THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH

26 DECEMBER 2021

 

            Saint Luke gives us the only account in the Gospels of Jesus growing up as a child.  At one level, all families today can identify with the predicament of Mary and Joseph.  Even in a family where two of the members are without sin, there are difficulties because of confusion and lack of communication.  Most families can tell a story of a similar in losing track of a child, even for a short time.  All families with preteen boys can identify with Mary’s question:  “Son, why have you done this to us?”  Families today can take consolation in this story.

            Like your family, the Holy Family has religious customs to help their child grow in an understanding of the faith.  Like your family, the Holy Family has the support of their religious community.  Joseph and Mary rely on their family and friends to learn that their child must be back in Jerusalem and not in the caravan on the way home to Nazareth.  With the support of their community, they have the courage to take the risk of returning on a dangerous journey alone, making them vulnerable to thieves and villains.

            However, this story also gives us a preview of the Gospel of Luke which we will hear on most Sundays of this new Liturgical Year.  Once in Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph spend three agonizing days searching for their son.  When they find him, they are amazed at the response of the teachers.  These learned adults are impressed with his knowledge, much as the crowds would be amazed at the depth of his teaching as an adult.  When Jesus asks them why they were looking for him, he tells them that he must be in his Father’s house, a response that baffles them.  Their lack of understanding foreshadows the many ways in which his disciples could not understand the mission given to him by his Father.  However, he remains obedient to them as they return to Nazareth.  Mary keeps all these things in her heart, indicating her complete openness to God’s plan for her and for her son.  

Years later, Mary would spend three days grieving over her crucified son buried in a tomb.  Just as finding her son alive and well brought relief and joy, she would experience the incredible joy of his resurrection on the third day.  Mary never doubts the goodness and love of the Father.  That faith is rewarded with her own assumption into heaven as the first person to share fully in the bodily resurrection of her son.

The question which the adolescent Jesus asks of Mary and Joseph is the same he asks of us:  “Why were you looking for me?”  On this day after Christmas, we can understand better his response:  “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  Just as he needs to be in his Father’s house, we need to be here in his Father’s house with our families. 

I’ve often told stories about my human family gathered for Christmas on this Feast.  It is important that you know that my human family shares many of the same quirks as yours.  Today, I want to focus today on the family that is our parish gathered in our Father’s house.  I am truly humbled that you come here to find a home.  I am a sinner, and we who form this parish family are also sinners.  But this is your home.  As Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, he did what the religious authorities at the time considered unthinkable.  He dined with sinners!  That is what happens in this temple, in this house.  Pope Francis has shared that the Eucharist “…is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”  As the parish family of Saint Pius, we know that we will never meet the level of the holiness of the Holy Family.  Unworthy as we are, we celebrate the Lord’s presence here in our midst.  Saint Augustine reminds us that we become what we receive:  the Body of Christ.  We need each other, as the Holy Family needed the support of their community to be the Body of Christ in our world. 

 

THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

25 DECEMBER 2021

 

          There are four different sets of readings assigned to the Solemnity of Christmas.  The Gospel determines the tone for each one.  For those who participate at the 4:00 or 6:30 Masses, the Gospel is from Matthew.  Saint Matthew tells the Christmas story from the perspective of Saint Joseph.  When Joseph learns in a dream that Mary has conceived a child through the Holy Spirit, he welcomes Mary as his wife.  If you come to Midnight Mass, Saint Luke tells the story of Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem, where they find no room in the Inn.  The child is born in a stable, and angels proclaim to lowly shepherds the Good News.  At the 9:00 Mass on Christmas Day, Saint Luke relates what happens after the shepherds have left. Mary reflects in her heart all that has happened.  At the 11:00 Mass, we hear the magnificent prologue of the Gospel of Saint John.  He speaks of Jesus as the eternal Word of God without any beginning.  In the Christmas Miracle, the Word took on human flesh and dwells among us.

            Centuries ago, Saint Francis of Assisi realized that it is important to approach the Mystery of the Incarnation with a childlike faith.  For that reason, he established the first crèche.  He built a stable and brought in farm animals.  He invited the local community to play the roles of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi.  To this day, our children gaze on the crèche in the Parish Life Center.  They use their imaginations to put themselves into the drama of that first Christmas Night.  It makes the birth of Christ real to them.  The crèche invites those of us who are adults to reflect on this incredible Mystery with childlike faith.

            Saint John describes the birth of Jesus in his Gospel from a very different perspective.  Instead of picturing the events of the birth, he approaches the Mystery in a philosophical way.  However, Saint John also invites us to use our imagination and reflect on the Mystery of the Incarnation with childlike simplicity.  He tells us that the eternal Word has become flesh and made his dwelling among us.  In other words, Jesus Christ has pitched his tent and dwells among us.  The Word may have become flesh two millennia ago.  But John says that the Incarnation is not just a past event, but is a present reality.  At that time, people of faith saw his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.  He invites people of faith today to use our eyes of faith and our childlike imagination to see that same glory dwelling among us.

            In a world filled with so much darkness, so much strife, in a world divided among so many different issues, it takes childlike faith to see this reality.  With our ears, we have just heard the Good News proclaimed in the Word of Good.   With our eyes, we see bread and wine transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.  Much like children yearning to hold the newborn Christ in their arms when they look on the crèche, we actually hold his real presence in our hands when we receive Communion.  We recall his words that where two or three are gathered, he is present in our midst.  There are many more than two or three here!  Nourished by this Real Presence, we leave this Church to recognize how the Lord dwells in our midst. 

            The Word of God and the carols we sing at Christmas suggest the image of marriage.  God, our faithful spouse, has wedded heaven with earth.  God enters into this marital union, not because we are perfect, but because God loves us in all our sins and imperfections.  In this marriage, we can recognize the Lord’s presence in our ordinary lives and interactions with others.  We can recognize him in ways that are completely surprising and unexpected.  We can recognize him today in the places where we gather.  God has taken on our humanity, so that God can gradually transform us into his divinity.  When that happens, the true light of the world shines more brightly in the darkness of our world.  Merry Christmas.

 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

19 DECEMBER 2021

 

          We hear the story of two incredible women of faith embracing one another.  Elizabeth is pregnant in her old age.  She had endured the pain of infertility for many years.  Now she is expecting a child so long desired.  We can only imagine how happy and exuberant she is.  Mary is young and unmarried.  She has only recently been told about a child she did not expect.  We can only imagine that she is frightened and unsure of what will happen. 

            In the midst of these contrasts, both mothers demonstrate that they are open to God’s work through them in a beautiful and profound way.  Elizabeth is from the priestly class of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Mary is a humble peasant from Nazareth, a backwater village in the north.  Despite being in a higher socioeconomic class, Elizabeth bows to the presence of the gift in Mary’s womb.  She points to the relationship of the child leaping for joy in her womb with the Son of God present in the womb of Mary.  Both of these women model a gift of faith that will literally nurture God’s presence on earth.  In ways that they may not understand in this moment, their children will alter the course of human history.  The Baptist will be the precursor, the one pointing to the Lamb of God.  Jesus will be the One named in the Letter to the Hebrews:  the Savior who will sacrifice his life out of love for all of us.

            In Elizabeth, we see the example of faith through long suffering.  How many of us can identify with her?  Perhaps you have suffered from an inability to conceive children.  Or maybe you have suffered from economic disappointment, or some kind of affliction.  Some may have struggled for years in vain trying to bring sobriety to a loved one who is suffering from a terrible addiction.  These difficulties can bring us near the brink of despair.  It is very easy to be angry in these situations, because it seems that God has not responded to our urgent appeals for help.

            In Mary, we see the example of faith in unexpected hardship.  Certainly, children are always a gift.  But, there are always difficulties, as any parent can testify.  All of us know what it is like to experience hardship that we could never have anticipated.  In the moment, we find it difficult to see that hardship as a gift.  We also know the fear of taking a step into the unknown and trusting God’s presence when we decide to leave our place of comfort and safety.

            That is why Mary goes in haste to the hill country to meet her cousin Elizabeth.  In their different situations, each of these women can teach us how to be open to God’s gift and trust that the Lord is present in that gift.  Each of these women, in her own way, can show us how to be open to how God can work in our lives, especially in unexpected and difficult situations.  Each of them shows us a deep faith that God can turn a hardship into a gift.

            That is the real Mystery we are preparing to celebrate later this week at Christmas.  God has become present to the world in a way that no one could have expected.  The prophets may have given hope to their people that God would send a messiah.  But they could not have imagined that God would actually take flesh and make his dwelling among us.

            Mary provides both a gift and a model for us.  On this last Sunday of Advent, she invites us to imitate her example.  Like Mary, we have listened carefully to the Word just proclaimed to us.  Like Mary, we can give praise and thanks for that Word, whether we receive it within the context of long suffering or unexpected hardship.  We can ask her intercession to find ways to respond in faith to God’s Word.  Then, like Mary, we can go in haste.  We go in haste to gather together with family and loved ones to celebrate the incredible Mystery of the Incarnation, embracing the Christ born in our midst today.

 

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

12 DECEMBER 2021

 

          Saint Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always.  In case they miss his message, he says it again.  In telling them to rejoice, he does not pretend that everything is in perfect order.  He writes from his prison cell in Rome, where he is awaiting execution for the crime of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As much as he loves the Church of Philippi, he knows that they are dealing with difficult issues.  Some had come into the community to inform the Philippians that they are not worshipping God as well as other communities.  He also knows that two of the women in church leadership are engaged in a public quarrel.  That quarrel has caused painful divisions in the community they had helped Paul to establish.

            In the midst of these difficulties, Paul insists that they can rejoice, because the Lord is near.  The nearness of the Lord has the power to bring a peace that surpasses all understanding.  It is not the peace imposed by the forces of imperial Rome.  It is a peace too great for their minds to comprehend.  It is a peace that accomplishes more than they could imagine.

            In the desert, John the Baptist also announces that the Lord is near.  He tells those who have been waiting for the promised Messiah to prepare by repenting and changing their lives.  Three different groups ask him for specific examples of what they should do.  He tells the crowds that they should share one of their cloaks with someone who has none.  He tells the tax collectors not to collect more than what the Romans prescribed.  He tells the soldiers to avoid extortion, falsely accusing anyone, and complaining about their wages.

            These three groups are open to hearing the Baptist’s call to conversion, because all three groups recognize their weaknesses.  The religious authorities consider the crowds to be ignorant and lax.  They criticize the tax collectors, because their corrupt system allows them to keep for themselves more than the Romans demand.  They denounce soldiers as agents of Roman control who can take advantage of their power.  The Baptist invites us to recognize our weaknesses as we prepare to celebrate the first coming of the Lord at Christmas.  With the crowds, we can resist the temptation to regard Christmas as an excuse for accumulating more stuff and give away what we do not need to the poor.  With the tax collectors, we can resist the temptation of getting ahead of our neighbors by cheating or putting our needs first.  With the soldiers, we can resist the temptation to use whatever power we have to control or dominate other people.

            Like Saint Paul and the Philippians, we live in a world that is far from perfect.  The scars of war, racism, hatred, and greed surround us.  There is no need to prove the existence of Original Sin.  It is all around us.  We continue to quarrel about our political divisions and bring those divisions into our parish and school community.  We are tempted to reinforce our own views instead of honestly seeking what is true from objective sources.  We are too intolerant of those with whom we disagree.

            For that reason, we must remember that the Lord is in our midst.  We too can rejoice.  When the Baptist immersed repentant sinners in the waters of the Jordan, they emerged the same people, cleansed of their sins.  Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and fire.  After being buried, he was transformed by the fire of the resurrection.  We who have been baptized into Christ Jesus can trust that same transformation and embrace a peace that the world cannot give.  Please come to the Advent Penance Service on Tuesday.  Allow the fire of the Lord’s mercy to burn away whatever separates us from him and one another.  Then we can more confidently believe that the Lord is near, and that we can rejoice in the Lord always as we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s first coming at Christmas.

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

5 DECEMBER 2021

 

          Saint Luke makes it clear that something is happening that will become a turning point in human history.  But, it does not happen in the palaces of the prominent people: not in Caesar’s palace in Rome, and not in the Roman governor’s or any of the powerful tetrarchs around the region.  It does not even happen in the Temple in the presence of the “holy” high priests.  The Word of God skips all these people and goes to an unlikely character in an unlikely place.  The Word of God goes to a wandering preacher, the son of a high priest.  The unlikely place is the desert on the banks of the Jordan River.  The desert has stripped John the Baptist of all comforts.

            And that is what the Baptist is calling people to do.  He tells people to strip themselves of all what they are clinging to and be vigilant for the coming of the long awaited Messiah.  In pointing beyond himself, he points to the Lord who is coming.  As a way of being vigilant, John people to strip themselves of their physical clothing, enter into the waters of the Jordan, and be immersed in a baptism of repentance.  He defines “repentance” as more than regretting the sins and failures of the past.  He defines “repentance” with the Greek word metanoia, which means a complete change of heart and mind.

            Last Sunday, Toni Medaglia told us in her witness talk about how she had been stripped away.  First, she was stripped of living a comfortable life in Ohio.  She was not kidding when she said that Indiana was the last place where she wanted to live.  Then, she was stripped of her loving husband when he died in her arms of cancer.  She did not choose to live in Indiana or to live as a widow.  In the midst of her pain and grief, she turned to the Lord in prayer.  She opened herself to new possibilities.  She continues in her ministry as a Pediatrician and her role as a mother.  She is grateful for the support she has received from the parishioners of Saint Pius.  She has started a new ministry here – Seasons of Hope – in an effort to help others who are grieving to work through their pain and recognize the Lord’s consoling love in their lives.  She has shown us an example of what metanoia means – a change in her heart and mind.

The Baptist invites us to use this Season of Advent as a time to be stripped of what we are clinging to.  We may have been stripped in very painful ways like Toni was:  stripped of our health, our income, our loved ones, or any number of losses.  Advent becomes a time to enter more deeply into prayer and open ourselves to a change of heart and mind in these situations.  In entering into a more intense spirit of prayer, we can use Advent as a time to strip ourselves of habits or attitudes that prevent us from preparing for coming of the Lord.  We can level the mountains of our pride and acknowledge that we are not self-sufficient.  We embrace more fully our need to engage in the partnership of this community, as Saint Paul recommends to the Philippians.  Or maybe we need to fill in the valleys of our desire to exercise our personal freedoms and accept our responsibility to contribute to the common good.

            Pope Francis said this about Advent:  “Advent invites us to a commitment to vigilance, looking beyond ourselves, expanding our mind and heart in order to open ourselves up to the needs of people, or brothers and sisters, and to the desire for a new world.”  That new world began with the Mystery of the Incarnation, the first coming that we will celebrate at Christmas.  That new world will be fulfilled when the Lord comes again, either at the end of our lives or at the end of the world.  We remain vigilant for the coming of the Lord when we are willing to allow the Lord to give us a change of heart and mind.