Reading I 1 John 4:11-18
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another,
God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe
in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is,
so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 72
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
+++
Gospel Mark 6:45-52
After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied,
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd.
And when he had taken leave of them,
he went off to the mountain to pray.
When it was evening,
the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore.
Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing,
for the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea.
He meant to pass by them.
But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out.
They had all seen him and were terrified.
But at once he spoke with them,
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”
He got into the boat with them and the wind died down.
They were completely astounded.
They had not understood the incident of the loaves.
On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
+++ +++ +++ +++
The lesson of today’s gospel is that wonders can occur, such as feeding five thousand people with five barley loves, or calming a storm, if we trust in God’s providence and mercy. The lesson of today’s first reading is that if we truly love God, and have confidence in Him, we have the power to do whatever God asks of us, even if it seems impossible.
A good example of the power of faith and confidence in God’s providence and mercy is the story of the saint of the day, Blessed Andre Bessette, of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
He was born on August 9, 1845, and baptized the next day at the church of Saint Mathias in County Rouville, Quebec, the eight of twelve children born to Isaac Bessette and Clotilde Foisy, who had been married there in 1831. The entire family lived in a one room house. His father worked as a carpenter; his mother took care of the house.
On February 20, 1855, Isaac Bessette was killed when a tree he was felling fell on him. On November 10, 1857, his mother died of consumption at the age of 43. Alfred, an orphan at the age of 12, was adopted by his uncle Timothee Nadeau. That year, while preparing to receive First Holy Communion, Alfred decided never to marry, following the example of Saint Joseph. The next year, he was confirmed by the Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe. At the age of 20, he went to live with relatives in the United States, and spent two years working in the textile and paper mills of Holyoke, Massachusetts. He returned to Quebec in 1867.
Father André Provencal noticed that this young man was prayerful, and recommended him to the Holy Cross Brothers. When he came to Notre Dame College in Montreal, he carried with him a note from the pastor: “I am sending you a saint.” The Brothers found that difficult to believe. Alfred was not a healthy young man, and he had wandered from farm to farm, shop to shop, factory to factory in Quebec and in New England, staying only until his bosses found out how little he could accomplish. At the age of 25, Alfred was unable to read or write, not an unusual circumstance for most people of that generation, either in the United States or in Canada. The Holy Cross Brothers were educators; they seemed to think that Alfred had approached them not by vocation, but desperation.
Alfred was prayerful and deeply devoted to God and to Saint Joseph. He was convinced that this was the time and the place for him to stop wandering and settle down. The Brothers accepted him into their novitiate, but soon learned what others had found before them: Alfred, now known as Brother André, was willing to work, but simply wasn’t strong enough. They asked him to leave but André appealed to Bishop Bourget who was visiting, and who promised that André would stay and take his vows.
After his profession as a Brother, André was sent to Notre Dame College (a boarding school for boys age 7 to 12) as a doorkeeper. His responsibilities consisted of: answering the door bell, welcoming guests, finding the people they were visiting, wake up the students in the morning, and deliver the mail. Years later he would joke: “After my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door; but instead of leaving through it, I stayed right there for forty years.”
In 1904, he wrote to the Archbishop of Montreal, requesting permission to build a chapel in honor of Saint Joseph on the hillside near the College. The Archbishop declined to place that burden on the congregation, but allowed Brother André to build only what he had money for. What riches did Brother André have? Five cent pieces he had collected from the boys when he cut their hair. Five and ten cent pieces he collected in a small dish he had placed in a picnic shelter near the top of the mountain next to a statue of Saint Joseph, with a sign “Donations for Saint Joseph”. He collected small change for several years, but still had only a few hundred dollars. Who could start a chapel with such meager funding?
André took his few hundred dollars and build what he could: a wooden shelter only 15’ x 18’. He kept on collecting, and three years later, returned to the Episcopal Palace to request more building. The Archbishop commented, in a wry voice, “Are you having visions of Saint Joseph telling you to build a church for him?” Brother André replied, “Bishop, I have only my great devotion to Saint-Joseph to guide me."
The Archbishop gave him permission to keep building so long as he did not go into debt. He added a roof to the shelter, then walls, heating, a shelter for pilgrims and, finally, a place where Brother André and others would live and take care of the shrine – and of the pilgrims, who came in great numbers. Over the years, Brother André helped many people experience healing and renewal on the mountain top. There were even some cases of physical healing.
Brother André never lost confidence or devotion. He had started to build a basilica on the mountain, but the Great Depression had intervened. At the age of 90, he told his co-workers to place a statue of Saint Joseph in the unfinished, unroofed basilica. He was so feeble that he had to be carried up the mountain to see the statue in its new home. He died not long after, on January 6, 1937. At his funeral, a million people came to pray before his coffin. His body now rests in the Basilica of Saint Joseph of Montreal. When his tomb was opened by the Ecclesiastical Tribunal on September 11, 1963, the body was intact and free of decomposition.
Brother André did not live to see the work of the basilica completed. But, in Brother André’s mind, it would never be completed because there are there are always more ways to bring comfort and healing to others.
Brother André died in Montreal in 1937, was declared Venerable in 1978 and beatified in 1982. One miracle was approved for beatification, and a second one must be certified for canonization. Pope Benedict XVI has recently acknowledged as scientifically inexplicable a healing due to the intercession of Blessed Brother Andre. The details of this miracle are confidential for now. This important step renews our hope that soon Blessed Brother André Bessette, C.S.C., will be recognized among the saints of the Catholic Church.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Give Them Some Food Yourselves! Jesus Said.
Memorial of Saint John Neumann, bishop
Reading I 1 John 7:10
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 72
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
+++
Gospel Mark 6:34-44
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing,
broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
+++ +++ +++ +++
In his commentary on today’s Gospel, Dominican Father Donagh O’Shea recalls a friend of his, now deceased, who always said things like, “Why don’t you fix it yourself?” The effect was like that of turning off a tap: it stopped all complaints instantly. But that wasn’t why he used to say it. He was a hands-on person by instinct, so his words had great power to challenge – much more than if he were only being provocative. His kind of language was real and practical, “Do it, and we’ll talk about it later!” “Go, and see for yourself!” “Let’s do it ourselves!” He once asked another friend a direct question and she replied evasively, “I’ll have to think about that.” “I’ll wait!” he said, and he waited right there.
"Give them some food yourselves!” Jesus said. “Where are we supposed to buy a whole year’s wages to feed this crowd? We only have five loaves and a couple of fish”, he said, “Start with that, then.” And when they started to do it, they found that it worked. On another occasion, he said to a paralytic man who had been lying on his cot for thirty-eight years, “Get up!” and when he tried, he did it! There are probably miracles everywhere just ready to pop, if only we would do it instead of talking about it.
Reading I 1 John 7:10
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 72
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
+++
Gospel Mark 6:34-44
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing,
broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
+++ +++ +++ +++
In his commentary on today’s Gospel, Dominican Father Donagh O’Shea recalls a friend of his, now deceased, who always said things like, “Why don’t you fix it yourself?” The effect was like that of turning off a tap: it stopped all complaints instantly. But that wasn’t why he used to say it. He was a hands-on person by instinct, so his words had great power to challenge – much more than if he were only being provocative. His kind of language was real and practical, “Do it, and we’ll talk about it later!” “Go, and see for yourself!” “Let’s do it ourselves!” He once asked another friend a direct question and she replied evasively, “I’ll have to think about that.” “I’ll wait!” he said, and he waited right there.
"Give them some food yourselves!” Jesus said. “Where are we supposed to buy a whole year’s wages to feed this crowd? We only have five loaves and a couple of fish”, he said, “Start with that, then.” And when they started to do it, they found that it worked. On another occasion, he said to a paralytic man who had been lying on his cot for thirty-eight years, “Get up!” and when he tried, he did it! There are probably miracles everywhere just ready to pop, if only we would do it instead of talking about it.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Those Who Sit In Darkness Have Seen A Great Light.
Reading I 1 John 3:22–4:6
Beloved:
We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit whom he gave us.
Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist who, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 2
I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.”
I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
And now, O kings, give heed;
take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice before him;
with trembling rejoice.
I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
+++
Gospel Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
He went around all of Galilee,teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,and curing every disease and illness among the people. His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseasesand racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,and he cured them. And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
+++ +++ +++ +++
If we look at today’s readings in chronological order – first Matthew’s gospel, then John’s epistle, there is a sequence in the narrative. In the gospel, Jesus travels about in Galilee “proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.” The word spread, and people began coming to him from all over the region, Jews and pagans alike, even from the other bank of the Jordan. Not only did he cure the sick of every disease and illness, but he encouraged them all in simple terms to repent of their sins, and reform their lives, in order to live in God’s Kingdom. Then, in his epistle, John speaks to us of how we, in our own endeavor to re-form our lives, can be certain that we are “on the right track”, following the Way of Jesus.
Allow me to make that more specific to our own day, and to our individual situations. Each of us is moved by a single desire or yearning that goes deeper than any of the little things that we use and do to satisfy ourselves. If we try to imagine that all our wishes were granted – food, shelter, safety, health, strength, beauty, human love, etc. – we will find that there is still an empty place in our hearts, and that we need to seek a satisfaction beyond the things of this world. Augustine, in the opening words of his Confessions, says something like this: “Lord, you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
To reach that place, we must set aside the things of this world, at least to the extent that they are our present priorities. To be sure, we need food, health, strength enough to live, and all the rest; but more basically, we need to re-form our lives in such a way that these things are secondary, and that knowing, loving and serving God is primary. This is the only way that we can truly be at rest, be satisfied, be fulfilled. This demands a separation from things, an end to our attachment, even dependence on things that will be seen as poverty in the eyes of this world. We also need a poverty of self, which puts our values and our will into the hands of the Father. This is the sure foundation for the most trustworthy way of being active in our lives.
How will we know that we are living this life in the best way possible? That will be when we truly believe that we are the beloved children of a loving Father; that we are brothers and sisters of the living Lord, who is our gentle Shepherd, and our Older Brother, our model for being human; and that the Holy Spirit that Jesus has sent to us is guiding us with wonderful warmth and care – so long as we so desire.
Let us pray to our Father in Heaven as children, and seek to do His loving will. Let us trust Him absolutely, casting aside our lives in the eyes of this world to receive them fresh and new, formed anew by the powerful and caring hands of a God who never ceases to call us to life, and to re-create us in His own image.
We are truly blessed!
Charles Kestermeier, S.J.
Creighton Online Ministries
Beloved:
We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit whom he gave us.
Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist who, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 2
I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.”
I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
And now, O kings, give heed;
take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice before him;
with trembling rejoice.
I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
+++
Gospel Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
He went around all of Galilee,teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,and curing every disease and illness among the people. His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseasesand racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,and he cured them. And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
+++ +++ +++ +++
If we look at today’s readings in chronological order – first Matthew’s gospel, then John’s epistle, there is a sequence in the narrative. In the gospel, Jesus travels about in Galilee “proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.” The word spread, and people began coming to him from all over the region, Jews and pagans alike, even from the other bank of the Jordan. Not only did he cure the sick of every disease and illness, but he encouraged them all in simple terms to repent of their sins, and reform their lives, in order to live in God’s Kingdom. Then, in his epistle, John speaks to us of how we, in our own endeavor to re-form our lives, can be certain that we are “on the right track”, following the Way of Jesus.
Allow me to make that more specific to our own day, and to our individual situations. Each of us is moved by a single desire or yearning that goes deeper than any of the little things that we use and do to satisfy ourselves. If we try to imagine that all our wishes were granted – food, shelter, safety, health, strength, beauty, human love, etc. – we will find that there is still an empty place in our hearts, and that we need to seek a satisfaction beyond the things of this world. Augustine, in the opening words of his Confessions, says something like this: “Lord, you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
To reach that place, we must set aside the things of this world, at least to the extent that they are our present priorities. To be sure, we need food, health, strength enough to live, and all the rest; but more basically, we need to re-form our lives in such a way that these things are secondary, and that knowing, loving and serving God is primary. This is the only way that we can truly be at rest, be satisfied, be fulfilled. This demands a separation from things, an end to our attachment, even dependence on things that will be seen as poverty in the eyes of this world. We also need a poverty of self, which puts our values and our will into the hands of the Father. This is the sure foundation for the most trustworthy way of being active in our lives.
How will we know that we are living this life in the best way possible? That will be when we truly believe that we are the beloved children of a loving Father; that we are brothers and sisters of the living Lord, who is our gentle Shepherd, and our Older Brother, our model for being human; and that the Holy Spirit that Jesus has sent to us is guiding us with wonderful warmth and care – so long as we so desire.
Let us pray to our Father in Heaven as children, and seek to do His loving will. Let us trust Him absolutely, casting aside our lives in the eyes of this world to receive them fresh and new, formed anew by the powerful and caring hands of a God who never ceases to call us to life, and to re-create us in His own image.
We are truly blessed!
Charles Kestermeier, S.J.
Creighton Online Ministries
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Faith, Hope, Love Remain; But The Greatest Of These Is Love.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Responsorial
Psalm 71
I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
I will sing of your salvation.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Reading II
1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three,
but the greatest of these is love.
Gospel
Luke 4:21-30
Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
+++
THE BEGINNING of today’s Gospel repeats some of last Sunday’s. Jesus, at the beginning of his public life, has delivered what today we would call his ‘mission statement’, using words of the prophet Isaiah. Today, as he speaks, Jesus says that these words are being fulfilled – in him. The Messiah they have been waiting for is now here in the person of Jesus. His Kingdom has begun to be realised in his works of healing, of reconciliation and liberation from evil powers.
At first the crowd is absolutely amazed at Jesus’ eloquence, amazed at his gracious words. “Is not this Joe the Carpenter’s boy?” Jesus, a carpenter and the son of a carpenter, can speak like this? What, then, are their expectations now of Jesus? What do they see in him? Maybe, suggests Jesus, they are thinking: “Doctor, heal yourself.” Not in the sense of Jesus healing his own body but in the sense of doing for his own community in Nazareth some of the things he was reputed to be doing in Capernaum and other parts of Galilee.
The prophet’s lot
But, says Jesus to them, a prophet is not normally accepted in his own place. He then gives two striking examples from the Hebrew Testament, one from Elijah and the other from Elisha, two prophets closely linked with the coming of the Messiah.
Elijah was sent to help a poor Gentile widow in Sidon (a non-Jewish area) during a famine caused by three and a half years of drought. Why did the prophet go to her when there were so many Jewish widows in the same plight? Similarly, there were many lepers in Israel but Elisha was sent to Naaman, a Syrian general. The Syrians were the hated enemies of Israel.
Jesus was being quite provocative in telling these stories. Why so? The answer comes in Mark’s account of this incident and he gives two reasons:
a. Because the people of Nazareth knew Jesus’ family so well, they were not ready to receive him or his message about his own identity and mission. It is a good example of familiarity breeding contempt. Because Jesus had grown up among them, they thought they knew who he was. They were not ready to accept that he was something very much more.
b. Secondly, Mark comments that Jesus was able to do very little healing in Nazareth because they refused to believe in him. They had no faith. It is clear on many occasions that Jesus’ healing power only came to those who had total trust in him. “Go in peace; your faith has made you whole again.” And, of course, the response of the people of Nazareth was only a foretaste of the total rejection of Jesus by many of his own people. Jesus’ words were not really provocative. They were simply a description of what was happening.
Amazement turns to hatred
At first, the crowd was amazed that one of their fellow villagers could speak with such grace and eloquence and with such authority. But it was something altogether different to put themselves in his hands. Who did he really think he was? After hearing Jesus’ words about the poor reception of prophets by their own people, they were worked up into a blind rage and hatred. They wanted to push Jesus off the cliff on which their town was built.
But, says Mark, Jesus passed through their midst and left them. These are terrible words and let us pray that such a thing may never happen to us:
- that Jesus should walk right through us
- that we should fail to recognize his presence among us (usually in the people around us)
- that we even reject him,
so that he goes off without us, leaving us behind. It will not be he who has abandoned us; we will have rejected him. And he will never force himself on us.
Gospel contradictions
As Christians, we have to be ready to face certain contradictions in living a Gospel life.
The first part of this contradiction comes in the Second Reading, a famous and much-quoted passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Paul, after speaking about the importance of the gifts of the Spirit which each one has received, says that love is the most important gift of all.
Love indeed is a gift. Loving is an art which has to be received and nurtured. The ancient Greeks had three words for ‘love’: eros, philia and agape. Putting it very briefly, eros is passionate, physical love, the love of young lovers. Philia is the love of friendship and implies a very deep intimate and mutual relationship between two people involving total transparency of one to the other. It is really the highest form of love and finds its best – but not its only – expression in a really good marriage. Agape, which is the love Paul is speaking about here, is a unilateral, unconditional reaching out in love to another, even if it is not returned or even rejected. This is the love that God has for every single person and the kind of love which should be the characteristic of the true follower of Christ in his/her relationship with people everywhere. It is agape which makes it possible to pray for those who curse us and bless those who harm us.
Without this agape, as Paul tells us, none of other gifts of the Spirit have any value. I may speak with extraordinary eloquence about the Gospel message but, if I do it without love, I am like a booming gong – all sound and no substance. I may be able to utter prophetic statements in God’s name, be gifted with the deepest insights, knowledge and wisdom. Without love, it is nothing. I may even have a faith that can move mountains but, if there is no love there, it is nothing.
Qualities of agape
Paul then lists some of the qualities of agape. It is kind, not envious, not boastful, not arrogant, not rude, not self-willed, not irritable, not resentful. It is does not rejoice in wrongdoing but in truth, integrity and wholeness. Agape has a high level of tolerance and is endlessly ready to trust. It endlessly hopes and is endlessly able to endure. In spite of all obstacles, it perseveres. Examples of real people who lived like this would be Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. They consistently refused in the face of all kinds of misunderstanding and abuse to stoop to any form of violent retaliation. They affirmed the dignity of every single person, including their enemies.
Speaking with a prophetic voice, Paul asserts that all forms of knowledge and learning will some day come to an end. But agape, as part of God’s own being, will go on forever. Now, Paul tells us, we know God and truth as in a clouded mirror but one day it will be face to face. Then there will be no need for faith or for hope. Faith will give way to total vision and hope will yield to realisation. But agape will remain. And when God’s agape meets mine the result is an eternal bonding in perfect philia.
Universally loved?
However, we now come to the other side of the contradiction we mentioned earlier. If we do succeed in becoming a totally loving people, then we will be universally loved in return. Right? Wrong!
There are two ways in which pain can come into our lives:
a. One is the result of our sinfulness, our living in disharmony with truth and love. This can produce physical, emotional or mental pain.
b. But there is also the suffering that comes from following the Way of Truth, of Love, of Compassion, of true Freedom. Following this way will often bring us in conflict with those who fear or are threatened by Truth and Love. Today’s Gospel is a perfect example. Like Jesus, the most loving person who ever lived, we may find ourselves rejected, even hated and destroyed precisely because of our goodness and integrity.
This is the contradiction or paradox: the more loving we are, the more people our love embraces as we transcend labels and prejudices dividing people, the more likely we will be rejected, persecuted and hated – even by ‘religious’ people. (There were few people more religious than the Pharisees of Jesus’ time.)
This was the experience of the poor prophet Jeremiah and it was something the Lord clearly warned him about. He was called by God to be a “prophet to the nations”. He was to brace himself for action and stand up to the people, passing on God’s message to them. He was not to be alarmed at their presence. God would give him all the necessary strength to carry out his task. He will be like a “fortified city, a pillar of iron, and a wall of bronze” confronting people from the king to the poorest peasants. But he should have no illusions: “They will fight against you.”
However, “they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you.”
This is an experience which prophets of the Gospel have had again and again. On the one hand their message of Truth and Love has been rejected and they have been attacked and abused but they have experienced a special strength to carry on.
One thinks again of Martin Luther King and his civil rights marchers singing “We shall overcome” as they were carted off to jail, were washed down with fire hoses and had savage Alsatian dogs thrown at them. However, underneath this kind of suffering – unlike the pain that comes from sin – there lies an unshakeable inner joy and firm peace that only Jesus can give.
As the life of Jesus clearly indicates, there is a price to be paid for being an agape-filled person but it is a price well worth paying. The price of going along any other road is even greater.
Reading I
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Responsorial
Psalm 71
I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
I will sing of your salvation.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Reading II
1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three,
but the greatest of these is love.
Gospel
Luke 4:21-30
Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
+++
THE BEGINNING of today’s Gospel repeats some of last Sunday’s. Jesus, at the beginning of his public life, has delivered what today we would call his ‘mission statement’, using words of the prophet Isaiah. Today, as he speaks, Jesus says that these words are being fulfilled – in him. The Messiah they have been waiting for is now here in the person of Jesus. His Kingdom has begun to be realised in his works of healing, of reconciliation and liberation from evil powers.
At first the crowd is absolutely amazed at Jesus’ eloquence, amazed at his gracious words. “Is not this Joe the Carpenter’s boy?” Jesus, a carpenter and the son of a carpenter, can speak like this? What, then, are their expectations now of Jesus? What do they see in him? Maybe, suggests Jesus, they are thinking: “Doctor, heal yourself.” Not in the sense of Jesus healing his own body but in the sense of doing for his own community in Nazareth some of the things he was reputed to be doing in Capernaum and other parts of Galilee.
The prophet’s lot
But, says Jesus to them, a prophet is not normally accepted in his own place. He then gives two striking examples from the Hebrew Testament, one from Elijah and the other from Elisha, two prophets closely linked with the coming of the Messiah.
Elijah was sent to help a poor Gentile widow in Sidon (a non-Jewish area) during a famine caused by three and a half years of drought. Why did the prophet go to her when there were so many Jewish widows in the same plight? Similarly, there were many lepers in Israel but Elisha was sent to Naaman, a Syrian general. The Syrians were the hated enemies of Israel.
Jesus was being quite provocative in telling these stories. Why so? The answer comes in Mark’s account of this incident and he gives two reasons:
a. Because the people of Nazareth knew Jesus’ family so well, they were not ready to receive him or his message about his own identity and mission. It is a good example of familiarity breeding contempt. Because Jesus had grown up among them, they thought they knew who he was. They were not ready to accept that he was something very much more.
b. Secondly, Mark comments that Jesus was able to do very little healing in Nazareth because they refused to believe in him. They had no faith. It is clear on many occasions that Jesus’ healing power only came to those who had total trust in him. “Go in peace; your faith has made you whole again.” And, of course, the response of the people of Nazareth was only a foretaste of the total rejection of Jesus by many of his own people. Jesus’ words were not really provocative. They were simply a description of what was happening.
Amazement turns to hatred
At first, the crowd was amazed that one of their fellow villagers could speak with such grace and eloquence and with such authority. But it was something altogether different to put themselves in his hands. Who did he really think he was? After hearing Jesus’ words about the poor reception of prophets by their own people, they were worked up into a blind rage and hatred. They wanted to push Jesus off the cliff on which their town was built.
But, says Mark, Jesus passed through their midst and left them. These are terrible words and let us pray that such a thing may never happen to us:
- that Jesus should walk right through us
- that we should fail to recognize his presence among us (usually in the people around us)
- that we even reject him,
so that he goes off without us, leaving us behind. It will not be he who has abandoned us; we will have rejected him. And he will never force himself on us.
Gospel contradictions
As Christians, we have to be ready to face certain contradictions in living a Gospel life.
The first part of this contradiction comes in the Second Reading, a famous and much-quoted passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Paul, after speaking about the importance of the gifts of the Spirit which each one has received, says that love is the most important gift of all.
Love indeed is a gift. Loving is an art which has to be received and nurtured. The ancient Greeks had three words for ‘love’: eros, philia and agape. Putting it very briefly, eros is passionate, physical love, the love of young lovers. Philia is the love of friendship and implies a very deep intimate and mutual relationship between two people involving total transparency of one to the other. It is really the highest form of love and finds its best – but not its only – expression in a really good marriage. Agape, which is the love Paul is speaking about here, is a unilateral, unconditional reaching out in love to another, even if it is not returned or even rejected. This is the love that God has for every single person and the kind of love which should be the characteristic of the true follower of Christ in his/her relationship with people everywhere. It is agape which makes it possible to pray for those who curse us and bless those who harm us.
Without this agape, as Paul tells us, none of other gifts of the Spirit have any value. I may speak with extraordinary eloquence about the Gospel message but, if I do it without love, I am like a booming gong – all sound and no substance. I may be able to utter prophetic statements in God’s name, be gifted with the deepest insights, knowledge and wisdom. Without love, it is nothing. I may even have a faith that can move mountains but, if there is no love there, it is nothing.
Qualities of agape
Paul then lists some of the qualities of agape. It is kind, not envious, not boastful, not arrogant, not rude, not self-willed, not irritable, not resentful. It is does not rejoice in wrongdoing but in truth, integrity and wholeness. Agape has a high level of tolerance and is endlessly ready to trust. It endlessly hopes and is endlessly able to endure. In spite of all obstacles, it perseveres. Examples of real people who lived like this would be Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. They consistently refused in the face of all kinds of misunderstanding and abuse to stoop to any form of violent retaliation. They affirmed the dignity of every single person, including their enemies.
Speaking with a prophetic voice, Paul asserts that all forms of knowledge and learning will some day come to an end. But agape, as part of God’s own being, will go on forever. Now, Paul tells us, we know God and truth as in a clouded mirror but one day it will be face to face. Then there will be no need for faith or for hope. Faith will give way to total vision and hope will yield to realisation. But agape will remain. And when God’s agape meets mine the result is an eternal bonding in perfect philia.
Universally loved?
However, we now come to the other side of the contradiction we mentioned earlier. If we do succeed in becoming a totally loving people, then we will be universally loved in return. Right? Wrong!
There are two ways in which pain can come into our lives:
a. One is the result of our sinfulness, our living in disharmony with truth and love. This can produce physical, emotional or mental pain.
b. But there is also the suffering that comes from following the Way of Truth, of Love, of Compassion, of true Freedom. Following this way will often bring us in conflict with those who fear or are threatened by Truth and Love. Today’s Gospel is a perfect example. Like Jesus, the most loving person who ever lived, we may find ourselves rejected, even hated and destroyed precisely because of our goodness and integrity.
This is the contradiction or paradox: the more loving we are, the more people our love embraces as we transcend labels and prejudices dividing people, the more likely we will be rejected, persecuted and hated – even by ‘religious’ people. (There were few people more religious than the Pharisees of Jesus’ time.)
This was the experience of the poor prophet Jeremiah and it was something the Lord clearly warned him about. He was called by God to be a “prophet to the nations”. He was to brace himself for action and stand up to the people, passing on God’s message to them. He was not to be alarmed at their presence. God would give him all the necessary strength to carry out his task. He will be like a “fortified city, a pillar of iron, and a wall of bronze” confronting people from the king to the poorest peasants. But he should have no illusions: “They will fight against you.”
However, “they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you.”
This is an experience which prophets of the Gospel have had again and again. On the one hand their message of Truth and Love has been rejected and they have been attacked and abused but they have experienced a special strength to carry on.
One thinks again of Martin Luther King and his civil rights marchers singing “We shall overcome” as they were carted off to jail, were washed down with fire hoses and had savage Alsatian dogs thrown at them. However, underneath this kind of suffering – unlike the pain that comes from sin – there lies an unshakeable inner joy and firm peace that only Jesus can give.
As the life of Jesus clearly indicates, there is a price to be paid for being an agape-filled person but it is a price well worth paying. The price of going along any other road is even greater.
Lord, Every Nation On Earth Will Adore You!
The Epiphany of the Lord
Reading I Isaiah 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 72
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
+++
Reading II Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
+++
Gospel Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.
+++ +++ +++ +++
The seventeenth century artist Guido Reni created a magnificent painting of Matthew. As he sits at his writing table, an angel is whispering to him various events in the life of Jesus, and he is writing down everything he is told. His notes will become his Gospel. A part of what that angel revealed to Matthew is today in today’s gospel of the Epiphany. It is only Matthew who tells this wondrous tale. Why the other Evangelists don’t mention it, we will never know – at least not in this world.
In most of the world, Epiphany, not Christmas, is the time for gift giving, especially for the children. In France, cakes are baked, and coins placed in them. In Greece, a cross is thrown into the water, and whoever retrieves it receives presents. In the Latin countries, boys and girls leave hay in their shoes for the camels to eat, hoping that the camels with thank them by leaving gifts.
As their journey began, the three pilgrims left the warmth of their own fires and the love of their families; alone and undaunted, they went searching for God. They responded eagerly to the invitation of the Spirit, leaving their homeland with its familiar language and culture, and coming to a distant land whose ruler was a tyrant who murdered his enemies – and even members of his own family.
It was not at Herod’s palace that they completed their quest. They did not find the God they sought in a palace surrounded by courtiers and soldiers. Instead, he was lying in a manger surrounded by the pungent aromas of farm animals. Matthew records no sign of disappointment on their part. Instead, they humbly fell to their knees and placed their finest gifts before him. Only then did they return to their homes, wives and children.
These seekers, whom we call “Magi” from the Greek “magoi” which is the root of our words “magic” and “magician”, were not illusionists like modern magicians, but astronomers who studied the heavens, and tried to figure out the relationship between what was happening in the sky and what was happening on earth. They were part astronomer, and part astrologer.
They are also called “Wise Men”, because they followed the celestial signs that led them to the Holy Child. They were the first Gentiles to worship Christ the Lord. They were, in a very real sense, the first Christians. Wherever the Christmas story is told, they will be remembered.
These men proved to be wise indeed. They had risked everything for God, and they had achieved their goal. Is there any doubt that the equally wise Matthew is trying to teach us a lesson, as well? Each of us must take risks if we would find God. If we are overly cautious or fearful, we will not enjoy our own epiphany, we will not find the newborn Savior.
How unlike these Wise Men were the Temple priests. They read the Scriptures; they knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Yet, they would not join the Magi in their quest. Now we can only shake our heads in wonder at their blindness, and pity them. And, in the next to last chapter of the story that today brings us to the stable in Bethlehem, those priests and Pharisees, and a younger Herod, would have their roles to play in “the end of the story”. But for now, let’s stay with the newborn babe, his mother and father, the shepherds and the wise men. Let’s try to be as humble as the shepherds, and as wise as the Magi.
Reading I Isaiah 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
+++
Responsorial Psalm 72
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
+++
Reading II Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
+++
Gospel Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.
+++ +++ +++ +++
The seventeenth century artist Guido Reni created a magnificent painting of Matthew. As he sits at his writing table, an angel is whispering to him various events in the life of Jesus, and he is writing down everything he is told. His notes will become his Gospel. A part of what that angel revealed to Matthew is today in today’s gospel of the Epiphany. It is only Matthew who tells this wondrous tale. Why the other Evangelists don’t mention it, we will never know – at least not in this world.
In most of the world, Epiphany, not Christmas, is the time for gift giving, especially for the children. In France, cakes are baked, and coins placed in them. In Greece, a cross is thrown into the water, and whoever retrieves it receives presents. In the Latin countries, boys and girls leave hay in their shoes for the camels to eat, hoping that the camels with thank them by leaving gifts.
As their journey began, the three pilgrims left the warmth of their own fires and the love of their families; alone and undaunted, they went searching for God. They responded eagerly to the invitation of the Spirit, leaving their homeland with its familiar language and culture, and coming to a distant land whose ruler was a tyrant who murdered his enemies – and even members of his own family.
It was not at Herod’s palace that they completed their quest. They did not find the God they sought in a palace surrounded by courtiers and soldiers. Instead, he was lying in a manger surrounded by the pungent aromas of farm animals. Matthew records no sign of disappointment on their part. Instead, they humbly fell to their knees and placed their finest gifts before him. Only then did they return to their homes, wives and children.
These seekers, whom we call “Magi” from the Greek “magoi” which is the root of our words “magic” and “magician”, were not illusionists like modern magicians, but astronomers who studied the heavens, and tried to figure out the relationship between what was happening in the sky and what was happening on earth. They were part astronomer, and part astrologer.
They are also called “Wise Men”, because they followed the celestial signs that led them to the Holy Child. They were the first Gentiles to worship Christ the Lord. They were, in a very real sense, the first Christians. Wherever the Christmas story is told, they will be remembered.
These men proved to be wise indeed. They had risked everything for God, and they had achieved their goal. Is there any doubt that the equally wise Matthew is trying to teach us a lesson, as well? Each of us must take risks if we would find God. If we are overly cautious or fearful, we will not enjoy our own epiphany, we will not find the newborn Savior.
How unlike these Wise Men were the Temple priests. They read the Scriptures; they knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Yet, they would not join the Magi in their quest. Now we can only shake our heads in wonder at their blindness, and pity them. And, in the next to last chapter of the story that today brings us to the stable in Bethlehem, those priests and Pharisees, and a younger Herod, would have their roles to play in “the end of the story”. But for now, let’s stay with the newborn babe, his mother and father, the shepherds and the wise men. Let’s try to be as humble as the shepherds, and as wise as the Magi.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
I Am The Voice Of One Crying Out In The Desert: "Make Straight The Way Of The Lord!"
Saturday before Epiphany
Reading I 1 John 2:22-28
Beloved:
Who is the liar?
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
I write you these things about those who would deceive you.
As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.
But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false;
just as it taught you, remain in him.
And now, children, remain in him,
so that when he appears we may have confidence
and not be put to shame by him at his coming.
+++
Today’s Reading from the First Epistle of John continues outlining the conditions for “walking in the light”. It begins with warnings about the Antichrist. “Whoever denies the Jesus is the Christ” is an antichrist. The antichrist is a liar, totally opposed to Jesus Christ, who says, in another place: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” To deny the Son is at the same time to deny the Father; likewise, to acknowledge the Son is to acknowledge the Father. Some of the Gnostics taught that the Son of God entered the man Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, and left him after the Last Supper, before the Passion began. Yet, Jesus himself affirms elsewhere in the Gospels: “I and the Father are One.”
In the next paragraph we read, “You do not need anyone to teach you.” This saying of Jesus needs to be properly understood. Since the New Testament scriptures constantly advocate teaching (Matthew 28:20, 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; Colossians 3:16; 1 Timothy 4:11; 2 Timothy 2:2, 24), John is certainly not ruling out human teachers; in fact, he has referred to them (“What you have heard from the beginning”). At the time when he wrote this epistle, Gnostic teachers were insisting that the teaching of the apostles needed to be supplemented – and superseded – by the “higher knowledge” which the Gnostics claimed that only they possessed.
What John is saying is that the teaching which Christians receive from their Spirit-guided teachers is not only sufficient, but is the only reliable source for the true message. The writer appeals to the readers to remain faithful to the teaching they have received from the beginning, and not to be led astray. Further, he insists that it is not enough to have heard the teaching, or to know its content, and be capable of repeating it word for word, as a young child would recite the alphabet or an older one the times tables. The message of the teaching needs to be wholly assimilated, so that it becomes an integral part of my life – my words, my actions, my relationships. As Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20: “I live; yet it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” By conforming myself to Christ – or more accurately, by allowing the Holy Spirit to conform me ever more closely to Christ – I become a “new” person.
The promise is that of eternal life. But that life does not begin at some future moment when we leave this world for “a better one”. It begins immediately when we attach ourselves to Jesus and his Way. The writer of this epistle has a favorite expression: “You … remain in the Son and in the Father”. That is the source of a life to be experienced here and now, a life which began at the moment of baptism.
Through this union with the Son and the Father, we are “anointed” by the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand all that we need to know if we would live the life that Jesus offers to us. It is for us, then, to “remain in him.” Then and only then will we be ready at the moment he comes to call us to himself.
“And now, children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming.”
+++ +++ +++ +++
Responsorial Psalm 98
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Gospel John 1:19-28
This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
+++
From today through January 5 we will be reading from the beginning of John’s gospel after the Prologue and up to the story of the wedding at Cana - corresponding to Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2. It begins with John the Baptist’s testimony about himself and then Jesus revealing himself to his first disciples. It finishes with the wedding feast at Cana, described as the first of the “signs” performed by Jesus. There are seven such “signs” altogether in his gospel. The whole section covers just one week which reflects the first week of creation in the book of Genesis. Here there is a new creation under way.
The section is divided as follows:
1. John the Baptist’s negative testimony about himself.
2. His positive testimony about Jesus.
3. The revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter (in that order)
4. The revelation of Jesus to Philip and Nathanael (also in that order).
5. The wedding feast at Cana.
John the Baptist’s negative testimony about himself:
Today we look at the first section. It is clear that John the Baptist was causing something of a stir with his preaching. So, officials were sent out from the Temple in Jerusalem to make some enquiries. Because he said he was not the long-awaited Messiah, they wanted to know who he was. He said he was not Elijah (whose re-appearance was expected to signal the imminent arrival of the Messiah) come again nor was he a Prophet like Moses. His questioners persisted. They had to bring back some information to the authorities in Jerusalem. John answered them with a modified version of words from Isaiah (40:3):
I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.
This still does not satisfy and now some Pharisees - distinct from the priests who were all Sadducees - want to know why John is baptizing when he is neither the Messiah, nor Elijah nor the Prophet.
John says that he is just baptizing with water. “But there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie”. By these words he implies that someone who is really a Prophet is on the way bringing with him a much greater baptism. John is simply preparing the way by a baptism whose emphasis is on purification and repentance. The new baptism will bring the power of God’s Spirit.
Obviously, there is much in John the Baptist’s role with which we can identify. John preceded Jesus in time and prepared people for his coming. We rather are called to precede Jesus in other ways by making it possible for people to come to know him and to follow him. We are not the Light but we are called to give constant witness to the Light. Jesus said that he was the Light of the World (John 8:12) but he also said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Do I see myself as reflecting the light of Jesus to others?
Reading I 1 John 2:22-28
Beloved:
Who is the liar?
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
I write you these things about those who would deceive you.
As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.
But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false;
just as it taught you, remain in him.
And now, children, remain in him,
so that when he appears we may have confidence
and not be put to shame by him at his coming.
+++
Today’s Reading from the First Epistle of John continues outlining the conditions for “walking in the light”. It begins with warnings about the Antichrist. “Whoever denies the Jesus is the Christ” is an antichrist. The antichrist is a liar, totally opposed to Jesus Christ, who says, in another place: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” To deny the Son is at the same time to deny the Father; likewise, to acknowledge the Son is to acknowledge the Father. Some of the Gnostics taught that the Son of God entered the man Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, and left him after the Last Supper, before the Passion began. Yet, Jesus himself affirms elsewhere in the Gospels: “I and the Father are One.”
In the next paragraph we read, “You do not need anyone to teach you.” This saying of Jesus needs to be properly understood. Since the New Testament scriptures constantly advocate teaching (Matthew 28:20, 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; Colossians 3:16; 1 Timothy 4:11; 2 Timothy 2:2, 24), John is certainly not ruling out human teachers; in fact, he has referred to them (“What you have heard from the beginning”). At the time when he wrote this epistle, Gnostic teachers were insisting that the teaching of the apostles needed to be supplemented – and superseded – by the “higher knowledge” which the Gnostics claimed that only they possessed.
What John is saying is that the teaching which Christians receive from their Spirit-guided teachers is not only sufficient, but is the only reliable source for the true message. The writer appeals to the readers to remain faithful to the teaching they have received from the beginning, and not to be led astray. Further, he insists that it is not enough to have heard the teaching, or to know its content, and be capable of repeating it word for word, as a young child would recite the alphabet or an older one the times tables. The message of the teaching needs to be wholly assimilated, so that it becomes an integral part of my life – my words, my actions, my relationships. As Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20: “I live; yet it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” By conforming myself to Christ – or more accurately, by allowing the Holy Spirit to conform me ever more closely to Christ – I become a “new” person.
The promise is that of eternal life. But that life does not begin at some future moment when we leave this world for “a better one”. It begins immediately when we attach ourselves to Jesus and his Way. The writer of this epistle has a favorite expression: “You … remain in the Son and in the Father”. That is the source of a life to be experienced here and now, a life which began at the moment of baptism.
Through this union with the Son and the Father, we are “anointed” by the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand all that we need to know if we would live the life that Jesus offers to us. It is for us, then, to “remain in him.” Then and only then will we be ready at the moment he comes to call us to himself.
“And now, children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming.”
+++ +++ +++ +++
Responsorial Psalm 98
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Gospel John 1:19-28
This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
+++
From today through January 5 we will be reading from the beginning of John’s gospel after the Prologue and up to the story of the wedding at Cana - corresponding to Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2. It begins with John the Baptist’s testimony about himself and then Jesus revealing himself to his first disciples. It finishes with the wedding feast at Cana, described as the first of the “signs” performed by Jesus. There are seven such “signs” altogether in his gospel. The whole section covers just one week which reflects the first week of creation in the book of Genesis. Here there is a new creation under way.
The section is divided as follows:
1. John the Baptist’s negative testimony about himself.
2. His positive testimony about Jesus.
3. The revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter (in that order)
4. The revelation of Jesus to Philip and Nathanael (also in that order).
5. The wedding feast at Cana.
John the Baptist’s negative testimony about himself:
Today we look at the first section. It is clear that John the Baptist was causing something of a stir with his preaching. So, officials were sent out from the Temple in Jerusalem to make some enquiries. Because he said he was not the long-awaited Messiah, they wanted to know who he was. He said he was not Elijah (whose re-appearance was expected to signal the imminent arrival of the Messiah) come again nor was he a Prophet like Moses. His questioners persisted. They had to bring back some information to the authorities in Jerusalem. John answered them with a modified version of words from Isaiah (40:3):
I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.
This still does not satisfy and now some Pharisees - distinct from the priests who were all Sadducees - want to know why John is baptizing when he is neither the Messiah, nor Elijah nor the Prophet.
John says that he is just baptizing with water. “But there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie”. By these words he implies that someone who is really a Prophet is on the way bringing with him a much greater baptism. John is simply preparing the way by a baptism whose emphasis is on purification and repentance. The new baptism will bring the power of God’s Spirit.
Obviously, there is much in John the Baptist’s role with which we can identify. John preceded Jesus in time and prepared people for his coming. We rather are called to precede Jesus in other ways by making it possible for people to come to know him and to follow him. We are not the Light but we are called to give constant witness to the Light. Jesus said that he was the Light of the World (John 8:12) but he also said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Do I see myself as reflecting the light of Jesus to others?
Friday, January 1, 2010
Mary Kept All These Things, Reflecting On Them In Her Heart
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
Reading 1 Numbers 6:22-27
The LORD said to Moses:
“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:
This is how you shall bless the Israelites.
Say to them:
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly
and give you peace!
So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Responsorial Psalm 67
May God bless us in his mercy.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
May God bless us in his mercy.
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
May God bless us in his mercy.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
May God bless us in his mercy.
Reading II Galatians 4:4-7
Brothers and sisters:
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law,
to ransom those under the law
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son then also an heir, through God.
Gospel Luke 2:16-21
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem
and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s First Reading, taken from the Book of Numbers, is the blessing given to the high priest Aaron by God through Moses. It is a wonderful way to begin the calendar year. Even today, Jewish fathers repeat the words of Aaron’s blessing over their children at all three New Year celebrations: in the spring, the beginning of the year of nature; in the fall, the beginning the liturgical year, and on January 1, the day on which the civil calendar starts in most countries in the world.
After the reader has proclaimed Aaron’s blessing, we hearken to the Responsorial Psalm, which asks God for his mercy when we stray, for his providence at all times, for peace among nations, and for the reign of God to extend to every corner of the earth. Four times, at the beginning and end of each verse, we join in the response: May God bless us in his mercy.
In today’s Second Reading, taken from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we are awed by how marvelously God has fulfilled his promise of blessing to his people given first to Abraham, then to Moses, by sending his Son, “born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law”. It is not as slaves, bound under the law, but as adopted sons and daughters, freed from slavery to sin, that we cry out, “Abba! Father!” We inherit our bodies from our earliest ancestors, the first man and woman on earth, whom the scripture calls Adam and Eve. But we have acquired by adoption the same spirit as Jesus, the Holy Spirit who has set us free. So we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters, and if the children of God, we are heirs of the Kingdom.
Today’s Gospel echoes that of the Christmas Mass at dawn. After they received the “glad tidings of great joy” and heard the angelic hymn, the shepherds went to Bethlehem, to see for themselves what the Lord had made known to them. Furthermore (and this is the reason this feast, which used to be called “the Circumcision of Jesus”, is now called “the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God”) we are invited into the inner life of Mary, who “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary is born to be Mother. The supreme consolation that Our Lady receives at the cross of her Son is the assurance that her vocation as Mother does not end with Christ’s death. The Lord commands the world, “Behold your Mother!” The resurrection begins for Mary – and for us – with these words. The Blessed Virgin’s womb remains forever fruitful. Mary leads us to Christ, but Christ leads us back to his Mother, for without Mary’s maternity, Jesus would become a mere abstraction for us. The Lord wills to “let his face shine upon” us through the face of the Mother of God. We “serve a Mother who seems to grow more beautiful as new generations rise up and call her blessed.” (G.K. Chesterton).
Reading 1 Numbers 6:22-27
The LORD said to Moses:
“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:
This is how you shall bless the Israelites.
Say to them:
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly
and give you peace!
So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Responsorial Psalm 67
May God bless us in his mercy.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
May God bless us in his mercy.
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
May God bless us in his mercy.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
May God bless us in his mercy.
Reading II Galatians 4:4-7
Brothers and sisters:
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law,
to ransom those under the law
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son then also an heir, through God.
Gospel Luke 2:16-21
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem
and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s First Reading, taken from the Book of Numbers, is the blessing given to the high priest Aaron by God through Moses. It is a wonderful way to begin the calendar year. Even today, Jewish fathers repeat the words of Aaron’s blessing over their children at all three New Year celebrations: in the spring, the beginning of the year of nature; in the fall, the beginning the liturgical year, and on January 1, the day on which the civil calendar starts in most countries in the world.
After the reader has proclaimed Aaron’s blessing, we hearken to the Responsorial Psalm, which asks God for his mercy when we stray, for his providence at all times, for peace among nations, and for the reign of God to extend to every corner of the earth. Four times, at the beginning and end of each verse, we join in the response: May God bless us in his mercy.
In today’s Second Reading, taken from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we are awed by how marvelously God has fulfilled his promise of blessing to his people given first to Abraham, then to Moses, by sending his Son, “born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law”. It is not as slaves, bound under the law, but as adopted sons and daughters, freed from slavery to sin, that we cry out, “Abba! Father!” We inherit our bodies from our earliest ancestors, the first man and woman on earth, whom the scripture calls Adam and Eve. But we have acquired by adoption the same spirit as Jesus, the Holy Spirit who has set us free. So we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters, and if the children of God, we are heirs of the Kingdom.
Today’s Gospel echoes that of the Christmas Mass at dawn. After they received the “glad tidings of great joy” and heard the angelic hymn, the shepherds went to Bethlehem, to see for themselves what the Lord had made known to them. Furthermore (and this is the reason this feast, which used to be called “the Circumcision of Jesus”, is now called “the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God”) we are invited into the inner life of Mary, who “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary is born to be Mother. The supreme consolation that Our Lady receives at the cross of her Son is the assurance that her vocation as Mother does not end with Christ’s death. The Lord commands the world, “Behold your Mother!” The resurrection begins for Mary – and for us – with these words. The Blessed Virgin’s womb remains forever fruitful. Mary leads us to Christ, but Christ leads us back to his Mother, for without Mary’s maternity, Jesus would become a mere abstraction for us. The Lord wills to “let his face shine upon” us through the face of the Mother of God. We “serve a Mother who seems to grow more beautiful as new generations rise up and call her blessed.” (G.K. Chesterton).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)