Mary offers us a wonderful gift on this New Year’s Day. “Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Gabriel shares with Mary that she will conceive a child through the power of the Holy Spirit, her relative Elizabeth, who is past child bearing years, is six months pregnant, when Mary and Elizabeth meet John leaps in the womb of Elizabeth, the shepherds convey the message they received from the angels that Mary’s baby is the long awaited Messiah, Simeon and Anna offer prophetic confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah.

Indeed these are matters to ponder, not to just take at face value and move on with the day. The Church at her best has followed the model of Mary’s reflection, pondering, and meditating on what these words mean and has come to call this day the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. This title says more about Jesus than it does about Mary. This is the teaching that the Church Fathers confirmed during the council of Ephesus in 431 AD:

Mary is the Mother of God, in Greek – Theotokos – the God bearer.

The full divinity of the Son of God was present at the conception of Jesus. He remained fully divine as the second Person of the Trinity, the Holy Trinity would not be diminished in any way, as he developed as a human being in the womb of Mary, and was born of Mary. This is the Mystery of the hypostatic union: Jesus is one divine person subsisting in two natures the human and divine.

Theological insights such as Mary being the Mother of God, the hypostatic union of Jesus, are easily missed or worse dismissed if we conform ourselves to the present age of instant gratification, instant access, surfing, swiping, taking in sound bytes from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and amassing information overload. All of these technological avenues can be wonderful if we stop, slow down, and as Mary did, ponder what they offer.

If we still read books, do we do so with pencil and highlighter in hand, take notes and go back to those points underlined, highlighted, and or annotated and ponder the insights we have received? Or do we just have a moment of pause and say hmm, interesting, and then move on to the next factoid?

May today, the first day of the new year, be a day to take a few deep breaths, slow down, and commit to a practice of daily pondering. We can reflect on a word, a phrase, or a short statement that we write down and return to often. The phrase could be as simple as a paraphrase from today’s reading: Mary pondered on these things in her heart. Let us reflect on where God has been calling us to stop and take a deeper look at our lives. It could be one word: Theotokos. We can meditate on a picture like the one I posted above. We can ponder what Mary being the God bearer means to us, what relevance does she offer for our lives?

If we seek to live a life of joy and fulfillment in 2019, may we follow Mary. May we assume a posture of pondering and be willing to slow down and reflect on life, on what is important, what has value, where we are putting our time and effort, and recognizing where God is and is not welcome in our life. Otherwise, we may just float along through another year indecisively or stagnantly with indifference or cynicism, merely reacting to situations that arise, or just plodding along bored and listless. Being still can be scary, because when we do so, we need to face our fears, our past hurts, and our loneliness.

Yet in that willful act of stopping, the Holy Spirit can embrace us with his love, so we can begin to heal and transform beyond merely existing, so to set a course of being fully alive and in love with life. Hand in hand with Jesus, we can face our fears, and heal from our wounds, so to be better engaged in our lives by experiencing more meaning and purpose. Conformed to the life and love of Jesus, we can build more authentic and intimate relationships, we can act more decisively and with greater clarity, and experience more fully what we are here for, to bring a little more tenderness, mercy, understanding, forgiveness and love to the many others around us who are wounded.

May 2019 be a wonderful new year of meaning, joy, and fulfillment, as we, like Mary, come to experience God’s presence in the silence of our hearts, so to be a people of faith, hope and love.

Happy New Year! Peace and all God’s good.

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Painting: “Kissing the Face of God” by Morgan Weistling, 2011 accessed from cathopic.com

Link for today’s reading for January 1, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010119.cfm

“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Another translation of the Logos, the Word, the second person of the Holy Trinity, dwelling among us, is that he “tabernacled” among us. The Son of God pitched his tent in our midst. This is a reference to the tabernacle or tent of meeting which was erected whenever Moses and those who had escaped slavery in Egypt camped. Within the tent of meeting was placed the Ark of the Covenant. This was done to follow the will of God who wanted to be present with his people. “They shall make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8).

The Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle housing it was portable and would move with the people, such that God was always present in their midst. The basic structure would later become the foundation for Solomon’s temple, then Herod’s Temple. The Holy of Holies was believed to be the very seat of God in Jerusalem. In the fullness of time, Jesus was born to us, and he became the living temple, Emmanuel, God with us. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19).

And why did Jesus come? So that the glory of God could be revealed not just to the temple priest, but to all of us, “and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Jesus came to be one with us in our humanity while remaining fully divine to reveal the glory of his Father to us, the same glory that filled the tabernacle. Jesus came to be present to us, in our very midst.

Jesus was born to us to share the fullness of God’s grace and his truth with us. He came to restore the ancient covenant that God has been making with his people through all ages. Jesus invites us to share the same infinite, faithful love that he shares and has shared and always will share with his Father. This free, generous act of love is pure gift to us. Jesus, in becoming human, in living among us, in teaching, healing, and so building a bridge of relationship with God, shines his light, that light that is not overcome by the darkness of pride, hatred, prejudice, and violence, so that we can see the truth, that God is our Father and we are all brothers and sisters.

The Incarnation reveals to us that none of us are junk, because God created us and became one with us. Each of us by our very existence have human dignity because we are created in his likeness and image and he dwells among us. Each and every human being is a part of God’s family. This includes all people no matter race, ethnicity, or creed, male or female, the unborn, the hungry, those without access to water or adequate health care, widows, orphans, refugees, migrants, the LGBT person, the person in jail or on death row, the person at the end of life, and as Fr. James Martin, SJ shared two days ago on his Facebook feed, “so many others who feel forgotten, excluded or marginalized. All are members of God’s family.”

Jesus has made his dwelling among us such that we may be healed and reconciled with God and one another, and we do so as we open ourselves with all our mind and heart, strength and soul, to receive the gift of the grace and truth that Jesus offers to us 24/7, his very life and love. In receiving this unmeritorious gift of grace, we then are to go and share this gift, that Jesus became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity, with everyone we encounter.

Photo of Flor de Mana Blandon with her son Domingo. Photo credit by Karen Kasmauski for CRS. Access link: https://instagram.com/p/BNKEpkmB2_X/

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, December 31, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/123118.cfm

When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them (Lk 2:48-50).

As I wrote a few days ago, we are now in the Octave of Christmas. The Church has decided that the Solemnity of Christmas is to be celebrated over an eight day period because we need time to ponder the great mystery of the Incarnation to better understand its implications for us in our daily lives.

Each time we hear the accounts that there was no room for them at the inn, Jesus was born in a stable, shepherds and magi come to see the new born king, today’s account of Jesus being found in the Temple, our response is not to be, “Oh, we have heard that story so many times before, I am going to check out now.” Instead, each time we are invited into the story, to allow the retelling of these accounts to draw us deeper into the Mystery they convey.

One of the reasons that we may resist this practice of pondering, is because we do not understand what the Gospel accounts are talking about. We are modern people living in our own time, experiencing our own culture, language and perspectives. In fact, in today’s account from Luke, Mary, who lived the day to day nuances of ancient Palestine, knew Jesus for twelve years, still does not understand what he says to her, that he stayed behind instead of traveling with them because he had to be in his Father’s house. If Mary has some trouble understanding, we need to have patience with ourselves when we struggle to understand as well.

Often our immediate response to our lack of understanding is one of frustration, aggravation, impatience, or worse indifference or seeing no relevance from the readings to our time and daily living. May we resist this knee-jerk reaction and instead follow the lead of Mary. Let us ponder, let us keep all these things in our heart. Luke only mentions that she and Joseph did not understand, there is no mention of a Joseph head slap to the back of the head, no Mary mentioning how long Jesus would be grounded when they got back to Nazareth. Just that Jesus was obedient and followed Mary and Joseph home. I am sure during their journey home, as with many of their experiences with Jesus, there was some serious pondering.

Often we find in the Gospels, that Jesus’ words and actions, pull us up short, they stop us in our tracks. When this happens we are receiving the invitation from Jesus to reevaluate our life, how we have been living, and how we can be better human beings. We can certainly understand the Bible a bit better through researching the historical, psychological, and sociological background, as well as scholarly commentaries to gain context, just as we can in studying any form of literature. Yet, along with our intellectual pursuit, we must also be willing to engage our soul, because our mind can only take us so far. We are created as human beings, which means we are physical as well as spiritual beings, people of reason and faith.

Pope St John Paul II said that living a life of faith without reason is superstition, and Albert Einstein said that living a life of reason without faith is boring.

To understand the teachings and leading of Jesus in our life, we need to let go of the absolute security we place in our own autonomy. We need to acknowledge that we are not the center of the universe, we need to let go of our false sense of freedom that states, “I can do what I want, when I want, and how I want and I want to understand right now.” God has created us as transcendent beings, and to be fulfilled in our lives, we need to be willing to open ourselves to the divine.

Part of understanding Sacred Scripture, understanding Jesus, is learning his language. Not literally Aramaic, but the language of his very being as fully human and fully divine. Pope St. Paul VI wrote that we need to learn from the school of the Holy Family. “The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God’s inner wisdom and the counsel of his true teachers.”

When we allow ourselves to be still, to rest for awhile in the presence of God, we allow ourselves to experience being loved by him. By doing so, we come to learn the language that Jesus spoke to us. Jesus’ language of love was not just an emotion, but a willing the good of the other, as other. An invitation to participate in his life. To learn and understand the language that Jesus speaks we must practice daily placing ourselves in a contemplative posture.

When we experience the love of God we are for that moment, no longer governed by our fears and wounds. We are able to let go of our defensive posture and begin to trust. The key is to continually place ourselves in this posture of surrender such that we become less and Jesus becomes more the center of our lives. In this way, we will come to develop eyes that see and ears that hear and a mind and soul that understand the word and will of God. When we, like Mary, learn to ponder, we will then better come to understand what Jesus has to teach us so to become contemplatives in action.

Photo: Making some time to study in the School of Nazareth, by pondering the Gospel of Luke

Quote from Pope St Paul VI from an address, “Nazareth”, that he gave January 5, 1964.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 30, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/123018.cfm

“Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel” (Lk 2:29-32).

As Simeon receives Jesus to be consecrated to the Lord, he recognizes through the gift of the Holy Spirit that this child, is the one he and Israel had been waiting for, he is the Messiah, the Christ. He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets as well as be a light to the Gentiles, to the Nations.

These verses, called the Canticle of Simeon, recorded by Luke are recited each night by those of us who pray the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours. They are prayed during Compline or Night Prayer, the last prayers before going to sleep. May we too see that this celebration of the birth of Jesus we have been engaging in this week is our savior too, our fulfillment and our light also.

May we, like Simeon, receive this child in our arms from Mary and Joseph. May we too see the salvation that is offered us, the invitation given to us. May we not run from the light of his truth, but may we embrace it so as to be transformed. Let us glory in the joy of knowing that Jesus came to share his love, mercy, and grace, with us. He is the promise of healing that we all need to realize and actualize in our lives.

That is the key, Jesus invites us but does not impose. This Christmas can be just another day in a cycle of days that pass with no change, or we can immerse ourselves in this Octave of Christmas so as to take seriously the fact that Jesus is who he said he is, who the Apostles claimed that he was, who the Church still announces that he is today, Jesus the Christ the Son of the Living God.

Spend some time meditating on holding the baby Jesus, our savior, in your arms as Simeon did. As you hold him look into his face, see his smile, the glint in his eye, and allow that exchange to melt away any sin of pride, lust, greed, envy, sloth, gluttony, prejudice, and wrath. May we experience the warmth of his love radiate up from the depths of our soul. May we be filled with his joy to overflowing, such that as we gaze on another today we may share that same smile we have received and so radiate the love of Christ with those we encounter today.

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Painting: Het loflied van Simeon – the Song of praise from Simeon, by Arent de Gelder, ca. 1700

Link for today’s Mass readings for Friday, December 29, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122918.cfm

The magi come from the East seeking the new born king. They follow the natural sign of the star, and they are led into Jerusalem. They lose or turn away from the star and seek instead the ruler, Herod, to help them find the child. But after meeting with Herod they again see the star and come to Jesus, do him homage, and share their gifts. Warned in a dream not to return to Herod with the location of the new born infant, they instead depart for their home another way. The magi had encountered the new born king and would share it with joy. A sign that the good news of Jesus is for all nations, for all people.

King Herod, as in the time of Moses with the Pharaoh, has a different reaction: Fear. Herod fears losing his title, power, prestige. “When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi” (Mt 2:16). Often when we are led by fear, we react with violence.

We see in today’s Gospel two very different reactions to the birth of Christ. The magi experience the joy of the birth of Jesus that can lead to new life and a new beginning moving away from our self centered postures out to others, or King Herod’s defensive posture of protecting the false self and disregarding the dignity of others even to their deaths. This Christmas Season how do we respond to the birth of Christ? Do we accept the invitation to let go of the fear and prejudice within or do we grasp and cling to them?

May we choose with the magi and Joseph to follow God’s lead and so experience the joy and freedom from our false self and the freedom for excellence to pursue our vocation that respects the dignity and value of others. As Pope Francis pointed out on this feast day of the Holy Innocents in 2016: “Christian joy does not arise on the fringes of reality, by ignoring it or acting as if it did not exist. Christian joy is born from a call – the same call that Saint Joseph received – to embrace and protect human life, especially that of the holy innocents of our own day. Christmas is a time that challenges us to protect life, to help it be born and grow.”

Life is a precious gift at all stages of its development, yet life is fragile and vulnerable as we have unfortunately witnessed in the deaths of two holy innocents of our day, Jakelin Caal age 7 and Felipe Alonzo Gomez, age 8 who died this past week in US custody on our border. May their tragic deaths move us to protect all human dignity from the moment of conception, through each stage of development, until natural death. This Christmas Season may we continue to enjoy our family, tell those we care for that we love them, while also be willing to listen and respond to the cry of the innocent, the cry of the poor in our midst. Immigrants are people, they are family, our brothers and sisters, many in dire need. We need not fear them, but if we say we follow Jesus, we are to love them.

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Photo: The Christmas funeral of Jakelin Caal, just three days ago in Guatemala. Catholic News Service photo: Carlos Barria, Reuters.

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO BISHOPS ON THE FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS December 28, 2016: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20161228_santi-innocenti.html

Link for today’s reading for Thursday, December 28, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122818.cfm

Jesus Christ is born for us. Jesus Christ dies for us. Jesus Christ conquers death and rises again for us. Because of our place in time, December 27, 2018 AD – Anno Domini, In the year of our Lord, we are capable of experiencing the Paschal Mystery of Jesus: his life, suffering, death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven. Does this new fact, this new reality in human history make a real difference in our lives?

Christmas did not end two days ago. We are still in the Octave of Christmas. The Church celebrates two octaves in the Church liturgical calendars, Christmas and Easter. These eight days are celebrated as such to impress on us the solemnity of the event of remembrance. From the vigil celebration of Christmas Eve on December 24 to January 1, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, we celebrate the significant event of the Incarnation, the Son of God becoming one with us in human history. The Masses that are celebrated within the Octave of Christmas as well as the readings of Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, reflect the celebration of Christmas Day each day for the eight days. It is like having a week long birthday party.

But if we are solely focused on gifts, the returning of gifts, and celebration apart from the celebration of Jesus’ birth, if we are removed from the liturgical cycle and rhythm of the Church, it is easy to fall into the post Christmas blues. We hear Christmas music coming through many radio channels for weeks before Christmas, but at some point on Christmas Day and definitely the following day, they stop. This is when the music of Christmas ought to begin!

If you feel that you are slipping into the Christmas blues, maybe look at the possibility of going to a daily Mass. If you are not up to that or if it is not feasible, read the daily readings of the Mass. I post the link for them at the end of this reflection each day. You can read the readings yourself or click on the tab to hear the audio version, and they also have video homilies available for each day.

A cure for the post Christmas blues is to rejoice in the Gospel, the Good News, that Jesus changed human history and we are a part of that human history of transformation. In today’s Gospel reading from John, Mary Magdalene shared that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. Peter and James ran to see, John arrived first, and then Peter. Peter went in and saw an empty tomb except for the burial clothes. When John entered after Peter, “he saw and believed” (Jn 20:8).

Do we see? Do we believe? John came to realize and embrace the gift of the Paschal Mystery: Jesus has been born for us, he suffered, died, rose again and conquered death for us. His, Mary’s and Peter’s lives were transformed and ours can be too. This is something to celebrate, not just two days ago, or just today, but for eight days, for all days! “O Come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, O Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

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Photo: Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter.

Link for today’s reading for Wednesday, December 27, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122718.cfm

“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

“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

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

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