MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

1 JANUARY 2017

          It seems to be a custom on this day to make New Year’s Resolutions.  In light of my complete failure to keep any of the New Year’s Resolutions I have ever made, let me suggest three words from today’s Gospel that will serve our spiritual lives much more fully than any New Year’s Resolutions we might cook up.

            The first word is haste.  Saint Luke tells us that the shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem as soon as the angels had given them the news of the birth of the Messiah.  Mary had gone in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth after she had responded to the Angel and agreed to be the Mother of God.  Going in haste is an important component to our lives of faith.  God hardly ever communicates with us through Angels.  But God speaks to us in a number of ways.  In a special way at this Season, God calls us to deepen our Baptismal Commitment.  The Lord calls young people to priesthood, religious life, or marriage.  In a number of ways, he is calling all of us to lives of more profound holiness.  Too often, we put God off and think that we will respond later, when our lives are more settled or we when we may have more clarity.  Like the shepherds, like Mary, we need to make haste as we continue to search for ways that Christ is present in our lives.

            The second word is amazed.  Shepherds lived at the bottom of their society.  Because they were continually on the move, leading their sheep to greener pastures, no one trusted them.  They smelled like sheep.  They did not keep the Sabbath.  Religious leaders considered them to be sinners, because they did not follow the Law.  But God chose these shepherds to receive the good news of the Savior’s birth.  They probably came to the stable more out of curiosity than out of faith.  But, once they encountered the child, they were amazed at what they saw.  They were the first evangelists, amazing those who heard their news.  After the Lord’s resurrection, it would be the simple fishermen, tax collectors, and peasants who were amazed at the mystery of the resurrection, spreading the good news to those who were amazed to hear it.

            We could use a little more amazement in our lives of faith.  We can take our cue from children, who could hardly contain themselves when Christmas finally came.  Of course, we find God’s presence in a number of ways in our ordinary lives.  We find God in nature, in the world around us, and in people we encounter.  But the Lord has broken through the darkness of the world and has taken on human flesh.  That is amazing!  And this Christmas Season can increase our sense of amazement.  Once we can identify the depth of our amazement, we can become evangelizers ourselves, spreading the Good News of our salvation to those around us.

            Finally, Saint Luke tells us that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.  Despite her initial fear, Mary responded to the Angel’s message that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God.  But she did not understand, nor could she understand.  In pondering everything in her heart, she sorted out the mysterious ways God was involved in her live and in the life of her Son.

            Because Mary is the Mother of the Church, she can teach us a great deal about living our faith in this New Year.  We live in an age of instant communication.  We are bombarded with the 24-hour news cycle, which never tires of giving us “Breaking News.”  We respond immediately to texts, twitters, and emails, sometimes communicating very hurtful and angry things to people.  If we can do anything to deepen our faith, we can determine to spend more time in quiet prayer in 2017.  In quiet prayer, we can reflect on what is happening, giving ourselves time to recognize how the Incarnate Lord is present in our lives.  Then we can make haste and express our amazement at the Mystery of the Incarnation to all we encounter.  

CHRISTMAS

25 DECEMBER 2016

          We tend to think of the birth of Jesus Christ as an isolated event that happened a long time ago.  In fact, the actual birth happened only once in history.  But our celebration today is much more than recalling that birth.  At Christmas, we celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation.  The Gospels assigned for Christmas help us to understand the significance of this Mystery.  Saint Matthew tells the story of Christ’s birth from the perspective of Joseph, a descendant of David.  Saint Luke tells the story from the perspective of Mary, the humble handmaid who responded to the angel’s invitation to become the Mother of God.  Saint John reminds us that Jesus is the Eternal Word who has taken flesh and pitched his tent among us.  He recalls the custom of the Israelites pitching the tent of the tabernacle as a way of representing God’s presence in their journey through the desert to freedom.  Now, Jesus is the real presence of God in our midst.

            The Incarnation is a Mystery that continues to unfold in our lives and in our journey of faith.  We can see this most clearly in the Gospel of Luke.  He begins his Gospel with angels telling shepherds to go to Bethlehem, where a couple had given birth in a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn.  He ends his Gospel with angels telling women that Jesus had been raised from the dead.  Not trusting that news, two of them leave Jerusalem and travel to Emmaus.  On the way, the risen Christ walks with them and opens their hearts to the truth of his resurrection.  The shepherds arrive at Bethlehem and find the child lying in a manger, which is the place where animals feed.  They see and believe and go out to proclaim the good news of the birth of the Messiah.  The disciples arrive at Emmaus and invite the stranger to join them for a meal at an inn.  In the breaking of bread, they recognize the risen Lord and believe.  They return to Jerusalem to proclaim the good news of the Resurrection.

            The shepherds and those two anonymous disciples help us to understand God’s love for us.  In the ancient world, shepherds were not the romantic figures wearing bathrobes and head gear in our Christmas pageants.  They were shifty characters living on the edges of their society.  Moving around with their sheep to find better pastures, they were not trusted.  They smelled, and they did not keep the Sabbath, because sheep don’t rest on the Sabbath.  The two disciples left Jerusalem, because they could not believe what the women told them about their executed teacher being raised from the dead.  The Mystery of the Incarnation is a gift given to us, even when we put ourselves at the edges of our families and communities.  The Mystery of the Incarnation is given, even when the darkness of our lives and world seems to overwhelm us. 

            Christmas reminds us that we do not walk alone as we walk in our pilgrimage together to the New and Eternal Jerusalem. Through the Mystery of the Incarnation, Christ walks with us now, no matter what is happening to our lives.  Jesus Christ has shared in our humanity, so that we can share in his divinity.  As long as we remain open to his transforming love in our lives, he slowly and gradually changes us to become the people destined for life with him in eternity.

            We use the word “Christmas” for a good reason.  Christ is most intensely present at Mass.  He speaks to us through his Word, as he spoke to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  He feeds us with his Body and Blood, prefigured in his lying in the manger and realized in the breaking of bread at Emmaus.  I am glad that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year.  For starters, it makes this week a lot easier for us clergy types.  But much more profoundly, it reminds us of the importance of the Mass we celebrate every Sunday!  Jesus Christ is the Word made Flesh.  He has pitched his tent among us.  Gathering together as God’s people to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday, we encounter the one who shares in our humanity to transform us into his divinity.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

18 DECEMBER 2016

          Ahaz was the king of Israel eight centuries before the birth of Christ.  Like his fellow Israelites, King Ahaz was not a deist.  Our founding fathers were deists, who believed that God created the universe and remained distant as his creatures tried to work things out.  The people of eighth century Judah were convinced that God was not distant.  God was involved in their lives and the life of the world.  That is why signs were so important to them.  Signs were not events that defied the laws of nature.  Signs were outward demonstrations of God’s activity in the world.  Signs ranged from the rising of the sun in the morning, to the birth of a child, and to any event – ordinary or extraordinary – that showed forth God’s presence.

            God’s presence did not protect King Ahaz and his kingdom from difficulties.  Kingdoms allied with the Empire of Assyria had attached Judah.  Now, Ahaz had decided that he would enter into an alliance with Assyria.  But, the prophet Isaiah brings him a message.  He tells him that God does not want him to do anything.  To show the king that Isaiah is speaking for God, he offers him a sign.  King Ahaz refuses in a very pious way.  He refuses the sign, because he has already made up his mind.  But Isaiah gives him a sign anyway.  The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.  He even tells him to name the child “Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” In the context of the times, Isiah’s words were fulfilled in Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, who became king.

            Saint Matthew recalls the words of Isaiah and applies them to a member of the House of King David.  Joseph of Nazareth is also a deeply religious man, trusting that God is involved in his life.  Joseph had been betrothed to Mary, probably for many years.  Marriages in that culture were arranged, and couples had to learn to know and love one another once they were married.  Joseph must have been devastated when he heard the news that his future wife was with child.  As a righteous man, he knows the Law of Moses.  He could have Mary stoned to death for committing adultery.  But he is also a deeply compassionate man and decides to divorce her quietly.  He will step aside and allow the father of the child to come forward to claim the child.

            Centuries before, God had spoken through dreams to Joseph, the son of Jacob.  That Joseph had trusted what he heard in his dreams and saved Egypt and his own family from starvation.  Now, the angel of the Lord speaks to this descendant of Joseph in a dream, telling him how the Lord had fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah in ways that no one could ever have imagined.  Joseph trusts what the angel says:  do not be afraid and name the child Jesus (“God saves”).  Joseph trusts what he has been told.  Without fear, he takes his wife into his home.  Combined with Mary’s passive trust of what she had been told by the Angel, Joseph’s actions set the stage for the Mystery which we will celebrate next Sunday.

            God continues to be involved in our lives.  That is why Christmas is so important for our faith.  Through the Incarnation, God took on human flesh and dwells among us.  Christmas is not just a one day event.  It is a continuing unfolding of that presence in our world and in our lives.  As we spend this final week preparing to celebrate this great Mystery, we can learn from Joseph.  We can listen attentively to the voice of God speaking to us – maybe not so much in dreams, but more in the way that God speaks to us through the Scriptures.  We can spend time in quiet reflection, pondering what the Lord says in the Scriptures and reflect on the ways that God is already active in our lives.  We can imitate the righteous man of Nazareth and pattern our lives more closely upon the Law of God showing us the way.  We can imitate his compassion and be merciful to those around us.  In preparing to give gifts to those we love and cherish, we reflect the greatest gift ever given – God taking flesh in our midst.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

11 DECEMBER 2016

          Last Sunday, we met a bold and confident John the Baptist.  He drew people away from the Temple in Jerusalem, where they had encountered God for centuries.  In the barrenness of the desert, he told them that they would encounter God in the person of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah.  They needed to repent and change their lives in order to recognize him.

            Today, John is neither bold nor confident.  If anything, he is impatient and despondent.  He sits in the darkness of a prison cell, because he had the courage to tell Herod that he should not be living with his brother’s wife.  We can only guess why he is so impatient.  Maybe, Jesus is not acting like the Messiah whom John had expected.  He had not gotten rid of Herod and his rotten cronies.  He had not removed the threat of execution hanging over his head.  He had not been calling down fire and brimstone from heaven.  Instead, Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners and talks about a Kingdom of mercy and compassion.  So, he sends his disciples to ask Jesus the question:  “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

            Jesus does not directly answer his question.  Instead, he tells John’s disciples to report to him what they hear and see.  What they hear and see are the messianic signs described by Isaiah.  Those who encounter Jesus are being changed.  The blind regain their sight.  The lame begin to walk.  Lepers are cleansed and reunited with families.  The deaf hear.  Dead people are brought back to life.   Most importantly, the poor have the good news preached to them.

            Jesus does not criticize John for doubting or being impatient.  Jesus knows that John is a human in a fallen world, like the rest of us.  So he praises him for his critical role in Salvation History.  John pointed to the Messiah.  As great as John is, anyone who embraces the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.  In other words, anyone who performs a simple act of faith in the name of Jesus Christ is as great as the prophetic action of John the Baptist.

            By the time Saint Matthew recorded these words of Jesus, his readers needed to hear this message.  Many in the community were being persecuted for their faith and shunned by their fellow Jews.  The Romans were still in charge.  The promise of Jesus that he would come again in glory had not been realized.  That is why Matthew quotes John in the plural – are we to look for another?  He speaks for his community.  Through his Gospel, Jesus says the same thing to them 50 years after he had delivered these same words to John the Baptist.  Look around yourselves, he says, and see what happens to those who perform simple acts of faith in his name.

            Jesus says the same thing to us today.  In the darkness of our world, it is easy to get impatient.  Having faith in Jesus Christ does not take away the problems that beset us.  People still get sick and die.  War and hatred continue to destroy the lives of many.  Our country remains divided and distrustful of each other.  That is why Jesus tells us to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear signs of the Lord’s presence, even in the midst of darkness.  Those who encounter Jesus Christ can be transformed.  Enemies can be reconciled and begin to walk to each other.  Those who have been rejected by families can be welcomed back.  We proclaim the resurrection of the Lord at every Mass.  Thanks to the example of Pope Francis, the poor have the good news preached to them.

            We wear rose vestments today, because we can see signs of his presence in our troubled world.  We wait to celebrate his first coming in two weeks.  Saint James tells us to wait with patience.  Being patient does not mean that we simply resign ourselves to whatever happens.  Being patient is the fruit of a deep faith that continues to look for ways in which Christ manifests himself in his own way in our individual lives.  We don’t need to look for another.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

4 DECEMBER 2016

          In Israel 2,000 years ago, those who were seeking to encounter the presence of God went to the Temple in Jerusalem.  That is where the Pharisees and the Sadducees held court.  The Pharisees were the lay spiritual leaders, while the Sadducees were the officials in charge of Temple activities.  But that is not where people are going to encounter God in today’s Gospel.  They are going past the Temple to go down into the desert.  The desert is a place where there are very few distractions.  With few distractions, the desert had always been a place of testing and encounter for the children of Abraham.  Moses and Elijah had encountered God in the desert.  Moses led his people out of slavery into the desert, where they encountered God at Mount Sinai and were tested for forty years. Jesus himself went into the desert and was tested there. 

            By drawing people away from the Temple and into the solitude of the desert, John the Baptist is proclaiming a completely new reality.  The Temple will no longer be the place where people encounter God.  They will encounter God in the person of Jesus Christ, whom John will baptize.  John is dressed in the same rough garments worn by the prophet Elijah.  He eats desert food – locusts that speak of God’s judgment and honey that speaks of God’s mercy.  He bluntly tells people that they will be unable to accept the new reality of Jesus Christ unless they repent.  The Greek word he uses is metanoia, which implies a complete change of direction.  He points to Jesus Christ as the shoot sprouting from the stump of Jesse.  Just as that great tree traced back to the father of King David had been cut into a stump, he insists that they use spiritual axes to cut away anything that stands in the way of encountering Christ.  Claiming to be children of Abraham will not be sufficient, because even the Gentiles will be called to encounter the person of Jesus Christ.  That is why he calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers.”  He knows that they have no interest in changing their lives.  They have come out of curiosity.  They are too invested in the Temple and all that the Temple stands for.

            On this Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist is speaking directly to us.  He tells us to prepare for the coming of the Lord.  The Lord has already come, and we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.  The Lord will come again at the end of our lives and at the end of the world.  John is inviting us to go to where there are no distractions to encounter the Lord.  Without distractions, we will understand that we must also repent.  We must let go of whatever separates us from the Lord Jesus Christ, as ancient farmers would hurl the newly combined wheat into the air with their winnowing fans, allowing the wind to blow away the chaff.

            John’s message is very counter cultural.  It is counter cultural in the sense that he wants us to take a good hard look into our daily lives, see the evil that eats away at us, and get rid of the chaff.  The best way to do this is to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We will offer our Advent Penance Service a week from Tuesday, and we will offer many more opportunities in the week before Christmas.  His message is also counter cultural in the sense that he invites us to take a break from the craziness of the “Holiday Season.”  There is nothing wrong with hanging lights on trees, shopping for gifts, and preparing for Christmas feasting.  But those activities in themselves cannot draw us more deeply into our relationship with Jesus Christ.  If we are willing to go into the desert of silence and solitude, we will be tested.  But, we will also encounter Jesus Christ and know the incredible peace described by the prophet Isaiah.  Wolves are not guests of lambs in the chaotic and fractured world in which we live.  But God offers us a profound peace that the world cannot give when we know the presence of Jesus Christ, who has come to save us.