Fr. Matthias Neuman's Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent

Readings: Jer 33:14-16; 1 Thess 3:12-4:2; Lk 21:25-36

It’s always good to periodically remember that the whole scope of the Old Testament and the People of Israel is based on the promises of God: Abraham is promised a land and a people; the people are later promised a just shoot of Jesse, who would become a Messiah, as spoken through the prophet Jeremiah in today’s first reading. The people’s response to those promises is to hope in their eventual fulfillment. Those are the dual engines that drive the Old Testament motor: the promises of God and the people’s hope for their fulfillment. That sets the background for the New Testament, which is also built on promises and hope. Jesus
promises the Kingdom of God; Jesus’ Resurrection is a promise to us of our own future resurrection. That is what ultimately we hope for.

When you think about it carefully, hope is one of the greatest driving forces in the Christian faith. Advent is the season to focus on hope. We focus through the lens of the Old Testament hope for a Messiah. From there we broaden out into much greater hopes—the hope for salvation, for an intimacy with God, for a love of God and for the other smaller hopes for our lives—for health and friendship and safety for our families.

Hope as a virtue fascinates me. I first got interested in it when I was doing my doctoral research. One of the writers I was studying was the Jesuit, Fr. William Lynch. He had written a very powerful book entitled, Images of Hope. His ideas were considered groundbreaking and insightful, not by theologians, but by psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Fr. Lynch was writing from a unique background and perspective. He himself had once been hospitalized with an acute case of schizophrenia that required months of treatment. He was only able to recover from that by recapturing a sense of hopefulness in his life—a sense that there was something positive to hope for. He describes in very poignant and eloquent words how much a sense of hopelessness lies at the source of so much mental illness. There were two key insights that dominate his observations about hope. The first is that true hope is a cooperative venture. You can’t escape from hopelessness without somebody else’s help. Hope always involves more than one person. True hope is a shared venture. His second insight is that true hope is only achieved through images and the use of the imagination. Because the most important step in once again achieving mental stability and health is through the individual’s construction of a new self-image, and that requires the use of one’s imagination and the unique images it shapes.

Those two insights might help us in our celebration of the season of Advent, which we begin today. To foster and nourish our own hopes, especially our spiritual hopes, let’s do it in conjunction with community and friends. Let us enter more fully and more alertly into our community prayer in this season. Secondly, let’s allow our imaginations to play a little more than usual during Advent. Advent as a liturgical season has some rich symbols: the Advent wreath, the O Antiphons, the feasts of Sts. Nicolas and Lucy and Our Lady of Guadalupe, and of course the glorious music of the Advent season. Let’s let our imaginations play a little more than usual to savor this season to the fullest.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sing and play music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Ephesians 5:19-20)

Can we ever give God enough thanks? My mom used to tell me...because her mom used to tell her...that God will not be out done in generosity. Just try to be more generous than God and see what happens! The older I get the more I understand these wise words from these very wise women in my life.

I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me abundantly with a wonderful family, a holy Benedictine Community, loving and supportive friends and the best ministry a person can have...teaching God's beautiful children about our rich Catholic faith. Thank you my sweet heavenly Father.

Soon my family will be traveling to Wyoming to be a part of my brother Paul's Ordination/Installation of Bishop for the Diocese of Wyoming. I cannot even begin to imagine what this life will be for Paul. But I'm thankful to God for his willingness to say "Yes" to the call. I'm thankful for the role model that Paul is in my life and the lives of so many other people.

Recently, I read a book...that I highly recommend...called, Called to be Holy. It was written by Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Reading the book deepened my desire to answer that call to holiness and to live it more honestly and vigilantly. I thank God for the gift of holiness and for the many people God has given us as role models of holiness. We never have to do it alone. Again I thank God.

During this day of thankfulness, take a few quiet moments with God and tell God thanks for the many gifts you are thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I thank God for each of you!

Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness and love!
(Today's Responsorial Response)

6th Graders' reflections on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Part 3

Love is when your best friend is heartbroken and you both stay up all night crying and giving each other advice to get through it. Love is when you help someone and when you are finished you can see the tears in their eyes and your heart starts to cry. What is love to me? Love is when you can trust and respect other people.

(Alyssa H.)

Love, what is it? It is an emotion that God gave us. God wants us to love one another just as He loves us. God always cares for us. Love never fails. Love is kind, and bears all things. Love has kindness because God created love. Love is in our hearts and souls. Love is trust: when people are committed to each other. Love is when everyone has feelings for each other. Most importantly, God is love!

(Jacob G.)

Love, the kindness of others, truthful, passion. Love is many things, but there is one great word that describes love...GOD! You may find someone to love or always have love for your family. To show love, you must be hopeful, passionate and have belief and be truthful. When that love for someone stays in your heart for parents, siblings, your soul mate, and friends all the way to your death...that is true love. God is love!

(Max V.)

Love is not the kind of thing that fails. Love is patient and not pompous. Love is kind...not rude. Love is more than all these things. More than anything God is love. Nobody should have love fail. The two things that make up the world are God and love.

(Jonathon C.)

Love is when a big brother or sister tries to help you with your homework. It is when you take care of somebody in need.

(Brad M.)

Love is what makes the world go round! We need love like we need air. Without love we would be filled with hate and jealousy. Love is what makes every living, God loving, great person sing and be happy. We need love like we need family, friends and air!

(McKenzie B.)

Fr. Matthias Neuman's Homily for the Feast of Christ the King

Christ the King - Nov. 22, 2009

Readings: Dan 7:13-14; Rev 1:5-8; Jn 18:33-37

The feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to be a counter-force for the secularizing trends in modern society. It was originally celebrated on the last Sunday of October. But gradually people realized that the themes associated with Christ the King fit much better into the eschatological overview of this season right before Advent, and so in 1969 Pope Paul VI moved it to the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. He also made it into a Solemnity. One of the themes connected with Christ the King is the theme of judgment. For the king judges everyone. In Matthew’s Gospel there is that great passage on the King of Heaven judging all the peoples of the earth and dividing them into the accepted and the rejected, those who go up and those who go down, the sheep and the goats (Mt 25:31-46).

Last Sunday the main theme was "death," and remembering our own future death. In the framework of the last things after death comes judgment. Judgment is almost a scary word just by itself. The very word makes us uneasy. For my mother one of her biggest fears is that people will talk about her and judge her. How often we wince when we hear a judgment that someone has made about us that’s so much different from how we see ourselves. The reason we fear judgment so much is because—deep down—we know how much we do it to others. We know how little evidence we often have and how much we presume that someone is doing something just to irritate us. The even deeper thought that God might judge us in that way is truly a scary thought.

Let’s take a look at judgment in its biblical sense. Judgment happens because we have made a covenant with God. That covenant first began between the Lord God and the People of Israel at Sinai. It continues between God and each of us in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. God promises us salvation and eternal life and we promise to God to love and care for each other. Judgment is merely the assessment of whether we have lived up to that promise. In one sense it’s not really God who judges us, but we who are judging ourselves. Our actions toward one another are our passing judgment on ourselves.

Judgment, first of all, implies that we take responsibility for our own lives, that we manage and direct our actions according to certain norms. That’s all part of becoming a mature adult in society. There seems some evidence that it’s getting harder to accomplish in our society. An article in last Thursday’s USA Today on anger management suggests that it’s becoming a serious issue for many people. Whenever we hear the theme of judgment mentioned, we shouldn’t first think of how God will judge us, but how we are judging ourselves by the management of our own lives as mature adults and believing Christians.

When we do think about God and judgment, we should take heart. For Scripture tells us that God is far more merciful than we can imagine. When Peter asks Jesus if he should forgive even up to seven times, Jesus replies, "You should forgive up to seven times seventy times." That reflects the boundless mercy of the Mystery of God. The Christian theme of judgment is the meeting of two absolutes: on the one hand, our own responsibility in the covenant of faith; on the other hand, the infinite mercy of God. That’s why, whenever we consider the theme of judgment, all we can say is: "Lord, have mercy." That’s the whole message of the feast of Christ the King.

6th Graders' reflections on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Part 2

Love is a big part of life! Everyone needs love. If people don't have love, they don't have Christ. Always be true to yourself and God. Never lie. Love is all of your surroundings. Love is in friendships. Love is in a family. Love is every where. You always need to share the love you have. (Madison B.)

If you don't have love you gain nothing. Love is patient. You need to have patience to have love. Love is not pompous. You should not be pompous. If you really have love you would show it. Showing it is the best way to teach it! Love never fails. (Ashley P.)

God is love. Without His love, all of us would do wrong. That's not what love is about. Love is not rude. Love never fails. Love is like a family that helps another family with troubles. A mom taking care of her son after he fell off his bike and giving him a kiss is an example of love. A man and a woman taking a chance on love...
(Shelby C.)

Love is kind and patient. Love is something that never gives up. Love never ever fails. Love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. God is love. Love is caring. Love is sweet. Love is trustworthy. Love is all these things and more.
(Emily B.)

Love, love cannot be directly named. Love is many things. Friends and family share their love. Love is when the person next to you cheers you up when you are having a bad day. When your brother or sister gives you a hug when they wake up. Love, love cannot be directly named...Love never fails!
(Darcie S.)

What is love? Love is something you don't mess with because, God gave it to us. We can use it in the right way if a relative is injured or is sick and they can't talk. God is nothing but love. God is not mean or bad. God can only love because that is all He is made out of!
(Gabe L.)

Love is being kind to someone. You love your parents, grandparents and God. You can love everything that God created. God loves us all and we love God. When we love someone...the love never fails. It is like a mom touching her children at night and telling them that she loves them. It is like a dad who takes his child to a game and he tells him that he loves him. God is love!
(Koy P.)

Fr. Matthias Neuman's 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Dan 12:1-3; Heb 10:11-18; Mk 13:24-32

In today’s readings and the readings of the next two Sundays (Christ the King and First Sunday of Advent) the main theme turns to the "end of the world" and the last things. Actually this can be broken down into three distinct elements: cosmic events which foretell the end, the great tribulations which immediately precede the end, and the appearance of the Son of Man or some such divine figure, which actually is the end of all things. These topics were frequently thought about, written about and talked about in the hundred years before Jesus’ birth, during his life and for years afterwards. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that they show up in the Bible. They usually recur in times of great stress and suffering.
During the second and third centuries, when Christians were undergoing persecution by Roman authorities, these themes continue to appear in Christian literature. Liturgical historians even hypothesize that there was a time of the year (usually in November) when these events were commemorated liturgically. These three current Sundays are a remnant of that commemoration. But there are many other times in Christian history when these themes dominated people’s religious imagination. I’m always fascinated whenever I visit the historical Shakertown settlement in Kentucky. (It’s southwest of Lexington and a wonderful place to visit.) In all the rooms of homes there’s a row of wooden pegs on the walls about four feet off the ground. Every night before retiring the rooms had to be cleaned, swept and all the furniture hung up on those pegs. Because tonight might be "the night" when the Second Coming of Jesus occurs. They needed to have their house and their life in order. That was on their minds all the time. It was an incredible motivation for their thoughts and actions.

I doubt if most of the members of the mainline Christian churches give the Second Coming that much thought anymore. It’s more likely they go to bed wondering what challenges are going to come tomorrow, but they don’t have any real doubts that tomorrow will come. The Second Coming is sometime way in the future, too far for me to worry about. But I wonder if there is something of lasting value that we might glean from reflection on these topics: the cosmic events, the great tribulations, and the coming of the Son of Man. Don’t read too much into this. It’s clear if we read the whole of Mark’s chapter 13, the main intent is clearly to defuse people’s concerns about these things and to encourage an attitude of patient endurance to the here and now. Still the events of "the end" do merit some attention.

The fact remains that the Second coming of Christ will occur individually for each of us. We will all die. Perhaps these three Sundays are a way of reminding all of us of that. St. Benedict says that we monastics "should keep death daily before our eyes." I have my doubts of all of us do that. People’s days are just too busy to bother with that. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner wrote a very insightful little book, On The Theology of Death. He writes that the task of every Christian is to turn his or her death into an imitation of the death of Christ. We should be doing that throughout our life. Every pain or injury we suffer is one of those events that "foretell the end." Every major disease or serious physical ailment is a "tribulation that precedes the end." And to finally accept our own death as grace-giving will be "the Second Coming of Christ" for us. These are just some thoughts for this season that reminds us of "the end of the world" and the last things.

6th Graders' reflections on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Part 1

I have yet been able to thank God enough for the gift of being a teacher. If my Benedictine Sisters didn't have to eat, use electricity, etc. I would insist on teaching for free. I can't think of any other ministry I could possible do that would draw me deeper into the heart of our sweet Jesus...again I say thank you! I want to share with you the fruits of my 6th graders' Lectio experiences. We prayed with the text from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Enjoy!


Love is when a mother delivers a baby and holds it in her arms. Love is when a father teaches his child to ride a bike. Love is when someone finds their other half, and decides to spend the rest of their lives together. Love is many things. What I really think love is...is the little miracles and acts done by people that choose to do them out of the love in their heart.
(Austin M.)


Sometimes we hear so much about love that we forget what love is...but God is love. The only true way to know what love is...is to believe in God...God will always show you. You have love when you do not brood over injury, get jealous, or have a quick temper. Love has many powers including kindness, patience...LOVE NEVER FAILS! GOD IS LOVE!
(Jordon S.)


Love to me means something like my family. Sometimes we get along...but sometimes we don't. But, when I need my family I know that LOVE never fails! Love is always in my heart when I need it. Love is in heaven, our minds and in everyone. Love is God. God gave us his only son to die for us...not a fast death but a slow and painful death...Jesus did this for everyone. God is Love!
(Mason C.)


Love is when parents give time to their child or children. When they teach them how to do the things they need to do. Love is kind...it is also respectful.
(Jade L.)


What is love? Love is devotion in loving God. Love is helping others when they need help. Love is the money you give to the one on the sidewalk who is in need and you don't even know them. GOD IS LOVE!
(Dolan M.)


Love is a great thing! Love to me is a family, with hopes and cares. It is also like a child finding a new best friend. Two people who decide to spend their lives together. Love is when people help each other through struggles. Love is everything, but, mainly, God and all the good people do and say every day. Love is true because it never fails!
(Sarah F.)


Love is kind and patient. It is not jealous. It is something special...it never fails. Love is not rude. I think love is the best feeling you can have. I feel it when my dad comes home from work and I give him a big hug. It is a good thing that a husband and wife share. It's that one special moment when a bride walks down the aisle with her dad and they hug right before her dad places her hand in the hand of the groom. The dad lets her go with tears of love and joy in their eyes. That is what love is.
(Sarah J.)


I may not be patient all the time...but love is patient. I know my parents are love because they taught me all things. They are patient with me when I don't understand something. They never let me fail...like love never fails. My parents believe in me...so does love. LOVE NEVER FAILS!
(Mia R.)