
208. 10:37only son not because we earned
209. 10:39it but because he is love
210. 10:44itself so my brothers and sisters in the
211. 10:46coming days we may be in inundated with
212. 10:49appointments shopping celebrations
213. 10:51reunions and the
214. 10:53like but may we never forget the reason
215. 10:57for the season
216. 10:59and take time to ponder God's presence
217. 11:01in our lives and strive to cultivate a
218. 11:05deeper appreciation for the things that
219. 11:07God has done for
220. 11:10us all that God has done for you
221. 11:13personally what God has done for your
222. 11:15family what God has done for this Parish
223. 11:18Community and for our nation amen amen