David Inczauskis, SJ

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph: Refugees

No parent wants a feeding trough for farm animals to serve as a crib for their newborn baby. No parent wants to receive the news that the most powerful person in the land wants to kill their newborn baby. And no parent wants to walk across a desert with their newborn baby.

Yet such is the story of the Holy Family.

The first days of the life of Jesus are full of wonder. There are angels and shepherds, stars and magi. But there are grueling journeys, stinging rejections, and violent plots, too.

Imagine the fear and confusion of these young parents. It is one thing to receive the good news that they would give birth to and raise the Savior of the Universe. It is quite another to face the real-life consequences of this message. From the moment of his birth until his death on the cross, Jesus would be a sign of contradiction.

The early life of the Holy Family is that of political refugees. To stay in their land is to risk assassination. To go into exile is a horrible and cruel choice, but it is also the best choice given the circumstances.

So they leave everything behind. They cross the desert--the same desert that their ancestors had crossed to pass from slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land. The trajectory must seem like a regression for the young family. Didn't we leave Egypt to find freedom? Why must we return? Things are not going as planned.

They don't know when they will be able to return. Perhaps Joseph works a few odd jobs to get by. He is a carpenter, so he might take on construction projects as a day laborer. Mary educates Jesus in the religion of the Jewish people, which is not the dominant religion of Egypt. They make friends with other Jews in diaspora in Egypt, but they are in the minority. They speak with an accent. They worship differently. They are outsiders.

Maybe this experience is what makes Jesus so attentive to the plight of outsiders when the Holy Family returns to Israel. Jesus was one himself. He reads the words of the Hebrew Scriptures, "You shall not mistreat a foreigner, neither shall you oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt," and the words have a special resonance for him. How could he forget his childhood? Jesus is sensitive to suffering, to precarity, because he lived it himself.

The flight of the Holy Family into Egypt has a special meaning for us today. As climate change, economic inequality, war, and other types of violence ravage the world, millions--like the Holy Family--are forced into exile. These people are victims, not invaders. They have made a difficult, harrowing, courageous decision which is often really not much of a decision at all. Oppressive circumstances force them to flee.

May we take special care of migrants and refugees. Think of the neighbors who might have helped Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Egypt. Who was there for them when they needed a friend? Who housed them? Who showed them the ropes? Who loved them?

What we would do for Jesus, we must do for others, especially for the most vulnerable. As Pope Leo said the other day, "On earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person. To refuse one is to refuse the other." So let us love one another.

As we approach the altar today, we might consider how we can commit to support migrants, refugees, and other marginalized people in 2026. A new year is coming. How will we love in 2026? How will we make room for God by making room for others, especially for the poor?

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family

My First Christmas Homily

The word GLORY features at Christmas.

"An angel of the Lord stood before the shepherds, and the GLORY of the Lord shone around them."

"GLORY to God in the highest"

"The shepherds returned, GLORIFYING and praising God for all they had heard and seen."

We, too, sing the special Christmas GLORIA in imitation of the angels and the shepherds.

For us Jesuits, GLORY is in our motto: "For the greater GLORY of God."

GLORY also shows up in US history. In the Battle Hymn of the Republic, a song of the North during the Civil War, we hear, "My eyes have seen the GLORY of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on." This song was written by an abolitionist who saw in the North's liberating march the action of God.

This word has shown up in my prayer lately, too. As a newly ordained priest, there are many times that I have felt that I have seen and heard the glory of God this year:

In the penitents who open up about their failings in confession and ask for pardon from God, who is eager to forgive,

In the children I have baptized whose journey with God is just beginning and who receive a new identity in Christ as priests, prophets, and kings,

In prayer with the gravely ill, who want to spend the last moments of their lives close to God and to God's Church,

In spiritual direction with students and fellow Jesuits who seek God with such sincerity and passion in ways that never cease to amaze me.

These moments are charged with the glory of God.

God wants to reveal God's glory to us, though this glory is often hidden. God's glory frequently comes in the midst of suffering. It comes as light that shines in the darkness. Sometimes, God's glory must be sought with diligence. Other times, it appears in the most surprising of places.

We celebrate God's glory in such a moment today. Mary receives the message from Gabriel that she would give birth to the Savior, the son of David. He was to be the son of God and a great king.

We can imagine the doubt that she experienced, then, when she was forced to travel to Bethlehem while she was eight months pregnant and had to give birth in a stable. This alleged king's first crib was a trough for feeding farm animals. Was she crazy? Had she imagined the presence of the angel and the angel's message?

But then the shepherds appear, and they carry a message of glory. Angels had appeared to them.

"What did they tell you?" Mary asked.

They replied, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."

"Amen," Mary says to herself, reassured. "Glory be to God." She would reflect on the words of the shepherds her whole life. Their words became, for her, a core memory.

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to people of good will!

As we approach the altar the receive the Eucharist today, I encourage you to bring with you a core memory in which you have seen or heard something of the glory of God. Offer this memory as a gift of thanksgiving to baby Jesus. Or if that glory seems to you rather distant today, you might bring with you a humble prayer, "God, help me to see your glory. Open my eyes to see. I long for your face, revealed today as the face of a baby born in Bethlehem!"

Merry Christmas!

Join Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish and me in Homer Glen for Christmas mass at 7:30am on December 25. "I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord."

"John: An Extremist for Justice"

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent

Jesus called John the greatest person ever born. What was so special about John?

John was the leader of a mass movement. He was tired of Israel's corruption, inequality, hypocrisy, and pandering to the Roman Empire. He believed that Israel had lost its way and had to return to its roots.

It was not the first time Hebrew people were lost. They wandered for 40 years in the desert before entering the promised land by crossing the River Jordan. And that's precisely where John went: to the place where Joshua crossed with God's people from the desert into the promised land.

John left behind his ministry as a priest to become a prophet. He would call Israel back to new life. "Repent, for the Reign of God is coming!" The world was about to turn. God was about to usher in a new period of history in which justice and peace would flourish, but the people had to get ready.

How? By putting God first not only in word but also in deed. Faith without works is dead. A tree that bears no fruit will be cut down and tossed into the fire. Do you love God? Do you love your neighbor? Show it through your actions! Stop oppressing people. Care for the poor. Turn away from greed. Embrace God fully, without hesitation. Such was the message of John.

And this message attracted people far and wide. Thousands would come to hear John preach and be baptized by him in the River Jordan. This immersion in living water represented the people's commitment to change. I will turn away from a life of hatred, fear, and evil. I will trust in God. I want to become a new person.

Soon, there was a fundamental question in Israel. Are you with John, or are you against John? The masses were with John, but the ruling class was not. A message of change is not welcome if you do not want to change, if you are content at the top.

And so John's sincere passion for righteousness was on a collision course with King Herod, who ended up having John assassinated.

Who was to lead John's movement now? Would it simply die with him?

Jesus loved John, and many Bible scholars maintain that Jesus was John's close follower for a time. After all, Jesus's public life begins with his baptism by John and by spending 40 days in the wilderness, where John, too, was living.

Jesus would pick up where John left off, yet the message of Jesus was slightly different than John's. Instead of staying away in the desert, Jesus would take John's concept of the Reign of God to the streets. He would incarnate it. He would build it up in everyday life throughout all of Israel. He would even bring the message of conversion and justice to the capital of Jerusalem itself.

Jesus was brave! He saw what happened to John, and he said, "Here I am. I will continue John's mission. I am not afraid to say what is true. I am not afraid to preach conversion. The Reign of God is at hand, and I will show you how to live into it. Come and follow me."

IMPORTANT UPDATE

On All Saints Day, we will attempt once more to bring communion to the detained in Broadview.

This feast day reminds us that we are united by the love of Jesus Christ and that this love has no borders. Saints in heaven, those who have gone before us, those detained by ICE, those who can attend this mass, and those who are afraid to do so--we stand together in our clamor for justice, and we will not let ICE deter us from being in community.

Join us at 10am on Saturday, November 1. Please RSVP here: https://csplaction.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=616742f2a56cfd7592ebed405&id=a74ec0b4d8&e=9c477e3b61

Bring friends and family. Bring fellow parishioners. Bring folks who are non-Catholic, too. All committed to non-violent resistance are welcome. Let us come out strong and united in support for our detained sisters and brothers!

Woe to us if we do not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, who calls us to stand in solidarity with migrants and with the imprisoned.

Will you join us on Saturday morning as we attempt to bring the Eucharist to detained migrants in Broadview?

The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership has organized a peaceful procession that will culminate in a moment of communion. Communion is a sacred sacrament of our Catholic faith. We believe that Jesus is truly present in the host in body, blood, soul, and divinity. To receive communion is to receive God's very self. That's why it is important that all Catholics--including the detained, especially the detained--should have access to communion. The Eucharist brings consolation and community to the suffering. It gives spiritual strength and renewal.

Walk with us. Commune with us. Pray with us as we stand in solidarity with detained migrants.

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