Father Bill says...Holy Family Sunday

to: all of my friends
from: Father Bill Muench

for Holy Family Sunday


What a wonderful celebration Christmas was this year – both Churches were decorated so wonderfully – and each of the Masses was filled with simply wonderful music – I was so blessed to have so many great helpers – from the decorators to the musicians to all those who assisted at the liturgies – I just sat back and enjoyed the whole celebration – God has been so good to me to have such great people to work with.

Again, this year I used the same story over again – it has been twelve years (how old are you, William?) since Susan and Paul invited me to the birth of their second child – and I still remember each and every detail – I was so totally impressed with the dedication and love of these two young parents – in the homily I remembered the sharing of hopes and dreams for this new born child – and I am certain that such was the same sharing about the new born Jesus on that first Christmas night – the children’s Mass this year was filled with many babies and little ones – seemed like more than usual – I don’t usually notice the various noises that come from them during the Mass – but I did notice during my homily when a little voice cried out – “Father Bill, I love you” – talk about a “you made my day” moment.

Holy Family Sunday


The Sunday after Christmas is always dedicated to the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph – it is a time for family renewal – a time for prayer for all families but most especially, families that are having problems or difficulties, for broken families – I will not indulge in all sorts of advice in my homily – but I do have one reminder that I like to repeat – and that comes from the Marriage Encounter people – “a Father loves his children best by loving their Mother” – that importance of the relationship of a husband and wife, a father and mother is of so basic and necessary – it makes a family all that it should be – and I remember well and more than once – a grown child telling me the reason their family was so close and loving and wonderful was the true loving relationship of their father and mother.

I also plan to remind the people of my parishes that we should and must be a family as a parish. This means that our community must be characterized by love and concern – that we truly care about each other – and that we really get to know each other. I will mention the importance of greeting each other at the grocery store or in the school parking lot – or wherever – and as a family that we are even concerned about visitors or strangers who join our family at Mass.

Holy Family Sunday is a very special day – I pray that your family will always be blessed with love and peace – I pray that we – although separated by a distance will be family to each other – and may all be united every closely as a part of the family of Our God.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – I pray that you will touch me with you love – and make me part of your family – watch over my family – and watch over all the families of my parishes – this is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...Fourth Sunday of Advent

to: all of my friends
from: Father Bill Muench

Happy Christmas – my prayer is that the love and peace of Christ’s birth will fill your hearts and homes. May this be a sacred and joyful time for your family.

I want to share with you a Christmas prayer from the Brothers at Weston Priory:

Child of Bethlehem – house of bread;
Man of Jerusalem – city of peace;
you have loved us
without limit or condition;
in our greatness and in our misery,
in our folly and in our virtue;
may your hand be always upon us
and may your heart be within us,
so that we too may become
bread and peace for one another.

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent is the story of the Visitation – the angel Gabriel told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, is also pregnant – this is a surprise since she has not had any children – and the Gospel adds that Elizabeth is “in her old age” – in those days – 2,000 years ago – life expectancy was around 50 years old – so being in your forties was considered “old” – in those days women were married and began having a family at 16 years of age.

So here is Mary – at 16 – coming to visit Elizabeth in her forties – both pregnant. We can only imagine the conversation between these two women – one young and, by the way, unmarried – the other older – and both preparing for child birth for the first time.

This Sunday’s Gospel story from Luke’s Gospel indicates that as Mary arrived to visit - Elizabeth realized something special about her cousin Mary – and she greets Mary with the words that we have made into a prayer, “Blest are you among women and blest is the fruit of your womb.” And also, “Blest is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.”

Elizabeth helps Mary to learn to trust even more deeply the mysterious ways of God – the mystery of saying “yes” to God – in each vocation in life – a time to decide – a time to say “yes” to the call of the Lord – whatever the vocation - whether a religious calling as a priest or Sister – or the vocation of marriage – or the acceptance of the single state in life – each vocation needs God to strengthen our decision – our saying “yes” to the Lord – a decision and dedication to what we believe is God’s will for us.

And the lesson of the relationships of life, the friendships that unite us to others in such a special way. Each of us have certain persons in our lives – when we see them – our heart skips a beat with delight – makes us laugh even on difficult days – they have strong arms and a soft heart. And each of us needs someone who will guide us and greet us and show us how valuable we are – so give thanks to God today for those wonderful friends and loved ones – and ask God for the grace that the sound of your voice will be a source of delight for others. We, too, carry the mysterious power of God’s life within us, which enables us to be a source of blessing for others. We are meant to be companions to one another – a sources of joy and wisdom.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God – help me to prepare properly for the celebration of the Birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ – open my heart and fill me with the joy of Christmas – the joy and peace that Jesus brought into this world – and help me to be the kind of person that will bring that joy and spirit to other. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...Third Sunday of Advent

to: all of my friends

from: Father Bill Muench

Saturday, December 12 – is my nephew, Bill’s birthday – so Happy Birthday, Bill – he is the Vermont nephew – December 12th is also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Mary, the Mother of Jesus, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico) – is the patroness of the Americas – she is honored under this title in a special way in Central and South America – throughout the Latino culture – the Shrine in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, near Mexico City – is a very special place – there is something very sacred about the shrine – in the Basilica Church the cloak of St. Juan Diego, that was imprinted with the image of Mary, in the 16th Century – is placed in a special place over the main altar – people bring flowers to the Basilica every day – and the whole church is filled with the aroma of the flowers, especially the roses. One of the wonderful traditions that I learned about while I was there – is that fathers bring their newborn babies to the Basilica – at the main door they kneel down and hold the baby up – and then they approach the main altar on their knees seeking the blessing of Our Lady of Guadalupe – we pray that Mary, the Lady of Guadalupe, will bring peace and love to the people of the Americas.

The Third Sunday of Advent

Gaudete Sunday

Gaudete – Rejoice – this Sunday is called Gaudete – taking up the theme of Sunday’s liturgy – especially St. Paul’s message to the Philippians (the Second Reading) – “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: Rejoice!” and the Old Testament Zephaniah’s message (the First Reading) – “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! The Lord your God is in your midst.” On this Sunday, we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath – rejoice, Christmas is almost here. To celebrate Gaudete Sunday – I put the lights on the Christmas tree at my house – not in Church – not until Christmas.

Our Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent – describes various groups of people coming to John the Baptist with the question, “What should we do?” The preaching of John caused many to question the quality of their lives – that call to be better than you are. They wanted answers – the surprise is that John gave them answers – true servants of God often see with a clarity that stuns the rest of us. I would love to have John here to ask him “What I should do?” – but I must admit I would be a little nervous – however, I have the feeling I know the answer – how I can make my life even better.

The presence of God in our lives – in his Word, in Spirit, in Sacrament and in community – calls us to join in this spirit of rejoicing. Are the problems and struggles of life still near – of course – but God’s presence is deeper and fuller and knowing that God is with us through it all – brings joy. Again, it is Zephaniah who reminds us, “Sing joyfully, O Israel, the Lord your God is in your midst.” The Lord is with us with divine guidance – when we allow our hearts to be turned to the Holy One.

Our joy – from forgiveness and salvation that sets us free – and God’s joy (did you ever think we can make God joyful) – God rejoices and sings, delighting in renewing us in love. So What must you do – you will know.

John points to Jesus – “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Followers of Jesus will be empowered by the Spirit – through our Baptism in the Lord – that Baptism that emboldens us for all manner of ministries.

Joy is more than optimism – Joy is that spirit – founded on our faith and Baptism in the Lord – that moves us to make our lives something special – to change what must be changed – to do what must be done.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – I pray this day – though the intercession of St. John the Baptist – may I discover the joy of living in your Spirit, my Father – may I spread that joy to all that I meet. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...Second Sunday of Advent

To: all of my friends

One of my Advent saints is Charlie – and Linus – also – and the name for a scrawny Christmas tree will always remain a Charlie Brown tree – that just needs a little love – and sometimes brings love into a household. Charlie Brown will always be one of my favorites – I am certain that Charles Shulz is up with the Lord, presenting various takes on human life.

No, I haven’t been out looking for a tree – actually, last year we decided to switch to an artificial tree for the Church – I think that it looked okay – although – it was a little too perfect – I remember in the old days spending at least a day, turning the tree – it seemed like thousands of times – to find the right side to place forward. With the artificial ones – every side looks the same.

Today, I celebrated Mass with the children from School – Advent is not an easy idea for them to understand – they are barraged by Christmas stuff everywhere except at Church – they are making Christmas cards, learning Christmas songs, hearing Christmas stories – so it was not easy to make them understand that here in Church at Mass – we were in an Advent mode.

At the time of the homily – as I sort of dialogued with the children – we spent a bit of time on patience. A couple of them – sincerely – told me that they didn’t mind waiting and were good to patience. I, of course, shared with them – that I was not good at waiting – and patience was difficult for me. I asked them what they did while they waited – they had not really thought about this – so I told them – and this is true – that I hum when I am waiting in line – no matter where. Well, I got some startled looks – but you may start to hear some humming at Walmart tonight.


The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Advent presents us with the ministry of John the Baptist – that strong preacher and teacher – who was described by Isaiah centuries before – as the one who would “prepare the way of the Lord.” “A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” These powerful images speak of more than the landscape; they announce the straightening of the human spirit, the filling of empty hearts, the smoothing of the way that leads to healing and reconciliation.

John comes to prepare the way for Christ – by his call for repentance for forgiveness of sins – make yourselves new – change what has to be changed – don’t just prepare your homes for Christmas – prepare your hearts and souls – your very being – John the Baptist – that dramatic preacher of old – had a very impressive way to remind his listeners of their moment of conversion – he would baptize them in the River Jordan – can you imagine it – when someone would approach John and express their readiness to change – he would march them into the river and baptize them – push them under the water – from that moment on – when that person would think of living a better and new life – he would call to mind that time when John baptized them in the Jordan.

So, Advent is our time to renew our Baptism – to again make our commitment to living in the spirit of Our Savior, who was born on Christmas Day – and the question we have for you today ---What is being healed, forgiven and restored in you as you prepare the way this Advent.

LET US PRAY

My prayer today – comes from Sunday’s Second Reading from Philippians – Paul’s prayer for us:
“That your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ – filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”

Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.