In today's Gospel reading, the prophetess Anna saw the baby Jesus for only a few minutes, but it changed her life forever. From that day on, she spoke about the child to all who were waiting with hope for the redemption of Jerusalem. Anna is an example of the type of prophet we are all called to be. Whenever we speak, we are being prophets of something or other. Are we prophets of the Good News?
We all have opportunities to speak about Jesus to those who are awaiting their Redeemer. Is there anyone in our family who is in anguish, longing for deliverance from their troubles? Every time we open our mouths, we have a decision to make. We can either speak good news or curses; encouragement or complaints.
It is not difficult to be God's prophet. All it takes is a desire to help. We have good news to share! We don't have to be theologians to share it. By getting in touch with our own day-to-day need for the Savior, we can compassionately recognize the needs of others and respond with the gift of uplifting words that reveal Jesus' saving power. And by peeking out of the shell of our own self-enclosed worlds to notice that others have an emptiness that is similar to what Jesus has healed in us, we can figure out what to say that will make a difference in their lives. In doing so, we will be pointing them toward their Redeemer so that they, too, will find his help.
Let’s ask Prophetess Anna to help us find the Redeemer and help others find him by our proclamation as she did help others find him.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday-: Luke 2:22-35
Simeon gladly accepted the mission God called him to perform with much fervent prayer and with patient expectation. His whole life was in tune with the Holy Spirit. He was found daily in the temple in prayer and worship and in humble and faithful expectation for the day that the Lord would comfort his people. As the days and months grew into years he never lost hope. When Joseph and Mary presented the child Jesus in the temple, Simeon immediately recognized the Lord’s presence in his temple. Through eyes of faith he saw the infant Jesus as the fulfillment of all the messianic prophecies, hopes, and prayers of the people of Israel. Inspired by the Holy Spirit he prophesied that Jesus was to be "a revealing light to the Gentiles". Jesus came not only as “light and salvation” for the people of Israel, but for all nations as well.
Simeon knew there was no one who could take us out of the prison house of our bodies in hope of the life to come except he whom he held in his arms. And so he said to him: «Now, Lord, let your servant depart in peace, for while I was not carrying Christ and embracing him in my arms I was held like a prisoner, unable to free myself from my bonds.» And it should be noted that this doesn't only apply to Simeon but to everyone. If anyone wants to abandon the world and gain the Kingdom, let them take Jesus in their hands, wrap their arms around him, hug him to their bosom. Then they will be able to walk joyously wherever they wish...
And who are they who leave this world in peace if not those who understand that God was in Christ reconciling the world?
Pray that we may recognize His visitation and be prepared for his action in our life today, just as Simeon and Anna were prepared and ready to respond to His visitation and action in their day."
Simeon knew there was no one who could take us out of the prison house of our bodies in hope of the life to come except he whom he held in his arms. And so he said to him: «Now, Lord, let your servant depart in peace, for while I was not carrying Christ and embracing him in my arms I was held like a prisoner, unable to free myself from my bonds.» And it should be noted that this doesn't only apply to Simeon but to everyone. If anyone wants to abandon the world and gain the Kingdom, let them take Jesus in their hands, wrap their arms around him, hug him to their bosom. Then they will be able to walk joyously wherever they wish...
And who are they who leave this world in peace if not those who understand that God was in Christ reconciling the world?
Pray that we may recognize His visitation and be prepared for his action in our life today, just as Simeon and Anna were prepared and ready to respond to His visitation and action in their day."
Monday, December 28, 2009
HOLY INNOCENTS- MATTHEW 2:13-18
The killing of the infants shows the pathological state of Herod's mind. He also killed several members of his own family including his wife and a son, yet rigidly kept Jewish dietary laws, such as not eating pork. This provoked a Roman emperor to joke: "I'd rather be Herod's pig than his son."
Ancient Jewish records say that in the final days of Herod's life, he ordered leading citizens from towns in Judea to be killed. His sick mind reasoned that the sorrow at their deaths would offset the joy at his death. The order was never carried out.
In today's Gospel, Matthew says that the slaughter of the Innocents was in fulfillment of a saying of the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamenting and weeping bitterly; it is Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." The very next verse is this: "The Lord says, stop your lamenting, dry your eyes, for the Lord is creating something new on earth." And this is the Christmas message: "Stop your lamenting, dry your eyes, for the Lord is creating something new on earth." The Flight into Egypt and the massacre of the Holy Innocents foreshadows the Passion of Christ. Soldiers will come to crucify him. Mary, His mother will weep like Rachel.
We do not have to be subjected to the Herods of this world any longer. They may have power to commit atrocities but they cannot rule over us any longer. We have a new king, a legitimate king, and he will rule in our hearts. He is not a tyrant who forces his will on his subjects, but gently asks our cooperation in everything he wants to have executed in our lives. He is gentle and humble of heart and he asks us to learn from him gentleness and humility. Let’s offer our hearts to the Lord to be born in our hearts and rule in it.
Ancient Jewish records say that in the final days of Herod's life, he ordered leading citizens from towns in Judea to be killed. His sick mind reasoned that the sorrow at their deaths would offset the joy at his death. The order was never carried out.
In today's Gospel, Matthew says that the slaughter of the Innocents was in fulfillment of a saying of the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamenting and weeping bitterly; it is Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." The very next verse is this: "The Lord says, stop your lamenting, dry your eyes, for the Lord is creating something new on earth." And this is the Christmas message: "Stop your lamenting, dry your eyes, for the Lord is creating something new on earth." The Flight into Egypt and the massacre of the Holy Innocents foreshadows the Passion of Christ. Soldiers will come to crucify him. Mary, His mother will weep like Rachel.
We do not have to be subjected to the Herods of this world any longer. They may have power to commit atrocities but they cannot rule over us any longer. We have a new king, a legitimate king, and he will rule in our hearts. He is not a tyrant who forces his will on his subjects, but gently asks our cooperation in everything he wants to have executed in our lives. He is gentle and humble of heart and he asks us to learn from him gentleness and humility. Let’s offer our hearts to the Lord to be born in our hearts and rule in it.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
feast of St.Stephen- Dec.26
Saturday (12/26) St.Stephan. : Matthew 10:17-22
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas remembering the awesome gift of God’s coming into our world in the person of Jesus to bring peace on earth and good will to all. Yet, it is a jolting shift in gears to move in the Church’s liturgical calendar to today, when we commemorate the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, a person violently killed for his faith in Jesus of Nazareth. It seems ‘out of sync’ with the season of anticipation and hope during Advent and the celebration of Christmas. But these readings may bring a powerful message of the season.
What is the connection between Bethlehem and Calvary – the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and his passion and death on a cross? The very reason the Son of God took on flesh and became a man for our sake was to redeem us from slavery to sin and death and to give us new life as the adopted children of God.
We could easily become sentimental about the birth of a child; but this feast of the first Christian martyr is a reminder of reality. The Word made flesh will submit himself to the worst that our world can do. In the very act of doing that he will be giving witness to the truth. All true disciples of his will be ‘martyrs’ in the original meaning of that word: marturein in Greek means ‘to bear witness’; a martyr is a witness to Christ. We are called to announce, through our day to day actions, that God is in our midst...
And that is the true spirit and call of Christmas- to discover how we can live into the presence of God in our day to day lives during this holy and joyous season witnessing to the Lord as Stephen did.
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas remembering the awesome gift of God’s coming into our world in the person of Jesus to bring peace on earth and good will to all. Yet, it is a jolting shift in gears to move in the Church’s liturgical calendar to today, when we commemorate the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, a person violently killed for his faith in Jesus of Nazareth. It seems ‘out of sync’ with the season of anticipation and hope during Advent and the celebration of Christmas. But these readings may bring a powerful message of the season.
What is the connection between Bethlehem and Calvary – the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and his passion and death on a cross? The very reason the Son of God took on flesh and became a man for our sake was to redeem us from slavery to sin and death and to give us new life as the adopted children of God.
We could easily become sentimental about the birth of a child; but this feast of the first Christian martyr is a reminder of reality. The Word made flesh will submit himself to the worst that our world can do. In the very act of doing that he will be giving witness to the truth. All true disciples of his will be ‘martyrs’ in the original meaning of that word: marturein in Greek means ‘to bear witness’; a martyr is a witness to Christ. We are called to announce, through our day to day actions, that God is in our midst...
And that is the true spirit and call of Christmas- to discover how we can live into the presence of God in our day to day lives during this holy and joyous season witnessing to the Lord as Stephen did.
FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY FAMILY
FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY
1Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28: 1John 3:1-2, 21-24.,Gosple: Luke 2:41-52
A kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students put his boots on. He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on. By the time the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." She looked and, sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I stuffed them in my boots .
Kids can drive you nuts sometimes. It is part of their growth process. Elders who are not directly involved with them or not directly responsible for their growth look at their pranks and enjoy them, but not really the parents. Each child born in this world is a mystery. Sam Levinson says “Each new born child arrives on earth with a message to deliver to mankind . Clenched in his little fist is some particle of yet unrevealed truth, some missing clue. He must be treated as top sacred”. Each child that comes into the world proclaims that God has not given up on this world.
The confessions of the church hold that Jesus is "fully human, fully God," and in today's familiar story from Luke, we can see both sides. Jesus, fully human, is growing up as all mortals must. In the process, Jesus has scared his parents half to death as all teen-agers do. Jesus is asking questions, as should we all, and he is listening to learn, as all we must. And in this story, we see the twelve-year old Jesus fully divine with everyone amazed at his understanding and his answers. We hear Jesus declaring his unique relationship with God the Father as only the Son can do.
On the last Sunday of the year, the church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. Today’s gospel describes how the Holy Family of Nazareth lived according to the will of God, obeying all the Jewish laws and regulations, and brought up Jesus in the same way, so that He grew in wisdom as well as in the favor of God and men.
Children are integral part of the family. If any couple at the time of their wedding decides to do away with children in their marriage, their marriage is invalid before the eyes of the church. Parents and children together make the family. Not the couples alone. Children are gift from God. Couples who don’t have children in their marriage due to biological factors stand before the community as prophets proclaiming to the couples having children that Children are gift from God, you don’t deserve to get them by the fact of your marriage. See we don’t have children, though we like to. So take care of your children as responsible parents. God trusts you with a great responsibility.
Luke gives a detailed story of Jesus’ infancy, with the details of Jesus’ first visit to the Temple of Jerusalem to take on the obligations of the law when he was twelve years old. Every adult Jew (12 years and above) who lived within fifteen miles of Jerusalem had to attend the Passover feast.
Since women and children in a caravan started earlier than men, on the return leg of the trip, Joseph and Mary each thought that Jesus, newly promoted to adult status, was with the other group. But Jesus had actually lingered behind in the Temple, attending the Sanhedrin classes on religious and theological questions as an eager student of Mosaic Law. The gospel tells us that he returned with his parents to Nazareth and there grew up like any other child. Here the evangelist gives a pertinent piece of advice to all the children and youth specially. He obeyed his parents and discharged all his duties to God, to his parents and to the community, faithfully “advancing in wisdom and age and favor before God and man”.
Joseph and Mary were a model family in which both parents worked hard, helped each other, understood and accepted each other, and took good care of their Child so that He might grow up not only in human knowledge but also as a Child of God. To find answer to what makes a family holy we don’t need to go anywhere, just look at the life of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. For example consider the life of Joseph. No Husband ever went through struggles and pain more than what Joseph had to go through. He found his wife pregnant even before he had any relations with her. He experienced humiliation because he could not find a place for her wife to give birth to her son. He had to flee to Egypt at midnight. But he did all this faithfully. In all these things, what he did consistently was that he obeyed God. He knew precisely whom to obey. He subordinated every thing to the will and purpose of God. That made him holy and his family holy. When Mary asked Jesus, “Why did you do this to us?” Jesus replied, “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” For Jesus, Joseph and Mary, the Father’s business was the number one priority. That made them Holy.
A senior Judge of the Supreme Court recently congratulated the bride and groom in a marriage with a pertinent piece of advice: “See that you never convert your family into a court room; instead let it be a confessional. If the husband and wife start arguing like attorneys, in an attempt to justify their behavior, their family becomes a court of law and nobody wins. On the other hand, if the husband and the wife -- as in a confessional -- are ready to admit their faults and try to correct them, the family becomes a heavenly one.” Mary and Joseph did not turn their accusing fingers on each other when they found that the boy Jesus was not with each of them. Natural reaction of any husband or wife would be to accuse each other on finding that their dear child is lost. They serve as great model to families to face any challenge in their life.
The families in today’s society are facing disintegration. The devil upgraded and modernized his tactics to destroy the families. First of all, he makes our lives busy with too many attractive activities and programs. They present these things as vitally important and unavoidable. He convincingly presents religion as a private enterprise and makes us believe that God and religion can wait. So people push God away from the center of their life and make it one among many. When God is pushed away from the center of our life, then I become the center of my life. My primary concern becomes the glorification of my self and not of God .Devil is successfully using the tactics of taking God away from the family by keeping us and our children busy.
The second step to the disintegration of families is Redefining the divine institution of Marriage. Marriage is and marriage can be only between a man and a woman. This is natural law. Even the animal kingdom follows this natural precept. There are concerted attempts from certain corners to destroy this sacred reality of marriage. If their intention is to procure the same economic right and privileges of the married couple to them, they could do it very well through other means. It is time to wake up. As we celebrate the Feast of The Family, let us be aware of it and take bold steps to form our families after the image of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Theodore Hesburg says “ the best thing a father can do to his children is to love their mother”. And I would add to that- the best thing a mother can do to their children is to love their father. Joseph and Mary loved their son by loving each other. Let the families we live be blessed by the presence and assistance of the Most Holy Family.
1Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28: 1John 3:1-2, 21-24.,Gosple: Luke 2:41-52
A kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students put his boots on. He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on. By the time the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." She looked and, sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I stuffed them in my boots .
Kids can drive you nuts sometimes. It is part of their growth process. Elders who are not directly involved with them or not directly responsible for their growth look at their pranks and enjoy them, but not really the parents. Each child born in this world is a mystery. Sam Levinson says “Each new born child arrives on earth with a message to deliver to mankind . Clenched in his little fist is some particle of yet unrevealed truth, some missing clue. He must be treated as top sacred”. Each child that comes into the world proclaims that God has not given up on this world.
The confessions of the church hold that Jesus is "fully human, fully God," and in today's familiar story from Luke, we can see both sides. Jesus, fully human, is growing up as all mortals must. In the process, Jesus has scared his parents half to death as all teen-agers do. Jesus is asking questions, as should we all, and he is listening to learn, as all we must. And in this story, we see the twelve-year old Jesus fully divine with everyone amazed at his understanding and his answers. We hear Jesus declaring his unique relationship with God the Father as only the Son can do.
On the last Sunday of the year, the church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. Today’s gospel describes how the Holy Family of Nazareth lived according to the will of God, obeying all the Jewish laws and regulations, and brought up Jesus in the same way, so that He grew in wisdom as well as in the favor of God and men.
Children are integral part of the family. If any couple at the time of their wedding decides to do away with children in their marriage, their marriage is invalid before the eyes of the church. Parents and children together make the family. Not the couples alone. Children are gift from God. Couples who don’t have children in their marriage due to biological factors stand before the community as prophets proclaiming to the couples having children that Children are gift from God, you don’t deserve to get them by the fact of your marriage. See we don’t have children, though we like to. So take care of your children as responsible parents. God trusts you with a great responsibility.
Luke gives a detailed story of Jesus’ infancy, with the details of Jesus’ first visit to the Temple of Jerusalem to take on the obligations of the law when he was twelve years old. Every adult Jew (12 years and above) who lived within fifteen miles of Jerusalem had to attend the Passover feast.
Since women and children in a caravan started earlier than men, on the return leg of the trip, Joseph and Mary each thought that Jesus, newly promoted to adult status, was with the other group. But Jesus had actually lingered behind in the Temple, attending the Sanhedrin classes on religious and theological questions as an eager student of Mosaic Law. The gospel tells us that he returned with his parents to Nazareth and there grew up like any other child. Here the evangelist gives a pertinent piece of advice to all the children and youth specially. He obeyed his parents and discharged all his duties to God, to his parents and to the community, faithfully “advancing in wisdom and age and favor before God and man”.
Joseph and Mary were a model family in which both parents worked hard, helped each other, understood and accepted each other, and took good care of their Child so that He might grow up not only in human knowledge but also as a Child of God. To find answer to what makes a family holy we don’t need to go anywhere, just look at the life of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. For example consider the life of Joseph. No Husband ever went through struggles and pain more than what Joseph had to go through. He found his wife pregnant even before he had any relations with her. He experienced humiliation because he could not find a place for her wife to give birth to her son. He had to flee to Egypt at midnight. But he did all this faithfully. In all these things, what he did consistently was that he obeyed God. He knew precisely whom to obey. He subordinated every thing to the will and purpose of God. That made him holy and his family holy. When Mary asked Jesus, “Why did you do this to us?” Jesus replied, “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” For Jesus, Joseph and Mary, the Father’s business was the number one priority. That made them Holy.
A senior Judge of the Supreme Court recently congratulated the bride and groom in a marriage with a pertinent piece of advice: “See that you never convert your family into a court room; instead let it be a confessional. If the husband and wife start arguing like attorneys, in an attempt to justify their behavior, their family becomes a court of law and nobody wins. On the other hand, if the husband and the wife -- as in a confessional -- are ready to admit their faults and try to correct them, the family becomes a heavenly one.” Mary and Joseph did not turn their accusing fingers on each other when they found that the boy Jesus was not with each of them. Natural reaction of any husband or wife would be to accuse each other on finding that their dear child is lost. They serve as great model to families to face any challenge in their life.
The families in today’s society are facing disintegration. The devil upgraded and modernized his tactics to destroy the families. First of all, he makes our lives busy with too many attractive activities and programs. They present these things as vitally important and unavoidable. He convincingly presents religion as a private enterprise and makes us believe that God and religion can wait. So people push God away from the center of their life and make it one among many. When God is pushed away from the center of our life, then I become the center of my life. My primary concern becomes the glorification of my self and not of God .Devil is successfully using the tactics of taking God away from the family by keeping us and our children busy.
The second step to the disintegration of families is Redefining the divine institution of Marriage. Marriage is and marriage can be only between a man and a woman. This is natural law. Even the animal kingdom follows this natural precept. There are concerted attempts from certain corners to destroy this sacred reality of marriage. If their intention is to procure the same economic right and privileges of the married couple to them, they could do it very well through other means. It is time to wake up. As we celebrate the Feast of The Family, let us be aware of it and take bold steps to form our families after the image of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Theodore Hesburg says “ the best thing a father can do to his children is to love their mother”. And I would add to that- the best thing a mother can do to their children is to love their father. Joseph and Mary loved their son by loving each other. Let the families we live be blessed by the presence and assistance of the Most Holy Family.
Friday, December 25, 2009
CHRISTMAS-2009
All religions involve mankind's effort to get back into a stable and healthy relationship with God - that's why they can appear to be so similar. But Christianity is the only religion in which mankind's effort to find God is met by the unimaginable event of God himself deciding to come down into human nature so that he can be more easily found.
It's like, the farmer who stayed home on Christmas Eve because he didn't believe in Jesus. A terrible snow storm started, and outside the living room window he saw a gaggle of wild geese huddling together in confusion, trying to keep warm. He rushed out into the storm and opened his barn door. Then he went over to the geese - barely able to see them through the blizzard. He tried to coax them into the barn. Then he tried to scare them in. But they just kept jumping away from him, squawking and flapping their wings in self-defense. After 20 minutes and no progress, he gave up and went back inside. He stood in the warm living room staring out at the geese. And he thought: "If only I could become a goose myself, then I could lead them into the barn and save them." And with that thought, he fell on his knees, right there in the living room, and started to cry. He realized that that's exactly what God had done on the first Christmas night - and that he had been spending his life squawking and flapping in the wrong direction. Christmas tells us that God became one like us, like us in everything but sin. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He became man so that he could approach humans in a non-scaring and non-frightening way.
St.John says He came to his own and his own did not accept him. God never presents himself in revelation in a manner in which we are forced to believe. I imagine, if it weren’t so, there would have been no atheists or non-Catholics. We are always left with an option, for that is God's way. Thus, one person can say "Its a miracle, while another says "It's coincidence." Certainly there were thousands of people in Palestine but only very few people saw and heard and understood what took place that night. The choirs of angels singing were drowned out by the haggling and trading going on in the Jerusalem bazaar. There was a bright star in the sky but the only ones apparently to pay any attention to it were pagan astrologers from the East. If anyone did see Mary and Joseph on that most fateful night, they were too preoccupied with their own problems to offer any assistance.
The Child born today is God's new deed: But this is not announced in the excited voice of the advertisers; it is a silent deed. He is the Word made flesh, but he lies there as helpless to speak as any infant. Only in silence can this silent Word be heard. The new blade of grass does not make a scene or a noise; neither does the Word made flesh. God comes to us in the whisper of the breeze, not in peals of thunder or earthquake as the prophet Elijah experienced. So we need to be quiet and calm to enter into the presence of the World made flesh.
We all believe in Jesus - at least to some extent. So why don't we experience his joy and peace as deeply and constantly as we would like to? It is because we don’t pause enough to see him. It's because we don't trust him enough. We are afraid to let Christ rule our lives completely - we are afraid to let him be the King that he was born to be, that he truly is. We are like the inn-keeper in the Gospel passage. Our lives are crowded - filled with personal pleasures and hopes, maybe even with unhealthy relationships and habits. And Jesus comes knocking on the door of our hearts and wants us to let him in. But we are afraid that if we do, there won't be room enough for our little idols. So we let him stay in the stable, out back, where we can keep an eye on him, where we can be sure he doesn't clean out our closets and junk drawers. But unless we give him free rein, he cannot give us his true peace and joy. Instead of being like the inn-keeper, we need to be like Mary. When Jesus knocked on the door of her life, she put all her plans aside. She risked her reputation and her engagement; she opened every closet and every junk drawer to Christ. Let’s Accept Him and allow Him to turn our life inside out and upside down. And he wants to come not as a mighty warrior, but as a little baby, because he wants us to hold him in our arms, to adopt him, to make him the companion of our lives.
He chose to be born in a smelly, damp, cave near Bethlehem, a cave full of moldy straw, a cave that shepherds used as a stable for their dirty sheep during storms. Maybe our souls are like that cave, and we don't really believe that God's love can get in there. But Christmas proves that it can. He wants to come into the smelly, dark caves of our hearts and fill it with the light, joy, and peace that will come from convincing us that he hasn't given up on us. And so we greet one another today by saying "Merry Christmas." Be merry, be joyful, not just because a baby was born 2,000 years ago, but because God has entered into our world to draw us into His Presence. For we have been chosen by the Son of God to be holy.
Every Christmas reminds us that we still need this Savior to be reborn in our hearts and lives to free us from our evil addictions and unjust, impure and uncharitable tendencies.
As Emmanuel, Jesus is present to us in the sacraments (especially in the Holy Eucharist), in the Holy Bible, in the praying community and in each believer, while His Holy Spirit transforms us into the "Temples of the Holy Spirit.” Christmas reminds us that we are bearers of God with the missionary duty of conveying Jesus to others around us by loving others as Jesus did, through sacrificial, humble and committed service. Sharing Jesus, Emmanuel living within us, with others, should be our best Christmas gift to others.
Thomas Merton speaks of Christmas this way. "Christ is born to us today so that He may appear to the whole world through us. This one day is the day of His birth, but every day of our mortal lives must be His manifestation." Let’s ask the Lord the grace to be his ambassadors living out his legacies, living out his will so that the world may come to know him through our lives. Merry Christmas.
It's like, the farmer who stayed home on Christmas Eve because he didn't believe in Jesus. A terrible snow storm started, and outside the living room window he saw a gaggle of wild geese huddling together in confusion, trying to keep warm. He rushed out into the storm and opened his barn door. Then he went over to the geese - barely able to see them through the blizzard. He tried to coax them into the barn. Then he tried to scare them in. But they just kept jumping away from him, squawking and flapping their wings in self-defense. After 20 minutes and no progress, he gave up and went back inside. He stood in the warm living room staring out at the geese. And he thought: "If only I could become a goose myself, then I could lead them into the barn and save them." And with that thought, he fell on his knees, right there in the living room, and started to cry. He realized that that's exactly what God had done on the first Christmas night - and that he had been spending his life squawking and flapping in the wrong direction. Christmas tells us that God became one like us, like us in everything but sin. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He became man so that he could approach humans in a non-scaring and non-frightening way.
St.John says He came to his own and his own did not accept him. God never presents himself in revelation in a manner in which we are forced to believe. I imagine, if it weren’t so, there would have been no atheists or non-Catholics. We are always left with an option, for that is God's way. Thus, one person can say "Its a miracle, while another says "It's coincidence." Certainly there were thousands of people in Palestine but only very few people saw and heard and understood what took place that night. The choirs of angels singing were drowned out by the haggling and trading going on in the Jerusalem bazaar. There was a bright star in the sky but the only ones apparently to pay any attention to it were pagan astrologers from the East. If anyone did see Mary and Joseph on that most fateful night, they were too preoccupied with their own problems to offer any assistance.
The Child born today is God's new deed: But this is not announced in the excited voice of the advertisers; it is a silent deed. He is the Word made flesh, but he lies there as helpless to speak as any infant. Only in silence can this silent Word be heard. The new blade of grass does not make a scene or a noise; neither does the Word made flesh. God comes to us in the whisper of the breeze, not in peals of thunder or earthquake as the prophet Elijah experienced. So we need to be quiet and calm to enter into the presence of the World made flesh.
We all believe in Jesus - at least to some extent. So why don't we experience his joy and peace as deeply and constantly as we would like to? It is because we don’t pause enough to see him. It's because we don't trust him enough. We are afraid to let Christ rule our lives completely - we are afraid to let him be the King that he was born to be, that he truly is. We are like the inn-keeper in the Gospel passage. Our lives are crowded - filled with personal pleasures and hopes, maybe even with unhealthy relationships and habits. And Jesus comes knocking on the door of our hearts and wants us to let him in. But we are afraid that if we do, there won't be room enough for our little idols. So we let him stay in the stable, out back, where we can keep an eye on him, where we can be sure he doesn't clean out our closets and junk drawers. But unless we give him free rein, he cannot give us his true peace and joy. Instead of being like the inn-keeper, we need to be like Mary. When Jesus knocked on the door of her life, she put all her plans aside. She risked her reputation and her engagement; she opened every closet and every junk drawer to Christ. Let’s Accept Him and allow Him to turn our life inside out and upside down. And he wants to come not as a mighty warrior, but as a little baby, because he wants us to hold him in our arms, to adopt him, to make him the companion of our lives.
He chose to be born in a smelly, damp, cave near Bethlehem, a cave full of moldy straw, a cave that shepherds used as a stable for their dirty sheep during storms. Maybe our souls are like that cave, and we don't really believe that God's love can get in there. But Christmas proves that it can. He wants to come into the smelly, dark caves of our hearts and fill it with the light, joy, and peace that will come from convincing us that he hasn't given up on us. And so we greet one another today by saying "Merry Christmas." Be merry, be joyful, not just because a baby was born 2,000 years ago, but because God has entered into our world to draw us into His Presence. For we have been chosen by the Son of God to be holy.
Every Christmas reminds us that we still need this Savior to be reborn in our hearts and lives to free us from our evil addictions and unjust, impure and uncharitable tendencies.
As Emmanuel, Jesus is present to us in the sacraments (especially in the Holy Eucharist), in the Holy Bible, in the praying community and in each believer, while His Holy Spirit transforms us into the "Temples of the Holy Spirit.” Christmas reminds us that we are bearers of God with the missionary duty of conveying Jesus to others around us by loving others as Jesus did, through sacrificial, humble and committed service. Sharing Jesus, Emmanuel living within us, with others, should be our best Christmas gift to others.
Thomas Merton speaks of Christmas this way. "Christ is born to us today so that He may appear to the whole world through us. This one day is the day of His birth, but every day of our mortal lives must be His manifestation." Let’s ask the Lord the grace to be his ambassadors living out his legacies, living out his will so that the world may come to know him through our lives. Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, LUKE 1:57-66
John the Baptist was chosen by God to be one of His greatest prophets. As a baby he was helpless and needy. As a prophet, he displayed the same humility and need for God. Prophets are humble. They understand that without God's grace, they are nothing. The Precursor's birth speaks of the proximity of Christmas. The Lord is at hand! When asked who he was, he said: «I am the voice crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord» (Jn 1:23). John’s life teaches us the virtues we need to receive Jesus properly; fundamentally, humility of the heart. He acknowledges himself as an instrument of God, to fulfill his vocation, his mission.
His humility has deeply impressed Christians through the ages. Before anyone had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, people were coming distances to see John the Baptist. Yet he pointed to Jesus and away from himself. “He must increase, I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). John actually encouraged his disciples to leave him and follow the Lamb of God.
We, too, are anointed with the grace to be prophets. We testify to this grace through embracing a truly humble attitude before God and our neighbor. No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who think they have no need even of God, for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor in spirit, those who hunger for God, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is our Emmanuel, our God-with-us.
It is necessary to examine ourselves to see how we are preparing ourselves to receive Jesus this Christmas.
The virtue of humility will help us to prepare ourselves for the coming festivities appropriately. Because we are celebrating the feast of someone who was born in a manger, not in magnificent palace.
His humility has deeply impressed Christians through the ages. Before anyone had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, people were coming distances to see John the Baptist. Yet he pointed to Jesus and away from himself. “He must increase, I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). John actually encouraged his disciples to leave him and follow the Lamb of God.
We, too, are anointed with the grace to be prophets. We testify to this grace through embracing a truly humble attitude before God and our neighbor. No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who think they have no need even of God, for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor in spirit, those who hunger for God, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is our Emmanuel, our God-with-us.
It is necessary to examine ourselves to see how we are preparing ourselves to receive Jesus this Christmas.
The virtue of humility will help us to prepare ourselves for the coming festivities appropriately. Because we are celebrating the feast of someone who was born in a manger, not in magnificent palace.
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