Are we willing to embrace the light and love Jesus came to bring?
“You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).
Why are we talking about being hated the day after Christmas? Because Jesus, this baby whose birth we just celebrated is “the light that shines in the darkness” (Jn 1:5). The very reality of Jesus is the he is the light that exposes darkness, he is the very embodiment of Love that exposes hatred.
Jesus exposes the truth of those dark places within our own hearts, minds, and the very depth of our being. Yet many of us turn away or reject the light, not aware that it is an invitation to healing and to wholeness. We wince at the luminous brightness of his light and resist the intimacy of the love he seeks to share. We have so often faced so much of the opposite; hurt, pain, betrayal, and lack of understanding or acceptance, that we have become ingrained in our pride, our posture of ego, and we assume a defensive crouch to protect our false sense of self.
Yet, to be fully alive, we need to embrace the light, not hide from it. When we are open to the healing touch of Jesus and come to an openness to receive the gift of Jesus in our life, we begin to die to our ego, we begin to replace our actions of vice with actions of virtue. Once we allow ourselves to be loved by Jesus, we begin to recognize that we are turned within our self, and begin to open ourselves to him, we begin to recognize that we are not the center of the universe. We then will be able to love, to will the good of the other.
As we follow the model of John the Baptist, and become less so that Jesus becomes more in our lives, we will face the same rejection that Jesus faced. We will be labeled crazy, out of step, simple minded, and worse, as St Stephen found out, whose martyrdom we celebrate today. Yet we are to resist returning to a defensive posture, we are to refuse to react in kind, but be present and allow God to happen. We are to assume a posture of accepting the person where they are and as they are and share the same transformative mercy, love, and forgiveness of Jesus we have received.
Change, maturation, and growth is not easy. That is why we are called disciples. We are to be disciplined and persevere, but we need to remember that our redemption does not come from our own doing or willing it to be so. Our healing, restoration and transformation comes first and foremost from an invitation to receive the blessing of Jesus, an invitation to receive the healing salve of his love, mercy, and forgiveness. May we be willing to be healed and transformed from our bias, prejudice, hatred, and selfishness. May we be willing to be conformed to Jesus and so step out of our comfort zones, and with courage be more loving, merciful, and forgiving with our family, friends, and enemies.
Transformation is not a one time event, Christmas is not just a day, it is not just a season, Christmas is a way of allowing Jesus to transform our lives each and every day, each and every moment, with each and every decision. When we are tempted with impatience, call on the name of Jesus and take a few deep breaths. When we are tempted to judge, may we see the baby Jesus in the manger, weak, vulnerable and in need, so to see the one we are about to judge instead with understanding, mercy, and a love that wills their good. When we are tempted to react negatively or defensively, let us visualize ourselves kneeling before the Christ child as we surrender our will, our ego, so to share our point of view as an invitation not as an imposition, and allow the other to do the same. May we be able to disagree while at the same time respect the dignity of the person that we are open to dialogue with.
May each day going forward be a new beginning committed to being open to receive the light and love that Jesus has come to bring, so to be healed by him and so be willing to serve him, as well as see Jesus in one other. Let us persevere in sharing the light, love, mercy, and forgiveness that Jesus gave us at his birth and continues to do so in our every day.
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Photo credit: Ritalaura cathopic,com icon picture taken in St Michael the Archangel Parish, Recreo, Santa Fe, Argentina
Link for today’s Mass readings for Tuesday, December 26, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122618.cfm
“A light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (Jn 1:5).
“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14).
If there are ever words to meditate and ponder upon these are them! May we resist becoming complacent or indifferent to the reality that they present, or to the idea that this is just any another day that we just endure and go on to the next day. Instead may we embrace the promise and invitation they are meant to convey to us as individuals, as a people, and for all of creation.
The Word, the Logos in the Greek, who was, who is, and who always will be, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, has become one with us. We, if we think beyond ourselves for just a minute, are the minutest of minutest speck of specks present in the whole of the cosmos. And yet, we have been graced by the presence of God who became man for each and every one of us, each individual person, so we can be one with him. He became human that we might be invited to become divine through our participation in his life.
The Mystery we celebrate today is that God took on flesh, becoming fully human, while at the same time, remaining fully divine. He did not just appear to be a man for a time and cast off his humanity like a cloak. The Son was conceived in the womb of Mary, developed as you and I did, and when born let out a gasp and a cry indicating that the savior was born to us. Joseph and Mary gazed in wonder at the gift of their son, the gift of the Incarnation for the whole world.
Christmas Day is the celebration of new life. Not just the birth of any baby, but through his coming into the world, a new beginning for humanity and creation. Today we celebrate the reality and the hope that we have not been totally destroyed, totally undone by Original Sin. Yes, we have been wounded, we have been broken, but not undone.
Though darkness may appear to reign and their may be a temptation to buy into anxiety, fear, and desperation, today we celebrate that “A light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). This is a day to rejoice, a day to recommit to the light, to the baby who would later call himself, “the way, and the truth, and the life” (cf. Jn 14:6).
Let us embrace the gift of our humanity, the gift of our families, biological and beyond, as we embrace this baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, for he shows to us the truth and realization that: “We cannot save ourselves. We can only open ourselves to the hope that comes to us from without, from others, ultimately from one Other” (Lohfink 2014, 255). The One whose birth we celebrate today: “The Light of the human race” (Jn 1:4).
My prayers are with all of you who are reading these words. May God bless you and all you hold close this day. Merry Christmas!
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Photo: The Nativity scene before our altar at our parish of St Peter
Lohfink, Gehard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014.
Link for today’s Mas readings for Monday, December 25, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122518-day.cfm
Benedictus – Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
The words of today’s Gospel reading come from Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah has not spoken since the time he encountered the angel Gabriel. Gabriel shared with Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth, though barren and past child bearing age, will give birth to a son and his name will be John. The time for the fulfillment of Gabriel’s prediction has come true, Elizabeth has given birth to a boy and with friends and relatives gathered around on the eighth day for his circumcision and naming, Elizabeth announces that her son will be named John. Those gathered balk as they say, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name” (Lk 1:61).
There may also be some hesitancy because John, or יוֹחָנָן, Yôḥanan in Hebrew, means one who is graced by God. The people may be wondering who this child might become. Then they turn to Zechariah, who writes on a tablet that “John is his name.” Zechariah confirms Elizabeth’s words and “Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God” (Lk 1:63-64).
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah speaks what we call today the Benedictus or Canticle of Zechariah, the beginning lines of which read: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David” (Lk 168-69).
Zechariah is not proclaiming that John is the Messiah. John will be the herald of the Messiah. He will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. The Benedictus, like the Magnificat, is a song of great promise. This is why the Church proclaims that they are to be prayed every day in the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours. We are living in the time of its fulfillment. 2018 A.D. does not stand for after the death of Jesus, it stands for anno domini, in the year of our Lord. We live in times of great joy, for no matter what the external circumstances our Lord, Jesus the Christ is present with us!
To counter violence, war, polarization, endless forms and acts of inhumanity, fear and growing anxiety, we will celebrate again tonight the reality that we are an alleluia people, a people of great joy. At the Christmas Vigil, we will remember and celebrate again the reason for the season, the fulfillment of the Magnificat and the Benedictus, the birth of our Savior.
O Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Each and every day, we are invited to celebrate with great joy the reality that Jesus has come to set us free. May we be open to and receive this gift of freedom this Christmas Season and turn away from our pride and the sins that enslave us. Jesus who granted us his mercy by being willing to enter into our chaos and bring us healing and reconciliation, invites us from his humble beginnings, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and resting in straw, to do the same. Let us live out our heritage, our faith and hope, and be a people, who even in the midst of darkness, have not only seen a great light, but bask and embrace in it, so to share the light of Jesus with concrete acts of mercy, joy and love.
Photo: cathopic.com
Link for the Mass readings for Monday, December 24, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122418.cfm
Blessed and joyful are we when we believe!
Today’s Gospel account in Luke is one of joy. Mary and Elizabeth are celebrating the gift of new life that each of the women are experiencing in their wombs. Certainly this is a cause for celebration, but there is a deeper more profound reason for their expression of joy. The leaping of Elizabeth’s child at Mary’s greeting is certainly a catalyst. For when John leapt with joy, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth closes today’s reading with the words: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45).
Mary and Elizabeth are celebrating that they are to bear sons that will provide the fulfillment of the one who the prophets foretold and Micah speaks about in the first reading today, “one who is to be ruler in Israel” (cf Micah 5:1-4), the Messiah. This was a blessed moment of communion. The Love that is shared between God the Father and God the Son, is God the Holy Spirit, who is present in the sharing between John and Jesus, Elizabeth and Mary. The kingdom of God is at hand! This is what Mary and Elizabeth are celebrating, the savior of the world has come and they are to be collaborators in salvation history.
Imagine if we made some time to really ponder the significance of this wonderful event of the Incarnation of Jesus as seriously as Mary and Elizabeth did in their joyful encounter as recorded in today’s Gospel. What joy we too will experience when we open ourselves up, mind, body, soul, and spirit, to the invitation of the Holy Spirit who is revealing to us the reality that the Son of God became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity.
May we ponder the reality of the gift that God has given us, his Son, and so rejoice with Elizabeth and Mary today. Blessed will we be when we believe that the word spoken to us in today’s Gospel has been fulfilled!
Photo credit: Dimitri Conejo Sanz from cathopic.com
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 23, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122318.cfm
May Mary’s Magnificat lead us to respect one another.
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.” (Lk 1:46-49).
These verses from Luke are the beginning of the Canticle of Mary or the Magnificat. These words are recited or chanted daily each evening for those who pray Vespers or Evening Prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours. We are still able to read and recite these words, again and again, generation after generation because Mary and Elizabeth were moved by the Holy Spirit and acted upon his leading. They did not remain silent, they did not hold back their words for fear of being rejected. Mary went in haste to come to be with Elizabeth, she did not hesitate and think things over. She was clear and she went.
Mary’s words of greeting were heard by John and he leaped in the womb of Elizabeth who then, moved by the Holy Spirit, confirmed the encounter of the Annunciation when she said: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). Mary then responded glorifying the Lord for what God had done for her, for us, for the whole created order.
Present in this hymn of praise, thanksgiving, and hope, are words that we can make our own. We too can proclaim “the greatness of the Lord”. We can do so by thanking God for what he has done in our lives, as St Irenaeus did so when he recognized this and wrote that God sent his Son to open up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.
Mary is called blessed because she followed the will of God and points all generations to her Son, directing not only the attendants at the wedding feast of Cana but all of us as well to “do whatever he tells you” (cf. Jn 2:5).
May we rejoice with Mary today by reading and praying with Mary’s Magnificat, (Lk 1:46-56), as we prepare to remember and celebrate the birth of her Son, only now a few days away. May we be willing to hear and do whatever Jesus tells us, such as: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:30-31).
Loving our neighbors also means loving our enemies. This includes anyone that really gets under our skin. We need to learn again how to have civil and respectful dialogue. We can disagree but still respect one another without belittling or dehumanizing. We can listen to one another’s points of view, without shouting at or over one another, and maybe we can learn from one another again. Wouldn’t respect and integrity be a nice gift to wrap, place a nice bow on, and put under the tree this Christmas?
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Photo of Mary by Moisés Becera. Roma, Italy cathopic.com
Link for the Mass readings for, Saturday, December 22, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122218.cfm
Let us too, with haste, share the good news of Jesus!
Mary “traveled to the hill country in haste” (Lk 1:39) and when she and Elizabeth got together they rejoiced in the gift of new life that God had blessed them both with. We are to rejoice too, as we remember the gift of the conception and birth of Jesus. Jesus invites us to experience new life. What we are about to celebrate in a few days had never happened before in human history. The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, fully divine, entered into our humanity. He became a human being, fully human, just like one of us. That affirms that we are not junk, not someone’s trash to be kicked around. Our life has purpose and meaning, because we are loved by God more than we can ever imagine!
We are all invited to be recreated, each and every day. Have you ever wanted a fresh start, a do over? Well here you go. Don’t believe the mind noise or other people who will actually tell you in subtle or direct ways that you are worthless or nothing. Not true! Just by our very being, the reality that we exist, says something. We have been created in the image and likeness of God and we have been created by Love to receive and to share love. We are a living craving hunger and desire to be in communion with God and one another. This is true for the atheist and the believer alike. We are called to will the good of the other as other as they are, unconditionally. If we haven’t been all that loving lately, today is a new day to take Jesus’ hand and begin anew.
We are about to celebrate a baby’s birth. Not just any baby, but he who has always been, is, and will be, became the most vulnerable, as an embryo, as an unborn fetus, and as an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. Mary’s Son would continue to grow, mature, and thirty three years later, return to an even more vulnerable position on the Cross, beaten, scourged, naked, and crucified. He was born and tabernacled, made his dwelling, among us, to be one with us, so that when he died he could take our sin upon himself. Original Sin did not destroy us. We were wounded, but by his stripes, the scourging that Jesus endured for us, we have been healed. He conquered even death, that we could have life and have it to the full, now and through all eternity.
Jesus was born for us; he is still with us that we might not only be shown a better way, but to know him, who is the Way. Jesus became vulnerable for us, being authentically who God called him to be, even when that meant rejection, time and time again. May we too be willing to be vulnerable, to risk, to share with others who we are, free of masks and pretense. May we be present, and also walk and accompany one another. Being there for our family and friends is important, and if we take our Christianity seriously, we must come to acknowledge, in concrete ways, person to person, that we are all brothers and sisters. Just as the sun shines on the good and the bad alike, Jesus died for us all. After his Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, the Love shared between the Father and the Son, to empower us to live as he did, in communion with his Father, so to better actualize our communion with one another.
Mary and Elizabeth celebrated the joy of new life, they rejoiced together at the announcement that each of them would conceive and bear a son. The other message they can share with us, because they realized it all too soon, is that life goes by too fast. Each of their sons would die a brutal death, yet God brought about a greater good from their willingness to sacrifice their lives for us. They gave us a new beginning for humanity.
Let us not take the gift of this life we have been given, any moment of it, for granted. Let the people we care about know that we love them. Make that call, send that card, and/or invite that person for a walk and when you are together, be present, be there with each other.
May we be respectful, kind and caring in our interactions with each person we encounter in our daily moments. If you catch the eye of another, smile. In that simple gesture we say to another that we care enough about them to acknowledge that they exist and that they have worth. Let the joy of Mary and Elizabeth catch like wildfire in us this Advent and let us share with haste the joy of Jesus we have experienced in our life!
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Painting of Elizabeth and Mary in the church of El Sitio, Suchitoto, El Salvador – Accessed from: https://walktheway.wordpress.com/2013/12/21/solidarity-mary-with-elizabeth/
Link for the Mass readings for Friday, December 21, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122118.cfm
Mary’s yes plus our yes equals joy!
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her (Lk 1:38).
Whether this is the first or thousandth time you have read this verse, the more important question is how many times have you said to God, “May it be done to me according to your word”? How would that be for a prayer to begin each day with and then reflect at the end of the day on how well we have heard and answered yes to God’s will?
Mary’s yes changed the course of human history. Her willingness to bear the Son of God who dwelt among us in our wounded human condition, was for the purpose to heal and to lead us home to communion with his Father. Jesus is the gift that keeps giving – and we receive his gift each time we say yes to Jesus. When we do so, we become less, as he becomes more, and the kingdom of God continues to spread.
Along with Mary, our yes that we make is not to be a one time yes, but we are to make a daily, moment by moment yes. As St Paul wrote to the Church of Thessalonica. We are to: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 16-17). We are able to rejoice always and pray without ceasing when we say yes to God. This does not mean that we rejoice in our pain, suffering, and struggles, but we rejoice in the hope, trust, and experiences that Jesus is present with us in and through our suffering. He does not abandon us to random fate. He is our source, our refuge, and our strength, present in all that we go through.
Our prayers of petition for ourselves and intercession for others, are another yes to his will, because they are an “admission of one’s own helplessness” (Lohfink 2014, 240). Prayer is a no to pride. Our willingness to ask for help and to help others are also practical ways of saying yes to God. There is no such thing as a Lone Ranger Christian. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto, so they went to by two, as Jesus sent his disciples. Prayer is a yes to our acknowledgement that we need Jesus to guide and help us. Service is a yes to the love we have received from him and willingness to share this love with others. May we rejoice this third week of Advent as we draw ever closer to celebrating the birth of Jesus who is Emmanuel, God with us. This reality was made possible by the handmaid of the Lord. Say yes to Jesus and rejoice!
Photo: Who says that you can’t experience joy in Religion Class?
Lohfink, Gerhard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014.
Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, December 20, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122018.cfm
Trust in God’s timing
The Gospel of Luke and today’s first reading from the Book of Judges both continue the theme of divine intervention through angelic messengers and the message they convey is new life. The wife of Manoah, she is not named, and Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, both receive the message of an impending birth. The miraculous claim here is that both women are beyond bearing age.
For women of ancient Israel, this was a tremendous cause for shame; for many women, their worth was defined by their ability to bear children. This was in evidence in the words of Elizabeth. When she conceived she said, “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.” (Lk 1:25). Her shame and anguish would now be gone, her long period of barrenness was coming to an end.
Many women today feel this same anguish and shame in that they desire to have a child and are not able to. There are many reasons this may be, but there may also be a plan that God has in place that is not readily apparent at the time. One may be God’s timing, for Mary it was too soon! For Manoah’s wife and Elizabeth it was about time! But in each case God had his plan and timing in mind. For some women there may be another way of serving other than being a birth mother.
Adoption or foster parenting of children who are in desperate need of safe, stable homes are direct options. Some more indirect ways could be assisting in caring for nieces and nephews, cousins, teaching catechesis or working with youth groups. Other ways to serve could be through more time consuming active ministries, vocations, or jobs. I cannot imagine wanting to give birth to my own child and not be able to do so, nor can I imagine the inner anguish that may cause. I do believe God has a plan for each of us and when we align ourselves with his will we will truly be happy and fulfilled.
I do have a certain perspective on this in that I have been blessed with the gift of being a step-father to JoAnn’s three children, Mia, Jack, and Christy. This was not the plan I foresaw before meeting JoAnn, in fact about a year before we met, I was in a consignment shop and saw a jean jacket for an infant. I bought it thinking it would look good on my future daughter or son. When JoAnn and I were married the kids were no longer infants, so, I am guessing the jacket will look good on our granddaughter or grandson, God’s timing! I do believe this has been God’s plan and I am truly thankful to be sharing my life with these four wonderful human beings, all gifted in their own unique and special ways. It has been a great journey thus far, and I look forward to what God has planned for the future!
Advent is a time of waiting and anticipation. There are periods of waiting in all of our lives and we can certainly be impatient with God and ourselves. We have certain plans and intentions that we want to accomplish, but often are not capable of seeing far enough down the road to notice if those plans are apparent or actual goods. The light at the end of a tunnel could actually be a train!
When we remain faithful like Manoah’s wife, Elizabeth and Mary, and resist the temptation to go off on our own, while seeking to understand his will, we will find fulfillment and joy. Each of us are called to be Christ bearers to a worn and weary world desperately in need of new life! We will also enjoy the time of waiting more when we are trusting that God is preparing us for what we seek or something even greater than we can ever imagine!
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Photo: from pixabays.com
Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, December 19, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121918.cfm
Spiritual Stepping Stones 