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Sunday within Octave (Holy Family)
Year A Year B Year C
Mary, Mother of God
2nd Sunday after Christmas
The Epiphany of the Lord
The Baptism of the Lord
The Nativity of Our Lord
Is 9:1-6. The beautiful prophecy of a saviour-child who will rescue his people
from darkness and oppression and bring them to peace and security.
Tit 2:11-14. Saint Paul reminds us that our Christian faith still looks forward
to the final coming of Christ in glory at the end of time.
Lk 2:1-14. At a priveleged time in history, and in very ordinary circumstances,
Jesus, the long awaited Saviour, was born.
Theme: Today, the birthday
of Jesus Christ, born in a stable because there was no room at the inn.
We can best honour his birthday by opening our hearts and homes to whoever
needs our care.
For the Homily
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great
light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them light has
shined.
You have multiplied the nation, you have increased
its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people
exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their
shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day
of Midian.
For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all
the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authorityshall grow continually, and there shall
be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish
and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward
and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
O sing to the Lord
a new song;
sing to the Lord, all
the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless
his name;
tell of his salvation
from day to day.
Declare his glory among
the nations,
his marvelous works
among all the peoples.
Let the heavens be
glad,
and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and
all that fills it;
let the field exult,
and everything in it.
Then shall all the
trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for
he is coming,
for he is coming to
judge the earth.
He will judge the world
with righteousness,
and the peoples with
his truth.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation
to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in
the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and
godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the
glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem
us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who
are zealous for good deeds.
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus
that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration
and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their
own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because
he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered
with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While
they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she
gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and
laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the
fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the
Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid;
for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,
the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped
in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with
the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
We pray:
- that as he once was born in utter simplicity, Jesus
Christ will be reborn in our own hearts today.
- that we may open our hearts and even our homes to
the most needy of our brothers and sisters.
- that Christians may show a special concern for the
homeless, and for the unemployed, this winter.
- that at this time of family reunions, all visitors
will be received in a great spirit of kindness and - if need be - of
reconciliation.
Is 62:11-12. With the birth of our Lord the Christian people can taste a great
joy, like that of the Jewish exiles returning from Babylon.
Ti 3:4-7. We ourselves did nothing to merit the birth of Christ; rather,
God sent his Son out of compassion for us.
Lk 2:15-20. With Mary we are invited to ponder on the deep meaning of the birth
of Christ so that, with the shepherds, we may be moved to glorify and
praise God.
For the Homily
The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion, "See, your salvation comes;
his reward is with him, and his recompense before
him."
They shall be called, "The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;"
and you shall be called, "Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken."
The Lord is king! Let
the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands
be glad!
The heavens proclaim
his righteousness;
and all the peoples
behold his glory.
Light dawns for the
righteous,
and joy for the upright
in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord,
O you righteous,
and give thanks to
his holy name!
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our
Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness
that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his
grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying
in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told
them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the
shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered
them in her heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
First Reading: Book of Isaiah
52:7-10
Resp. Psalm: Ps 98:1-6
Second Reading: Hebrews
1:1-6
Gospel: John 1:1-18
Is 52:7-10. A prophecy describing the joy of the faithful watchmen, when they
see the Lord, their Saviour, face to face. The whole world will see
the saving work of God.
Heb 1:1-6. The son born of Mary is the eternal Son of the Father, the image
of the invisible God, and the one through whom all things were made.
Jn 1:1-18. The opening words of Saint John's Gospel which describes in sublime
terms the eternal nature of the Word who in his incarnation became the
source of light and life for all men.
Theme: Today we celebrate
the birth of Jesus Christ in our world, though he was with God the Father
before all ages. His birth opens up for us a glorious new identity,
as children of God.
For the Homily
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the
messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together
they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord
to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The
Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and
all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
O sing to the Lord
a new song,
for he has done marvelous
things.
His right hand and
his holy arm have gotten him victory.
The Lord has made known
his victory;
he has revealed his
vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his
steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the
earth have seen
the victory of our
God.
Make a joyful noise
to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous
song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the
Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the
sound of melody.
With trumpets and the
sound of the horn
make a joyful noise
before the King, the Lord.
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various
ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by
a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created
the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint
of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.
When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as
the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You
are my Son; today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son"? And again, when he brings the firstborn into
the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things came
into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light
of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did
not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John
. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe
through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to
the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into
the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being
through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his
own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received
him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will
of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and
we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of
grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he
of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he
was before me.'")
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon
grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,
who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
First Reading: Book of Sirach
3:2-6, 12-14
Resp. Psalm: Ps 128:1-5
Second Reading: Colossians
3:12-21
Gospel: Matthew 2:13-15;
19-23
Intercession (Bidding Prayers)
Sir 3:3-7,14-17. A practical application of the fourth commandment, that we should
honour our parents, not only when we are young, but also when they are
old and in need of care.
Col 3:12-21. Paul's summary of the kindness and help which should characterize
the relationships between all Christians, but are particularly applicable
within the family.
Mt 2:13-15,19-23. Tells of the flight into Egypt and of the early dangers faced by
the Holy Family before they settled down to the hidden life of Nazareth.
Theme: Family life
is experiencing a crisis of stability, often not caused by economic
hardship. Today's feast invites us to meditate on our own contribution
to family life.
For the Homily
Becoming a holy family
Inspiration for Christian
families
Refugees, Anchored by Family
The Holy Family of Nazareth
For the Lord honors a father above his children,
and he confirms a mother's right over her children.
Those who honor their father atone for sins,
and those who respect their mother are like those
who lay up treasure.
Those who honor their father will have joy in their
own children,
and when they pray they will be heard.
Those who respect their father will have long life,
and those who honor their mother obey the Lord;
My child, help your father in his old age,
and do not grieve him as long as he lives;
even if his mind fails, be patient with him;
because you have all your faculties do not despise
him.
For kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
and will be credited to you against your sins
Happy is everyone who
fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways.
You shall eat the fruit
of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy,
and it shall go well with you.
Your wife will be like
a fruitful vine within your house;
your children will
be like olive shoots around your table.
Thus shall the man
be blessed who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you
from Zion.
May you see the prosperity
of Jerusalem
all the days of your
life.
Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-21
As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with
one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive
each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds
everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.
And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and
admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts
sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do,
in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting
in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable
duty in the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may
lose heart.
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother,
and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about
to search for the child, to destroy him."
Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother
by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet,
"Out of Egypt I have called my son."
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared
in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and
his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking
the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his
mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus
was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to
go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district
of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that
what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will
be called a Nazorean."
- that, like the family of Nazareth, we may appreciate
those with whom we live, and treasure the virtues of harmony and peace.
- for the whole human race, often divided by national,
religious and social conflicts, that we may grow towards a better family
atmosphere.
- for those whose home life has broken up or whose
marriages have proved unhappy, that they may turn to God and be comforted.
- for children whose parents have separated or divorced,
that their own lives may not be overshadowed or derailed by this experience.
- for ongoing loving partnership between husbands
and wives, and that they may fulfil their married vocation of mutual
love and support.
First Reading: Book of Genesis
15:1-6, 21:1-3
Resp. Psalm: Ps 105:1-6,
8-9
Second Reading: Hebrews
11:8, 11-12, 17-19
Gospel: Luke 2:22-40
Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3. God gave assurance to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child,
to pass on the family inheritance. After long delay, the promise is
fulfilled, when Isaac is born.
Heb 11:8,ff. Continues the theme of promise and inheritance, but adds that Abraham's
rugged and obedient faith played an important part, as his response
to God's promise.
Luke 2:22-40. The presentation of Jesus in the Temple shows how Joseph and Mary
were faithful to Jewish religious law. With joy, old Simeon makes his
prophecy about Jesus' future mission.
Theme: Today's feast
of the Holy Family invites us to meditate on our own place, both in
our domestic family and in the family of the church.
For the Homily
Becoming a holy family
Inspiration for Christian
families
Refugees, Anchored by Family
The Holy Family of Nazareth
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram
in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward
shall be very great."
But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give me,
for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born
in my house is to be my heir." But the word of the Lord came to him,
"This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall
be your heir." He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven
and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to
him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the Lord; and the
Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness...
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the
Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham
a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham
gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.
O give thanks to the
Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds
among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises
to him;
tell of all his wonderful
works.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those
who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his
strength;
seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful
works he has done,
his miracles, and the
judgments he uttered,
O offspring of his
servant Abraham,
children of Jacob,
his chosen ones.
He is mindful of his
covenant forever,
of the word that he
commanded,
for a thousand generations,
the covenant that he
made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to
Isaac.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set
out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set
out, not knowing where he was going.
By faith he received power of procreation, even though
he was too old-and Sarah herself was barren-because he considered him
faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as
good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven
and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
By faith (too), Abraham, when put to the test, offered
up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his
only son, of whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that descendants
shall be named for you." He considered the fact that God is able even
to raise someone from the dead-and figuratively speaking, he did receive
him back.
When the time came for their purification according
to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him
to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn
male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice
according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves
or two young pigeons."
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;
this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation
of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to
him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what
was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised
God, saying,
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant
in peace, according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
And the child's father and mother were amazed at what
was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother
Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many
in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts
of many will be revealed-and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel,
of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her
husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of
eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting
and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise
God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption
of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the
law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor
of God was upon him.
First Reading: First Book
of Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28
Resp. Psalm: Ps 83:1-2,
4-5, 8-9
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-2,
21-24
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52
1 Sam 1:20-22, 24-28. Hannah's joy, when she finally gives birth to her long awaited son,
Samuel. Out of sheer gratitude, she offers the boy to serve God in the
temple at Shiloh.
1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24. God's loving care for us is such that we are truly his children.
The sign that we are living as God's family is when we fulfil Jesus'
great commandment of love.
Lk 2:41-52. While attending a Passover festival, Jesus is lost in Jerusalem
and is found only on the third day. Mary and Joseph discover that he
must be in his Father's House.
Theme: Today's feast
of the Holy Family invites us to meditate on our own place, both in
our domestic family and in the family of the church. (ad lib.; celebrant
may choose same texts as Year A)
For the Homily
Becoming a holy family
Inspiration for Christian
families
Refugees, Anchored by Family
The Holy Family of Nazareth
In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named
him Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the Lord." The man Elkanah
and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice,
and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband,
"As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear
in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer
him as a nazirite for all time."
When she had weaned him, she took him up with her,
along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine.
She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was
young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to
Eli. And she said, "Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman
who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this
child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made
to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives,
he is given to the Lord." She left him there for the Lord.
How lovely is your
dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed
it faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh
sing for joy to the living God.
Happy are those who
live in your house,
ever singing your praise.
Happy are those whose
strength is in you,
in whose heart are
the highways to Zion.
O Lord God of hosts,
hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of
Jacob!
Behold our shield,
O God;
look on the face of
your anointed.
See what love the Father has given us, that we should
be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world
does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's
children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do
know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will
see him as he is.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because
we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love
one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments
abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides
in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the
festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went
up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started
to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents
did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they
went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their
relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to
Jerusalem to search for him.
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting
among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And
all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to
him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and
I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them, "Why
were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's
house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went
down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother
treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom
and in years, and in divine and human favor.
(January 1st, Octave of Christmas)
First Reading: Book of Numbers
6:22-27
Resp. Psalm: Ps 67:1-2,
4, 5-6
Second Reading: Galatians
4:4-7
Gospel: Luke 2:16-21
Intercession (Bidding Prayers)
Num 6:22-27. The solemn priestly blessing, a prayer that God would bless and
protect us and be gracious to us, is especially apt at the beginning
of a new year.
Gal 4:4-7. Through the Incarnation, the distance between God and man has been
bridged and now we can call God "Abba! Father!"
Lk 2:16-21. The visit of the shepherds on the first Christmas night. The closing
verse, about Jesus' circumcision eight days later, makes it an apt reading
for the octave day of Christmas.
Theme: We grow attached
to our religion by tasting its stories and images. One of the most powerful
is the Christmas story, that introduces Mary, the virgin Mother of God.
For the Homily
Splendour in Simplicity
The Mary-Image
New Year Resolution with
Mary
Surprised by God
New Start
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and
his sons, saying,
Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say
to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious
to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give
you peace.
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I
will bless them.
May God be gracious
to us and bless us
and make his face to
shine upon us,
that your way may be
known upon earth,
your saving power among
all nations.
Let the nations be
glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples
with equity
and guide the nations
upon earth.
Let the peoples praise
you, O God;
let all the peoples
praise you.
May God continue to
bless us;
let all the ends of
the earth revere him.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his
Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who
were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And
because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child,
and if a child then also an heir, through God.
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph,
and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known
what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these
words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told
them.
After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise
the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before
he was conceived in the womb.
We pray:
- that Mary, the Mother of God will lead us to a closer
friendship with Jesus her Son.
- that Mary, the Mother of God and mother of mercy,
will be the model inspiring our concern for others.
-that Mary who stood by the cross as her Son was dying,
may comfort all who are bereaved or grieved by illness or loss.
- that Mary, the Mother of God will pray for us and
protect us "now and at the hour of death."
First Reading: Book of Sirach
24:1-2, 8-12
Resp. Psalm: Ps 147:12-15,
19-20
Second Reading: Epistle
to the Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18
Gospel: John 1:1-18
Intercession (Bidding Prayers)
Sir 24:1-2,8-12. Lyrical praise of the wisdom which God has revealed to men. This
was most fully revealed in Christ, Wisdom incarnate, or the Word made
flesh, as today's Gospel tells.
Eph 1:3-6,15-18. We are God's adopted children, belonging to him as the adoption
through his only Son, Jesus. We should try to grow in our understanding
of this dignity.
Jn 1:1-18: If the eternal Son of God has become man for our sakes, we ourselves
must become more fully human, and treat others with a spirit of grace
and truth.
Theme: It seems, the
more our standard of living improves, the less we practice the virtue
of hospitality. But this virtue is not an optional extra for whoever
values our Christian identity.
For the Homily
Come Into The Parlour
A Word We Can Touch
How do we answer?
He came to his own
The Word Became Flesh
Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her
glory:
"Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
and my Creator chose the place for my tent.
He said, "Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and in Israel receive your inheritance."
Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me,
and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.
In the holy tent I ministered before him,
and so I was established in Zion.
Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place,
and in Jerusalem was my domain.
I took root in an honored people,
in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.
Praise the Lord, O
Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O
Zion!
For he strengthens
the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children
within you.
He grants peace within
your borders;
he fills you with the
finest of wheat.
He sends out his command
to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
He declares his word
to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances
to Israel.
He has not dealt thus
with any other nation;
they do not know his
ordinances.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places,
just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world
to be holy and blameless before him in love.
He destined us for adoption as his children through
Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace
that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give
thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit
of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the
eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which
he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among
the saints.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came
into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light
of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did
not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John
. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe
through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to
the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into
the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being
through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his
own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received
him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will
of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and
we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of
grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he
of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he
was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon
grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,
who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
We pray:
- that our hospitality may not be limited to social
acquaintances only.
- that we may always welcome guests and strangers
into our homes.
- that we may in some practical ways share our bread
with the world's hungry.
- that the goodness and love of Christ may shine out
through us, his followers and friends.
Sunday between 2 January and 8 January (Same, all
Years)
Is 60:1-6. In the age to come, the Messiah, the Saviour King, will reveal
his glory to all the nations. To work for this is now the mission of
the Church.
Eph 3:2-3, 5-6. The salvation revealed in Christ is
for everyone. In his Church, there can be no exclusivness or racial
distinction.
Mt 2:1-12. The visit of the Magi fulfils of the prophecy that the glory of
the Messiah would be manifested to all the nations.
Theme: The Wise Men
followed a star to discover the birth of God's Son in Bethlehem. If
there is to be epiphany in our lives, like them we must use our heads
as well as our hearts in our search for Christ.
For the Homily
Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses'
arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought
to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
Give the king your
justice, O God,
and your righteousness
to a king's son.
May he judge your people
with righteousness,
and your poor with
justice.
In his days may righteousness
flourish
and peace abound, until
the moon is no more.
May he have dominion
from sea to sea,
and from the River
to the ends of the earth.
May the kings of Tarshish
and of the isles render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba
and Seba bring gifts.
May all kings fall
down before him,
all nations give him
service.
For he delivers the
needy when they call,
the poor and those
who have no helper.
He has pity on the
weak and the needy,
and saves the lives
of the needy.
Surely you have already heard of the commission of
God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made
known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, In former
generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has
now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that
is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body,
and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed
his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and
all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and
scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to
be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written
by the prophet:
'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of
Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned
from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them
to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when
you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him
homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead
of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped
over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had
stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they
saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him
homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts
of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
We pray:
- that our minds and hearts may always be enlightened
by the gift of Christian faith.
- that the expression of our faith may be intellectually
honest, and that we may continue as searchers for truth, all through
life.
- that the church may always cherish its writers and
intellectuals, and allow for loyal criticism of our practices.
- that a spirit of probing scholarship be nurtured
and respected, in our society and in the church.
= First Sunday in Ordinary Time,
Year A
Is 42:1-4, 6-7. A servant of God, a chosen one, will courageously serve God and
help others to salvation - like Jesus, this servant "fulfils all righteousness."
Acts 10:34-38. The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan was an "anointing with the Holy
Spirit" after which he went about doing good. Baptism gives us, too,
the power to do good.
Mt 3:13-17. Although baptised by John, Jesus was not personally a sinner. His
mission was to show whatever sinful man had to do in order to be restored
to friendship with God.
(Alternatives available for Year B and Year
C, below)
For the Homily
Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Ascribe to the Lord,
O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord
glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord
the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in
holy splendor.
The voice of the Lord
is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty
waters.
The voice of the Lord
is powerful;
the voice of the Lord
is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord
causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest
bare;
and in his temple all
say, "Glory!"
The Lord sits enthroned
over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned
as king forever.
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand
that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him
and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he
sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-he is
Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee
after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and
healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan,
to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need
to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him,
"Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all
righteousness." Then he consented.
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came
up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a
voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom am well
pleased."
We pray:
- that we, followers of Jesus, may bring forth justice
to others, seeing things through his eyes, and his spirit.
- for the victims of violence, that you may heal their
wounds.
- for the perpetrators of violence, that you may extinguish
the hatred in their hearts.
- for ourselves, that we may love our country without
hating its enemies.
Christmastide Homilies
In the countryside close to Bethlehem, on the first
Christmas night, St Luke tells us, there were shepherds watching over
their flocks, when an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory
of the Lord shone round them. At first fearful and bewildered, the shepherds
were reassured by the angel. "Do not be afraid," he said to them, "here
is a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger."
"Here is a sign for you." In the Old Testament there
were many such signs which were regarded as visible evidence of the
presence and purpose of God. For example, in the greatest of these,
when Moses received the Tables of the Law from God on Mount Sinai, we
find the traditional signs of that time denoting the presence of God,
peals of thunder, lightning, flashes of fire, the ground shaking. The
reaction of the people was one of fear and awe, and they said to Moses,
"Do not let God speak to us, or we shall die." Yet, while Moses was
speaking to God on their behalf on the mountain, their faith grew weak,
to the extent that they fell into idolatry and worshipped a golden calf.
Four hundred years later, on the same mountain, we
have another sign, a further self-revelation by God, this time to the
great prophet Elijah, who stood in a cave while the Lord passed by.
Then, we are told, there came a mighty wind, followed by an earthquake
and by fire, but God was not in any of these; he was no longer associated
with the forces of nature. But after the fire there came the "whisper
of a gentle breeze," or taking the Hebrew literally, "a still small
voice," and when Elijah heard this he covered his face, because he felt
himself in the presence of God, and no one, it was believed, could gaze
upon the face of the Almighty God and live. Elijah regarded God as a
Spirit who was beyond human comprehension. Yet again, while all this
was taking place, the people of Israel were in a state of revolt against
God, and lapsed into idolatry.
In the light of these two signs we can try and understand
the sign granted to the shepherds of Bethlehem, that of the baby in
the manger. For it is here, we can say with certainty, that we have
the greatest self-communication of all time by God to the human race.
There is nothing of the fire or lightning of Mount Sinai, but the glory
of the Lord. There is no dreadful rumbling of earthquake or thunder,
but a heavenly host praising God and proclaiming peace to the world.
And although there is the still small voice, which somehow recalls that
which was heard by the prophet Elijah, it is rather the first earthly
sound made by a newborn child. But in complete contrast to the other
two signs, this new sign of the baby in the manger,is not one to instill
terror into the hearts of those privileged to gaze upon him.
Later on in his public life, Christ in a reference
to the Cross was to say, "when I am lifted up from the earth, I will
draw all people to myself" (Jn 12:32). And in the humility of his birth,
in the gathering of some lowly shepherds drawn to his manger, he was
from his first moments on earth already preaching the lesson of self-abandonment
that he would preach in so complete a way during his last moments on
Calvary. What one among us is not touched by the helplessness of a new
born babe. The infant lying in the manger, on the threshold of life,
is a sign to melt the heart, to draw all people, as would the crucified
one on the Cross with the last agonising breath of his life.)
But the tragedy is that this sign, like the other
two, would be met largely with unconcern, misunderstanding and disbelief.
Christ would be rejected by the leaders of Israel, the Pharisees, Scribes,
Priests, and the majority of its people, because he did not correspond
to their expectations of what the Messiah should be.
We should not travel down that road, nor turn our
backs on the actions of the Holy Spirit by trying to hold on to our
own concepts of God. Rather opening our minds, we must let ourselves
be drawn, let our hearts be melted by the consideration of God assuming
a tiny, frail human form, and being laid in a manger. May our faith
in Christ then be reborn this Christmas day, because only faith can
guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of
those things which at present remain "hidden from our view" (Heb 11:1).
I have never quite been able to make up my mind about
Christmas cards. From year to year, I blow hot and cold about it.
There is a commercialism about them which I find mildly
offensive. The real problem is deciding who to send them to. My friends
are easily counted. If I settled for that as the criterion, I would
add little to the postman's load. But the lines get blurred and the
list expands. in the end, I include everybody who might be vaguely suspected
of choosing me as a recipient of their seasonal greetings. The lists
never match and invariably there is a last minute rush to fill the gaps.
Whatever the defects of the custom are, the thought behind it is undeniably
good.
It is a pity Christmas cards so rarely reflect an
authentic gospel message about the birth of Christ. My ideal one can
only be transmitted verbally. it is a simple black and white line drawing,
depicting a street with a row of houses. A few subtle touches - a milk
bottle outside the door, a cat curled up on a windowsill, an open window
with a fluttering curtain - indicating that all the houses are lived
in. In the centre of the picture, a man stands knocking at a door. His
head is turned towards the street, where a woman stands waiting. Below,
there is a caption, only visible to the inner eye. What is remarkable
about this card is that the street depicted is instantly recognisable
to each recipient. It is, in fact, the street where each lives. The
stranger is standing at the door of your home. To read the caption,
you must look deeply into your own heart. There, unless you are a Mother
Teresa or an Abbé Pierre, you will find in bold capitals: NO ROOM.
The litmus-test is easy and foolproof . When last
did you stretch out a helping hand to someone in need? Or open your
heart and your home to somebody in want? How often have you shut your
eyes and your door on the needs of others? Every knock on our door left
unanswered is a rejection of Christ. If Christ is not born in our hearts
and in our homes this Christmas, then what happened in Bethlehem some
two thousand years ago is no cause for celebration.
Words are often the weakest method of communication.
However, we have to use words, and today's gospel is an attempt, in
simple language, to describe what happened on that extraordinary day,
so long ago. It speaks of Jesus being born, and of the second meeting
of heaven and earth, on that same night, when the angels appeared to
the shepherds. This was the beginning of a process that is still on-going,
as I speak. It is an old story that is ever new.
I don't know a great deal about gardening or horticulture,
so I'm just passing on to you something that I heard from a person who
works in this field (if you'll excuse the pun.). If you took a branch
from an oak tree, and grafted in on to an apple tree, it would never
produce apples. It is a different species of tree, with different genes.
If you took a branch from a crab tree, and grafted it on to an apple
tree, you would be coming nearer to the ideal, even though this branch
would never produce apples either. It is, of course, of a similar species
and genes, but there remains one last obstacle. The branch of the crab
tree is full of its own sap, so the sap from the apple tree cannot enter
into it. Firstly, it is necessary to stick the branch of the crab tree
in the ground, and leave it there until it is completely drained of
all of its own sap and, to all intents and purposes, looks as if it
is actually dead. It is then grafted on to the apple tree, it draws
new life from the tree, and within a year, it is producing apples. If
Jesus did not take on my nature, I could never be grafted on to him.
Our species and genes would be different, and I could never possibly
become a branch of the vine that he is.
"Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and always."
With God there is no such thing as time. All of time is totally present
to him right now. God's work among us is always in process, it never
comes to an end. In God's eyes, Christmas is an everyday event, that
involves Jesus knocking on the door of my heart, seeking admission.
The God-dimension never changes, the offer is always there, the good
news is delivered with greater consistency than the morning newspaper.
What happens after that is totally dependent on whether I accept the
offer, open the door, and make my heart available as a manger.
One important point: The shepherds were given the
message by angels, which is fairly good authority, and yet they said,
"Let us go to Bethlehem and see for ourselves this wonderful thing which
the Lord has made known to us." The life of the Christian is a journey
from revelation to faith. It involves coming to find out for myself
the truth and the reality of what I had been told by my parents, teachers,
or preachers in church. I have to cross that bridge. The gospel is in
between two phrases. At the beginning, we are invited to "Come and see,"
and, at the end, we are instructed to "Go and tell."
The Jesus of Bethlehem is the same today as he was
last year, as he was that first Christmas night. What can have greatly
changed are the conditions within my heart. It could happen, for example,
that today is the first day he has really felt at home in my heart,
because it might be the first occasion in which he is genuinely welcomed,
and made at home. If I can get this right, then, of course, this will
certainly be the greatest Christmas in my life.
When you think of a washing machine, you are conscious
of all the cycles through which the wash must go. If you were told now
that you were on the final rinse, and that this was your last Christmas
on earth, what difference would it make to your celebration of this
day?
Have you got a clear idea in your mind exactly what
is meant, and what is entailed, in going to Bethlehem to see for yourself
this news, which the Lord has told you? Bethlehem, for you, is not a
place on a map, it a space within your heart. It is not possible for
a human being to fall on his knees, cry out to God, and not be heard.
Maybe you haven't been broken enough yet? Maybe you have not yet arrived
at any conviction about your powerlessness, and your inability to manage
your life. There is little point in speaking about a Saviour to someone
who is not convinced that he is a sinner. We own nothing. Everything
we have, including life itself, can be snatched from us in an instant.
This is a time of gift giving, and that is just wonderful.
All of the gift giving, however, is based on the fact that God gave
us his greatest gift of all, his Son Jesus. St Paul reminds us, "Having
given us Christ Jesus, will the Father not surely give us everything
else?" All is gift, from creation to salvation, redemption, and eternal
life. "In this is love, not that we love God, but that God first loved
us." The whole idea of Christmas, of love, of gift, of life began with
God, comes from God, and belongs to God. Therefore, without God at the
centre, the celebration of Christmas is a mockery and a total charade.
For some people Christmas is not a happy time. It
is a time of loneliness, a time when a departed one is most keenly missed,
when one spends this day far away from family and home, or when, because
of alcohol, it becomes a day of violence and abuse. Do I have it within
my power today to ensure that those around me find happiness, at least
in so far as I can contribute to that?
With all the thanks expressed today for gifts received,
make sure you take a few seconds out, now and then, during the day,
to say "Thank you, Father, for sending Jesus." "Thank you, Jesus, for
coming to speak our language, and to walk the journey with us." Our
greatest thanks, of course, is not expressed in words, but in an inner
disposition of gratitude, that is, in itself, real prayer. It is not
possible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time The coming of Jesus
on earth, or into our hearts and homes, is but the beginning of a journey.
His coming is more than a one day-wonder. It is the beginning of a journey,
the beginning of a story that ends with the words "And they all lived
happily ever after." This journey is lived, one day at a time, with
each new day requiring its own yes. Life is a journey towards something,
which is its completion. Jesus came to lead us on that journey.
"They who follow me will not walk in darkness, but
will have the light of life." Like the Wise Men following the star,
we are given a way in which to walk, and the gospel is a map for the
journey. Jesus himself is our Moses, as well as our manna. "Man/woman
will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day."
The young couple were newly married, blissfully happy,
but very poor. It was during the Depression in the late 1920s. It was
impossible to find work, and social security was almost non-existent.
There was one special possession that each had, which gave great joy
to each, and to both. She had an absolutely beautiful head of hair that
drew attention wherever she went. He had a gold pocket watch, which
was precious, because it was a family heirloom from the days of plenty.
Part of their love for each other was his joy and delight as he looked
at her beautiful hair, and she was forever admiring his gold watch.
It was Christmas Eve. He had gone out in search of
a few hours work, and she was at home. Each, unknown to the other, was
totally preoccupied with the same single thought, i.e. how on earth
can I possibly get some little gift to give the other for Christmas?
As she thought about it, she had a sudden reckless impulse, so, out
she goes, down town, into a hairdressing salon, has all her hair cut
off. She was paid for the hair for use as material for a wig; not much
money, but just enough to buy a chain for her husband's watch. She was
both happy and afraid, as she returned home - happy to have something
to give him, and afraid that, when he saw her cropped hair, he would
be annoyed. Her heart missed a beat, mostly from fear, as she heard
her husband coming in downstairs, and climbing towards their apartment.
She faced away from him as he entered, but finally, she had to turn
around. His face was aghast, so she ran towards him with her gift, explaining
why she did it, and showing him what she had bought for him. He appeared
to wilt with weakness, as, without a word, he reached in his pocket,
and handed her a gift. Not a word was spoken, as she opened her gift,
to discover that he had bought two beautiful ivory clips for her hair
and he had sold his watch to be able to do so.
Love is the only gift that is worthy of Christmas.
The big celebration begins, a festival of light and
love, of joy and laughter, of family and community and world. Light
is mentioned almost twenty times in the course of today's liturgy. On
one of the darkest days of the year, light explodes all around us. The
sun is sneaking back, just as Jesus kind of sneaked into the world in
the quiet of Bethlehem. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas
is a midwinter feast, a time when the days grow a little longer and
light and warmth return slowly. For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere,
however, it is the beginning of summer. School is over. It is a time
for vacation (or as they would call it "holidays"), for rest and relaxation.
It marks not the shortest day of the year but the longest, the day of
the most light and on the average the most warmth. Christmas fits in
everywhere.
Once upon a time there were two kids who were fed
up with Christmas. They began an anti-Christmas campaign among their
friends. Look, they said, everyone is tense and worn out, moms are tired
from cooking, dads from putting up trees and decorations, kids from
wrapping presents, neighbours from all the noise and bustle. We open
the presents and they're not really what we wanted, though we thought
we did. The house is littered with torn wrapping paper, expensive ornaments
get knocked off the trees, the little kids go out of control, big kids
sulk, mass is too long, the sermons are boring, the music is yucky.
We eat too much . . .Who needs it all. So what should we do asked their
friends. Strike. Said the two trouble-makers who were, if truth be told,
Anarchists of a sort. Refuse to participate. Don't buy any Christmas
presents, don't ask for any, refuse those that are given to you, don't
decorate the tree, don't eat the pumpkin pie, don't drink the eggnog,
don't say merry Christmas to anyone. A few of their friends thought
they were crazy. The others thought it was a great idea. But what should
we do? The strike leaders went to the priest and asked him what they
should do. Well, he said, if you want to welcome the Christ Child without
all the fuss and bother, come to church and pray. They thought that
was a great idea. How could parents and other grown ups object to their
praying on Christmas Day. Well, they prayed for a solid hour, which
maybe doubled all their prayer for the whole year. Then one of them
rushed out of church and flagged down the priest who was about to drive
off to his family's party. We prayed for an hour, Father, the kid said.
Can we go home now? An hour? That's a long time to pray. Yeah it kind
of is. Well, said the priest I don't think that Jesus would mind one
bit if you went home and celebrated with your families. The kids poured
out of church with a whoop and a holler just like it was the last day
of school.
Christmas Day
(Is 52:7-10 - Heb 1:1-6 - Jn 1:1-18
or (Dawn): Is 62:11-12 - Ti 3:4-7 - Lk 2:15-20)
For the people of the Old Testament, light and darkness
were more than natural phenomena. They tended to associate them often
with virtue and wickedness in the community, and also with the day of
the Lord's coming. Indeed, at Qumran on the Dead Sea shoreline, during
the life-time of Jesus, light and darkness were seen as two opposing
kingdoms, and the sun's victory over darkness was held to be a symbol
of the triumph of faith over the blind pursuit of evil. "In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light."
So begins the Bible account of the first creation, and when it was ended,
"God saw all that he had made, and indeed it was very good."
But this original goodness and justice was to be shattered,
because of our first parents' abuse of the freedom of will granted them
by God, so that once again, as the prophet Isaiah describes it (Is 60:2),
"darkness came to cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples."
To dispel this darkness, a new creation was needed, and the ideal of
goodness and perfection became a living reality, when the light of Christ
came into the world. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a
great light; for those who lived in a land of deep shadow a light has
shone" (Is 9:2). For God, who had created man in his own image and likeness,
had now identified with the human race, and by assuming the body of
a child in the image of man, had lowered himself and become one of us.)
It has become a tradition to associate snow with Christmas,
and when it does come, shrouding everything with its white mantle, a
stillness settles over the countryside, especially at night-time. That
combination of darkness and stillness was the setting for the first
Christmas. As the Book of Wisdom states, "When all things were in quiet
silence, and the night was in the middle of her course, your almighty
Word leaped down from heaven, from your royal throne" (Wis 18:14f).
It was as if God was saying a second time, "Let there be light" - let
the gloom and darkness, which to such an extent exemplify the fallen
and corrupt nature of the human race, be lifted, ushering in a new age
of glory to God and peace on earth among all its people. And so an angel
of the Lord appeared to some humble shepherds tending their flocks in
the enveloping darkness, and the brightness of the Lord shone round
them. "Do not be afraid," the angel reassured them. "Listen, I bring
you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today
a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
These words are addressed to us also. We too must
listen, listen in the stillness of our hearts, and, like the shepherds,
we must hasten, and with eagerness draw near to Christ. "And the shepherds
came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in
the manger." They "found" implies effort on their part; they had to
search. But their search was not in vain. "And seeing, they understood
the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child."
Likewise, we must search for Christ, hasten to him
with eagerness, and in the quiet times of prayer, when we are alone
with God, understanding of our need for Christ will come to us. St Augustine
says that prior to conceiving Christ in her womb, Mary first conceived
him in her heart, in a spiritual manner, by her faith. The Church in
faith is referred to as the Spouse of Christ, in other words, its members
are called to be sisters and brothers of Christ. It is more difficult,
Augustine goes on, to understand that the Church is the Mother of Christ.
But this is also true, and it was Christ himself who first gave it that
title, when he declared, "Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven,
is my brother and sister and mother" (Mt 12:50). The Church is the Mother
of Christ in that, by obedience to the will of the Father, she brings
Christ into being in the world. But we, its members, are the Church,
and so we can give birth to Christ, become mothers of Christ, in a purely
spiritual way, by doing God's holy will.
And Augustine is quite adamant, "this is something
that is not out of your reach; it is not beyond you, it is not incompatible
with you. You have become children; be mothers as well" (Sermon 72A).
In the final sentences of the Bible, Christ makes this promise, "I shall
indeed be with you soon." May our response be "Amen, come Lord Jesus"
(Rev 22:20).
We are all familiar with the story of today's gospel
(using Luke 2). It is a balanced gospel, in that it speaks about the
birth of Jesus and, in the shepherds, we see a clear response to the
good news of his birth.
We are all familiar with the evidence that the news
on television, radio, and in the papers in often bad news. It may not
strike us that if good news became so scarce and so unusual that it
merited front page coverage whenever it happened, we'd be in serious
trouble indeed. We also hear the phrase that "No news is good news."
Something that betokens our fears of the possibilities in our lives.
Bad news for one person is often good news for someone else, as we listen
to the results of football matches, or the Lotto results. On the other
hand, bad news can be bad news for everyone, as we read about some natural
catastrophe, or some carnage on the roads. It would be interesting to
reflect on my answer to the question, "What good news would I like to
hear today?" I must remember, of course, that my answer to that question
can be different with each new day. And then there is good news that
is good for everyone for now, for always, for eternity.
This is a day for rejoicing, for singing songs of
praise with the angels in heaven. The long-awaited Messiah has arrived,
the long night of darkness is over, and the Saviour has come to bring
us home Out of the slavery of Egypt. The whole thing was so simple,
without fanfare, without fuss. No wonder we sing "Silent Night." It
is also a holy night. Emmanuel has come and his name is Jesus. "Emmanuel"
means "God is with us," and the name "Jesus" means "Saviour." It is
a "Hear ye. Hear ye." night, when the heralds should be sent to every
corner of the globe to proclaim the birth of freedom, of hope, and of
victory.
As it happened, the heralds on the night were angels,
and the hearers were shepherds. There is a strange irony in this, because,
in those days, no one believed the word of a shepherd. Many of us remember
the same being applied to the stories of sailors about all the places
they visited, and all the wonders they saw. The shepherds spent their
nights out under the stars and, with the occasional falling or shooting
star, and being in a state of falling in and out of sleep, it is understandable
that strange things seemed to happen, and to go bump in the night.
If today's gospel went on for one more paragraph,
it would present us with a very important message. The angels proclaimed
the message, the shepherds heard it. What were they to do next? The
gospel goes on to tell that they decided to go to Bethlehem and see
for themselves all the things which the Lord told them. That is the
bridge we all have to cross; from knowledge to experiential knowledge,
to go and see for ourselves. The gospel is in between two phrases, "Come
and See" and "Go and Tell."
In a beautiful way, children can often be seen to
have it right. They get terrific excitement about what is a wonderful
occasion, jingle bells and all, and yet, to watch the face of a child
as she kneels at the crib is to get a glimpse of just how uncomplicated
the whole story is. If you were to continue watching the child as she
gets up from the crib, you may well see her dash out the door to display
her new clothes, or rush home to enjoy the goodies. It is all part of
the gift. The greatest gift of all, of course, is the gift from the
Father of his Son Jesus. All other gifts get their meaning from that.
"If God has so loved us, then we, surely, should love one another."
It is not uncommon today to hear a young person complain
of being bored. It is interesting to note that this word "bore," as
against drilling holes in something, comes from the French bourrer,
which means to stuff until full, to satiate. It implies being full,
with no room for more. No room in the Inn? Another expression we hear
is when someone is described as being full of herself, once again implying
someone who has no space for others in her life. There is a hole in
the human heart and, despite all the pursuit of wealth, power, or pleasure;
nothing can fill it but God. "You have made us for yourself, O Lord,
and our hearts can never be at peace until they rest in you," was the
prayer of St Augustine.
I can think of today in two ways. One way is to think
of it as something that happened thousands of years ago. Another way
is to think of it, and see it, as something that is happening today,
something of which we all are part. I believe that if I don't bring
it into today, and become part of it, I will miss the whole thing. Another
Christmas will have come and gone, and the manger of my heart still
lies empty, and I'm out in the open, minding and counting sheep, and
not going anywhere. Today is a wonderful moment of grace and, like any
moment in my life, it can be grasped and embraced, or ignored and let
slip by.
Probably none of us lives an enclosed life, or lives
the life of a hermit. Therefore, most of us have to find time for things
amidst the bustle of life, which is already making great demands on
our time. On a day like today, however, I must have time, prime time,
to get involved in the real reason for the season. The consolation about
this is that it needs only a few moments, but they must be moments when
I go down into my heart, throw myself on my knees before the manger
there, and welcome Jesus to make his home in me. It must be my own personal
welcome, my own personal "yes." For all the hearts and homes that have
been closed to him since that first Christmas night, I can throw open
the door of my heart and of my home, and say "Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus,"
which are the last words of the whole Bible, something that is very
significant.
One of the blocks I can have, when it comes to dealing
with the Lord, is that I may have settled for being unworthy, not good
enough, someone who would not be very "religious," if I may use that
word. This has absolutely nothing to do with it. Do you think that the
world, and everybody in it, was good enough, was open and ready, and
was welcoming on that first Christmas night? The very reasons that might
come up in my mind to prevent me being open to the gift of today are
the very reasons why I qualify for that same gift. Jesus came to call
sinners. Do you think you qualify?
It is important to remember that God doesn't give
me anything; rather he offers me everything. It's entirely up to me
whether I decide to accept the gift or not. Scripture quotes God as
saying "I offer you life or death. Choose life." Jesus said that he
came that we should have life, and have it more abundantly. "Man/woman
shall live forevermore, because of Christmas Day." Part of our experience
of this occasion is the giving and accepting of gifts. The Father offers
each one of us the gift of his only Son, Jesus. I often receive gifts
for Christmas for which I have absolutely no use, and which I do not
require. In this case, however, I am offered a gift that is essential
for life now, and for eternal life. Even God can do no better than make
the offer, and await your reply. (Note: Need for a few moments of quiet
reflection at this time.)
Supposing it was announced throughout the world that
God was sending his Son down on earth to live among us, to forgive and
heal us, and to accompany us through death into eternal life. How do
you think the preparation would go, for those who would be interested?
The first thing to do would be to set up a Committee, with full plenary
powers. This would be done by a deed of charter from the UN, and the
Committee would be representative of all colours, gender, and ages.
This Committee, in turn, would appoint several sub-committees, to whom
it would delegate the nuts and bolts of the welcoming, co-ordinating,
and organising needed for such an event. Firstly, there would be the
Welcoming Committee, whose task would involve the choice of location,
and all the logistics that would be needed for such a place. Next there
would be a Public Relations Committee, to whom would be entrusted the
job of maximising the advertising of the event, through public media,
the Internet, and posters on every lamppost. Another Committee could
be the No Hard Feelings Committee, to whom would be entrusted the difficult
task of settling all rows and disputes that would surely occur during
the preparation for the event, and, certainly, during the event itself.
There would, of course, be a Protocol Committee who would take care
of all the niceties of dealing with dignitaries, red carpets, guards
of honour, etc. And, finally, of course, there would be the Fund-raising
and Finance Committee, with the all-important task of raising the vast
sums of money, from all over the globe, that would be required for the
proper and successful undertaking of such a world event.
Just imagine their disbelief and frustration if someone
told them that he had already arrived in a completely unknown place,
with nobody to welcome him, and with nothing better than a few fists
of straw for his bed.
'Only where He was homeless are you and I at home.'
So goes one of the lines of GK Chesterton's famous Christmas poem.
Born into a world full of troubles; born into a family
getting ready to do a moonlight flit; so came Christ into our world.
The harsh realities of his birth were no different to those experienced
by the vast majority of human beings over the centuries. It was deliberately
so. Not simply so that he could experience human life in all it joys
and sorrows and so bring it to redemption; that was hardly necessary
for God. No, he was born into our world in poverty and in persecution
so that we could more easily identify with him. As Chesterton said,
'Only where He was homeless are you and I at home.'
And we are homeless; we are without a roof over our
heads. Not a material roof, certainly none of us here this evening has
that problem. But in some way we are homeless, without a home, without
a dwelling place. This is what is recognised here in this parish. This
community of believers has come together because of a deep realisation
on the part of its members that there is no lasting home for us here
on earth; that our true dwelling place lies in heaven.
One would think that here in the Catholic Church one
would find certainty, stability and changelessness. And in one sense
it is so. In any Church ancient traditions are carefully preserved;
great efforts are made to provide stability; change is only reluctantly
accepted. But in another sense it is not so at all. Here in the Church
there is also a deep awareness of the transitory nature of human life.
Here there is a concrete realisation of human frailty. Here is a clear
understanding that each member is deeply dependent on the others.
The world is changing. In the new Millennium we observe
a great increase in the rapidity of change, a great desire for everything
to be modern and new. But the danger is that it the change is too fast
and modernity too superficial. The impression becomes more important
than the substance. And the spin-doctors have become the main determinants
of our political and social agenda.
We saw in the last decade of the outgoing 20th century
the triumph of capitalism over communism, after a struggle lasting over
seventy-five years. But the danger now is that capitalism, left untrammelled,
will turn everything into a commodity and the poor will be trampled
underfoot.
We have also seen the increased struggle by ethnic
groups to assert their national identity and the fragmentation of nation
states. All these things, all these threats and uncertainties unite
us with the Christ Child. The circumstances of his birth draw us close
to him. The vulnerability of the child whose life would be under threat
within a few days. Our knowledge of the eventual outcome of his life
-at the same time both tragic and victorious. The realisation that all
the power of God is focused on this tiny infant, and that also within
us is a spark of that same Godliness. These things inexorably draw us
towards him.
The years hurtle by and the faith waxes and wanes.
In one century it is strong, in another weak. In one country there is
powerful witness to Christ, in another we see the debilitating effects
of indifference. But whether Christianity is strong or weak this feast
of Christmas attracts the whole world, Christian and non-Christian alike.
The infant, the lowly manger, his vulnerability, his destiny -it is
compelling.
We certainly approach Christ at Christmas in a way
that is unique from the rest of the year. The blood and gore of Good
Friday and the strange mystery of the empty tomb on Easter Sunday are
more difficult for us to deal with. But at Christmas we easily identify
with the infant Jesus in his cradle and in his vulnerability, and we
feel at one with him. Moreover we feel that he is at one with us.
This parish community gathered here tonight in the
dark, in the middle of winter to commemorate in solemn liturgy the mystery
of the incarnation is a living witness to the power of this tiny child
to conquer our hearts and lives.
This tiny child makes us aware of our own vulnerability.
This tiny child makes us aware that all is transitory. In the midst
of a great feeding-frenzy of materialism that is the modern-day Christmas
this tiny child helps us to realise that material things don't matter
and that it is the real values of the Gospel that count -faith, love,
hope, trust, reconciliation and all the rest.
He who was born in a stable, and who was so soon to
become a refugee helps us to realise the profound importance of a properly
ordered family life. He helps us to get our priorities and values straight.
He helps us to value all life and to realise that all that lives and
breathes has life only from God.
Chesterton was right: 'Only where he was homeless
are you and I at home.' And he was right because it is only where Christ
is that we truly can be at home.
Here's a Meditation I have sometimes used instead
of a Christmas homily...
Let us adore baby Jesus in the manger. A baby easily
wins the heart and love of anyone with human feelings, but how much
more does this baby win our heart and love. Let us kneel before baby
Jesus and thank him for coming to save us. Thank baby Jesus now in your
own words.
Imagine, Jesus, the Son of God and our Saviour born
in a stable and placed in a manger instead of in a cot. When God comes
he usually comes in humility, silently and peacefully, without causing
a great disturbance. Gods humble coming in Jesus would not surprise
us if we knew God better. But of course we will never know God sufficiently
to understand. So no matter how much we try to understand God becoming
human in Jesus we will not be able to comprehend, it will remain a mystery.
The best reaction is that of the shepherds, simply to praise God. Let
us praise God now in our own words.
As we look on baby Jesus we think of the mystery of
Gods love for us. Why did God who is almighty and all-powerful become
small and powerless as a baby? Quite simply, out of love for us. God
became human so that we might become more like God. Jesus if you had
not come as a human like us, we might have had difficulty in believing
that God really loved us. But now we know for sure. John the Evangelist
says, This is the revelation of Gods love for us, that God sent his
only Son into the world that we might have life through him. Let us
thank God for revealing his love for us in Jesus, that he who is so
big and powerful became so small and weak for us, that he became one
of us, to help us be more like him, to have life through him.
As we see baby Jesus in the manger we reflect on Gods
way being a way of gentleness and tenderness. Gods way is not one of
violence but gentleness. There is a lack of goodness and love in the
world but God is tender and loving. As we look on baby Jesus in the
manger we see that he is the answer to todays problems. Instead of violence,
in baby Jesus in the manger we see gentleness. Instead of hatred, in
baby Jesus in the manger we see tenderness. Instead of selfishness,
in baby Jesus in the manger we see love for us. Let us ask baby Jesus
to help us to be gentle, tender and loving with those around us as he
was in the manger.
Jesus in the manger, you give us hope. In the darkness
of our world, your light has shone. Your coming in gentleness encourages
us to hold out the hand of reconciliation, to help one another, to work
for peace. We remember the message of the angels; Glory to God in the
highest heaven and on earth peace. Baby Jesus, help us to be people
of peace and to spread peace everywhere we go. Let us pray now for peace.
Santa's most popular reindeer by far is Rudolf, Rudolf,
the red-nosed reindeer. Here is his story as told in music by Johnny
Marks: Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. And if
you ever saw him, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolf play in
any reindeer games. Then one foggy Christmas eve Santa came to say:
"Rudolf with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee: "Rudolf
the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history." The story of Rudolf,
is the story of salvation. It is our story both as individuals and as
the human family. In our own case it is not Santa who saves us but the
Child Jesus.
To begin with, Rudolf was a misfit. Compared to the
image of the ideal reindeer we can say that something was definitely
wrong with him. What is more, he was not in any position to help himself.
So are we all, misfits, as the Bible tells us. "For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "All we like sheep
have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). Like lost sheep we are not in a position
to help ourselves. Rudolf could not help himself. All that his fellow
reindeer did was to makes things worse for him. Only one person could
help him, Santa, the messenger from heaven.
Today we celebrate the birth of the Messenger from
heaven. As we read in today's gospel, "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.. And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). He comes to liberate us from
the human predicament, our sinfulness. For it is sin that mars and disfigures
the beautiful image of God that we all are. Sin turns us into a despicable
Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer. But the heavenly Messenger comes, not
to take away the red nose but to declare to us the Good News that we
are acceptable to God even with the red nose. Rudolf's red nose was
a defect. But Santa chose him precisely on account of that. The heavenly
Messenger has the ability to turn the defects and red noses of our tainted
humanity into assets for the service of God. Jesus is this heavenly
messenger.
What makes the reindeer gospel so poignant is that
Santa does not use his magic wand to heal Rudolf of his red nose defect.
He let him go on with the red nose even as his chosen reindeer. Certainly
Rudolf would have wanted nothing so much as to be a normal reindeer
like all the rest. Similarly Jesus does not simply make us good men
and women, rather he makes us into people who can use all their strengths
and defects to the service and the glory of God. This is the proof to
us that it is not by our own will power that we are able to become children
of God. It is by God's grace, by God's unmerited and unconditional love
of us. As God tells St Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
How does the grace of God achieve this transformation
in us? God's grace works two things in us: enlightenment and empowerment.
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ" (John 1:17). God's truth enlightens us and God grace empowers
us. God's truth enlightens us to see ourselves and our world in a new
light. It is a word that brings reassurance, affirmation and hope. You
can imagine how Rudolf felt when he heard the words of Santa, "Rudolf
with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" That is
why we call it the Good News. It is news that is liberating and empowering.
It empowers us by changing our former disposition of insecurity, despair
and hopelessness into that of blessed assurance, new hope and enthusiasm
in the Lord's service.
Like Rudolf before Santa, let us today listen to the
Message that the Child Jesus brings us, let us commit ourselves into
his service without looking back, even when we do not know where the
journey will lead us, knowing one thing for sure: that the grace of
God will supply the strength we need for the long journey of faith ahead.
"For to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power
to become children of God" (John 1:12).
Mary and Joseph, by bringing Jesus to the Temple to
present him to the Lord, were obviously doing nothing different from
any other such family in their area. They fully conformed to the norms
of their Hebrew tradition. They never thought of themselves as being
in any way exceptional because, anything they had was seen as total
gift from God. They led as normal a life as anyone else, and they treated
Jesus as any parents would treat a child in those days. It is important
to stress the ordinariness of their lives. At no stage did they fully
understand the full implications and possibilities of their lives with
Jesus. Life is mystery and, like any mystery, it can reveal itself as
time goes on. So ordinary had their lives become that, when Simeon spoke
his words of prophesy over the baby, we are told that "Joseph and Mary
were amazed at what was being said about Jesus."
Thomas Aquinas was probably the greatest theologian,
and the greatest mind in the whole field of theology, that this world
has ever seen. What amazed everybody about him was that, as a child,
he was considered to be stupid, and was treated as such. This is typical
of the ways of the Lord. Grace builds on nature, it never replaces it.
At Cana it was water; later on it was a few loaves and fishes. It wasn't
much, but it was made available to the Lord, and he did the rest. St
Paul tells us that God selects what is weak and unimportant in this
world so that, by doing so, he can confound the strong. It was important
that Jesus, his life, and everything about him, be seen as being absolutely
ordinary, because he was like us in all things but sin. The holy pictures
of angels flying in and out of the windows of the home in which Jesus
grew up is a travesty of the truth, and is most unhelpful in our understanding
of the Incarnation. Every family can be a holy family. This does not
include the extraordinary, but the ordinary becomes extraordinary when
it involves the reality of God and his presence among us.
Mary is the perfect role model for the Christian.
She said "yes" to God, and anything that happened after that was total
gift, and was the work of the Lord. When she visited Elizabeth, she
brought Jesus there, which is the role of the Christian. When she met
Simeon, she could place Jesus in his arms, fulfil his life-long ambition,
and enable him to face death with joy. When we speak of Jesus, we use
words like "Dying you destroyed our death, rising, you restored our
life. By your cross and resurrection you have set us free." In other
words, if Jesus is in my life, if I have any sense of belonging to the
family of God, then surely death should have totally lost its sting,
to use the words of St Paul.
Family is an important word in our understanding of
relationships. Famulus is the Latin word for servant, and to be a member
of a family is to be in a relationship that presumes service of some
kind or other. Familia is the Latin for what we call household, which
implies a special way of belonging. Being familiar with someone or something
implies a certain level of relationship that is comfortable, non-threatening,
and mutual. In what we call the Holy Family, there was a totally comfortable
relationship between the human and the divine, between the mundaneness
of being human, and the omnipotence of being divine. Never before or
since has there been such an example of what we can well call a family
of God, to which we are all now called. Making space and time for God
within the confines of our own family living is to become a holy family.
There is no such thing as the perfect family. I certainly
wouldn't like to grow up in a perfect family, because I would be totally
unprepared to meet and deal with the realities of living, where nothing
is perfect. The highest tribute to a family is to describe it as being
good enough. That's as much as a family can hope to achieve. Many of
us may have had the privilege of growing up in a family that was good
enough. Human goodness is fragile, frail, and limited. Only God can
provide a goodness that will be there tomorrow, and for all our tomorrows.
A family, where God is given space and time, is truly rich, even if
they're not wealthy. (In parenthesis, for those of us who have no immediate
family, the word can be used to encompass close friends and associates).
While allowing for the reality of change being part
of living, it would be a great pity to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Many of us grew up in homes where there were external images to show
that God was part of the home. If you entered a Jewish home, for example,
you would touch what I might call a small Torah-box at the front door,
which is a reminder of the covenant and the commandments, to all who
enter that house. In today's world, some of us may feel ashamed to proclaim
our allegiance to God, and to the Christian message, by giving prominence
to some public Christian symbol, to remind those who live there, and
those who visit, that this is a Christian home. "If you deny me before
people," says Jesus; "I will also deny you before my Father who is in
heaven."
There are ferocious pressures on family life today.
That is a fact, and there is no use moaning about it, or trying to deny
it. The question that faces each family member is: "Would I really like
this family to be united, to have a sense of closeness, to be a life-giving
unit for all its members?" If my answer is "yes," then I have no choice
but to face reality. This is something that we cannot do by ourselves.
Human nature has within it the power of its own destruction. This is
where humility (truth) comes in, that enables us get on our knees, ask
for God's blessing, and ask him to do for us something that we can never
do for ourselves. Holy means whole or wholesome, and I believe that
we all would like to be a member of a holy family.
Before you leave this church today, may I suggest
that you go on your knees and ask God's special blessing on your family.
This is even more necessary if you see that situation as being hopeless,
and beyond repair. Please do this for about one minute every day, and
I promise you that you will soon see evidence of being blessed.
It is easy to sit in front of a television set, and
feel great compassion for those who are suffering elsewhere. This is
good, but it loses its credibility if that same compassion is not available
to those nearest to me. If you want to promote justice, peace, and well
being in the world, you can take a giant step towards that by beginning
in your own family. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with
me.
When I am finished talking now, I am suggesting that
we should be seated for just one minute to reflect on the following
point: Think of each member of your family, and get in touch with how
exactly you see each of them. Then unscrew the top of the head of each
member, look out through their eyes, and imagine how they might see
you.
The building of the kingdom of God has two characteristics:
The bricks that go into the building are tiny, and quite hidden. (Salt,
yeast, seed, etc., to use the words of Jesus.) It is through all those
unremembered acts of kindness and of love that you can turn your home
into a life-giving, peace-loving place. Do one thing today, something
different, with the awareness that it is done for others, for those
around you.
There can be a big difference between a house and
a home. One is made up of bricks and plaster, and the other is made
up of people. How healthy, how preserved, how safe is your home? (I
am not speaking about your house, but your home.) Are you aware of any
repairs that are needed, that you can do, and will cost nothing? -
Most of our lives are humdrum and ordinary, and life
is what's happening when you're making other plans. On the occasions
of baptisms, first communions, weddings, etc., we generally move up
a gear or two. We have Christmas, and we have birthdays, to help us
be more aware of those around us. The ordinariness of life in Nazareth
for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, is not just a nice concept, but also a
sacred reality, because Incarnation means that God became ordinary,
which is one way of saying that he became one of us.
The day began badly. Whatever he said, he shouldn't
have said it, because his wife snapped back at him. Like reading the
weather forecast, he could see some lows coming in for the day, so he
quietly got his lunchbox ready, slipped out the door, and off to work.
The children, however, were not so wise, or so lucky. One lad was doing
his homework in the middle of the cornflakes, another couldn't find
his socks, and a third was asking for money for something or other.
The atmosphere in the kitchen was getting tenser by the second, and,
minus their normal hug and good wishes for the day, they were turfed
out the door to school. They met their pals but, because they were still
upset, they didn't speak to them, and this sparked off another row.
Later, in class, not only did Junior not know the answer, but he hadn't
even heard the question, so he ended up in the principal's office. What
had begun in that kitchen this morning had spread quite a bit by lunchtime.
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, ten cigarettes, and
twelve cups of tea later, the mother was still in her dressing gown,
and she just couldn't get this day off the ground. She was a good woman,
a woman of prayer, and someone with a lot of love in her. Suddenly it
dawned on her: Not one thing that happened in this house this morning
came from God. The thought shook her, she sank on her knees, asked for
help, and then she got out her bottle of holy water. She sprinkled the
holy water, using the authority given her by Jesus, through her baptism
and confirmation, and, within seconds the cloud had lifted, which it
always will. She apologised to God for forgetting the only real and
true source of peace and well being, and then she phoned her husband,
and assured him that it was safe to come home.
If she had continued to forget, she could easily have
gone down the road of tranquillisers, alcohol, breakdown, etc. Only
God can do God-things, and preserving love, unity, and mutual respect
is uniquely the work of God's Spirit.
The poet, William Wordsworth, writing about the French
Revolution as it appeared to enthusiasts said,
"Bliss was it that dawn to be alive,
but to be young was very heaven."
The same perhaps could be said about Christians in
the Apostolic Age, which had a glory and splendour about it that inspired
people to acts of heroism in spreading the gospel and living up to its
demands. But as early as 100 A.D. things were beginning to change. The
thrill of the first years, to a certain extent, had passed. Christianity
had become a thing of habit, the wonder had faded, and there were some
who wanted to adapt the teaching of Christ to the secular philosophy
and outlook of the day. What's new, you might say. The infant Church
was in real danger of breaking up into opposing factions under the influence
of emerging heresies.
St John, the only surviving Apostle, saw only one
remedy for this, and in his First Letter to the Christian communities
he expressed it in this rather surprising sentence, "If God has loved
us so much, then we also ought to love one another" (4:11). Note he
did not say "we also ought to love God," but rather "we ought to love
one another." In other words the immediate response to God's love as
it envelops each one of us should be to have respect and consideration
and love for one another. This is the way we manifest our love for God.)
On this, the Feast of the Holy Family, we could find
no more apt advice for all Christian families, especially those which
are in danger of splitting up under the stresses and strains of this
modern age. Following the advice of St John, we can say that from the
moment husband and wife are joined together in marriage, the only way
for them to be faithful to God is by being faithful to each other; the
concrete way they express their love for God is by the pure and steadfast
love that they have for each other. If this love between a husband and
wife persists, then their children will grow up in God's love. We can
even say that when the children respond to their parents" love for them,
then they too are responding to God himself. That which sustains the
married relationship of such a couple will be, not so much the house
they live in, or the material things they possess, or the securities
they have built up for the future, but rather this true love, which
they show to each other, and the children God grants them.
The perfect model for any family has got to be the
union of Mary and Joseph, who had no possessions, no securities, not
even a house to call their own, during the period covered by today's
gospel story. We find the protective instinct of Joseph trying to shield
Jesus and Mary from the hostility of King Herod. And just as the day
would come when Joseph would no longer be there to supply this protection,
so no modern father or mother can hope to control indefinitely the situations
in which their children find themselves. After all Jesus was only twelve
when, lost in the Temple, he began to see the will of his Father for
himself in a way completely incomprehensible to both Mary and Joseph.
Mary in the Incarnation being disturbed, Joseph in
his dreams being urged to go against traditional custom, Jesus in the
Temple acting as he did, all these show that tensions did exist within
the Holy Family, tensions which were in no way the consequence of sin,
but rather an indication of evolution and growth. It is within the family
that spiritual and moral values, attitudes towards each other, towards
life, towards God himself, are being passed on, and this not so much
by a process of indoctrination, as by a free and natural initiation.
We can only guess as to the extent to which the attitudes
of Jesus were formed by Joseph, the man of inner vision, the man of
respect for the law, of seeing love as greater than the law, and by
Mary, not the meek, male-dominated woman portrayed by commentators in
the past, but the one, who could make such far reaching decisions as
she did at the Annunciation, the mother who did not try to hold on to
her Son, who displayed such remarkable inner strength and calm in the
face of all kinds of adversity, in standing by her Son to the end, even
to his death on a Cross.
May families always look to Jesus, Mary and Joseph
for guidance, for inspiration, for courage, in the glorious but demanding
task to which God has called them. Not only will the Holy Family be
a model, it will be a source of grace to them as well.
The gospel tells us about Mary and Joseph bringing
Jesus to Egypt, to avoid the evil plans of Herod, and of their return
from there, when that danger had passed. It is a simple story, but a
significant one, and one from which we can learn a great deal about
God's overall plan of salvation for all of us.
We are all too familiar, unfortunately, with the reality
of refugees in today's world. How often we have seen the ravaged faces
of young and old, of mothers and babies, all fleeing before the destructive
onslaught of the bully and the tyrant. With all their riches, and all
their power, such tyrants are miserably poor, and tragically weak. The
greatest evil is that it always seems that it is the innocent who are
the victims of greed, aggression, and violence. Not much has changed
in this world since the time of Jesus. He himself would be the first
to say that, when we look at any one of those innocents on our television
screens, we are looking at him.
The journey to and from Egypt has a powerful significance.
For the Hebrews, Egypt was a place of slavery and returning from there
was the redemption of God, who leads them into the Promised Land. Moses
had been a foreshadowing of Jesus, who has come to us in our slavery,
to redeem us, and to lead us safely home. His journey into Egypt was
a symbol of his joining us in our exile. In becoming like us, he was
joining us in our humanity, and was prepared to accompany us on our
journey into freedom.
Twice in today's gospel, we are told that what Jesus
did was to fulfil a prophecy that had been made about him. In other
words, there was a deliberate purpose in the act. He had come to do
the Father's will, and to carry out everything that was ordained for
him to do. If he was to undo the evil of the original disobedience,
then he had to become obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He
lived in the sure knowledge that what happened to him was the Father's
will. This is not predestination, or being programmed in such a way
that one loses one's free will. Far from it. What happened to Jesus
is what Jesus wanted to happen. He gave himself into the Father's hands,
with a deliberate offer of "Not my will, but yours, be done." His prayer
to the Father was total trust, abandonment, and obedience.
Sometimes we hear the expression about being "anchored"
in life, implying that one's security comes from within, and I am not
tossed around by the storms that surround me. This is farfetched, even
as I say it, because Jesus was a helpless infant at the time of today's
gospel. However, throughout all of his adult life, "my meat is to do
the will of him who sent me." Both he and his life were the fulfilment
of a promise, the completion of a plan. If the Old Testament was radio,
the New Testament was television. His had come to fulfil the promises
of the prophets, and to complete the work of creation, by making it
possible for sin to be forgiven, for slavery to be turned into freedom,
and for death to become eternal life.
Very few of us, if any, have experienced the trauma
of being a refugee, or of being homeless. Our security is important
to us, and we need to have a sense of being in control. I personally
have been deeply impressed, and indeed in awe, at colleagues who left
home and headed off into a completely unknown and uncharted mission
field. This was pure gospel to me. They took Jesus at his word, went
where they felt he wanted them, and trusted him totally to provide,
to bless and to fulfil his promises. In today's gospel, Jesus is a helpless
child, but, in their own way, each of those of whom I speak were also
powerless. It is in such powerlessness that God's power works most effectively.
Jesus was brought to Egypt as a result of a dream
Joseph had, and, again, following another such dream, he was brought
back to Nazareth. The Joseph of the Old Testament was mocked by his
brothers as being a dreamer. Many of us interpret that to mean that
a dreamer is someone who sits around with a head full of crazy and impossible
ideas, but who never does anything to make those dreams come true. It
is important for us to remember that some of the greatest human beings
this world has ever seen have been dreamers, have been people with dreams.
We all remember Martin Luther King's famous speech, which includes those
immortal words "I have a dream ..." unlike those nocturnal dreams that
we all have when we sleep, the real dreamer is the one who is most awake
and alert. Joseph was fully open to any word from God, and he was willing
and ready to carry out that word. "Happy are they who dream dreams,
and are prepared to take the steps to make those dreams come true."
Humility is a difficult concept to grasp, and this
can be because its meaning is so simple. It is nothing more than the
plain and simple truth. It is a gift that enables me see myself as I
really am and, being fully conscious of my human weakness, I can easily
see how dependent lam on God, and why I should live every day with a
constant awareness of that dependence. Mary and Joseph were humble people.
When she visited Elizabeth, Mary spoke of how God had regarded her lowliness,
and how he had done wonderful things for her because of her own powerlessness
to do any of that herself. She magnified God, which is like looking
at something through a strong magnifying glass. The bigger your God,
the smaller your problems. Despite the human hardships, Mary was quite
willing to leave everything, and head off into a foreign country, if
that is what God wanted her to do. Sin is pride, which is my way of
insisting that I do things my way; that my way is best. Jesus refers
to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit had come upon
Mary at the annunciation, and she would continue to be led by that Spirit
throughout her life.
I said earlier than when I look into the face of one
of those refugee children, I am looking into the face of Jesus. Racism
and bigotry is the worst form of blindness, and there is no nation on
earth that can pretend to be free of that. Racism and Christianity certainly
don't go together. "Whatever you do to the least of these, my sisters
and brothers, that's what you do to me." I myself may not have had to
experience the trauma of being a refugee or of being homeless, but I
can find out a lot about myself when I reflect on how I see, and how
I relate to those who are in such a predicament. I don't necessarily
have to personally meet one such person to discover what my inner attitudes
are.
The first time I was carried into a church, I wasn't
consulted, and the next time I'm carried into a church I won't be consulted
either. To attempt to run the show in the meantime is insanity. I own
nothing. Everything I have is on loan. One heart attack and life is
over. Humility is the gift of seeing and accepting things as they really
are. Saying yes to God can be a constant and continual form of prayer.
I don't ever have to worry what I'm saying yes to, because God will
always make that perfectly dear, as time goes by. He doesn't treat us
like robots, nor does he ever want to avail of our services without
our goodwill, and willing co-operation. In Twelve-Step recovery programmes
for alcoholics, narcotics, etc., Step Three says "We made a decision
to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God." What the person
is really saying is, "You should have seen me and my life when I was
in charge." You could do nothing better than take a few moments out
today to reflect on the whole idea of turning things over to God. When
you die you're going to have to let go of everything, anyhow, so why
not begin with little things now?
I spoke earlier of the significance of Jesus going
into Egypt, the land of slavery for the Jews, and his subsequent return
from there. Slavery is a word I could do well to dwell on. I could be
quite enslaved and not know it. The alcoholic is the last one on the
block to believe that he is an alcoholic. If Jesus is to be my Redeemer,
then I must be willing to get in touch with those areas in my life which
are in need of redemption, in need of being restored to healthy and
happy living. There is no doubt at all in my mind that the Spirit will
certainly reveal all of this to me if I am willing to find out. As you
listen to me now, or as you read this, remember that there are two characteristics
of the Word of God, i.e. it is always challenging, but it is never discouraging.
I hope that you will be challenged by today's gospel, and that you will
be prepared to accept it as a pointer for you today, rather than as
something that happened thousands of years ago.
I remember a simple incident in which I was involved
many years ago. It was very early in the morning, and I was travelling
to give a Retreat in a place quite a distance from home. I passed through
many small towns and villages on the way. As I was leaving one town
I encountered a young man thumbing a lift. I stopped to give him a lift,
and discovered that he was going to a town only a few miles short of
my own destination. I went through the usual litany of questions. "Are
you going to work etc." He told me what was happening. There was a centre
for alcoholics in the town where I met him, and it is well known the
length and breadth of the country. The previous evening, under pressure
from family and friends he had decided to check himself in. He attended
the opening session on the previous night and, as soon as the doors
were unlocked the following morning he made good his escape. I'll never
forget his comment, and the sense of shock in his voice as he spoke
it. "Do you know what they wanted me to do in there? They wanted me
to change my whole life." That was too much, and he got out of there
before anything happened. I've often thought of him since, and have
wondered what happened to him. If he was not prepared to change his
whole life he is probably dead by now. The road that was pointed out
to him seemed impossible to travel. Without knowing it, he took the
most difficult road of all and, as I said, it may well have cost him
his life.
The Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph
are put before us by the Church this weekend as a model for our families.
We call them the holy family but that does not mean that they did not
have problems. Just as every family has to face problems and overcome
them, or to put it another way, has to carry a cross, so also the holy
family had to carry crosses. Their many crosses come to mind from reading
the Scriptures. We can easily imagine how misunderstood both Mary and
Joseph must have been when Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Their story would never be believed. Even Mary herself had it very rough
early in the pregnancy when Joseph was planning to divorce her before
the angel intervened in a dream. When the time for Jesus delivery came
it took place in an animals shelter since Bethlehem was already so crowded.
Then the family had to flee to Egypt as refugees because Jesus life
was in danger due to Herod, in much the same way as refugees from war-torn
countries are now entering many western countries. Mary and Joseph suffered
the awful experience of losing Jesus for three days when he was twelve
years old and the only satisfaction they got from him was that he had
to be about his Fathers business. We do not hear of Joseph any more
so we presume that before Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee
Joseph had died, the holy family suffering the greatest pain of all
families, the pain of bereavement and separation through death. Jesus
public ministry must have taken its toll on Mary. Simeon had predicted
in the Temple that a sword of sorrow would pierce Marys soul. We can
imagine one such occasion was as we read in Mark 3:21 that when Jesus
returned to Nazareth one day his relatives came to take him by force
convinced that he was out of his mind. Not a pleasant experience for
any family, no matter how holy. There was also the pain caused by the
rhyme made up about Jesus: Behold a glutton and a drunkard, a friend
of tax-collectors and sinners (Luke 7:34). And there was the growing
hostility to Jesus by the Jewish authorities that must have caused huge
pain to both Mary and Jesus, especially as it became increasingly obvious
that Jesus would have to pay for his mission by dying. The saddest moment
of all came when Mary watched her son die on the cross.
What kept the family together and sane throughout
all of these trials and crosses? The answer is Love for each other and
God. Jesus love for Mary and Marys love for Jesus, and the love of both
of them for God the Father or we could say faith in God. We can see
Jesus love for his mother when he was dying on the cross and was worried
about leaving her behind so he asked his close friend and disciple John
to look after her, saying to Mary, Woman behold your son, and to John
behold your mother (John 19:26-27). What holds our families together
also in times of difficulty is love and forgiveness. It is love which
triumphs in the end, even if for a while love may have to take the form
of some honest talking. When discipline needs to be given, if it is
not given in love it is reduced to abuse. If ever our families fail
in any way, it is because of a lack of love on someones part. Whenever
our families are successful, it is because they are places of love.
I believe that the greatest threat facing families
now is simply that we dont spend enough time together. We are so busy
working, or socialising, or watching TV that we have less and less time
for each other. What a pity. There is a story about a solicitor who
lived a considerable distance from her elderly father. Months had passed
since they had been together and when her father called to ask when
she might visit, the daughter detailed a list of reasons that prevented
her from taking the time to see him, e.g., court schedule, meetings,
new clients, research, etc., etc. At the end of the recitation, the
father asked, When I die, do you intend to come to my funeral? The daughters
response was immediate, Dad, I cant believe youd ask that. Of course,
Ill come. To which the father replied, Good. Forget the funeral and
come; I need you more now than I will then. As I said, I believe one
of the greatest threats facing families now is simply that we do not
spend enough time together.
Just as the holy family survived all its crises through
love for each other and faith in God, let us pray during this Mass that
our families will conquer all difficulties through love for each other
and faith in God.
In the gospels we read that the most common reaction
of those who witnessed the actions, or heard the words of Jesus was
one of astonishment and amazement. For example, at the Transfiguration
of Christ on Mount Tabor, when his face shone like the sun, and his
clothes became dazzlingly white, and Moses and Elijah appeared speaking
to him, Peter spoke for all three Apostles present, when he said, "Lord,
it is wonderful for us to be here." But when they heard a voice speaking
from the cloud that covered them, all three fell on their faces, overcome
with fear. Ordinarily, we have to say with the Letter to the Hebrews
(11:1), "It is only faith which can guarantee the blessings that we
hope for, or prove the existence of those realities which at present
remain unseen." And by way of example, it adds, "It was for faith that
our ancestors were commended."
To nobody is all this more readily applicable than
to the one who was the first to believe in Christ, our Mother in faith,
as well as Christ's earthly Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are
many of us who, in our approach to Mary, place her on a lasting pedestal,
and look on her after the manner of the three Apostles gazing on the
transfigured Christ. All too often we imagine her as the Madonna of
the Christmas card, serene, immobile, seated forever in the immaculately
clean stable of golden straw and glistening snow outside, with adoring
angels hovering overhead. Such a figure is simply not real. For the
plain fact is that Mary, on earth, knew neither triumph nor heavenly
spectacle. No one has ever lived, suffered, died in such simplicity,
in such deep unawareness of her own supernatural dignity.
What evidence do we have for this, you may ask? And
the answer is there in the few short sayings attributed to her in the
gospels. For, in her own eyes, Mary was the handmaid, the servant of
the Lord, depending entirely on God's will, and sustained by God's goodness.
The fathers of the Vatican II Council acknowledged this when they stated
that Mary stands out among the poor and the humble of the Lord, who
confidently await and receive salvation from God (Lum. Gent. 55). Indeed,
in the first four centuries of the Church, Christian writers placed
greater emphasis on the simple faith of Mary at the Annunciation, than
on her divine motherhood. The Virgin believed, and in her faith conceived,
or as St Augustine strikingly wrote, "She first conceived Jesus in her
heart, before conceiving him in her womb." Mary, whom we venerate as
the Mother of Good Counsel, wants above all to be our guide and counsellor
in this area of faith. She wants to beget faith in us, to be our Mother
in faith. That is why, in the gospel of St John, she is present at the
beginning and the end of Christ's public life.
She is there at the wedding feast of Cana, fully believing
before Jesus had worked a single miracle. It was only after the changing
of water into wine that Jesus' disciples began to believe in him. In
fact it was Mary herself who brought about this very sign by her request
to Jesus to intervene. "Do whatever he may tell you," she told the attendants,
words which only one who believed totally in the power of Jesus could
utter. Cana was the first of the signs recorded by St John, in order
to bring us, as it did his first disciples, to believe in Jesus. But
as to the Mother of Jesus, she is represented as already believing before
it.
Significantly, John's gospel also is the only one
to record the presence of Mary at Calvary. "Near the cross of Jesus
stood his Mother" (19:25) is the terse statement we read there. When
all the signs and wonders of the public mission of Christ seemed, in
the estimation of many, to have been a delusion, and all but one of
his carefully chosen Apostles had deserted him, his Mother was still
there witnessing him draw his last breath, and still believing. For
Mary's faith in her Son had never been founded on the evidence of astounding
miracles or visions, but rather on a complete, absolute, childlike trust
in the mysterious ways of God our Father. Nor did her role as Mother
on earth cease when her Son departed this world. For in his dying moments,
Jesus had ensured its continuation when he said to John, "Behold your
Mother." Here Jesus reveals that his own natural Mother will henceforth
be the Mother of the disciple also, the disciple who was a figure of
all of Jesus' true disciples, you and I included. At that moment Mary
assumed a new role in God's plan of salvation for the human race, that
of spiritual Mother to us all.
The American sociologist , addressing the question
"Why do Catholics stay in the Church?" - particularly nowadays when
so many of them seem to disagree with much of its official teaching
- suggests that it is because of its images, metaphors and stories.
And the most powerful image of all is Mary, the Mother of God.
It all begins when a mother brings her little child
to see the Christmas crib. The child gazes in wonder at this exotic
scene of angels, animals, shepherds, kings, mother and father, all gathered
around a little baby in its cot.
"Who is the baby?" the little child asks.
"That is Jesus."
"And who is Jesus?'
"Jesus is God."
"Oh." the little child says.
"And who is the lady?'
"That is Mary, God's mammy."
It is a hard story to beat. it is many children's
first introduction to theology and a most effective one at that. Nothing
in later life shakes their attachment. They may disagree and sometimes
violently with the Church's pronouncements on certain issues. They may
fall foul of its discipline in areas as intimate as marriage and family
life. They may be disillusioned by the lifestyle of their clergy but
they remain Catholics or at least the great majority of them do.
An American survey a few years back showed the actual
defection rate among Catholics as remaining fairly steady over the previous
thirty years, at about 15%. Some "hard-liners" within the church like
to dismiss many of their fellow-worshipers as "a la carte" Catholics,
who prefer to choose their own menus than swallow the official line.
But the rank and file of Pobal Dé (the People of God) remains unimpressed
by labels, and Catholic to boot. They have their stories, images and
rituals and nobody will detach them from them. The most powerful object
of attachment is the metaphor of Mary, the Mother of God. Research on
young Catholics in America shows that the Mary image continues to be
their most powerful religious image. I personally have known some older
people, very often men, whose attachment to religion was tenuous, to
say the least. Yet they carried in their pockets a rosary beads and
stopped occasionally in places like Knock to pray before a statue of
Our Lady. And the people I knew, were far to intelligent to be duped
by superstitious charms or miraculous madonnas. I remember reading somewhere
that Brendan Behan Wrote a letter to the newspaper protesting vehemently
against some journalist who described him as a "non-Catholic." He was
not a non-Catholic, he insisted, but a bad Catholic and there was a
world of a difference between the two.
There's a story heard from nuns who taught grade-school
in Chicago. One day God made a tour of heaven to check out the recent
arrivals. He was taken aback at the quality of many of those allowed
in and he went out to confront Peter about it.
"You've let me down again" he told Peter.
"What's wrong now?" Peter asked.
"You let a lot of people in that shouldn't be there."
"I didn't let them in."
"Then, who did?'
"Well, I turned them away at the front gate, but they
went round the back and your mother let them in."
It is the sort of story that may make intellectuals
squirm or non-Catholics sneer. But it strikes a chord in our Catholic
sensibility. It tallies well with our conception of mother and the gospel
image of Mary. She is the Mother of God and our mother too and like
any mother, she will not be baulked by bureaucratic red-tape or hair-splitting
moralists, when it comes to the happiness of her children.
The name "January" comes from the Roman god Janus,
the god with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking
to the future. This is indeed a time to look back at the year that has
just ended and to look forward to the new year ahead of us. How did
I spend this one year of my life that has just passed? Did I use it
to advance my goals and objectives in life? Did I use it to enhance
the purpose of my existence? Could I have done better last year in the
way I invested my time between the demands of work, family, friends
and society, and the demands of my spiritual life? What things did I
achieve last year and what did I fail to achieve? How can I consolidate
the achievements of last year while reversing the failures and losses
in this new year? Through soul searching questions like these we find
that a review of the past year naturally leads to setting goals and
resolutions for the new year.
There are people who tell you that there is no point
making new year resolutions. Do not believe them. We must set goals
and make resolutions as a necessary conclusion to our review of the
past year. And we do need to review our lives from year to year because,
as Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living.
Today's newspapers are full of individual and collective
new year resolutions. Most of those, however, are not resolutions at
all but only wishes. What is the difference between a resolution and
a wish? A wish identifies a goal one wants to reach, a resolution specifies
the steps one will take to reach it. A wish says this is where I want
to be, a resolution says this is the road I will take, this is what
I will do to get there. The wishful person says "I want to pass my exams
this year" and the resolved person says "I will devote an extra hour
to my studies everyday in order to pass my exams." The wishful person
says "I will have more peace and love in my family this year" and the
resolved person says "I will spend more time with my family at table
instead of rushing off to the TV, so that we get to know and understand
ourselves better." The wishful person says "I will live a life of union
with God this year" and the resolved person says "I will set aside this
time everyday to pray and hear God's word." The difference between wishing
and resolving is: are we prepared to do what it takes to make our dreams
come true, are we prepared to pay the price?
The gospel today presents Mary to us as a model of
that new life in Christ that all of us wish for ourselves in the new
year. There we see that Mary was prepared to do something to realize
this goal. What did she do? We read that the shepherds, when they went
to adore the Child Jesus in the manger, told all that the angels had
said to them. "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them
in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Again after the boy Jesus was found in the
Temple, we are told that "His mother treasured all these things in her
heart" (Luke 2:51). Mary was a woman who valued the word of God, who
treasured it and made time to meditate and ponder it. It is true that
the holiness of Mary is attributed to the grace of God, but this should
not make us forget that she needed to make an effort in order to cooperate
with the grace of God. She pondered the word of God in order to discern
what God was saying to her at every stage in her life as the handmaid
of God.
The two examples above of Mary pondering the word
of God, namely, after the visit of the shepherds and after the finding
in the temple, show that Mary found the word of God both in divine revelation
(the angels' words to the shepherds) and in her own experiences (her
encounter with her son in the temple). Similarly God speaks to us today
through divine revelation (e.g. the Bible, the teaching and preaching
of the Church) as well as through our personal experiences, if only
we made time to reflect on them as Mary did.
Whatever the situation in which we find ourselves
- a hardship, a disappointment, a decision to make - God has a solution,
an answer that is right for us. We tell God about it in prayer but we
also listen to what God has to tell us about it. Prayer is a conversation
with God but sometimes all we do is pick up the phone, read out the
list of our problems to God and drop the phone without listening to
hear what God has to say to us. Let us today resolve to listen more
to the voice of God, to treasure God's word and ponder it in our hearts.
Then shall we be able to realize our new year resolution of a new life
in union with God.
Because we have grown accustomed to our yearly celebration
of the Christmas season, the Incarnation-event no longer surprises us.
Like so many of the mysteries of our faith, we just expect it to be
that way. One of the functions of the liturgy is to foster amazement
at the things God has done, to present the mystery of Christ in its
freshness. Today on the feast of Mary, Mother of God, which is the octave
day of Christmas, we see Mary wondering at what has happened, treasuring
the events of Christmas in her memory, and pondering them in her heart.
By celebrating the eighth day with Mary, we share in her sense of awe
before God's merciful love made known in Christ: 'The Almighty has done
great things for me; holy is his name.
The image of Mary put before us today is not that
of the intercessor of Cana nor of the compassionate one on Calvary;
rather, she is portrayed the silent virgin, the contemplative one, whose
fruitful stillness brings to birth the glory of God, and who continues
to ponder the marvels the Almighty has done for her. What better way
is there to begin a new year than by silently gazing on the silent virgin-mother.
New Year's Day is a bridge between the past and the future; Janus, who
was for the ancient Romans the 'man who stood at the gate of the year',
is depicted as looking back and at the same time looking forward. The
Christian attitude to this is summed up in the tradition of celebrating
the Te Deum yesterday and the Veni, Creator today: our attitude is one
of gratitude for all we have received and dependence on the Spirit as
we face an unknown future. For many, New Year's Day is a day for making
resolutions, but what better resolution could we make today than that
of adopting Mary's stance before the Word-made-flesh, making her contemplative
gaze our own and keeping the incarnate God constantly before our mind
and heart.
Mary is the woman who stands at the gate of the year;
she is the gate-way to heaven ('felix caeli porta' the hymn Ave Maris
Stella calls her). As mother of Christ and mother of the Church she
is the doorway between yesterday and tomorrow, that point of contact
between the world that is and the new world that is to come: Salve radix,
salve porta, ex qua mundo lux est orta. She is the open door through
which the light of Christ pours into a darkened world.
As we look back over the past year, we can ask ourselves
how much of it has been spent in the imitation of Mary, the silent one
who pondered God's saying and doings in her heart, or how much of it
has been wasted in running away from silence, afraid of encountering
the Word-made-flesh. As we look to this new year, which begins today,
we can entrust it to Mary's watchful care, placing ourselves in her
hands, and asking her to teach us how to gaze with love on the incarnate
God.
New Year's Day is not a bad time to speak on the possibility
of making a significant new start, both as individuals and as members
of our civil and church communities. Many will be happy to reflect on
possible New Year's resolutions, to bring a new quality into the year
just beginning. January 1st is also designated a day of prayer for peace
in a world which is only too prone to make war. One might easily build
the homily around the things that make for peace. New Years are deeply
felt by most people as a time for asking God's blessing on the year
ahead, which is a still unforseen future holding a mixture of both hope
and fear. The first reading offers the reassurance that the God we love
and worship is One who goes with us on our journey, who is gracious
and familiar to us. And the Gospel tells of the welcome God gives us,
sending us His Son, born from a human mother, and bearing the name "Jesus"
which offers the ultimate solution for all human ills, since he will
save his people from their sins.
Recently, the Church proposes another important idea
to be celebrated on this significant start-day of the year. In the feast
of we say thanks for the wonderfully human way that God came close to
us us, through the motherhood of Mary, the Virgin from Nazareth. Through
this theme, we can recall the real Jewishness of Jesus, whose parents
brought him to the Temple, to fulfil the Law of circumcision.
By mothering him, Mary not only gave Jesus a body,
she also fundamentally shaped his personality and moulded his early
identity. Part of her shaping of Jesus' identity was in the religious
upbringing she gave him, teaching him prayer and love towards God, and
handing on the core of Jewish belief in the reliably faithful God, whose
faithfulness was shown through the story of his people. The spirituality
of the Magnificat (Lk 1:46ff) would have been taught to Jesus by his
mother.
From his home life with Mary, and Joseph (the too-often
forgotten man in the story) Jesus first came to know the meaning of
faithful love in its human practicality. The second reading points to
the cosmic dimension of Mary's role, that her total 'Yes' to God, the
Saviour was "Born of a woman, born under the law;" and so the divine
Son took a human face and received a human name. It is a day for joining
in her deep pondering on the Word of God.
"If you're Irish, come into the parlour,
There's a welcome here for you.
If your name is Timothy or Pat,
As long as you come from Ireland
There's a welcome on the mat."
This Irish-American come-all-ye underlines the tradition
of welcome associated with the Irish. It has deep roots in our Gaelic
past. Céad Mile Failte (a hundred thousand welcomes) was our'traditional
greeting. Hospitality was the queen of the virtues in Gaelic society.
The Annals of the Four Masters record the obituaries of Gaelic chieftains
and ecclesiastics. By our standards now, many of them were corrupt and
unsavoury. Yet, the Annals describe them in glowing terms as men renowned
for their hospitality. The lives of the early Irish saints highlight
those incidents which show their hospitableness, especially for the
poor and needy. We know little more about St Brigid other than her extraordinary
concern to provide food and shelter for the deprived. One charming legend
links her to the Holy family in Bethlehem. It recounts how the dour
innkeeper turned away Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary, who then took
shelter in his outhouse. Mary's time had come and Joseph ran back to
the inn, pleading for someone to help deliver the baby. No one would
come except the innkeeper's daughter who was severely handicapped. She
was blind and had no hands. But she came gladly. When the child was
born, she was the first to hold him in her arms, miraculously restored:
the first one these once sightless eyes were to see was the Saviour
of the world. Legends such as these earned for her the title, Mary of
the Gael.)
Such stories are no longer handed down from generation
to generation, but some customs evoking our ancestors" high regard for
hospitality still survive in some rural parts. There are places where
a lighted candle is placed in the window at Christmas time, offering
hospitality to the Holy Family.
With the urbanisation of modern society, that custom
and the virtue of hospitality it symbolises, are well on the way to
extinction. High-rise flats with their burglar-proof locks, alarm systems,
Judas-windows and door codes, are hardly intended to encourage the casual
visitor. We do throw the occasional party or give the odd dinner for
a few intimate friends, but it is a far cry from setting an extra place
at our table for the hungry stranger. Our standard of living may have
risen considerably but the same cannot be said for the quality of our
lives.
Hospitality is not an optional extra for the Christian.
It is the very language in which the story of our salvation is couched.
It is in these terms that the gospel describes the rejection of Christ.
"He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him." Whatever
else the Christmas crib illustrates - most of them are so pretty, only
the eyes of faith could unlock their secret - it is that there was "no
room in the inn" for the Son of God. Our faith is an invitation to an
eternal banquet in our Father's house. Our hospitality here will determine
our fate later. "For I was hungry and you gave me to eat."
We are familiar with the saying: Sticks and stones
can break my bones but words will never harm me. Like a lot of proverbial
sayings, this one expresses a truth, but by no means the whole truth.
We know from experience that words can be very harmful. Somebody's reputation
can be unjustly undermined because somebody else puts out a story about
this person. The story may have some truth in it, but it is likely to
be only one of many stories that could be told about the person, and,
if it becomes the dominant story, an injustice is done to that person.
I remember once seeing a collection of old posters that were commonly
displayed in Britain during the Second World War. One of them read,
"Careless talk costs lives." That poster expresses a truth which applies
as much to peace time as to war time. Careless talk can cost lives,
not necessarily in the sense that it results in people being shot, but
in the sense that it can seriously damage or even destroy a person's
reputation. Careless talk can be damaging in other ways. We are all
aware from our experience how words spoken in anger can damage a relationship.
Words can be either harmful or life-giving. The proverb, "Sticks and
stones can break my bones but words will never arm me" does not seem
to take seriously enough the power of language, a power that can be
for good or for ill.
The gospel reading from the gospel of John could be
understood as a hymn to the power of language, God's language. It begins,
"In the beginning was the Word." That Word that God spoke in the beginning
became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Here was now a Word
that could not only be heard, but could be seen and touched as well.
The words we speak reveal who we are only to a limited extent. There
is always much more to us than is revealed in our words. However, the
Word God spoke in the beginning revealed God fully, and when this Word
became flesh in Jesus, he became the fullest revelation of God that
was possible in human form. God said all that could be said about who
he was in the person of his Son. To look on Jesus is to look on God.
As Jesus says to Philip, later on in John's gospel, "he who sees me
sees the Father." God has spoken to us in a language we can understand,
the language of a human life. This Word who is Jesus is full of the
life of God, radiant with the light of God. He calls on us to receive
from his fullness, grace upon grace. He does not force his fullness
upon people. At one point in John's gospel he turns to the twelve and
asks, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter on that occasion spoke
for us all when he said, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words
of eternal life." Jesus had the words of eternal life because he himself
was the Word of life.
The words people speak to us do not always do us good.
The words we hear from various quarters do not always leave us blessed.
On the contrary, they can leave us damaged and diminished. The Word
God spoke to us in his Son has greatly blessed and enriched us. St.
Paul recognizes this in the second reading today when he sings, "Blessed
be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all
the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ." Having been blessed by
God's Word in this way, we are called to bless others by the words we
speak, by the lives we live. We are called to keep on receiving from
the fullness that is always being given to us in Christ, so that we
can enrich others from that fullness. As was said of John the Baptist
in today's gospel reading, we are to be witnesses who speak for the
light.
Today we might give thanks for the times when we have
spoken for the light, when the words we spoke or wrote gave life and
strength to someone, or brought some light into a situation of darkness
or cover-up. These were the times when our words had something of the
quality of the Word that God spoke in the beginning and that became
flesh in the person of Jesus. Parents have a wonderful opportunity to
speak such words to their children, as have spouses to each other, and
those unmarried to people close to them. All of us in different ways
have the potential to speak words that make a difference for the better,
that leave people more alive and enlightened. We can speak and live
in a way that is experienced by others as good news. As we begin a new
year we might resolve to speak words that have something of the life-giving
quality of God's Word, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.
St Luke, in chapter nine of his gospel, has a curious
reference to Christ. "Now it happened," he says, "that as he was praying
alone, his disciples were with him." How could he be alone, you might
ask, if the disciples were with him? It could perhaps mean that he was
praying out of hearing, but not out of sight, of the disciples, or more
likely that for once he was away from the throngs of people who pursued
him everywhere seeking favours from him. And one good reason for this
latter was the locality in which he then was, the vicinity of a northern
town called Banyas, a Greek name meaning the town of Pan. It was a place
shunned by all strict Jews, because for centuries it had been a centre
of pagan worship of the fertility god Pan, and also the spot where Herod's
son Philip had built the city of Caesarea Philippi around a great white
marble temple dedicated by his father to the godhead of Caesar Augustus.
This was regarded by the Jews as being idolatry. The fact that Jesus
came here at all shows the extraordinary freedom of his spirit. He could
disregard taboos, mingle with and sometimes cure Samaritans, sinners,
tax collectors, gentiles, from whom members of the religious establishment
of the day among the Jews kept their distance.
It was on this occasion near Caesarea Philippi that
Jesus posed to his disciples the surprising question, "Who do you say
I am?" It is a question which every year, during the celebration of
Advent and Christmas, Christ addresses to us also. Finding an answer
was something which occupied the minds of the first Christians for quite
some time, something also which led to several heresies in the first
centuries A.D. about the nature and person of Christ.
The Church uses the scriptures, and in particular
the gospels, to awaken in us a response in faith to this mystery. In
what is the first gospel to be written, St Mark tells us nothing about
Christ's life before his public ministry, but he begins with an account
of the work of John the Baptist as being the fulfilment of a prophecy
by Isaiah. What Mark is saying is, that the story of Jesus really began
far back in Israel's history, and that his public life, his death, and
his resurrection show us that he is God.
Matthew and Luke in their accounts of the birth of
Jesus, read every year at Christmas, go a step further. They are saying
that it was evident from the moment, not only of his public life, but
of his birth, that Jesus was a divine person. Matthew traces the genealogy
of Christ back to Abraham, the father of Jewish faith and also of ours.
By this he is indicating to us, that the promises made long ago to Abraham,
that he would be the father of a great people, were now about to be
fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus. Luke traces the genealogy of
Jesus back even further, to the first man Adam. The story of Jesus,
he is saying, really began with the creation of man, and what God was
doing through the life and death of Jesus, was to create, not only a
new Israel, but a new humanity, for himself. It is well to remember
that St Paul saw Christ as the second Adam, the new Adam, in whom all
humanity would be renewed.
Today the beginning of John's gospel goes back to
the moment when time began. Its first words, "In the beginning," show
us what John has in mind. For these are the same words with which the
Bible begins its account of the creation, "In the beginning, was the
Word, and the Word was God." And in that first chapter, no less than
ten times we read, "God said," that is God spoke the Word. "God said,
"Let there be light" - God said, "Let there be a firmament" - God said,
"Let the waters come together" - and so on. The creative Word of God
was at work, and the story of Jesus, St John is telling us, is the story
of this Word, after becoming flesh.
John emphasises also that what took place as the work
of God in the life of Jesus, was not a kind of afterthought on the part
of God, a means of plugging a gap, of setting right a defect which had
appeared in creation because of the original sin of which Adam and Eve
were guilty. No, Christ is, and always was, at the centre of God's plans
for creation, and every created thing derives its meaning from him.
Our task, then, for the new year should be to put Christ at the centre
of our lives, so that, as we read at the offertory, by the mystery of
the water and wine in the Mass "we may come to share in the divinity
of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity."
This gospel is pure poetry. It is as if John opened
his mouth, and let the Spirit of God within him pour out the sparks
of the furnace within his heart. It is hard to grasp the profound nature
of what he writes, compared to the letters he wrote at the end of his
life, which can be summarised in one sentence: "Little children, let
us love one another, because God loves us." This is written with the
total conviction of who Jesus is, why he came, and what happens if we
are open to his message. At the end of his gospel, John will have to
admit that, if he wrote down all the things Jesus did and said, the
whole world couldn't contain all the books. John is known as the beloved
disciple, and it is obvious that his heart is overflowing with love,
gratitude, and joy; because of the Jesus he is about to write about
in the following pages of his gospel.
The heart of the message is that Jesus came to his
own, the Jews, but they did not accept him. The message is now offered
to all of us and, for those of us who do accept it, Jesus will allow
us full membership within the family of God. This privilege is pure
gift, and has nothing to do with merit, birthright, or achievement.
When I was a kid we had a popular song for all singalongs
called "All my granny has left you is her old armchair." It was about
the jeers and sneers of family members directed against the one who
was left an old armchair, while they shared her house and property.
The part of the song that always gave me great joy was when the one
who received the chair discovered that all of granny's savings were
carefully concealed within the chair and that he turned out to be the
lucky one; something that wiped the sneers off the faces of the others,
and filled them with a jealous rage.
A poor way to illustrate today's gospel, but I'm sure
you get the idea. In John's day, for example, Jesus had left them nothing
tangible beyond the memory of a man who had died as a public criminal
and, I'm sure, in the eyes of John's family, he was seen to be really
foolish to have followed such a one, and he deserved nothing but disdain.
I like the following statement: "For those who do
not understand, no words are possible, and for those who do understand,
no words are necessary." That is part of John's problem in today's gospel.
While he witnessed Jesus healing the blind, he himself had come to see
much clearer. All of the miracles Jesus worked for him were within him.
Jesus was, indeed, the light that had come into the world and John,
as one of his followers, had been handed the torch to carry that light
to others. John the Baptist was not the light, nor is John the Evangelist
claiming that he is the light. The role of one was to prepare the way,
the role of the other was to proclaim the message, and guide others
to the Way, which is Jesus.
From the beginning, Jesus was not accepted. John would
later write in one of his letters, "you are children of God. Only those
who are of God will listen to his voice. The proof that the word is
from God is that the world will not listen to it." The Word became flesh.
Word can mean many things. It can be a word in a dictionary: it can
mean a message as in "Did you get any word from John yet?"; it can mean
a promise as in "I give you my word on that." Jesus is the Word of God,
he is God's message, God's statement, God's promise. Jesus wants decisions,
not discussions. "You are either for me or against me," he said. One
of the ways of not getting around to doing something is to talk about
it long enough. Debates and discussions can turn the flesh back into
word again, and what is a reality becomes a thesis or a theory, something
involving mental assent, which has nothing whatever to do with faith.
The Law was given through Moses and, by the time Jesus
came along, the people were totally hamstrung by the love of law. This
law was studied and taught by the scribes, imposed by the Pharisees,
and scrupulously obeyed by the people. Jesus came to replace this love
of law with the law of love. John is really excited about that, as we
see in the last paragraph of today's gospel. Many years later, as an
old man in exile on the island of Patmos, he had simplified the gospel
message to one simple truth: "Little children, let us love one another,
because God loves us." (Do you remember hearing words like that from
Mother Teresa?)
There are none so deaf as those who don't want to
hear. You could be sitting there wondering what I'm going to say, while
I'm up here wondering what you're going to hear, and we can all forget
that only God can speak God's word, and only those who want to hear
will actually hear that message.
There are two parts to the history of salvation: What
Jesus did, and whether we accept that or not. He came to his own, but
they weren't interested. For you, for me, for any or all of us gathered
here today, however, it is our moment of decision. The only yes God
is interested in is my yes of now. I cannot live today on a yes that
was said on my behalf at my baptism. For those who did receive him he
gave the right to become children of God. All they had to do was to
trust him to save them. That is the offer that is made to us today.
God doesn't give me anything; he offers me everything.
In the beginning was the Word. John also knows only
too well that, at the end, the Word will still be there. Jesus is the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In other words, no matter
whether people accept or reject his word, no matter what way the world
chooses to behave, no matter how bad things might appear to be, at the
end of time Jesus will be Lord; the kingdom of this world and the kingdom
of Satan will have come to an end, and there will only be the kingdom
of God, which Jesus came to establish. (As you know, the last Sunday
in the church calendar is the Feast of Christ the King.) It's like knowing
the result of the race before you go into the bookies. You can have
no excuse for not being on a winner. God won't send you anywhere when
you die. Rather will he eternalise the decisions and directions you
take now.
Give some serious thought today to the yes of your
baptism, to ensure that you personally have taken full responsibility
for it, and that you are a member of the Christian family by deliberate
choice, and not by some coincidence or accident of birth.
If the Word becomes flesh, if Jesus takes on our human
nature, then, surely, he has taken on your human nature. This should
lead to some serious reflection along the following lines:
If Jesus has taken on my human condition, then I am
faced with a serious situation. He can take over and effect only that
which I allow, and the limits to what he can do in and through me, are
set by me. The implications of such a possibility are frightening.
There is nothing automatic about God. He will not
enter where he is not welcome. And he needs my goodwill as the foundation
for all his work in me. Did you hear about the man whose beard went
on fire, and he prayed it would start raining? He himself wasn't prepared
to do anything.
There was a dark cave deep down in the earth, and
it had never seen light. One day the sun invited it to come up to visit
it. The cave was amazed at the light, and it invited the sun to come
down to visit it, because the sun had never seen darkness. The following
day the sun came down into the cave, looked around, and asked, "Where's
the darkness?'
When the sun entered, there was no darkness anymore,
just as when Jesus, the Light of Life entered this world.
(from: Rosary Meditations)
In 1850 John Millais (1829-1896) painted a picture
of Jesus working in Josephs carpentry workshop, entitled Christ in the
House of His Parents. Jesus had given himself a bad gash in his finger
and blood streamed down onto his feet. Mary was there comforting him.
Although only an imaginary incident, it portrays well what John means
in his Gospel today, The Word became flesh.
In the first line of his Gospel, John makes us jump
in at the deep end by beginning immediately with his description of
God, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. That Word existing since the beginning and with God is Jesus.
It is truly amazing almost unbelievable that this Word, Jesus, which
existed since the beginning would become flesh. We wouldnt expect God
to mix with us by becoming flesh. But the Word became flesh, God became
one of us. Because the Word became flesh we would expect Jesus to have
the same emotions as us, and he did. ) He loved other people, Martha,
Mary and Lazarus, his disciple John and the rich young man. He cried
when he hurt a lot; when his friend Lazarus died and before entering
Jerusalem when he knew that the city would not accept him as the Messiah.
He enjoyed social occasions. In Luke's Gospel in particular we read
of Jesus attending many dinners, so much so that a rhyme was made up
about him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and
sinners. Jesus felt pity for people when he saw them suffering, so when
they were hungry he multiplied the loaves and fish. He got angry when
people used the Temple for the wrong purpose. He needed companionship,
so he took Peter, James and John aside with him on many occasions and
John was his close friend. At the end of a hard day Jesus fell asleep
in the boat, he was tired like all of us. He felt fear before his passion,
Father let his cup pass me by and in John 12 he says, now my soul is
troubled. Imagine Jesus saying, now my soul is troubled. When John says
the Word became flesh, he really means it. After all, he had seen Jesus
and been his close friend.
The Word dwelt among us. The Word, Jesus, didnt just
become flesh and live a quiet life. He became flesh and dwelt among
us. He was a man of the people. Thats why they said of him, a glutton
and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners. When curing
the lepers he touched them. Lepers were not supposed to come near towns
and according to Jewish Law Jesus would be impure after touching a leper
and could not enter the Temple or synagogue until after washing. But
Jesus was a man of the people, he dwelt among them, and so Law or no
Law, when a leper wanted healing he touched him. Because Jesus was a
man of the people he concentrated much of his ministry among those who
really needed him, the sinners. They knew they were welcome in his company,
he was known as a friend of sinners.
This Word, Jesus, became flesh, and dwelt among us,
and made the Father known to us. The last line of our Gospel today says,
No one has ever seen God, it is the only Son, who is nearest to the
Fathers heart, who has made him known. John is saying the reason why
the Word became flesh was so that we would get to know the Father. Jesus
is the Fathers Word to us. Jesus is the revelation of God the Father.
How do we get to know the Father? By getting to know Jesus. In John
14:6 Jesus says I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me. In John 14, Philip says, Lord, show
us the Father - and then we shall be satisfied. And Jesus said Have
I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us
the Father? Do you not believe that I'm in the Father and the Father
is in me. What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the
Father, living in me, who is doing his works. Jesus, the Word made flesh,
is the way to the Father. If we want to know the Father, we must get
to know Jesus. How do we get to know Jesus? The same way as we get to
know anybody. By spending time together. We spend time with Jesus when
we pray to him and when we read the Gospels. So let us get to know Jesus
who became flesh so that we might get to know the Father, through prayer
and reading the Gospels. We cannot say anymore it is too difficult to
get to know God. He has revealed himself to us in his Son Jesus.
The Word became flesh and lived among us. No one has
ever seen God, it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart,
who has made him known.
"Shine out Jerusalem, for your light has come; the
glory of the Lord is rising on you, though night still covers the earth
and darkness the people. The nations come to your light. Everyone in
Sheba will come bringing gold and incense." These sayings of the prophet
Isaiah must have been in the mind of St Matthew when he described the
coming of the Magi to worship the new-born Saviour of the world in Bethlehem.
So too must have been the words, which were recorded by Matthew but
uttered by Jesus during his public life, when he praised the Roman centurion,
a gentile, a foreigner, for his great faith, "I tell you solemnly, nowhere
in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you that many will
come from the east and the west to take their places at the feast in
the kingdom of heaven, but the subjects of the kingdom (meaning the
Jews) will be turned out in the dark" (8:10+).)
Roughly twenty-five years after his death on Calvary,
this acceptance of Christ by the gentiles was described in his gospel
by Matthew, in his beautiful story of the Wise Men from the east being
drawn to Bethlehem by a star that shone especially bright in the darkness
of the night sky, resulting in the epiphany or revelation to them of
God in the person of the infant Jesus. The Apostles when trying to understand
the events of Christ's life had been taught by Christ himself to look
for their meaning in certain passages of the OT, and so it is more than
likely that Matthew linked the star of Bethlehem, shining serenely in
the sky while night covered the earth and darkness the peoples, with
a prophecy in the Book of Numbers, which promised, "A star shall come
forth out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel" (24:17).
Originally, this was seen as a reference to the founding
of the royal house of David from which the Messiah would come. But Matthew
went on to link the star with Bethlehem, which was the city of David,
and moreover the town foretold by another prophet (Micah) as being the
place chosen by God where the promised Messiah would be born. Since
the royal line of David had long since vanished, the Messiah would not
be a political leader but rather a spiritual one, and his coming, to
a large extent, would be ignored by his own people.
It was mainly the gentiles, represented by the Wise
Men, who were to be drawn to this Star of Bethlehem, and came to believe
in God's greatest self-revelation, through the person of Jesus Christ.
We are told nothing of what the Magi said, but the gospel, in a concrete
way, describes the sublime act of their perfect faith in him, whom they
sought, "Falling to their knees they paid him homage." Then they offered
him gifts, gold as befitting a royal person, frankincense reserved for
the worship of God, and myrrh, a substance used in dressing wounds and
embalming bodies, signifying that this child was truly man, capable
of suffering, and destined one day to die.
You may perhaps say that we have no gold, or frankincense,
or myrrh. That is true, but we have something more valuable, precious
treasures that we can present to Christ, our Saviour and our King. We
bring gold to Christ when we try and make him king of our hearts. We
offer frankincense when by our worship and prayer we proclaim his divinity.
And we can, in some small way, alleviate the pain of the wounds he suffered
for us by applying the myrrh of our own sufferings, our sorrow, our
humiliations and tears.
The departure of the Magi from their own country is
symbolic of every response of faith. When we make an act of faith, we
abandon something, the kind of outlook which urges us to rely only on
the tangible material world, and we allow ourselves to be drawn, as
were the Magi, by someone who, although invisible, is more real than
the world of sense around us. But we must always remember that we could
never begin to seek God, draw nearer to God, unless God had already
found us. The desire for God, the secret thirst for salvation that arises
within us, is not begotten of any human emotion, but rather kindled
by God himself.
When we are baptised in this faith we become the enlightened;
we carry within us the light of faith; we are marked with the sign of
God; we become Magi to others in our turn. As Pope St Leo the Great
once said, "Whoever preserves in himself, or herself, the brightness
of a holy life, becomes for many a star which lights the way to the
Lord."
We know from experience that different people can
respond in different ways to the same thing, to the same event. People
have different reactions to the Spire of Dublin. Some consider it to
be a wonderfully modern symbol of Dublin at the beginning of the 21st
century. Others regard it as a monstrosity and a scandalous waste of
money. The gospel reading puts before us two contrasting responses to
the news that the long-awaited Jewish Messiah had just been born. Astrologers
from the East were so excited by this news that they set out on a long
journey to find the child so as to pay him homage. King Herod in Jerusalem
was so perturbed by the same news that he sought to kill the child.
Today on this feast of the Epiphany we are asked to
identify with the response of the astrologers, the wise men, from the
East. They were people who were very observant of nature, God's natural
world, in particular that dimension of God's natural world that came
into view when darkness descended. They observed and studied the stars.
Yet, they were not so fascinated by the stars that they worshipped the
stars. They recognized that the stars, for all their splendour, pointed
beyond themselves to some more wonderful reality, to God. So, when they
heard that God was visiting our world in a new way through a child who
had just been born, they set out in search of that child. These exotic
figures from the East show us how being attentive to God's natural world
can draw us closer to God. This can happen in different ways for different
people. For the wise men it was their fascination with the stars that
led them to the true light of the world. For me, the sea can have a
similar impact, revealing to me in some mysterious way the depth and
power of God. The redness of a rose spoke to Joseph Mary Plunket of
the redeeming death of Christ. God can speak to us in a variety of ways
through the world of nature. The wise men teach us to be attentive and
observant of that world, so that in and through it we may experience
the presence of the living God.
There came a point on the journey of the wise men
when they needed more that the signs of nature to find the child whom
they were seeking. When they came to Jerusalem they had to ask, "Where
is the infant king of the Jews?" To make the last short step on their
long journey, they needed more than the light of a star. They needed
the light of the Scriptures. The chief priests and the scribes who knew
the Scriptures were able to point them in the direction of Bethlehem.
On our own journey towards the Lord, we too need the light of the Scriptures
as well as the light of nature. The Scriptures are a fuller revelation
of God than the natural world. It is in and through the Scriptures that
we meet God in a special way and his Son. St. Jerome, one of the great
saints of the church and a Scripture scholar of his time, said that
ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. The Scriptures are
human writings, a human word. But we believe that they are also God's
word, God's word in human words. Through the Scriptures God speaks to
us in a privileged way. He asks us to listen and to allow our lives
to be shaped by what we hear. The wise men allowed themselves to be
guided by the Scriptures, as well as by the star. They showed something
of that responsiveness to God's word to which we are all called.
Having been moved by the presence of God in nature
and in the Scriptures, the wise men came face to face with God in a
child. They did not worship the star; they did not even worship the
Scriptures. But they did worship the child, because they recognized
that here was Emmanuel, God-with-us. We too worship Emmanuel, and we
do so in a special way every time we celebrate the Eucharist. As the
wise men expressed their worship by offering the child their precious
gifts, we express our own worship of the Lord in the Eucharist by offering
him our lives. We give ourselves to him in response to his giving of
himself to us as bread of life. The gospel reading tells us that, after
worshipping the child, the wise men returned home by a different way.
Their meeting with the infant king of the Jews somehow changed them.
Our own worship of the Lord in the Eucharist will often prompt us to
take a different path too. We come to the Eucharist open to being changed
by the Holy Spirit. We are sent forth from the Eucharist to follow the
way of the Lord more closely. We pray on this feast of the Epiphany
that we would be as open to the Lord's call as the wise men in today's
gospel reading.
Nobody disputes the fact that Jesus Christ was born
on Christmas day. But dating it is quite another matter. Historians
have never been able to agree on the year Jesus was born. There is even
less certainty about the day or the month. Oddly enough, almost the
only scientific data they have to help them in their search is today's
star. Astronomers can, with reasonable accuracy, date the appearance
of this star. Inter-stellar activity follows its own fixed rhythms and
so the appearance of new stars in different regions can be determined
by computation. Fact is stranger than fiction. That part of the Infancy
Narrative one would be most tempted to discard as fairy-tale, turns
out to be the only thing that is scientifically verifiable. Whatever
else has changed since Christ was born, the sky at night remains the
same. Star-gazers today can follow the same Star the Wise Men followed.
Western tradition chose three as the number of the
Wise Men and even found exotic names for them, Caspar, Melchior and
Baithasar. Some suggest that they travelled from Persia or South Arabia,
though Matthew simply indicates that they came from the East. The gospel
leaves no doubt that they were individuals of strong conviction, enquiring
minds and adventuresome spirit. In a word, intellectuals.
The point should not be overlooked. The church has
not often shown such welcome to that beleaguered community as its infant-founder.
In those rare periods when it did, religion truly blossomed. Oddly enough,
the improvement of conditions in the communist east traces its origin
to an alliance between the churches and the dissidents. They make natural
bedfellows though it often takes persecution to convince them. It was
intellectuals who first discovered the star of Bethlehem. No church,
no religion can be authentic, that does not cherish specially its poets,
its writers and its thinkers. The true church in the world is an island
of saints and scholars. Stars reveal their secrets only to dreamers.
Their astronomical enquiries brought the Wise Men
as far as Jerusalem. Astronomy could take them no further. There, they
had to consult other experts. The Jews were the people of the Book.
Only biblical scholars could shed further light on where the Messiah
was to be born. So the chief priests and the scribes were called in,
through the intervention of Herod. They had not long to wait for an
answer. The Bible quickly yielded up its awesome secret. "And you Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the Leaders of
Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people
Israel." Their search had narrowed down to Bethlehem. Enquiries at the
inn might well have led them to the manger. The star, the symbol of
their inquiring minds, went forward and halted over the place where
the child was. Or did they hear a baby crying?
The investigation of the Wise Men is a fine illustration
of the Latin adage intelligentia quaerens fidem (intelligence seeking
faith). The message for us is simple. If ever there is to be an epiphany
in our lives we will need our heads as well as our hearts. We can ill-afford
to ignore the insights of intellectuals.
We imagine ourselves in the presence of baby Jesus,
and Mary and Joseph. We are surprised to see men of eastern appearance
come. They see baby Jesus and fall on their knees. They offer him homage
and give him presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh, gold because
Jesus is king, frankincense since Jesus is divine and myrrh prefiguring
his passion. They tell us about the star and about Herod who knew nothing
about Jesus' birth. After their stay they set out on their return journey
eastwards but not via Jerusalem since they want to avoid Herod. After
their departure we spend time with baby Jesus. Baby Jesus, we do not
have gold, frankincense and myrrh to give you but we can give you our
love. Let our love be your manger. For a moment now let us love baby
Jesus.
Baby Jesus, even while you were only a little baby
you experienced both acceptance from the wise men and rejection from
Herod. The wise men and Herod had two opposing attitudes, searching
for God and being closed to God. Baby Jesus, we see that the wise men
were blessed in their search for you by finding you. We are searching
for you too, we want to come ever closer to you. Help us to draw ever
closer to you and if we are closed to you like Herod, help us to open
so that we can find you. Let us ask Jesus to help us in drawing closer
to him.
Baby Jesus, not only had the wise men and Herod different
attitudes to you, they also had different attitudes to life. The wise
men were generous, Herod was selfish wanting to hold on to his throne.
The magi gave you gifts, Herod killed all boys under two years of age.
The wise men were willing to put energy and goodness into life, Herod
wanted to get all he could from life. The magi who sacrificed to put
into life were happy, Herod who took all he could from life was unhappy.
Baby Jesus help us to foster a healthy attitude towards life, giving
and caring, instead of grasping, and being selfish and possessive. Let
us pray now asking Jesus to help us develop ever more wholesome attitudes
towards life.
The magi were lucky. They were given the guidance
of a star. In the darkness of this world we have all been given help
on our journey to God; the beauty of nature, the Word of God in Sacred
Scripture, Spirit-filled witnessing and preaching, the faith of others
and our own faith. For a moment let us thank God for giving us stars
to lead us to him.
When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, it seems they
no longer had the guidance of the star, otherwise they would not have
had to ask Herod for advice. Sometimes we too feel as if we're in the
dark, like the magi. Sometimes what or whom we relied on is not there
any more. Sometimes we see only darkness around us. But we know that
you are there, Jesus, and that eternal life awaits us even if sometimes
in this world there is no star for us. Lord in our moments of darkness
without a star, help us not to give up but to keep searching, hoping
and praying because that would be the best way forward. Let us pray
now for strength to remain steadfast when there is no guiding star.
In this year's readings the whole story of the Epiphany
is told. Next week we read the story of the second manifestation of
the Divinity of Jesus at his Baptism and the following Sunday - "Cana
Sunday" we witness the third manifestation at the Marriage Feast in
Cana. Today we hear about the first manifestation to the "Magi" or "kings"
who were more likely astrologers. They tell us a story of Jesus coming
for all humankind, a story with richer and deeper implications today
than at the time of the Gospels. Despite our tradition of Caspar, Belthassar,
and Melchior, the Greeks and the Russians hold that there were twelve
kings. Since there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles,
they argue that there had to be twelve kings. Our tradition of three
is based on the fact that three gifts were mentioned. No matter how
many of them there were, they were men who, as the carol says, had the
courage to follow their star.
Once upon a time, there were three young women, best
friends since their early school days. They were bright, imaginative
and creative young women who in the eyes of their peers seemed a "bit
different." In their high school days, their peers considered this difference
a sign of weirdness, and thus an excuse for excluding them from all
the cool things that the "in crowd" did. Some wondered why they wanted
to spend so much time studying or doing volunteer things or reading
or, God forbid, going to the symphony instead of rock concerts. At times,
the three friends were hurt by the words and actions of their peers.
But, being women who dreamed great dreams, they couldnt give up the
things that challenged them to want something more, even when they weren't
sure what that more was. Imagine the surprise of their peers when at
their ten year reunion, the three were the most successful members of
their class, had traveled widely, had charming escorts and were up and
coming stars in their careers.
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