God’s Bounty ~ Our Blessing

Dear  Partner in Mission, 

I saw it written, “God’s Bounty ~ Our Blessing,” and the phrase has stuck in my heart! 

Soon, we will be celebrating and giving praise to God for the multiple gifts that are ours. The Pilgrims and Indians set that stage for us long ago.  Today we gather with family and friends, around tables of plenty on Thanksgiving Day, to remember and give thanks.

But God’s amazing bounty encompasses more than the wonderful fruits and grains of the earth.  The First Sunday of Advent is November 27. We, the People of God, long for the coming of Emmanuel, God with us, taking on our human flesh. At Thanksgiving, through Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter,  we remember and give thanks for the birth , death and resurrection  of our Savior, Jesus Christ. With the eyes of faith we await His Second Coming.  Salvation, the sacraments, scripture and liturgy are among the bounty and blessings of our lives as Catholics.

Advent, 2011,  has been designated as the time to begin the implementation on the new translations in the Roman Missal. Yeees, change - any kind of change - can be difficult.  Yet,  Eucharist is always...a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all benefits, for all that has been accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all "thanksgiving."(Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1360, adapted).

I’ve been praying with some of the Mass translations. I am inspired by new phrasing in the Concluding Rites. Pope Benedict XVI has made the words of sending forth after the final blessings more missionary. To site just two: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” and “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

Accept the challenge! Let us affirm and proclaim this ADVENTure in faith and thanksgiving!

GO SAINTS, GO!

Being a native from New Orleans, I am familiar with the song, "when the saints go marching in..."  Perhaps you are also familiar with the popular tune? In Nawlin’s, as we pronounce "New Orleans" we are familiar with the saints on the football field and in the hallowed field of the cemetery. 

As a boy, during this time of the year we would visit the grave sites of our relatives to paint the tombs, clear the weeds, bring flowers, candles and offer prayers.  We would also picnic on this sacred ground with poor-boy sandwiches, tasty local snacks and homemade root beer. The grand Louisiana oak trees stretched their two, three and five-hundred year old branches over our heads with canopy’s of lush foliage speckled with gray Spanish moss.

In the Christian life, we too are stretched, as we reach for the eternity that is within. The month of November reminds us to stretch, not with our arms or standing on our tippy toes, but stretch with the heart that dreams! The American Indian, Alaskan Native and Black Catholic communities offer us a glimpse of this "spiritual-stretch-of-the-heart" through their traditions, stories and myths. 

November directs us to the saints, sinners and all people from different cultures and nations.  Creator-Grandfather speaks to us through the beauty of the sky, a stream and the majestic flight of the eagle. God, with His many faces of black, white and red frees and breaks the chains of slavery and lifts our spirits through song, music and dance.  Jesus comes to preach the Good News to the poor, the outcast and those who suffer injustice. The Savior establishes a new relationship between God and His People and calls all to His new teaching of Life and Resurrection.

If we are willing to see with another’s eyes and embrace their world, we would then experience something new and beautiful within ourselves to share with our global family.

The month of November leads us to focus on all saints and all souls, all traditions and stories, all cultures and nations, all gifts and beauty.  We do not follow a dirge of mediocrity but a richness of spirit that unfolds the revelation of God for each of us.  Yes, let us sing, "When the saints go marching in. . . We are in that number, when the saints go marching in. . . ." GO SAINTS, GO!