Monsignor Owen F. Campion

  • God will guide us to Himself

    Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord
    Mt 2:1-12

    This weekend the Church celebrates the ancient feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, commemorating, and reflecting upon, the visit of Magi “from the East” to the crib side of the newborn Savior.

    For the first reading, the Church presents a passage from the third and last section of Isaiah. After four generations of exile in Babylon, survivors, or descendants of survivors, of the long past Babylonian conquest of the Holy Land finally were able to return to their homeland.

    When Persia in turn overtook Babylonia, Persia’s King Cyrus allowed the exiles to leave Babylon and to return to the Holy Land. Homecoming was bittersweet. The land to which they returned after so many years was desolate and unyielding.

    The prophets insisted that, in spite of this desolation, times would change for the better, because God would not forget the chosen people.

    Thus, this reading rejoices in God’s salvation, not the bad fortune. He will vindicate the people. In justice and mercy, God will come. So, the prophecy predicts a great new day!

    For the second reading the Church offers us a selection from the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is a frank and direct statement that God intends salvation also for the Gentiles, not only for the chosen people.

    St. Matthew’s Gospel furnishes the last reading. Among the four Gospels, only Matthew and Luke refer to the conception, birth and very early life of Jesus. Mark and John are silent on these subjects.

    Between Matthew and Luke, only Matthew has the story of the Magi. This story is one of the most profound, and expressive, revelations in the New Testament. To better understand it requires recognizing the symbols and images contained in the passage.

    First, the Gospel speaks of visitors “from the East.” “From the East” was a phrase referring to much more than a direction of the compass. It meant a distant and unknown place. It was a term of mystery. What was the origin of these visitors? All that is known is that they were “from the East.”

    Who, and what, were they? Scholars cannot agree, and have not agreed, on a translation.  Some think that they were astrologers, in a time when astrology was heavily associated with theology and philosophy. Others think they were nobles, or kings. Another term is Magi, its meaning unclear.

    Whatever the answer, they were gifted, learned and very sincere people from someplace far away, strangers earnestly seeking the true God. Art and legend have seen them over the centuries as three in number.

    Herod tried to frustrate their search hoping to remove any threat to his corrupt control over the people, fearful as to what a “newborn king” might do. Looking for clues, he discovers that according to the Scriptures, the Savior indeed will be born in Bethlehem.

    Overall, the message is powerful. The Magi, only humans, yearn for God but cannot find God on their own. God assists them, with a star in the sky, and even through the evil Herod.

    Reflection

    This wondrous feast teaches a vital lesson. First, we must recognize that we are limited humans, even sinners. We are helpless in the last analysis.

    Accepting our limitation is one message. We also should examine what we regard as rewarding. Too often we allow ourselves to slip into the role of Herod. We look for security in earthly terms. We make judgments based on earthly instincts. Fear overtakes us.

    The divinity found by the Magi in Bethlehem hardly met earthly expectations. God was a newborn Child, innocent, indeed helpless, with Mary.

    Finally, God alone supplies the answers — and reward — in life. The wonder is that if we are sincere, God will guide us to Himself, living in Christ.

    Posted on January 4, 2012, to:

  • Jesus gives us reason for hope

    Feast of the birth of Christ — Christmas
    Jn 1:1-18

    The liturgy includes several Masses for Christmas. These readings are for the Mass celebrated during the day.

    Isaiah’s third section supplies the first lesson. To understand this reading, it helps to be aware of the historical context surrounding the composition of this part of Isaiah. God’s chosen people had been through very much in the preceding century. First, their land, regarded by the devout as sacred itself, and certainly belonging to the Hebrew people by nothing less than divine mandate, because God had given it, had been conquered by invading pagans.

    Not only were the people robbed of the land, and chaos and destruction swept through the society, but the social structure was destroyed. People were killed. Many who survived this conquest were themselves taken to Babylon, the capital of their Babylonian Empire. There they languished for four generations, far from their homeland and compelled to live in an atmosphere greatly unfriendly to their religion and to all that they had known.

    At long last, this enforced exile ended. Returning to the Holy Land, however, was a hollow achievement. The land was poor and unproductive.

    Through prophetic guidance, such as that provided by the author of this section of Isaiah, the realization came that true deprivation is the want within the human heart for peace, hope and a sense of strength and worth the result from sin.

    This Scripture sees, therefore, as the antidote to anxiety a sense in the heart of the presence of almighty God, the source of all peace, joy and hope, and living in obedience to God.

    The second reading is a passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is a marvelous revelation of God as the Trinity, and of Jesus, as Son of God, the true and full reflection of the Father, characteristic in its eloquence and depth of this entire epistle.

    In the third reading, the Church presents the first 18 verses of the Gospel of John. Each of the four Gospels has its own literary majesty and particular, inspired insight into the reality of God and salvation.

    While each of the Gospels, therefore, is splendid in its own literary construction, none outdoes John for clarity and magnificence. For that matter, few passages, if any, in the long Gospel of John outdo the glory of these first 18 verses.

    These verses, read today, are extraordinary because of the soaring and profound sense they convey in revealing the person and mission of Jesus. He is God’s wondrous gift to humankind, given in God’s eternal and unending love.

    Only in Jesus does existence have meaning, order, purpose and a future. He is the glory of God, living for and among humans. He is the light of the world. He is eternal. He is life itself.

    Reflection

    By the time the Mass during the day is celebrated, dawn has come. Daylight shines almost everywhere on earth, even if shaded in some places by the grey clouds of winter.

    The Church began celebrating the marvel of Christ’s birth at Mass at midnight. It celebrated at Mass at dawn. In the Mass celebrated during the day, the Church ponders once again what it celebrated earlier. It invites us to join it in this holy reflection. What is the true meaning of the event of Christ’s birth? What does it mean for each person?

    The true meaning is that despite the deprivation and despair produced by sin, as Third-Isaiah realized, we have reason for hope and confidence. Jesus, the Son of God, and the very glory of the Father, has come and is here for us.

    Jesus is not distant or inaccessible. He is one of us, being the son of Mary. He has been born for, and given by God, to us!

    Posted on December 21, 2011, to:

  • God’s love saves us

    4th Sunday in Advent
    Lk 1:26-38

    The first reading for this weekend is from the Second Book of Samuel. Once the two Books of Samuel were a single volume. Translations and editions over the centuries divided this one volume into two.

    David is the principal figure in these books. The ancient Hebrews looked upon David much more than as a king. Beyond all else, he was God’s chosen representative, given the kingship so that laws and circumstances might provide an atmosphere in which the people more fervently would follow God and be loyal to the Covenant.

    For this weekend’s second reading, the Church offers us a reading from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.

    Scholars unanimously say that Paul of Tarsus indeed authored this epistle, and that this epistle was his masterpiece. For this reason, it appears first in sequence among the 14 epistles attributed to Paul, placed in Bibles immediately following the Acts of the Apostles.

    As indicated by its title, Paul sent this epistle, or letter, to the Christian population of Rome. In the first century, Rome was the center of the Mediterranean world in every respect, political, economic and cultural. It also was the largest city in the Roman Empire. Not surprisingly, Rome, the great imperial capital, had within its borders a great array of ideas and religions, Christianity among them.

    In this weekend’s reading, as often elsewhere, Paul asserts his own vocation as an apostle. His vocation from God came so that “all the Gentiles” might believe in, and obey, God, “who alone is wise.”

    For the final reading this weekend, the Church proclaims a beautiful part of St. Luke’s Gospel, of Luke’s Infancy Narrative. It is the story of the Annunciation, the event when Gabriel, the angel, came into the presence of Mary, a young Jewish woman, in Nazareth in Galilee, to inform her that she would be the mother of the long-awaited Redeemer.

    The reading abounds with meaning. Luke makes clear that Mary was a virgin, and that the conception of the Redeemer would not be the result of any human relationship. Behind this fact is the reality that God, as Creator and the provider of order to the universe, can do anything. He is almighty. The Redeemer will be the Son of God. He will be David’s successor.

    The Redeemer’s coming will fulfill God’s promises, spoken by the prophets all through the ages, to bring life and salvation to the people. The birth of this Redeemer will be the ultimate satisfaction of the ancient Covenant.

    Vital to the message of the story is Mary’s response. “I am the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.”

    Reflection

    In each of these readings, speaking through the Scriptures, the Church makes a very important point. God reaches out to us. This outreach is not vague, pointed to a few, or impossible to see. It came in the persons of individuals with whom we can relate, David, Paul and Jesus.

    This outreach occurs as response to our own inadequacy and limitations. God is almighty, but God’s supreme power over all creation is not the most consoling point here. Rather, the most reassuring factor is that God’s great love for us prompts the dispatch of messengers such as David, Paul and Jesus, to guide us to union with God and therefore to peace in our hearts and life in eternity.

    The Church approaches Christmas strongly convinced of the fact of God’s love. God’s love saves us. He does not leave us helpless in our own powerlessness. He reaches to us to draw us to the divine presence itself.

    It now is up to us to respond. Do we accept God? Or, do we turn God away? It is that simple.

    Posted on December 13, 2011, to:

  • A time to rejoice

    3rd Sunday in Advent
    Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

    This weekend the Church celebrates “Gaudete Sunday,” the name coming from the opening word of the Entrance Antiphon. In Latin, “gaudete” means “to rejoice.”  Rejoicing is not indicated because Advent, and its stress on prayer and penance, is half completed, but rather because Christmas is nearer.

    Another reason for rejoicing is that, hopefully, we all feel closer to God as a result of observing Advent with prayer, reflection and penance. If we have used Advent as intended by the Church, we are nearer to a fuller communion with the Lord, the “light of the world.”

    Priests may wear rose-colored vestments on this weekend, symbolizing the dark violet of Advent already being lightened by the forthcoming light of the Lord’s arrival in our souls.

    The third part of Isaiah furnishes the first reading. When this passage was written, God’s people were weary and frustrated.

    They, or their forebears, had undergone the humiliation, uncertainty and misery of exile in Babylon. When allowed, finally, to leave Babylon and return to their homeland, they understandably were overjoyed.

    They found, however, a sterile and parched land awaiting them. Life was brutally hard. Had God tricked them? Did God provide for their release from Babylon only to subject them to further trials at home? Did God exist, anyway?

    Typically for Third Isaiah, this reading glows with optimism. Whatever may be the reality of the moment, for those loyal to God, a wondrous future awaits.

    St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Thessalonians provides the second reading. Belief in the Lord’s Second Coming, and impatience to see it occur, were widespread in the first generations of Christianity. This reading is typical for this period.

    Longing for the Second Coming among the early Christians is not hard to explain. They had much to endure. Actual persecution had developed. The culture all around the Christians was hostile. Temptations to renounce the Gospel abounded.

    Paul reassured the Christians of Thessalonica, telling them to be true to the Gospel. God, and God’s goodness, will one day prevail.

    St. John’s Gospel is the source of the last reading. The reading is a story about John the Baptist, whose own identity puzzled his contemporaries. Some even assumed that John was the Messiah. If not the Messiah, others wondered if he were Elijah, or another prophet who had returned to earth.

    Replying to these questions, John was very firm. Another would follow him, he insisted.  John was to prepare the way for this future representative of God, who would be wonderful for all humanity. John is not worthy even to untie the straps of his sandals.

    Reflection

    In calling us to rejoice this Gaudete weekend, the Church either presumes that we have spent the weeks of Advent pondering within ourselves the meaning of salvation for us personally and individually, or it urges us to use the remaining time in this season to seek God with all our hearts.

    Excitedly, the liturgy proclaims that when the Lord’s kingdom comes, how wonderful it will be! “Gaudete!” Rejoice!

    Why? When the Lord’s kingdom comes, death and evil indeed will end. Still, we must turn to God. We must admit God into our hearts. This means that we must reject our own sin.

    Many influences will divert our will from rejecting sin. The effort will require time, discipline and focus. We must be faithful, as Paul counseled the Thessalonian Christians, but we will not be patient in vain.

    Always the good teacher, the Church, through the last reading from John’s Gospel, instructs us to look for Jesus, as Jesus actually is, and not to create our own false version of the messiah.

    Jesus was obedient to God. Our lives and hearts must reflect Jesus. This is the purpose — and reward — of Advent.

    Posted on December 6, 2011, to:

  • A reason for hope

    2nd Sunday in Advent
    Mk 1:1-8

    The second part of the Book of Isaiah provides the first reading for this second Sunday of Advent.

    When this book was written, God’s people were very happy. Their long, dreary exile of four generations in Babylon was about to end. They were looking forward to returning to their homeland. This reading well captures the people’s joy and relief. It certainly captures their longing to return to their homeland.

    Also, and importantly, these verses well convey the sense that this happy circumstance has occurred as a result of God’s mercy and of God’s faithfulness to the Covenant.

    It was not as if the people had earned God’s munificence in this regard, or that they had been unusually loyal to the Covenant themselves. To the contrary, their sins had brought misery upon themselves.

    But, nevertheless, God’s mercy endured! So, the prophet insists that upon returning to their homeland, the people must go to Jerusalem, to the holy mountain where stood the temple, and there proclaim aloud the goodness of God.

    For its second reading this weekend, the Church presents a passage from the Second Epistle of Peter. Its theme differs from that of the first reading. The first reading was wonderfully optimistic. This reading is grim in its predictions of dark days and of unwelcome possibilities in the future.

    However, and this is critical, it does not predict everlasting death. Bad things will happen. Difficult times will come, but God always will protect the faithful. In this last reassurance, the reading parallels the message of the first reading.

    St. Mark’s Gospel furnishes the last reading. It is the beginning of the Gospel, as the first verse of the reading states, and the very opening verse states the purpose of this Scripture. It is the “Good News” about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

    In these relatively few words, the entire reality of salvation is revealed. Something new is being proclaimed, utterly different from the sad moods and dreariness of human life, unbound by the variances of earthly existence. The news, furthermore, is good! Jesus, the Son of God, both conveys this Good News and brings its effectiveness into human life.

    This reading quotes Isaiah’s prophecy that God will send a representative to guide the people from death to life, from the deadly effects of their sins to the bright realms of God’s forgiveness. God has been true to this pledge. He gives us Jesus.

    The Gospel then tells of John the Baptist, who went throughout Judea calling people to repentance. John recognized Jesus. Anyone can recognize Jesus, the Son of God. Too many, however, create an unrealistic image, an invention to confirm the easy way out or excuse us from the task of genuine conversion.

    Reflection

    In Advent, the Church clearly, frankly and directly calls people to remember who they are as humans and to realize sin’s devastating results. Such was the message of John the Baptist.

    These steps require frankness and humility. We first must admit our sin and also our human limitations. We must see what sin, or total estrangement from and rejection of God, actually is. It is the cause of eternal death and often of misery in earthly existence.

    The ultimate message, nevertheless, is not of doom and gloom. While we are limited and have sinned, while we well may have made quite a mess for ourselves and for others, all of this weekend’s readings remind us that God’s mercy is overwhelming and unending. So, we have reason to hope. God will forgive us. God will strengthen us.

    The key to obtaining this mercy personally is in admitting our personal sin and repenting. God does not drag us kicking and screaming into heaven, so we must turn to God — wholeheartedly.

    Posted on November 30, 2011, to: