So I can only imagine what grief I wll get for rooting against Providence tomorrow!
May God’s will be done, according to His provident plan.
Pray for us, notre Dame in heaven!
Get the Hoyas out of their slump, please!!
Just to prove that I am not (consciously) trying to foil divine Providence, here is a little homily I gave to our school-children this morning in honor of our Lord’s Baptism by John at the Jordan River…
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Who knows what it means to be “initiated” into something?
You can be initiated into a club or a society. You might have to pay an initiation fee. Someone who is already initiated helps to initiate you.
We want to be initiated into groups that we like, or groups that do things we like, or that help us to do what we want to do. For instance, a couple years ago I joined a runners’ club to make it easier for me to sign up for road races on-line.
Now let’s think about this: Who reigns supreme over all things? Who has the fullness of beauty, power, goodness, and life? Who is the greatest of all? Of course: God.
It would be natural for anyone to want to join-up with God. “I want to be in God’s club, in God’s society.” No one and nothing is more desirable than God Himself. There is no better friend to have than God.
The question is: How can we join up with God? God is so far above us. How could we reach up to heaven to join up with Him, to be initiated into heaven?
We could never do it. But God could join up with us. He could come down to us. He could make it possible for us to be initiated into His society. And, indeed, He has done this.
Christ came and brought God to earth. God united Himself with the human race; He became one of us. And He gave us the sacraments of Christian initiation. He made it possible for us to join up with Him, to join up with God through Christ. We can become not only members of His society, but actually members of His Body.
What are the three sacraments by which we are initiated into God’s Body? Baptism. Confirmation. Holy Eucharist.
Everyone of you students is somewhere in the process of being initiated into the Body of Christ. Nothing is more important! Joining this, that, or the other club or team is fine—but such things come and go. Joining the Church is forever, for this lifetime and beyond. Nothing is more important than becoming a full member in good standing of the Church of Christ.
Father Mark White Blog 