Be Situationally Aware!

 

Deacon Kevin Gingras

July 20th, 2025

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072025.cfm

Genesis 18:1-10a    Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 5

Colossians 1:24-28    Luke 10:38-42

Situational awareness - it seems to be something lacking that plagues society lately.  We are so distracted by all the social media, the phones, computers, and news, it’s no wonder we aren’t aware of where we physically are at a specific point in time.  Folks on the phone block grocery aisles and can’t hear you say excuse me as you try to get past.  Commuters on the highway aren’t aware of others around them as they change lanes or miss the light turning green.  

I am just as guilty.  A few weeks ago, I was in adoration, sitting there with the true presence of Jesus Christ right there in front of me, and then it started to storm outside.  The lightning was vivid even through the chapel’s stained glass windows.  The rain and wind pounded the windows. The rumbles of thunder were loud.  My focus became the storm.  I checked my phone to see where the current lightning was striking and where the storm was heading.  I was no longer situationally aware that I was still in the presence of Christ!  That’s a good segue into today’s readings, I think.

Abraham was situationally aware of his guests.  He did not know that it was angels of God who were visiting him, but he kind of gathered that they were a big deal. It’s also interesting that the text says

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oak

So this text begins in the singular and Abraham greets the LORD as such, but later on it switches to the second person plural, and the one suddenly becomes three.  This strange change in the number of visitors helps illustrate the mystery of God.  In the next chapter of Genesis, we find that two of the men are identified as angels.  Regardless of that, Abraham was situationally aware that these men were a big deal and looked to be travelers, so he treated them by getting water to wash from the journey, hurriedly preparing them a meal of bread, curds, milk, and meat from a tender choice calf.  Abraham was aware that these visitors were important and acted accordingly.

Next, we hear of Martha, who was not as situationally aware as Abraham today. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home when He came to her village.  She knows it’s Jesus, but she’s so focused on the fact that she’s doing all the work and Mary is just resting and listening to the “Master” that she stops working to attempt to bring Jesus into a bit of a family spat that is brewing.

Martha didn’t have a chance to read St. Paul, it wasn’t written yet, so she never heard:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake

And therefore, Martha wasn’t rejoicing when she suffered in aggravation at her lazy sister Mary! I can relate to Martha based on my time in adoration, in front of the Lord Jesus, yet focused on the storm around me.  Martha’s main issue was her lack of focus.  She was torn between her service and preparation for her very important guest and her lazy sister Mary, who wasn’t helping.  Mary was focused.  Martha was so situationally unaware that she even tells the Son of God what to do!

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.

My wife is quick to remind me that later in scripture, we see Martha doing much better, serving without complaint, and she accepted her correction from Jesus and learned from what was said to her. 

Now let’s focus on the tabernacle we have here in the Church.  That tabernacle is situationally unaware of what it currently holds inside - how could it be, it has no mind, it’s simply wood, metal, and some cloth.  You cannot fault it for not knowing it holds within the precious body and soul of the true divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist!

What about us?  Most of us today will come up to receive Jesus Christ at communion time.  We cannot be situationally unaware after we do!  We become a living tabernacle!  Ask the Holy Spirit for help today so that we may be truly aware of who we now contain inside of us, the true body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ Himself. Take time to reverently return to your pews and kneel, offering prayers of thanksgiving for the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is present inside of us, making us all living tabernacles!

St. Teresa of Calcutta reminds us:

"Every Holy Communion makes you a more perfect tabernacle of God".

Three Tabernacles

 

Deacon Kevin Gingras

December 24, 2023

4th Sunday of Advent

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122423.cfm

2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16     Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29

Rom 16:25-27    Lk 1:26-38

Today, I want to talk about three tabernacles. The word tabernacle means ‘place of dwelling.’  Tabernacle #1 is from 2 Samuel; King David wants to make God a home:

When King David was settled in his palace, and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!"

Before the Temple was built by King Solomon, the Tabernacle was the moveable tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant while the Israelites were nomads in the desert. The Tabernacle Tent was 45 feet long, and The Ark of the Covenant was placed in a fifteen-foot cube towards the back part of the Tabernacle, called the Holy of Holies.  

The Ark was the link between God and Earth, and it was in the Holy of Holies where the high priest could enter only once a year on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is the highest holy day of the Jewish calendar. The High Priest would make an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people.  This act of paying the penalty for sin brought reconciliation between God and His people. After the blood sacrifice was offered to the Lord, a goat was released into the wilderness to symbolically carry away the sins of the people. This "scapegoat" was never to return.

In a rarely-read passage in the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant is hidden by Jeremiah. We hear of this in the Second Book of Maccabees 2:4-7

The same document also tells how the prophet, …, ordered that the tent and the ark should accompany him, and how he went to the very mountain that Moses climbed to behold God’s inheritance. When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a chamber in a cave in which he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense; then he sealed the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the path, but they could not find it. When Jeremiah heard of this, he reproved them: “The place is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.”

No, Indiana Jones did not find the Ark of the Covenant, and no, it’s not stored deep in some government archival building. Remember the Prophet’s words:

The place is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.

This brings us to Tabernacle #2, the Ark of the New Covenant, which is Mary, the Mother of God.  Through Jesus, God is about to gather all of His people, whether Jew or Gentile, when the word becomes flesh in Jesus through Mary as the angel Gabriel speaks these words to her in today’s Gospel.

"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end."

We know that through Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, sin entered the world. Through Mary’s yes, her Fiat, and the birth of Jesus, a man and a woman, that first sin can finally truly be reversed. Now is the time for God to gather His people together again and show them mercy. Mary is not only today’s second Tabernacle; Mary is also a new Ark of a New covenant.  Through her yes, salvation entered, the Word was made Flesh, and Jesus Christ was born.

So what could be the Tabernacle #3? Our church today has a lot of similarities to the Old Testament Tabernacle tent. When you enter a church, you will see golden lampstands. Back then, there was, to the right, a table for the Bread of the Presence. Today, to the right of our altar is the Credence Table that holds the unconsecrated bread that will soon become the True Presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Just before the giant curtain, there would also be an altar of incense. We have our altar here, and we also incense it at the beginning of most of our Masses. Finally, against the back wall, but no longer hidden, is the tabernacle that holds the remaining consecrated hosts after Mass. Jesus, the Son of God, is present in our tabernacle right now.  But that is not the third and final tabernacle I’d like to discuss. Tabernacle #3 is us. Once we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we become a tabernacle; we hold within us our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is so important to remember that! After we receive Communion, we should return to our pews, kneel, and pray. Offering prayers of thanksgiving for finding us worthy to receive Him.  

A few weeks ago, a parishioner asked me why we have rules of not eating an hour before Holy Communion but no rules for after receiving. I didn’t know, so I looked it up, and here’s what I found from Catholic.com:

There is no present requirement for fasting after  Communion, but many books have recommended, as an act of reverence, not eating or drinking for 15 minutes after receiving –about as long as the sacred Species remains intact. If one remains at Mass until the closing blessing, one likely observes this recommendation even without realizing it.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori tells us:

“There is no prayer more agreeable to God, or more profitable to the soul than that which is made during the thanksgiving after Communion.”

 

Do Whatever He Tells You

Deacon Kevin Gingras

Jan 16, 20200

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Click Here for Readings

Today’s readings and especially the Gospel are jam-packed with so much information to learn from and so much to talk about it could fill an all-day seminar.  No worries, I won’t be doing that today, instead, I’ll take three points to ponder from today’s Gospel and focus on them.

The first point to ponder:

“Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”

Last month in my homily I talked about that anxiety-ridden angst I would have when my mother used those words 

“You just wait until your father gets home”.

Today’s Gospel triggered some of those memories.  If my mother ever said to me, as she often did: “Kevin, please go clean up your room, it looks like a bomb went off in there” and my response to her was “Woman, how does your concern affect me?  The hour to clean my room has not yet come.” Well, let’s just say I would certainly be terrified of my father getting home that day! 

We can’t put our understandings of how things are meant today and assume it would have the same meaning over 2000 years ago.  Jesus meant no disrespect. In fact, the title “woman” relates to its use in Genesis. There we see it used, ten times to refer to Eve, the first woman.  Mary, as theologians have called her, is the new Eve.  Mary’s perfect yes will help reverse the original sin of Eve with Adam.

In Genesis chapter 3 we read, right after the fall:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.

We call this statement God made to the serpent, the Protoevangelion -  a combination of two Greek words, protos meaning first and Evangelion meaning good news.  This was the first prophecy of the coming of a savior - the first proclamation of the “Good News”.  The title of woman, used by God in the very first book of the Bible is coming to fruition now with Jesus’ first sign and John wants to make sure we are aware of that.

The title woman is also used by John later on in his Gospel.  Jesus while hanging on the cross, just before he dies, gives Mary to us.  

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”

There was no disrespect there, only love.  Jesus, out of love, had given it all for us on the cross, his last act of giving for us was to give away his mother.

The next point to ponder:

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

John doesn’t use the word miracle in this passage, instead, he refers to it as a sign. This is important because signs always convey a message. Jesus' miracles are meant to prove that He is the Messiah and the Son of God.  That day His sign worked and his disciples began to believe in him.

His sign was to turn water into wine, and not just any wine, but the best wine ever and not just a jar or two but roughly 150-180 gallons of the best wine ever.  A superabundance of wine, more than they would drink.  A sign of things that were and a sign of things to come.  Remember in Exodus God, through Moses turned water into blood, it was a sign of death for Egypt.  Jesus now turns water into wine, a sign of rejoicing and life.  Jesus at the last supper turned wine into blood, the blood of the new and eternal life-giving covenant. Soon today at this very Mass the priest, through proper form and transubstantiation will turn wine into blood just as Jesus did.  

The final point to ponder:

His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

There is another line very much like this one in the book of Genesis chapter 41 when a great famine struck Egypt:

When all the land of Egypt became hungry and the people cried to Pharaoh for food, Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians: “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

Joseph saved those people from what would have been sure death from starvation.  With these words from Mary Jesus can also save us but the salvation Jesus offers is not just to get us through some earthly trial, Jesus’ salvation is much more than just that, it is eternal life after our earthly life is finished.

“Do whatever he tells you” were the last recorded words spoken by Mary in Scripture.  This is Mary’s mic-drop moment! Mary, the woman, said these words to the servants over 2000 years ago and they still ring true for us today! We are servants of Jesus, right?  We must do as he tells us but how do we know what he is telling us?

Pray over the second reading today, it gives you a litany of gifts.  We each could be given multiple gifts.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as to what your gifts are and how to use them for the betterment of God’s Kingdom here on Earth.   Pray over this reading in a quiet spot at home or at the Adoration chapel so that we can confidently go forth and “Do whatever he is telling us” to do!

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton has great instruction for us all:

The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.

Let's Go, What Are We Waiting For

Kevin Gingras

December 20, 2020 - 4th Sunday of Advent

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122020.cfm

The other day, I was at a red light, trying to cross Route 44 to get to Church.  There were two cars in front of me and the light turned green - and nobody moved.  Now, I’m not known for the virtue of patience.  My first mildly aggravated thought was “LET’S GO - WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!?”  Then, when my agitation subsided, I thought, “that’s a good question to ponder during Advent”, especially for today, the last Sunday of Advent.  

What are we waiting for?  Are we waiting for that perfect gift to arrive from Amazon that we got for Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis?  Are we waiting for time to finish decorating?  Are we waiting to be finished wrapping presents? Are we waiting to go get your ingredients for that perfect Christmas dinner? [Not that I’ve ever experienced one of those at home!]  I know that most kids, and some adults too are waiting for PRESENTS!

Christmas is just five days away!  Are we ready for Christmas?  If not - LET’S GO - WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!?

Was Mary was ready when the angel appeared to her and proclaimed:

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Highest.

Mary didn’t need to be told LET’S GO - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.  Mary simply replied:

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word

Mary was ready for that first Christmas, even when things didn’t work out exactly as she had planned.  All her preparations revolved around her son and God’s son Jesus.  There is no better way to prepare than to make Jesus our primary focus right now.  

Over 2,022 years ago, this is what a lot of people were waiting for, a savior, Jesus, the Christ.  We hear a preview of what they were waiting for in today’s first reading from Samuel:

And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'

Paul is trying to explain this to the Romans as he writes to them:

...according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ.

There’s the key for us - all of this was “through Jesus Christ”.  Some of the Jews missed this even though it was right under their noses.  

With all of our hectic preparations are we missing it too? If that is true for us then, LET’S GO, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? We shouldn’t miss who Jesus is and even though this Advent season is almost over it isn’t too late to take some quiet time with Jesus. We are given extra Advent time this year my friends, use it wisely. Spend it in Adoration if you can.  If not, spend some quiet time at home, tell Alexa to stop playing Bing Crosby Christmas playlist, turn off the Hallmark channel, turn down the lights, silence your phones, turn on the Christmas tree and spend some time in prayer pondering Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family, after whom are Church is so aptly named.  

If it helps read the Gospel of Luke, Chapters 1 through 3 or Matthew, Chapters 1 and 2.  Pay close attention to the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.  Remember, Matthew was writing in Hebrew for a Jewish-Christian audience and Luke was writing for a Greek-speaking audience of Gentiles and Jews.  This is why the genealogies are different, they were for different audiences but either way, they are there to illustrate that Jesus was the savior promised in the Old Testament from the very beginning.  He’s our savior today as well.

Sure, this Christmas probably won’t be like any other we have experienced in our lifetime but try and count that as a blessing and not a curse.  Try to find that silver lining. Remember what Paul told the Romans:

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose

Usually, I end with a quote from a Saint but this time I will leave you with this quote from our very own Bishop of Fall River - Bishop da Cunha, who recently said:

But maybe because there will be less [family holiday gatherings] there will be more celebrating what Christmas is about. “That could be a source of joy and hope and peace for all of us.

Hail Mary, full of grace

What about Mary?

Many other faiths have a problem with the Catholic view of Mary. Don't let ignorance ruin a beautiful devotion to an amazing woman!

The Hail Mary is a wonderful, Catholic prayer that is based on scripture verses about Mary, so yeah, it's in the Bible.
Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. (Luke 1:28)
Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. (Luke 1:42)
Holy Mary Mother of God, (Luke 1:31)
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

It begins with praising Mary and then asking her for some help, kind of like we do with our friends.  "Hey, you look really really nice today, are you losing weight?  Can you help me move this stuff"?

As Catholics we ask Mary for prayers of intercession. We don't pray directly to Mary but instead pray through Mary. As Catholics we must remember that we do not worship Mary nor do we pray to Mary expecting that through her own power our prayers will be answered. Mary can however, take and perfect our prayers and then present them to her son Jesus.
We must remember that Mary asked Jesus to perform his first miracle to which he did. Mary interceded for the bride and groom so as not to be embarrased when they ran out of wine.
Do not be confused by mediation and intercession.

1 Timothy 2:1-5
First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.
This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper time.

John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
(And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom
and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now."
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

For Further Reading:
To really get a lot more about Mary and her role in the Catholic Church "Hail Holy Queen", is an awesome book by Scott Hahn about the Church's belief's about Mary and the scriptural references to her that indeed proves her worthy to intercede on our behalf to her son Jesus Christ.
CCC 2675-2676 especially the part entitled In communion with the holy Mother of God
CCC - The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ." The Hail Mary reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." The Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as St. Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips.

We often ask others to pray for us.  Why can't we ask Mary to pray for us as well, her close proximity to God and ability to correct and perfect our prayer before passing it along certainly can't hurt us!  I know my prayers need to be perfected prior to handing them to God!