Feast Day: December 7^th  

The year was 374 AD, and our story begins with two eminent men who have recently received minor positions of authority in the Roman Empire.  Flavius Theodosius, just now turning 37 years old, recently received his own independent command in the Roman army, stepping out from under the shadow of his father, Theodosius the Elder, a high-ranking general in the western Roman Empire.  He quickly wins victories over the Sarmatians (East of Rome, in modern day Serbia; not to be confused with the Samaritans, the remnant of Jews left behind after the Exile who did not worship in Jerusalem and instead settled 25 miles north of Jerusalem on Mt. Gerizim).  Higher up in the empire chaos reigns as various men grapple for command, clearing out opponents (including the Elder Theodosius by 375), though shortly thereafter Gratian comes out on top and becomes Emperor of the Western Empire and the Theodosian family again falls under imperial favor.  It is at this same junction that, north of Rome, the 35 year old Aurelius Ambrosius, also a popular, well-educated young man, is entering into his second year as governor of the province of Aemilia-Liguria.  His headquarters is the city of Milan, just 9 decades prior chosen as the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Diocletian.  

But God had different plans for these two up and coming Roman civil servants.

Let’s stay with Ambrose for the next stage in our story.  Later in 374, the bishop of Milan (an Arian, he preached that Jesus was not Divine!) died, holding onto his See until the bitter end, and throwing the city into tumult as the Christian factions fought over who would become their shepherd.  Governor Ambrose steps into the fray to calm the crowds and somewhere above the din two words were heard: “Ambrose, bishop!”  The upright civil servant blanched at the thought – his family was Christian, but he had not even been baptized – and yet, despite his attempt to avoid the crowd’s acclaim, all were convinced he would make a good successor to the apostles and within a week he was baptized, ordained, and consecrated the next bishop of Milan.  We can presume that the holy water and oils upon the new Bishop Ambrose had dried somewhat by the time 379 came around, for that was the year that another death sent ripples through history.  This time it was Valens, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, and uncle of Gratian, who was still emperor in the West.  Valens, even more than the heretical Archbishop Auxentius, died surrounded by enemies.  His army was overwhelmed in battle with the Goths and his body was lost amidst the carnage. Theodosius, a popular and proven general, was named joint-emperor with Gratian, and sent to the Eastern Empire to hold back the Visigoth hordes.  One twist to his story, which is now eerily similar to Ambrose: Theodosius falls deathly ill shortly thereafter and chooses to be baptized a Christian.

And so we come to the 380s.  Theodosius is slowly brokering peace with the Goths, winning them over by his justice and generosity and incorporating many of their tribes within the empire rather than decimating the roman legions to try and defeat them.  He, along with Gratian (and Gratian’s second-in-command, Valentinian II) issue in 380 the Edict of Thessalonica professing and protecting Nicene Catholic Christianity, against the various heresies which were bubbling up around the Empire alongside of Arianism, and so the Roman empire receives this text from their emperor(s), who many still consider as part of the pagan pantheon:

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the PontiffDamasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. [Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, Codex Theodosianus, XVI.1.2, 380AD]

If the emperors could be faulted for heavy-handedly enforcing Christian doctrine by imperial decree over the coming years, perhaps our parallel character this week, Ambrose, offers us the Church’s reaction to this changing scene.  There, in Milan, the good bishop is patiently preaching the Arians back into the fullness of the Christian faith, convicting them by his humility, charity, and piety (and, sidenote: he also introduces popular musical :  

Let us likewise deal kindly, let us persuade our adversaries of that which is to their profit, “let us worship and lament before the Lord our Maker.” For we would not overthrow, but rather heal; we lay no ambush for them, but warn them as in duty bound. Kindliness often bends those whom neither force nor argument will avail to overcome. [Ambrose, De Fide, II.XI.89, 380AD)

Notice that both men, after following a secular career for years, chose baptism and to offer for God’s purposes their energy and skill.  Notice too that the gift they received of faith, hope, and love, does not automatically transform them into saints.  The years to come will give them chance to follow the path of Christ, or not.  We will return to their story next week!

– Fr. Dominic Rankin bit off more than he could chew this week.  Even just sticking with history and the theological virtues, we ran out of space.  Still, Ambrose remains our saint and friend, and won’t mind if more of his story waits until the next time! 

In 2014, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter to All Consecrated People on the Occasion of the Year of Consecrated Life.  In that letter, he invited them to do three things during that year:

1. Look to the past with gratitude
2. Live the present with passion
3. Embrace the future with hope

The Holy Father seems to have been inspired by something one of his predecessors, Pope St. John Paul II, had said during his Pontificate at the conclusion of the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, when he wrote:

Duc in altum! These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever”

(Heb 13:8).  (Novo millennio ineunte, 1)

I find that threefold approach to the Christian life a beautiful and simple summary of how each of us should live each day.  As we begin a new liturgical year together, I would like to look at these three points over the next three bulletin articles.  Not only do they apply well to our lives in general as Christians, but I think they also help us to live this season of Advent in a more fruitful way.

We therefore begin by looking to the past with gratitude.  In particular, we look at this past year in our lives and in our parish.  Our human tendency is to think first of the negative things that have happened.  Some of us has lost loved ones.  Some of us have experienced suffering in some fashion.  Perhaps some of us have lost our jobs, or maybe a relationship with somebody close to us has been damaged.  Ok, that may be the case, but let us start with gratitude.  Where has the Lord blessed you this past year?  Some of you may have welcomed new members to your family with the birth of a child or a grandchild.  Perhaps you have welcomed a new member to your family through marriage.  Some of you may have started new jobs.  Perhaps you accomplished something of which you are very proud.  With regards to our faith, consider how many times you have been fed with the Bread of Life in the Eucharist, or how you experienced the freedom that comes from receiving Christ’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  If we take the time to intentionally look back over the last year, I am certain each of us can find something for which to be grateful.  Even if you struggle to identify your blessings, our faith reminds us of something beautiful: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)  We can therefore thank God for everything He has allowed to happen to us, even those hard things, for God can and does use all of them for our good, despite our understanding how He is doing so.

As we have just celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday, may that spirit of gratitude carry us into this new year of grace, trusting that the Lord who has been so good and generous to us over the past year will continue to bless us in the year ahead.

Father Alford     

This Sunday is the first Sunday of advent. Advent is the first of the five liturgical seasons in the Church’s calendar. The four others are Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. These five liturgical seasons have various unique elements that make each of them especially important in the spiritual life and growth of individual members of the Church. One of the distinctive elements of the season of advent is the first readings that come from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is the prophet who, despite his unworthiness for the call of God, answered, “Here I am, send me” when God was looking for someone to send to minister to his people. (Is 6:8).

Isaiah, one of the most prominent prophets in the Old Testament bible, was called by God to minister to the people at a critical time in the history of Israel. It was a time of confusion, faithlessness, and sociopolitical unrest. There were many misunderstandings, wars, and desecration of holy places across the northern kingdoms and beyond.

In the midst of all that, God needed to send a loyal and courageous prophet for a unique prophetic ministry among his people. This ministry would involve declaring the impending doom that awaits sinners who persist in their sinfulness and the proclamation of the sovereignty of God among the people. In proclaiming God’s power, the chosen prophet shall also announce the coming of the Son of God – the Emmanuel. This Son of God shall save sinners if they repent from their sinfulness and accept God as their Lord and Savior. The task was enormous and would require someone of high intelligence, holiness, and integrity. Although highly unqualified in every way, God chose and sent Isaiah for this prophetic ministry.

Isaiah was the least qualified. In Isaiah 6:5, he cried out: “Woe is me. I am doomed. For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips….” Isaiah was humble enough to acknowledge his absolute unworthiness for the ministry that God called him. But as God wills, “He calls the unqualified and qualifies them. He chooses the weak to strengthen them.” (Is 40:29; 1Cor 1:27).

Almost every day from this weekend until Christmas, our first readings shall come from the book of Isaiah. The Church intentionally arranged these liturgical readings this way to help us prepare in humility and joyful anticipation, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. While this humility defines the circumstances surrounding the birth of our Savior, we also see it in the Prophet Isaiah. He humbly acknowledged his unworthiness for the call of God. After this act of humility, the Prophet also had the courage to say, “Here I am, send me,” when God was searching for whom to send.

As we begin this season of hope, let us ask God to grant us the grace of the virtues of humility and courage. HUMILITY to acknowledge God’s blessings, love, and mercy in our lives. And COURAGE to accept and welcome God’s will and plan for our lives.

Feast Day: November 30^th 

Besides knowing that was chosen by Jesus to be an apostle, and the traditions that the Church has passed down carefully every since his martyrdom on an X-shaped cross (a “crux decussata” as the Romans would have known it) in Patras (within the area thought to have been evangelized by Andrew around what is now Turkey and Greece), we have three scenes given us in the Gospels to get to know this older brother of Simon Peter.  In the first, we find that Andrew is a fisherman (he is now the patron saint of all who have followed him in that occupation), and one of the disciples of John the Baptist.  

One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

[John 1:40-42]

The focus quickly shifts to Peter, and yet we find here that Andrew was actually one of Jesus’ first disciples, and had the courage and clarity to see right away that Jesus, yes, of Nazareth, was the Messiah.  I love how he describes this encounter and realization as “finding” the Messiah.  It is true for us as well that we must seek Christ in order to find Him.  He does not hide from us!  But, the happenings of our lives can overshadow His presence to us, and we must continuously strive to find Him anew, to discover Him more fully, to know Him more fully, to love Him more completely.  Yes, we much find Jesus every day!  Fast forward a few chapters, and we find ourselves with Andrew at one of Jesus’ most famous miracles: 

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?”

[John 6:5-9]

Still overshadowed by his brother, Andrew’s words flesh out the boldness that we already saw in Capernaum: he has the gumption to bring a laughable solution to an immense problem, but to leave the situation in Jesus’ hands all the same.  Now Andrew goes beyond following and finding, he must bring also his futility to the Lord.  Can we follow Andrew this far, or do we hesitate to be inadequate before Jesus?  Christ does not just want our fidelity; He also wants our frailty!  Do I tell Him about my inadequacy?  Do I trust Him enough to open to Him my own lack of trust? And lastly:

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-saida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.

[John 12:20-26]

To struggle to find Jesus is one thing.  To risk our frailty before the Lord is another.  But now Andrew goes further and allows Jesus to work through his friendships.  Philip, it seems, wasn’t willing on his own to bring the Greek group to Jesus, but Andrew, as always, had the nerve to risk it.  He had done this first with Peter, then with the little boy and his fish, and now these foreigners.  Each would never have met Jesus if Andrew hadn’t intervened.  Do you and I have that courage?  Do we act on it?  Do we invite our own friends into friendship with Jesus?  We will never be “ready” to do so, knowing everything about the Lord!  Andrew sure didn’t, but he still was man-enough to just bring people to Jesus.

– Fr. Rankin seriously wondered how this fourth saint would successfully tie together an unpredictable month trying to understand human conscience and freedom through the lives of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, St. Albert the Great, and St. Clement I.  And here he does!  Do we consider the Gospel an imposition that we can’t propose anew to a relative, friend, or acquaintance?  Do we think it a burden that limits our freedom?  We must not!  Our freedom is fulfilled in Jesus!  We are never more free than when we are His disciples, and abide in obedience to, and like, Him.  That is our Christian belief, let us live in that faith every day!