Many of us have a love-hate relationship with the season of Fall. It’s sad that the summer is behind us but now we get to dive into that closet full of sweatshirts. Perhaps the real difficulty comes from the unknown. Whether you’re going into 8^th grade or 12^th grade, you may have a sense of something new coming up you just don’t feel fully comfortable with yet. Once more, the struggle to be happy with all these changes this time of year is enough to drive you crazy.

In Sunday’s Gospel we hear Jesus preaching what seems to be a crazy level of patience. Jesus says: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone…” (Matt. 18:15). When you’re scrambling to get things together and busy with everything that is not easy. Often times it will be the littlest thing. If a friend, a teacher or a sibling is short with its hard to not be upset or lash out in the stress of the moment. The ongoing problems overwhelm us and we can’t help but look at one big struggle.
What Jesus tells us is that it’s not a big deal. Jesus is talking about patience here. We need not get wound up about the little things. Jesus is saying you can’t sweat the small stuff. If the going gets tough, bring the patience! If we make a big deal of the little things that poke us in annoyance it will turn our real challenges into impossible mountains.

Jesus is not being silly with this teaching here either. He goes onto say when a brother makes a big deal and causes more trouble, bring it to others and then the community. The Gospel reading ends with sobering thought: “…what you loose on earth, you loose in heaven… what you bound up on earth, you bound up in heaven.” What we do matters. How we treat others matters. What we do with others really matters. Each of us has a power with our words and actions that Jesus tells us is not to be taken lightly.
Moreover, the Gospel today finishes up with a little nugget on how important “us” is as well: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Jesus is with us and especially present where we are together knowing of His love for us. In all the stress and change of this season, remember: Jesus is with you.

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at andrew.uttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way. Youth Group is now underway: Sundays at 7 PM at St. Mary’s Yellow House!
 

Over these next two weeks you will hear the Church going into full Easter Mode. Like Santa’s Workshop after Thanksgiving, the Church accelerates into high gear. Even after the crowds of Easter Sunday disperse the Catholic Church won’t really return to its normal state of affairs until well into June. Liturgies, celebrations and Parish events are all beautiful and exciting for weeks of this Church season. Why?

Put simply, Easter is the most important holiday in the Church. Yes, I see you Catholic nerd and no, Pentecost is not the most important holiday in the Church. While Pentecost is the birthday of the Church and arrival of the Holy Spirit it does not have the kind of spiritual significance of Easter. Easter is the event that makes our faith real and provides us with the certainty of victory.

While I hear some clamoring for Christmas to be recognized as the greatest holiday ever remember as important as that feast is it is the beginning of the story of Jesus. Easter is the day he accomplishes his mission and saves humanity from the separating power of sin. Easter is the day Jesus defeats death, the ultimate reward for sin and removes anything that may stand between you and him. Easter is the final victory and the assurance that if we are on Jesus’ side there is no way we can lose.

But you have probably heard that up and down for years now. You maybe are dreading Holy Week arriving this Sunday and forcing you to go to two or three additional masses. You may even be in the situation where you know one of your parents will be asking you to come to that super late Mass on the day before Easter (Easter Vigil). You’ll hear all about how Jesus washed the Apostles’ feet and instituted the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday. You will be reminded Jesus suffered and died on the Cross on Good Friday and went into the tomb before rising from the dead on Easter Sunday. As young people we see Easter has all the hubbapaloo of Christmas with none of the presents and more of the Mass.

That understanding we hold for a long time. There are many adults who think that way too (although they are probably thankful they don’t need to buy presents for Easter). It is always easier to think this way considering how much more fanfare everyone and their shoppers’ club card put into Christmas. In spite of us in our society very much being “Christmas People”, Christians are very much “Easter People”. What does that mean?

Consider how you feel beginning any kind of game, whether it is athletic or not. You get ready by warming up and reminding yourself of the game plan. You and or your team get hyped up and go to play. You and your team may get destroyed in the first half, first period or what have you; but before that game is done you will have a chance to comeback. I can tell some of you are rolling your eyes now because you can tell I am about to make the corniest sports joke ever about how Jesus rose from the dead as if making an epic second-half-of-the-game comeback. He did and that’s a decent metaphor as well but we’re Easter People for a much deeper reason.

Imagine how you would play in this game if you somehow met up with a time traveler before the game and was told you were going to win it. Now just put away your movie hat for a second and ignore all the paradoxes of time travel. You would probably play different if you were assured beyond a shadow of doubt that you would win in the end. You may not be worried at all about the halftime deficit if you were certain you would win the game – not just encouraged or hopeful, no factually certain you would win the game.

This is what we have in Easter. Jesus died, paying the price for all the evils and sins of humanity, and rose again defeating them all and the greatest evil which is death. We are like athletes who know the end result. We can live in a certain faith that if we are on Jesus’ team than the victory over sin and death is already sealed. No matter how intense a battle life may be for us we know we will win by the end through Jesus. This is what makes us Easter People.

There is a lot of fear and chaos in the world; growing up you’re certain of it. With a test almost always on the horizon and a whole lot of dumb stuff happening in the world around you, there is no shortage of maddening craziness bombarding you. As you grow older you often get more in control of the fear and chaos but only because you know better how to handle it. Our Faith in Jesus changes this state of affairs.
We can be certain of our own victory over the fears and the chaos in our lives; and yes most certainly the sins we carry around, through Jesus Christ and particularly through his victorious resurrection at Easter. Just like Jesus we can say no to our sins, take on our fears and overcome the chaotic parts of our lives certain that with Jesus we will win at the end. We know the end of this game and it’s a W for our team. We are Easter People and our victory is certain.

Perhaps you have an image in your head of someone who really loves Jesus and lives their life according to that. They are generally pretty melo, right? Perhaps they’re melo when no one else is. That person probably has a good grasp of this wonderful reality of Christian faith. It is a reality we all can access into through Jesus if we so choose. A time of difficulty in our life may not carry the same weight if we know we win in the end with Jesus. A time of joy in life is magnified if we know we will win in the end with Jesus. A time of sadness in life is not as brutal if we know we will win in the end with Jesus. Maybe this Easter we can remember this awesome victory we have by way of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This weekend is G.I.F.T. and a very special Palm Sunday G.I.F.T. assembly at that. Start your Holy Week right celebrating with your Parish Community. After the holiday rolls on by and we find ourselves in the Easter Season, Youth Ministry will gather a couple times in the week off for some fun. On Thursday, April 20^th at 7PM we will gather at Roseland Bowl in Canandaigua for bowling and certainly some arcade fun as well. The following night we will gather at the Yellow House for Spring Movie Night also at 7PM! I hope to see you at G.I.F.T. this weekend and some fun as well over break!

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

As with a lot of things in our lives: our walk with Christ can feel like a chore sometimes. With homework to do, sports, friends and any number of other things we’re involved in, even stopping for a minute to pray can seem unbearable. It’s not that we don’t love Jesus, it’s just that the desires we have in our hearts can’t always overcome exhaustion and the need to keep up what we’re doing when we’re on a roll.

I was caught off the guard the other day when I noticed it’s been more than two weeks since Lent started. I mentioned it to a co-worker who said what I was thinking: two weeks in already! I feel like I am just figuring this out my resolutions now! The tough part is knowing the resolution you find challenging would probably greatly improve your relationship with God if you only did them. Half the struggle of Lenten resolutions is simply doing them.

To that struggle, yet another co-worker responded that they are giving up indifference Lent. That is they are giving up not caring about things for Lent. I got a chuckle out of that thinking how stereotypically millennial that resolution is but also at how convenient it is: the desire for spiritual growth is there but it’s really hard to measure success. The purpose of that resolution is to foster the growth of relationships with others. It leads to the question: What does it mean to care about our relationship with God?

It is easy to say a certain amount of prayer, church attendance or participation in Parish activities. One may even respond with the way in which they treat others. None of these are wrong really but what matters is your heart. How we care about our relationships in life really depends on knowing what we really want. Just like all of our other relationships in life: they are only going to work if we care about them.

That seems like a “no duh” thing to say. But think of it this way: If you are trying to impress a special guy or girl who you like, you probably aren’t going to walk up to them and read a script to them. There are episodes of sitcoms and kids shows that do just this. Here is Johnny trying to talk to Sarah. He asks a friend what to say and says that exact thing to the Sarah and it doesn’t go too well. God loves us no matter what. But if we are trying to develop a really sincere relationship with him than maybe a script isn’t the way to go.
Don’t get me wrong. Scripted prayers can be beautiful, see Hail Mary, but unless you and God are already on a first-name basis than those scripted prayer probably will seem somewhat empty. This is why doing my Lenten resolutions growing up was always so hard. I focused my resolutions too much on just practices I could do. I didn’t focus on the relationship behind my faith.

Question to think about: are you in a relationship with God? Is that what your Lenten resolutions are after – a relationship with God? If they are, that relationship with God can go a long way in making your faith life a little less of a chore. God has a great way of loving you in ways that may only make sense to you. Once you have a good relationship with God going it can be amazing how a Lenten resolution can turn into a real pleasure. I am with you. I got to get at it too.

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Indianapolis in the Fall: send me an email for more information. There is still time to sign up and turn in the first payment but the due date is the end of this month. There is no Junior Youth Group this week. However, High School Youth Group will be meeting at the Yellow House at 7 PM! Next Sunday we will be participating in the Parish Mission as a Youth Group Sunday, March 26th!

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

One historian once said of young people when commentating on the more than half dozen individual revolutions that occurred in France between 1787 and 1870: “Young people are dangerous, especially when they’re bored.” The dramatic revolutionary fervor of that statement doesn’t really strike me as much as the phrasing of bored. It may be hard to tell now but life moves quickly when you’re young. When young people are truly bored in spite of all the changes, growth and learning going on in their lives something is about to happen.

In Jesus’ day he may have been considered older when, probably a few months before his 30^th birthday he went into the desert in this past weekend’s Gospel. He may not have been bored in the desert per say but he certainly had a lot more time on his hands out there. What transpired in his forty day journey was a time of fasting and prayer but also of temptation. As the Gospel says, the devil came to tempt Jesus by asking him to abuse his power, to take over the world, to test God, His father. Just like so frequently happens in our lives: if we are bored or have too little to do that can be an occasion to do something we know we shouldn’t do.

You’ll notice one of the ways the Devil tempts Jesus is by telling him to turn a rock into bread and multiply it. Later in Jesus’ ministry Jesus will do that and multiply loaves of bread, twice in fact, but not here. You’ll also notice the Devil isn’t called the devil in this passage. The devil is called simply the tempter. That wording is intentional and speaks to a fact we too often forget when we’re tempted: we’re never made to do something by anything truly overpowering. The wrongs we do are always misrepresented desires. We hurt people because we don’t want to be hurt. We hold onto too many things because we don’t want to go without. We search for power because we’re afraid of powerlessness.

Evil only really exists as a deprivation. Evil isn’t a real thing, just the lacking of basic good things. This is partly why Jesus is so radical. Most of us exist in this limbo zone between what we want to do and what we actually do. We’re tempted by things we think we can’t do without. Jesus tells us we can not only go without some of these things but that we are made into better people by weakness, by opening our hearts in vulnerability to the God who loves us.

The passage from this past weekend, when Jesus goes through these temptations after praying and fasting in the desert, is where our Lenten season comes from. We are to follow Jesus into the desert these forty days before Easter and discipline ourselves for the good in our lives; the good in our relationships, the good in our families, the good in our communities and the good in ourselves. Lent is more about building up the good in us. That at times means letting go of what we think we need for what we know is good in our lives.

Boredom can be an occasion for sin. So if nothing else maybe a great thing to do during Lent is to find a way to be a better brother, sister, son or daughter. Maybe your Lenten practices can help you grow closer in the relationships that really matter in your life or grow more loving of the person you are. Either way Lent is our opportunity to go beyond boredom and draw ourselves and those around us deeper into God’s love.

The next G.I.F.T. session is the last Sunday before Easter: Palm Sunday. If you are looking for some ways to give between now and then take a look at some of the almsgiving projects our Parish is doing including Operation Rice Bowl and fundraising for Kalama. If you or a friend is interested in the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis in the Fall, send me an email for more information. There is still time to sign up! There is no Youth Group this coming weekend but I look forward to seeing you on Sunday the 19^th! Have a blessed Lent!  

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

When asked for a positive quality about you the answer is normally something trivial like lacrosse, right? Seldom do you say: “I like to think I am incredibly patient”. Even more than a deeper trait I’ve noticed a lot of my peers go right to negative things like “I’m lazy” or “I eat a lot more than I should.” I don’t know if the frequency of these answers is any indication of actual confidence or self-image but I know it’s easier to believe you’re inherently flawed and hopeless than a work-in-progress. If I’m work in progress… that means I have to do work!

It’s a meme at this point. Whether it’s a meme like forever alone or one of the plethora of trolling memes, it seems like there is an undercurrent of negative self-talk underneath even how we entertain ourselves. I don’t want to undermine those of us with very real mental illnesses. Those are matters unto themselves. But it seems as though all of us are pretty ok, if not embracing of really negative thoughts about ourselves.

In this past Sunday’s Gospel, Matthew Chapter 6, Jesus says “You cannot have two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon.” The term mammon in Jesus’ language would have meant wealth or riches and, in a certain context, your own success. It may be weird to hear the term “masters” but imagine that meaning our personal goals. We are free, after all, masters of ourselves with our own goals. Jesus is telling us that we need to align our desires and our actions with what we really have as our biggest goal.

Jesus said in a different part of that same passage about having two masters: “He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.” Jesus is saying that if your biggest goal isn’t God and his Will, then whatever your other goal is will cause you to hate God and what he wants for you. That may seem a little extreme but think of it a different way: when you’re on a team, you’re one goal is winning. If you’re the one member of the team whose main concern is their own personal record you may stop after you’ve reached your goal and hate that your team is still pushing you on.

Jesus talks so much about love because if you don’t love him you’ll hate him. If you don’t love Him you’re going to dread the time you feel you’re wasting going to Church and Youth Group and all the like. Loving Jesus changes everything. If you love as your biggest goal something other than Jesus, you’ll find yourself unsatisfied and searching. You may become a little negative about yourself thinking: “if I cannot accomplish this I must be [insert negative trait here].” Moreover, loving Jesus allows us to love others and ourselves a whole lot more.

Lent is a season of love. It doesn’t seem that way because normally all we do is give up things but it is meant to be a season that reveals the real nature of love. We pray, we fast and we give alms as way to give and grow the love around us. Lent is all about relationships. How do you relate to those who love you? How do you love those around you? How do you love God? How do you love yourself? All the practices we do during lent, as sacrificial as they are, are meant to help us find the answers to these questions.

That’s why the season is so revealing: it reveals love is in part about sacrifice. If you love someone you give your time and efforts to them. If you love God you give your time and effort to them. Sacrifice is found in love. Prayer is part of Lent because prayer is time spent with God. Fasting is part of Lent because disciplining ourselves helps us love more. Almsgiving is part of Lent because giving from what we want for ourselves is a great evidence of love.

This brings us full circle. Our large supply of dislikes about ourselves may be evidence that we don’t love enough. I know it was with me. When I was in High School I was out to find love at every turn. It took me really recognizing God as the object of my love to overcome the frustration of not finding romantic love. God’s love changed my life. God’s love showed me how to love myself because he loves me. This Lent is all about choosing to love and choosing to make it real by giving in that love.

This coming weekend is a G.I.F.T. assembly. I hope to see you there as we welcome the season of Lent! If you or a friend is interested in the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis in the Fall, send me an email for more information. There is still time to sign up. And while you’re thinking about it: remember the Lent Season starts Wednesday on Ash Wednesday. On that day there services in our Parish as follows: St. Mary's - 6:45 AM, St. Bridget's - 8 AM, St. Mary's - 9 AM, St. Mary's - 12:10 PM, St. Mary's - 5:30 PM and at St. Mary's - 7 PM. Keep an eye out for the numerous parish activities this Lent!

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

However one sees themself in the world, they generally see themselves doing something. That is to say that finding our place in this world is about finding something to do with ourselves, normally something we can get paid for. Your parents and your guidance counselor have probably explained this a few times so I might sound like a broken record but perhaps there may be another layer you haven’t considered before.

Now it’s time for the Matrix Moment of this blog: What if I told you finding the thing you do is about finding how you best show God’s Love? I don’t really have a blue pill-red pill decision for you but there it is: How much of your future calling has to do with you loving others? Think about it for a second. I’ll wait. When you’re ready meet me at the start of the third paragraph.

We all have love to give. As corny as that sounds it really is the truth. God doesn’t create anyone evil. He doesn’t create anyone without a little bit of love within them. The whole “Nature vs. Nurture” debate doesn’t really apply here. Whether you were raised by a pack of wolves or the most loving family on earth, you got some love to give. Oh, and would you look at the calendar: its Valentine’s Day this week! Want to talk about something corny. That’s really corny.

In Sunday’s Gospel at G.I.F.T. this past Sunday Jesus talked about a few things he was taught growing up. He says he hasn’t come to break the law of his people, but to fulfill it. He says the law told us not to kill, I tell you not to hold an angry grudge against anyone. He says the law told us not to commit adultery, I tell you not to look at anyone lustfully. He says the law told us not to lie, I tell you to mean what you say – let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.

Jesus in this passage, and several other instances in his ministry, takes his message beyond the bear minimum of the law and into the dimension of intentions. Jesus says we can’t just settle for not killing people physically, we have to not hurt people’s dignity either and promote human flourishing. Jesus figured out that a bare minimum moral code is not sustainable and it actually can be easier to ignore God using such a moral code. Jesus understood that it’s the heart that matters.

That point is important around Valentine’s Day. I lived the single life through my entire pre-college education. I feel for those of you who will be playing the little violin in your head this Valentine’s Day. But at the same time, we cannot allow a shallow Valentine’s Day. If one pursues someone just for how they look or just for the thrill of the pursuit or the brief happiness of having a Valentine date then that’s not enough. If this holiday is about anything other than selling chocolates and flowers it should be about how we show God’s love to others.

God’s love is in all of us. We all have love to give like we talked about before. Discovering how we best give that love to others is another matter. This is the topic of Vocations. That word probably strikes you as a little confusing: no, I don’t mean vocational school which teaches you hands-on career skills. Rather, when you talk about vocations in the Catholic Sense you’re not even talking just about career. You’re Vocation goes beyond what your Career will be. Your Vocation is the frame around the rest of your life – including your profession – whatever you decide it will be.

Well there are many people who will tell you they’re Calling in life is something best described as a profession, like being a Doctor, Physicist or Train Conductor, what we mean when we talk about Vocation in a Church sense is the calling of how you will best show God’s love with your life, including what job you take one day. Four of these are most common: Holy Matrimony (Marriage), Holy Orders (Priesthood), Consecrated Religious life (Nuns) and the Single Life. God calls you to give love in your life most often in one of these four ways.

A good example is my mother. She felt called to be a Nurse from a very young age. That was very much a calling for her. But then she also was called into the broader vocation of Holy Matrimony with my father. Your profession will generally fit within your vocation. I’m not saying easily or even conveniently but God is Good and he won’t leave you hanging if you turn to him about these big questions.

 This is such a good time to talk about this because just like with Valentine’s Day, Sincerity is so important with this. You have to sincerely understand yourself, strengths and weaknesses, in order to really discover your vocation. It will be a messy search but if your heart is there and you listen to God when you pray about it, you will find your way.

Don’t worry: you’re not alone. Look around you and most all of the people you see will have gone through these big questions or are currently going through them like you. I don’t think I really had a great idea of what my Vocation was until while into college. I had to talk a lot to other people discerning their vocation before I could really begin to understand my calling. Now that I have a pretty good idea of my Vocation, it will certainly help me make other decisions.

This is all Jesus really wants for us: Holiness; because holiness means nearness to Him and nearness to Him means happiness. Let’s go beyond mere rules and get to our intentions behind our actions. If we sincerely go there we will find some interesting truths about ourselves in due time. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone.

Youth Group is this weekend in the Yellow House (2/19/17). I hope to see you there! If you or a friend is interested in the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis in the Fall, send me an email for more information. There is still time to sign up. And while you’re thinking about it: remember the Lent Season starts March 1^st on Ash Wednesday. This season can be Forty Days and Nights of coming closer to Jesus if we make it! Try thinking of what separates you from God and others that may be a Lenten resolution.

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

Even before I worked as a Youth Minister I was involved in Youth Ministry. In High School I was in our Youth Group here and in College I was active in Campus Ministry. One practice that is almost always per usual is making sure if there is a date that will be better served as family time for your group than let it be family time. Generally, these dates are holidays or close enough to a holidays. This past weekend it was the Superbowl.

The Superbowl isn’t an official holiday but it brings people together like few other days of the year do. The broadcast of the game not only regularly draws more than 100 million U.S. viewers but in the age of social media it engages many more. Millions of people who aren’t even regularly football fans tune in if just for the commercials. In terms of togetherness, to see that many million people interact in ways that are generally positive is a sight to behold.

In a brief video message to America, Pope Francis shared a few thoughts on the Superbowl. He spoke of events like this helping to build a “culture of encounter” and contribute to a “world of peace”. The Holy Father isn’t trying to say that the game solves any real world problems – that would be foolish – but he is saying that it teaches us something about being better people. Francis said:

“By participating in a sport we are able to go beyond our own self-interest, and in a healthy way learn to sacrifice, and to grow in fidelity and respect the rules.”

You probably have heard the emphasis on encounter before. It seems to be becoming a buzzword these days in religious circles. So readily we have access to millions of other people and can see so much of the rest of the world than ever before. The kicker is whether or not it’s bringing us closer to each other as Children of God. Kicker – haha – I swear I didn’t mean to make that football pun.

That’s really the question though, right? Being a young person in this day and age we really don’t need to be told that greater connectivity doesn’t necessarily benefit everyone. We have seen cyber-bullying and many other truly disgusting things online first hand. The difference between what our parents had experienced by age 18 and what we experience through Social Media by age 18 is enormous. Quite often we see things that are not good for anybody, sometimes we see the worst in humanity.

Encounter is the next step after connectivity. If you can connect with someone the next step is to truly encounter them. What makes a friend different from any regular acquaintance is the knowledge of each other: likes, dislikes, usage of free time, hopes and dreams and the like. You have to encounter them in some special way to get to that level of knowledge; learning what life is like for them and how they prefer to live it.

Fostering a “World of Peace” in Pope Francis’ words, is like having that understanding on a larger level. Sure, there are people we struggle to relate to but we’re all human and not terribly different ultimately. I don’t know if I will ever understand how someone who is not from New England can root for those insufferable Patriots but I also understand as a fellow sports fan how appealing 5 Championship Titles is. I am truly sorry to remind you of that. The message remains: we are all God’s Children, created in his image, we have to encounter each other in all that we are to really affect meaningful cooperation and unity.

That second part of Francis’ message drives the point home. Sports teaches us to go beyond self-interest and sacrifice for each other in fidelity. Maybe as football season fades in the rear view mirror we can think about that message. When self-interest gives way to sacrifice we truly build a better world for everyone.

Speaking of togetherness, this weekend is the sixth G.I.F.T. gathering here at St. Benedict’s Parish and we’re talking about the Call to Love. In all the vocations and means of sacrifice we’ll learn about this weekend we are called to love with God’s Love in the way that God specially designed us to do so! Next weekend Youth Group will be back at the Yellow House. If you’re interested in the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) than there is still time for you, email or call me, Andrew Uttaro, for more information.

If you have any questions you can call me on Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letter on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

How Jesus responded to things that happened during his ministry is really clear in the bible. He preached, he healed and he served. But only on occasion do we hear how Jesus felt about things that happened to him. Often we prefer more God in our view of Jesus than Human in our Jesus. When you do see it though it drives home the fact that Jesus was a real guy. He felt pain and betrayal and happiness and joy just like us.

Toward the beginning of the Gospel reading from this past Sunday, Jesus hears of the arrest of John the Baptist. He immediately withdrew from his preaching in his hometown of Nazareth. By all accounts his message didn’t really land there. That town was full of friends and family of Jesus’ who weren’t about to believe this kind of message coming from the kid they knew for years and years. The arrest of John the Baptist probably sapped what emotional energy Jesus had left to stay there. After all, Jesus knew very well what the Roman Occupiers usually did with rogue Jewish preachers. He knew he would lose his cousin John almost certainly now.

But the emotional 1-2 blow of no one in his hometown listening to him and his cousin John being arrested didn’t end Jesus’ ministry. Instead we read Jesus left to preach in the region of Galilee. And the next part is really important I think: Jesus began calling his twelve apostles. First he called the fishermen Andrew and his brother Simon Peter, then James and so on. While we often view this moment as the beginning of the formation of Jesus’ rag tag group of followers we often miss the deeper message I think is going on here.
Jesus was reaching out to others for support. I know that sounds weird to read: to think about Jesus, the Son of God, needing anyone is a little weird. But he was surely hurt by the events in Nazareth and the inevitable loss of John the Baptist. He was hurt and although he knew he would gather disciples at some point he probably felt it was the time with all that was happening.

Perhaps one of the most annoying things about growing up Catholic is that everything you do has to involve the rest of the community in some way. You’re baptized surrounded by your family, you receive First Communion with a whole Church full of people watching you, and you are confirmed at the Bishop’s Cathedral with a packed crowd. In a society like ours which is so very individual-focused it may seem over-the-top for all this community involvement. It is however the belief of Christianity, as it was since the beginning of the Church that no man or woman is an island. We are all God’s children and we all need each other.

Throughout history you will see the perception of Jesus change based upon the nature of the society at that time. In the Early Church the first few centuries after Jesus, He was almost as philosophical a person as much as he was a religious figure.  In the Medieval Church Jesus was seen almost more of a magician and sage than anything else. In the Era of the Enlightenment and later the industrial revolution, Jesus took on the mantle of a thinking prophet again and in modern times Jesus seems to be a teacher we like to make less-threatening and less-human. For a lot of us today Jesus is all God and that is very intentional. If you believe in just a divine Jesus than its okay when you accidentally or even openly fail to live up to his teachings: after all Jesus was so godly and so beyond us that how could we ever live up to his standard?

I think if any of us here in 2017 went back to meet Jesus in the flesh we would probably be shocked at how human he was. Jesus cried. Go look it up: in the Gospel of John, Chapter 11, Jesus encounters the mourning family of a man named Lazarus who had died recently. I suspect Jesus knew Lazarus personally from a different time in his life because verse 35 simply says: “Jesus wept.” This instance was well into Jesus’ public ministry. His mother was there and a family who certainly cared about what he was preaching was there as well. In front of all of these people in spite of what they might think of it: Jesus wept. He didn’t just cry a little: He WEPT.

Jesus isn’t far from your struggles. He was a human being with feels and people he cared about too. He healed them, wept for them and we can’t forget: he died them. You are one of those people he cares so much about. Don’t put Jesus up on a shelf somewhere away from the ugly, difficult things going on in your life. Jesus came to us not to be set aside and praised above us as a king. Jesus came to do life with us. He did it himself and his time was not without challenge or tragedy: far from it in fact. Have you invited Jesus into the ugly parts of your life?

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letters on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.
 

Something that has become more and more interesting the older and older I get is how different age groups react to the Christmas season. By the time we arrive here in the week of Christmas parents are fatigued: it’s not like work has let up in the midst of all the work to get done ahead of the holiday. Seniors are similarly working at making plans with family or friends so they have somewhere to be on Christmas. Children are amped beyond all reason: anticipation for the gifts overwhelming their thoughts. These different roles around the holidays may lead you to believe Christmas is just a children’s holiday for receiving gifts.  

Maybe without Jesus the holiday can turn into that. As you get older and wrap your head more and more around the idea that baby Jesus is a gift to humanity you may ask the deeper questions in your exhaustion: Why do we need Jesus to come in the first place? If he is coming to be the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins than I have more questions! Why does the sacrifice have to be so great? Why do I need forgiveness?

That’s right, let’s dive into those questions you ask when you’re tired on a Sunday Morning trying to justify skipping Mass. Let’s ask the questions that probably cement the disbelief of some of your friends. To answer these questions you have to go back to the start. All of religious history through a Christian view is a series of attempts by humanity to reach God and God to reach humanity.

God gave us a perfect home in the Garden of Eden and we decided to disobey because we thought we could do better. God gave us the Law of Moses after Exodus and as the history of Israel in the Old Testament will tell you that was not something we wanted to do. God sent prophet after prophet to us in order to try and convince us that way. That didn’t work either. At this point you can rightfully imagine God is a little sad. He created humanity in the first place because he wanted living, breathing people to love and be loved by; but at every turn the people he created decided that they wanted to love themselves and their own choices more than God and the plan God had for them.

This is the part where God throws a Hail Mary, no pun intended. If awesome garden homes and stringent moral laws and fantastic prophets don’t work than it’s time to send the Son of God himself. I like to imagine God looking to the horizon with a mission in his eyes saying: “Okay, I’ll do it myself.” And so He came down to earth himself to become human in the form of Jesus Christ. He would live a human life: all the pains, problems, joys and triumphs with one big finale at the end that would wipe away the stain of sin.

Wait, Andrew! You haven’t answered that question yet. Why do we have this “stain of sin?” Why do we NEED forgiveness? Well, all God gave us was love from the very start. Sure, He also gave us Free Will because the choice to love makes love real. Love forced or arranged isn’t really love at all as much as it is slavery. God wants us to choose Him. God wants to be in a loving relationship as a decision of our own Free Will.

Andrew, that’s not an answer! Why does Jesus need to be born, live human life and die on the Cross? The best answer is God. God is the being which no greater thing can be thought of. God is the fullness of life lived: closeness to God is closeness to who you were created to be and the only true answer to any of your heart’s desires. When we chose selfishness over God we chose an outcome that will never satisfy us. Only God can satisfy us because we are created to find our satisfaction in Him. The “stain of sin” is the result of our own insistence we know better. Sin, by the way, is anything that divides us from God and each other more than it is just the mistakes we make. Thinking our judgment is better than God’s on issues of how we are to live life is sin. We can’t live the fullness of our humanity without living in love with God.

Jesus’ life, his teachings and the way he gave himself for us at the end is the bridge over the gap we created with sin. We need Jesus to bridge the gap and we need that sacrifice to remind us that one: God loves us more than literally anything and two: Love means giving of yourself. Love means giving yourself like God gives himself. That is the way, we as Christians believe life is fully lived. Jesus showed us the way.

So if that’s the gift in the end than why is baby Jesus so important – emphasis on the baby part there. Look at baby Jesus in your nearest Nativity next time you get the chance. The fact that Jesus, God in the flesh, comes to us to close the gap of sin between himself and us as a totally helpless human infant is a sign. It’s a sign of that epic truth that God loves us so much that He wants to be vulnerable for us. That’s a sign of a loving relationship when both parts can be vulnerable with each other and not fear what the result of doing so maybe.

Christmas is an invitation to love to all ages because if you think He is just waiting to point out your sins and failures, whether that is being mean to your siblings or being mean to the casher checking you out on the 55^th gift you just bought. Christmas is an invitation to love each other and God because there is nothing truly between us and God anymore: the gap has been closed. God is with us. God has shown us the way, the truth and the life He created us for.

Merry Christmas, the blog will be back in the New Year. May God bless you and your family this special season and richly remind you of the love of life fully lived in Him.

If you have any questions you can call me on the Parish line 394-1220 Extension 41 or leave me an email at auttaro@dor.org. My name is Andrew Uttaro, my mailbox at the Parish Office has Andrew with big letter on it if you want to communicate with me the old fashion way.