UPON ENTERING THE HOUSE [OR AT THE FRONT DOOR]:

Merry Christmas! For your spiritual enjoyment, I'd like to share a poem about Christmas from my favorite author C.S.Lewis. I fully plan to read this poem to my nieces and nephews Christmas day. I hope you and maybe your children or grandchildren enjoy it and experience the awe and wonder of the reality of the incarnation of God.

As I mentioned last week, I would like to continue to spiritually reflect with you all on the significance of the presence of children at Mass. This week, we shall look at the topic specifically through the lens of the Advent season; a season in which the focus of our prayer and worship is on one child in particular.

We are blest to have a church community with many families. And with families comes the presence of many young children. And with children inevitably comes some extra noise. I know that for some, the presence of children can be quite a distraction and a frustration. Even for parents, I know that having their own children at Mass can sometimes feel like it wipes out any possibility of praying at the Liturgy or 'getting anything out of it.'

I commonly hear this kind of statement from people I counsel: “I would like to read more Scripture or pray with it more, but I don’t really know where to start or how to do it.” I definitely can relate. Prior to college, I didn’t know how to fruitfully interact with Scripture either. Thankfully, I joined a group of men during college that showed me how to do Lectio Divina (it means ‘Divine Reading’). It is an ancient method of praying with Scripture and to give God the space and time to speak to our lives through his Sacred Word. There are many different guides out there with subtle differences, and all of them (well, most of them) are perfectly acceptable. The following is a guide from the Busted Halo Blog. I like this guide a lot. I I hope it is helpful for you as well.

In the last Liturgy Corner (remember, you can read previous articles on the website under the Liturgy Blog), we talked about how Jesus Christ is the Word of God and that Scripture is the Word of God as well. Hence, there is a mystical sense in which Jesus is Scripture and Scripture is Jesus. Consequently, Church calls us to have a reverence for Scripture similar to our reverence for the Eucharist. Let us continue this line of thought by considering how Scripture is, in a sense, alive. As Christ is alive, so in some way is Scripture.

I want to reflect on the power of God’s word in Scripture because it is easy to underestimate it. It is easy to hear a familiar passage and gloss over it or hear just a moral lesson and assume that's all there is to it. I’m guessing most of you know in your head that neither of those reactions is ideal. But as in most things, the movement from the head to the heart is hard. But it certainly can be easier if our head has a better understanding of what it is telling the heart exactly. And so, for the next few weeks, let's reflect on the mystery of the WORD.

I remember one time chatting with my dad about preaching (since he was a preacher before becoming Catholic, it is one of our favorite topics.) I remember him telling me that the most underappreciated part of the Liturgy of the Word is the responsorial psalm. I’m just as bad at ignoring it as the next guy. However, I do agree with my dad. It is vastly overlooked compared to the other readings. Since I started praying the Liturgy of the Hours, I have gained a much greater appreciation for the psalms. I hope to share some of that learned appreciation with you.

I want to start a new short series in this Liturgy Corner on ‘the Word’. Here, we will explore various topics to help us all better understand the Liturgy of the Word, the use of Scripture in the Liturgy in general, and how to better pray and enter into the Liturgy through Scripture. I can understand why this topic may seem boring or overly intellectual at times to some. But bear with me. I believe it can have significant practical applications to your spiritual lives. That being said, the topic for today may seem a little anecdotal.