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).

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, may be 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 thinking, 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, and to experience the reality of both, we need to be willing to open ourselves to the divine.

Part of understanding Sacred Scripture and not only understanding but knowing 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.”

We don’t just read the Gospels to finish, close the cover, and walk away. We need to allow ourselves to be still, to rest for awhile in the presence of God’s word and allow ourselves to experience being loved and guided 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 slow down.

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 defensiveness and begin to trust. When we are willing to surrender daily to the will of God, we become less and Jesus becomes more the center of our lives. In this way, we will come to develop eyes that see, ears that hear, minds and souls that begin to understand the word and will of God. When we, like Mary, learn to ponder, we too will hear God who speaks in the silence of our hearts, we too will then come to know him and better understand what he has to teach us so as to become contemplatives in action.

Photo: Making some time to study in the School of Nazareth, by pondering the Gospel of Luke in the Word On Fire Bible: The Gospels.

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

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 26, 2021

“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! The danger is becoming complacent or indifferent to the reality that they present, or to the idea that this is just any other 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, 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 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 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. We do not just celebrate the baby who would become a great teacher and moral template, but the coming of our Savior, the reality and the hope that we may be wounded and even a bit broken, but not undone, not unmade, not destroyed but saved from our traumas and our slavery to sin. God’s grace is greater than our suffering, wounds, our worst mistakes, misjudgments, and most grievous faults.

Though darkness may appear to reign through the midst of another wave of increasing cases of COVID, ongoing wars, political and racial division in our country, and no matter what personal challenges we may be facing, 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, to reconcile, 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 diversity and interconnectedness, the gift of our families, biological and in all but blood, 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).

Merry Christmas!

Photo: The Nativity scene before our altar at our parish of St Peter.

Lohfink, Gerhard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014.

Link for today’s Christmas Day Mass readings for the Mass of the day for Saturday, December 25, 2021

“In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace” (cf Luke 1:78-79).

This promise of the Holy Spirit is spoken through the father of John the Baptist, Zechariah, and this evening at the Christmas Vigil we begin to celebrate the fulfillment of those beautiful words.

God’s tender compassion has surrounded us and has been a part of us since before our conception. He knows the number of hairs on our heads and he knows each one of us by name. Totally transcendent, infinite beyond our comprehension, beyond all space and time, yet God knows each one of his created beings intimately. He cares for us, guides us, and invites us to experience his joy and the fulfillment of who he has created us to be.

The ultimate love he expresses is that our relationship is based on our free will, our choice to say yes or no to the relationship with him he offers us. He gives us the freedom to choose anything but him. Some would say, he should just make us follow him. That would not be love, but oppression and tyranny. The light of God enters our being when we say yes to God’s will and invitation for relationship. It is then magnified by the light of his Son. We can recede back into the darkness or walk into his brilliant light to be empowered and transformed by his love for us.

When we accept the invitation to enter into a relationship and to follow God’s guidance we will better be able to see the darkness within ourselves that prohibits us from experiencing the fullness of the light that brings us his grace that builds on our nature. We need to choose to allow the light to dawn in every aspect of our being, our wounds, our prejudices, our defense mechanisms, our comfort, all those areas where we deny the truth or where we are supporting false realities or apparent goods.

May we prepare our hearts and minds as we celebrate the gift of the incarnation one more time. Let us resist withdrawing or running from and instead run to the “dawn from on high,” that shines upon us, “who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,” so that God may “guide our feet into the way of peace.” The closer we are to God, the more we experience his peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding, and the more we can share his light and peace with others in this new year to come.

Photo: The sun rises and sets on all of us, just as the love of God’s Son radiates out to each of us.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, December 24, 2021

Zechariah has not spoken since the time he encountered the angel Gabriel. Gabriel shared with Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth, though barren and past childbearing age, would give birth to a son and his name would be called John. The time for the fulfillment of Gabriel’s prediction has now come to pass, Elizabeth has given birth 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 1:68-69).

Zechariah did not proclaim that John was the Messiah. John became the herald of the Messiah. He prepared 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 Book of Christian Prayer or the Liturgy of the Hours. We are living in the time of its fulfillment. We live in the year 2021 soon to be 2022 A.D. These two letters do 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 accompany us, to give us guidance and strength as we participate in ushering in the kingdom of God!

To counter violence, war, polarization, endless forms and acts of dehumanization, fear, and growing anxiety, we will celebrate again this Christmas the reality that we are an alleluia people, a people of great joy. We are preparing in these final days of Advent to remember and celebrate again the reason for the season, the fulfillment of the Magnificat and the Benedictus, the birth of our Savior.

Each and every day, we are invited to celebrate with great joy the reality that Jesus has come to set us free. May we resist grasping and clinging to that which keeps us bound and instead be open to and prepare to receive this gift of freedom this Christmas. By doing so, we can turn away from our pride and the sins that tempt to enslave us. Jesus entered into our chaos to bring us healing and reconciliation, and invites us from his humble and vulnerable beginnings, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and resting in straw, to also enter the chaos of one another.

This is how our life has meaning, when we care for one another. We are living in the year of our Lord means something when we don’t listen passively or worse indifferently to the retelling of these final Advent and the upcoming Christmas narratives, but allow ourselves to be drawn ever deeper into them so as to be transformed and inspired to put into practice our heritage, our faith, and our hope. Even in the midst of darkness, inhumanity, and pandemic, the light of Christ is in our midst. May we bask in and embrace it, so as to share the light of Jesus with concrete acts of understanding, mercy, joy, and love all the while seeking to bridge chasms of divide by engaging in dialogue and providing opportunities for reconciliation.

Photo: Preparing for Christmas as we enjoy making cookies two Christmas’s ago with my mother. Dialogue often happens best while preparing and sharing meals together.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, December 23, 2021

“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 also known as 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 be with Elizabeth, she did not hesitate and think things over. She was clear on God’s will 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 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 blessed because she is filled with the grace of God, 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 [us]” (cf. Jn 2:5).

We have the opportunity to rejoice with Mary today by reading and praying with Mary’s Magnificat (Lk 1:46-56). A great way to prepare and celebrate the birth of Jesus is to 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. By doing so, maybe we can learn from one another again. How about packaging up a nice fruit basket filled up of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, and understanding, and placing it under the tree this year for Christmas?

Photo of Mary by Moisés Becera. Roma, Italy cathopic.com

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, December 22, 2021

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 a 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 Holy Trinity, fully divine, became one of us. 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 any negative mind noise or other people who will actually tell you in subtle or overt 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 the love we have received. 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 and 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 child, but he who has always been, became the most vulnerable, who took on flesh as an embryo, developed as an unborn fetus, and was born as an infant, and 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 and 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, 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 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, John and Jesus gave us a new beginning for humanity.

Let us then not take the gift of this life we have been given, any moment of it, for granted. May we 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. Put the phone down, leave work at work, face conflicts and work through problems that arise together through a mutual willingness to understand each other’s perspectives, and as best as we are able just be present to one another.

May we be respectful, kind, understanding, 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. Even behind our masks, our eyes smile. 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 lives!

Painting of Elizabeth and Mary in the church of El Sitio, Suchitoto, El Salvador

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, December 21, 2021

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 or heard 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 it be for us to begin each day with this prayer and then at the end of the day reflect 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 would dwell among us in our wounded human condition was for the purpose to heal and to lead us home to communion with his Father and each other. Jesus is the gift that keeps giving – and we receive his gift each time we say yes to him. When we do so, we become less, as he becomes more, and the kingdom of God continues to expand.

Along with Mary, the yes that we make is not a one-time, yes, but we are to affirm 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 by developing and sustaining our relationship with him such that even when we experience pain, suffering, and struggles, we are not overcome or overwhelmed. We can even feel joy in the midst of them because we experience Jesus’ closeness. He does not abandon us to random fate. He is our source, our refuge, and our strength, present to us in all that we experience.

Our prayers of petition for ourselves and intercession for others are another yes to God’s will because they are an “admission of one’s own helplessness” (Lohfink 2014, 240). Prayer is a, “No,” to pride. We cannot get through this life on our own, nor are we meant to. We are all interconnected and interdependent on each other and God is the foundation and source of our very being.

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. Two by two, just as Jesus sent his disciples. Prayer is a yes to our acknowledgment that we need Jesus to guide and help us, also to save us from ourselves! Service is a yes to the love we have received from him and a willingness to share this love with others.

We are to rejoice as we begin this fourth week of Advent because we draw ever closer to celebrating the birth of Jesus who is Emmanuel, God with us. May we have the grace to experience his love in our time of meditation, prayer and serving one another. This reality was made possible by the handmaid of the Lord. Say yes to Jesus as Mary did 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 Monday, December 21, 2021

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! And so we too are to go in haste and share the good news!

Photo credit: Rita Laura – Parroquia San Miguel Arcángel, Recreo, Santa Fe, Argentina – from cathopic.com

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 19, 2021

Joseph heard the news that Mary, his betrothed, was with child. He clearly knew the child was not biologically his. Scripture does not account for the thoughts or emotions of Joseph, but whatever inner turmoil he did have, he came to a decision that would not expose Mary to shame. He was not going to make a public spectacle of Mary, but divorce her quietly. Before he made his final decision though, Joseph made an excellent choice when discerning serious matters. He slept on the idea before acting.

During Joseph’s sleep, the angel of the Lord delivered a message. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:20-21). When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Mt 1:24). From their encounter with God’s messengers, both Mary and Joseph trusted in God’s will, and “that has made all the difference” to quote Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Because of Mary and Joseph’s yes to God and to family, the Son of God became man and opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.

God often works in the same way when dealing with us. What may appear to be absurd, unimaginable, or downright impossible, is indeed possible when we align our will with God. This is the week of Joy in Advent. Joy is more than pleasure or happiness. Pleasure ends when the sensate experience ends. Happiness is experienced with pleasure and can last longer, in that we can recall the pleasurable experiences for a time, but happiness too will fade. Joy, though, like hope, is a gift of the Holy Spirit that wells up from within, from the depths of our soul.

The source of joy does not come from external experiences but from an encounter with and acceptance of God’s invitation. Joy is an experience of communion with the love of God. This has been given to us in greater measure because Jesus became one with us, and so upon his ascension into heaven, we too can experience the loving communion he experiences with his Father. We also experience the love of the Holy Spirit in our encounter with family and friends, this exchange of giving and receiving of ourselves in conversation, shared experiences, and in resolving challenges and conflicts together.

Mary and Joseph both received incredible news, that neither of them fully comprehended. They could have easily responded in a different way. Instead, they trusted in God, they chose family, and because they did so, we can rejoice not this week but all of our days!

Mary and Joseph followed God’s lead and were willing to allow their unborn child, Jesus, to come to full term. Because they risked public ridicule and worse, Jesus entered into our human condition. We may feel on our own, see no way out, and/or no help on the horizon, but God will make a way and reveal it to us through his Son. We may not understand either, but like Mary and Joseph, we are to trust in God and one another and so come to experience that we are not alone.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, please intercede on our behalf this Advent Season such that we may better be able to resist the temptation of taking each of our family members for granted, but instead choose to be appreciative and thankful for one another. Help us to react less and breathe deeply more. Help us to be more understanding, patient, and willing to forgive, such that even though we have experienced past hurts, conflicts, disagreements, and different perspectives, we may ultimately experience time and again the joy of being there for one another, through thick and thin.

Photo: Our first Christmas picture together as a family about twenty-six years ago, actually taken in late summer so it would be ready for our first Christmas card!

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, December 18, 2021

Today’s Gospel account is from Matthew’s record of the genealogy of Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, is fully divine, while at the same time he is also fully human. Here Matthew presents the lineage of Jesus’ human line from Abraham to his foster father Joseph and his mother Mary. Jesus is part of a people and a family. If you go through this genealogy with a fine-tooth comb, there are gaps, but Matthew is more concerned with the line of faith than a strict historical account. Matthew also includes women in this listing, which is not common in ancient patriarchal societies. Looking at their stories in Scripture will also show that they were not at all the most virtuous, but more importantly, they played a significant part in God’s plan of salvation.

This is our heritage as well. We are spiritual Semites. Genealogies have become more popular in recent years as can be seen by the different advertisements for DNA test kits. The draw for these is that we want to belong, to be a part of a group. To understand who we are, we seek to understand where we have come from. To be able to go forward, we need to reach behind. Jesus was born in time, to the people of Judah, and is a part of the succession from Abraham and his clan, to the twelve tribes of Jacob, to the unified nation of Israel under David. Jesus continues to bring God’s movement of grace beyond a nation to a universal invitation for all.

Through our Baptism, we are part of the lineage of Jesus. We are not alone, no longer estranged, no longer separate, or on the peripheries. Yet many, even those who profess their belief in Christ, are missing his greatest gift of faith, which is developing a relationship with him now. Too many of us are Christian in name only.

We are now in the final two weeks of Advent. A good practice is to spend time drawing close to Jesus who made himself close to us in becoming one of us. Pope Francis can help. The Pope encountered a young man who told him that he didn’t believe in anything. He said, “I don’t have the gift of faith! What do you have to say to me?”

“Don’t be discouraged,” I said. “God loves you. Let yourself be gazed upon by him! Nothing else.”

May we too be willing to receive the gift of Jesus: “What is important is to find the way best suited for you to be with the Lord, and this everyone can do; it is possible for every state of life.” Pope Francis also offered these two questions for him and for us to ponder: “Do I find time to remain in his presence, in silence, to be looked upon by him? Do I let his fire warm my heart” (Francis 2014, 16)?

We are never alone if we remember Jesus is present in our everyday experiences. We just need to be aware of his loving gaze, to rest in it, and then to return ours. We are also invited to embrace his radiating fire, his love to warm and expand our hearts. In doing each, we become more open to the gift of his presence in our lives. When we allow him to lead us to encounter one another and support each other in our weaknesses, we too will experience the love of the Holy Spirit shared between Father and Son.

Photo: Many ways to allow God’s gaze to all upon you and for us to gaze upon God. Rainbow over CNHS.

Francis, Pope. The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2014.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, December 17, 2021