Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/010111.shtml
Every year, the Church celebrates January 1st as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Looking back, the Solemnity completes the Octave of Christmas and reminds us that Jesus, the Son of God, like everyone of us had a mother, Mary, who played a key role then in the Mystery of the Incarnation, the Mystery of Christ. Looking forward toward the New Year, we are offered Mary as an example of the Perfect Disciple, who said “yes” to God’s plan (Lk 1:38) and who tells us “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). So we remember Mary here for her role as Mother and Example to the Church.
That Jesus would have a mother would seem like a relatively small matter. Still, every single one of us are here because we had a mother who brought us into this world and mothers generally play a special role in our lives. They are usually our strongest defenders. They are often the last to give up on us. They model for us perhaps most perfectly God’s love for each of us. They are most likely to live out the words of St. Paul in 1st Corinthians “bearing all things, supporting all things, forgiving all things, believing all things,” and remind us truly that “in the end these three remain, faith hope and love and the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:7,13)
So we shouldn’t be surprised then that we find Mary at the Foot of the Cross as Jesus is dying and Jesus then handing over his mother to us, for us to take care of, and for her to take care of us (John 19:25-27).
Mary is a bridge therefore between the Mystery of the (incarnation of) Christ and the Mystery of (the purpose/mission) of the Church, giving us much to reflect on, should we choose to do so, over the coming year, regarding both.
Finally, since at least the outbreak of World War II, the Church has honored January 1st as the World Day of Peace, reminding us _annually_ that our destiny is to live together as brothers and sisters, children of the same God at the same table in the same house, in peace.
We can choose to dismiss this annual reminder as pipe dream, but if we reflect at all on our faith, we must realize that this simply must ultimately be the case, or else our faith and really everything around us has no lasting value.
So then, let us then pray for peace. Let us choose to look for ways to bring us together rather than pull us apart, to diminish conflicts rather than make them worse, realizing that none of this is easy and that at least initially there will people who’ll consider us naive/stupid/etc for doing so. But ultimately _if we believe_, what else can we credibly do except to work for reconciliation and peace?
So God bless you all and let’s make this coming year, truly a year of following the example of Mary and making peace!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Dec 26, 2010 - Feast of the Holy Family - Without the Other-Others, who are We Anyway?
Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/122610.shtml
During the Christmas season, which only began yesterday with the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord, every major celebration invites us to reflect on an aspect of the Mystery of Jesus’ (the Son of God’s) Incarnation and walking among us. Today, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we remember that Jesus entered into this world in the same way as all of us do, in the context of a family.
Every single one of us, even orphans enters into the world this way. Yes, we are members of the human race, members of a particular people, nation and community. But at the most fundamental level, each of us grows up surrounded by 5, 10, 15 people, “family,” from which we learn most of what we learn about how to manage our lives in this world.
All of us learn good things from our families, and we also learn some bad things. And because our families can/do carry some negative baggage as well as good, we’re given then the example of the Holy Family, predominantly Mary and Joseph to help steer us in a more positive direction no matter how messed up our immediate family circumstances may have, in fact, been.
What can we learn from Mary and St. Joseph? We can certainly learn from the Gospel reading today that Joseph put the welfare of Mary and Jesus first. Averted in a dream that Jesus was threatened by Herod, he picked up his family and left for Egypt. Averted later that it was okay to return back to Israel, he did so, though choosing then to live in Nazareth outside of Herod’s family’s power to keep them safe. Joseph didn’t have to do that. Jesus wasn’t even his child. At any step of the way, Joseph could have said, “Mary, I’m sorry but you and your child have caused me nothing but trouble. Goodbye.”
Mary too could have said “no” to God. It would have certainly been easier for her and even for her relationship with Joseph if she did. Instead, she chose to accept the impossible and the consequences of having to occasionally have to explain her decision (to Joseph most notably, but certainly to others who would have been nosy enough notice that Jesus probably didn’t look a whole lot like Joseph ...).
Why would one do that? Why would one put family, put a baby, put arguably God first?
It’s a question for all of us to wrestle with.
Perhaps it is in opening oneself to that which is beyond oneself (in Catholic speak “the Transcendant”) one gets to live. A kid learns repeatedly that choosing one’s own way just gets one sick (Eat 25 hotdogs, cookies or gum balls and you’ll get sick. Decide to walk away from mom and dad, and who exactly is going to feed you? And, in Chicago, it gets really cold in the winter if you want to live “outside the home”).
As an adult, you can choose to live “on your own” but almost by definition, you’re going to “live alone.” And what’s going to be left of you when you’re gone?
We can then sulk and say “Well my life doesn’t mean anything anyway so who cares?” But (1) we _do_ probably care and (2) if we choose to have people around us, our lives _do_ matter to them. So only by our choice do we negate our importance to others or even to God.
We can hold our breath but eventually we ourselves have to open our mouths to take in new air.
So we’re stuck with others, others who love us. And we’re stuck with a God who loves us as well. And it’s good that we’re “stuck” with them. Because they are the ones who’ll let us back in when we realize “wait a minute, what the heck am I doing outside of this house anyway?”
Yes, we have things to teach our families, which we learn from our experiences. EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN A FAMILY _ENRICHES IT_ by his/her experiences. But if we don’t talk to our families, who do we enrich anyway? Ourselves? Our friends? Perhaps. But our friends are generally are the ones who teach us new things to bring home. And without our families, we'd probably have little to share with our friends.
So without family, there’s little to share, with either friends or family.
So on this day of the Holy Family, let’s think a bit about our relationships, especially at home, and then about the example of the Holy Family. It’s not bad to open oneself up to the Other, to put Others first, ultimately to put God first. Because when we choose to do that, ultimately, we choose to live.
During the Christmas season, which only began yesterday with the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord, every major celebration invites us to reflect on an aspect of the Mystery of Jesus’ (the Son of God’s) Incarnation and walking among us. Today, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we remember that Jesus entered into this world in the same way as all of us do, in the context of a family.
Every single one of us, even orphans enters into the world this way. Yes, we are members of the human race, members of a particular people, nation and community. But at the most fundamental level, each of us grows up surrounded by 5, 10, 15 people, “family,” from which we learn most of what we learn about how to manage our lives in this world.
All of us learn good things from our families, and we also learn some bad things. And because our families can/do carry some negative baggage as well as good, we’re given then the example of the Holy Family, predominantly Mary and Joseph to help steer us in a more positive direction no matter how messed up our immediate family circumstances may have, in fact, been.
What can we learn from Mary and St. Joseph? We can certainly learn from the Gospel reading today that Joseph put the welfare of Mary and Jesus first. Averted in a dream that Jesus was threatened by Herod, he picked up his family and left for Egypt. Averted later that it was okay to return back to Israel, he did so, though choosing then to live in Nazareth outside of Herod’s family’s power to keep them safe. Joseph didn’t have to do that. Jesus wasn’t even his child. At any step of the way, Joseph could have said, “Mary, I’m sorry but you and your child have caused me nothing but trouble. Goodbye.”
Mary too could have said “no” to God. It would have certainly been easier for her and even for her relationship with Joseph if she did. Instead, she chose to accept the impossible and the consequences of having to occasionally have to explain her decision (to Joseph most notably, but certainly to others who would have been nosy enough notice that Jesus probably didn’t look a whole lot like Joseph ...).
Why would one do that? Why would one put family, put a baby, put arguably God first?
It’s a question for all of us to wrestle with.
Perhaps it is in opening oneself to that which is beyond oneself (in Catholic speak “the Transcendant”) one gets to live. A kid learns repeatedly that choosing one’s own way just gets one sick (Eat 25 hotdogs, cookies or gum balls and you’ll get sick. Decide to walk away from mom and dad, and who exactly is going to feed you? And, in Chicago, it gets really cold in the winter if you want to live “outside the home”).
As an adult, you can choose to live “on your own” but almost by definition, you’re going to “live alone.” And what’s going to be left of you when you’re gone?
We can then sulk and say “Well my life doesn’t mean anything anyway so who cares?” But (1) we _do_ probably care and (2) if we choose to have people around us, our lives _do_ matter to them. So only by our choice do we negate our importance to others or even to God.
We can hold our breath but eventually we ourselves have to open our mouths to take in new air.
So we’re stuck with others, others who love us. And we’re stuck with a God who loves us as well. And it’s good that we’re “stuck” with them. Because they are the ones who’ll let us back in when we realize “wait a minute, what the heck am I doing outside of this house anyway?”
Yes, we have things to teach our families, which we learn from our experiences. EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN A FAMILY _ENRICHES IT_ by his/her experiences. But if we don’t talk to our families, who do we enrich anyway? Ourselves? Our friends? Perhaps. But our friends are generally are the ones who teach us new things to bring home. And without our families, we'd probably have little to share with our friends.
So without family, there’s little to share, with either friends or family.
So on this day of the Holy Family, let’s think a bit about our relationships, especially at home, and then about the example of the Holy Family. It’s not bad to open oneself up to the Other, to put Others first, ultimately to put God first. Because when we choose to do that, ultimately, we choose to live.
Friday, December 24, 2010
24 Dec 2010 - Wishing you an Imperfect but Loving Christmas
Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/122510.shtml
We are at the first Mass of Christmas. The (Catholic) Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity with four distinct Masses between the evening of December 24th and December 25th. Each of these Masses has different Readings and thus offers the participants a different perspective on the celebration of Jesus’ birth / entry into our world.
At this, the Vigil Mass, the Gospel Reading is normally from the Gospel of Matthew and includes the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to Mary / Joseph, reminding us of how long took for God’s plan of Redemption to be put into place, how long the good people like Abraham and his descendants had to wait. With Jesus remembered as having been born in the middle of the night, the Vigil Mass takes place “just before” or just as the events surrounding Jesus’ birth start taking place. We find ourselves at the interface between “just before” and “just after.” And the Church’s Liturgists already in the 4th 5th century wanted to preserve this. This was the first of 4 Masses celebrated traditionally in Christian Rome for Christmas and was held at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major recalling Mary's (and St. Joseph’s) role in Christ’s birth.
The Second Mass, was the Mass at Night (traditionally held at Midnight) thus popularly called “The Midnight Mass.” Because in the Gospel Reading from St. Luke, Jesus’ birth in a stable at the outskirts of Bethlehem is announced to the Shepherds by the Angels, the Mass is also called “The Mass of the Shepherds.” Most of us, whether we go to this Mass on the Night of Christmas Eve or tommorrow on Christmas Day remember _this Mass_ as the Christmas Mass because it has all the elements that we remember of Jesus’ birth – Mary, Joseph, the Inn keeper, the stable, the animals, the manger, the swaddling clothes, “the people in darkness” who’ve “seen a great light” the shepherds the angels, etc. We remember the miracle of Jesus, who, _if we believe_ was the Son of God, but CHOSE to enter the world in this stupendously humble way – as a baby, to an utterly unimportant couple, huddling at the edge of an unimportant village, in an utterly unimportant country, in a stable, among the animals. This Mass was traditionally held in a chapel, below / beside the main altar at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where a relic from the “Holy Crib” (brought back to Rome by Emperoro Constantine’s mother St. Helen) was kept. (Interestingly enough, by the Mass’s location – in a chapel, arguably “in the basement” of the Basilica) it appears the Liturgy planners expected attendance at this Mass to _not_ be "particularly large." How wrong "the planners" were ;-).
The Third Mass, was the Mass at Dawn which was traditionally held in Rome at an obscure church, St. Anastasia’s at the foot of Palatine Hill (at the base of the hill where the Roman Emperor lived... the Emperor apparently was using some of his clout...). The Gospel Reading for this Mass came also from Luke and continues the story from the Mass at Night. We’re reminded that after the Shepherds visited the infant Jesus they returned to the fields recalling the story to everyone that they saw, and that “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” We’re called to do the same.
Finally, the Fourth Mass, the Mass of the Day on Christmas Day, is the most theological Mass of this day with readings taken from the Letter of the Hebrews: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son” and from the prologue to the Gospel of John “In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This Mass is best celebrated later in the day after the main festivities at home have taken place, the presents have been opened and the family goes back to Church to reflect on the meaning of all that was celebrated on this day.
I’d encourage anyone who wishes to look-up the Readings for these Masses (link here or above)
These are the Four Masses of the Catholic Church’s celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord (Christ-Mass).
****
Very well, at Annunciata, the 5 PM Mass on Christmas Eve has come to be known as the “kids Mass” and the last couple of years, we’ve asked families to dress their little kids as their favorite characters in the story of Jesus’ birth. As such, we use a conflated Gospel Reading taken from Luke from the Mass of the Shepherds and also the Gospel Reading from Matthew taken from Epiphany about the Three Kings so that all the kids that dress up can appear in the story.
We also made a conscious point of allowing everyone to come as they wished, no auditions to play Mary or Joseph, no lotteries, etc, so that everyone who wanted to could dress up their kid as Mary or Joseph or one of the Three Kings, etc could do so in peace and thus produce happy memories for them and their families for the rest of their lives.
****
It’s also been a great joy for me to celebrate _this_ 5 PM Mass over the years because I’ve had the joy of reminding people each year that IT IS ABSOLUTELY OKAY if “Christmas does not come out perfectly” for them this year.
I say this because there can be enormous pressure that Christmas be perfect. And yet with a group the size of this parish, one can be certain that among us will people who will break something, forget something, burn something, say something stupid (again) with _everybody’s eyes rolling_ again, etc, etc.
And the story of Jesus’ birth shows us, that as far as God is concerned, THIS IS OKAY. Indeed, one COULD EVEN IMAGINE that GOD _chose_ to enter into _our world_ IN THIS WAY _precisely_ because GOD KNEW that there would be enormous pressure to “get things right” and that some people would inevitably screw up.
So we have this account of Mary and Joseph giving birth to the SON OF GOD in a stable outside of Bethlehem to remind us that it is okay for things to not be perfect.
Indeed, if one reads between the lines, it is clear that _circumstances conspired_ to “make things less than ideal.” And actually, both members of the Holy Family (Mary and Joseph) could have been _unfairly_ “blamed” for the mess even though the circumstances were not really their fault.
Joseph an “out of town relative” of the “lineage of King David” could have been “blamed” for “not knowing his relatives in Bethlehem as well as he thought.”
Mary, near her time of delivery could ahve been “blamed” for simply being “too slow” moving about for Jospeh and her to get everything done that they needed to in Bethlehem to have the time “to get a decent hotel room” that evening.
Both Mary's and Joseph's “failings” _easily_ fall within the realm of possibility in our families.
So, as I say every year at this Mass, please MAKE IT A POINT to LET THINGS GO this EVENING and TOMMORROW as you celebrate Christmas. PLEASE DON'T MAKE A FEDERAL CASE OUT OF HONEST MISTAKES.
If someone breaks something, smile. If someone burns something, let it go. If someone forgets something, let it pass. Your complaining or making an issue of it, won’t fix this mess-ups anyway but IT WILL CERTAINLY IMPEDE a happy celebration of Christmas in your home.
As it is, God came into the world, knowing that people would be both jealous of him (much of our day-to-day lives we seem to walk around acting as if we ourselves were "little gods...") and fearful of him ("oh my, now we have to listen to him ..."). God chose to enter the world IN THIS WAY, as a BABY, perhaps precisely because ABSOLUTELY NO ONE IS AFRAID OF A BABY.
And if God can be so UNDEMANDING of us, can we be similarly undemanding of the friends and relatives around us.
So God bless you all and in the name of everybody associated with Annunciata, a HAPPY and BLESSED CHRISTMAS to you all, and please please please, if somebody screws up something at home ... let it go ;-).
We are at the first Mass of Christmas. The (Catholic) Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity with four distinct Masses between the evening of December 24th and December 25th. Each of these Masses has different Readings and thus offers the participants a different perspective on the celebration of Jesus’ birth / entry into our world.
At this, the Vigil Mass, the Gospel Reading is normally from the Gospel of Matthew and includes the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to Mary / Joseph, reminding us of how long took for God’s plan of Redemption to be put into place, how long the good people like Abraham and his descendants had to wait. With Jesus remembered as having been born in the middle of the night, the Vigil Mass takes place “just before” or just as the events surrounding Jesus’ birth start taking place. We find ourselves at the interface between “just before” and “just after.” And the Church’s Liturgists already in the 4th 5th century wanted to preserve this. This was the first of 4 Masses celebrated traditionally in Christian Rome for Christmas and was held at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major recalling Mary's (and St. Joseph’s) role in Christ’s birth.
The Second Mass, was the Mass at Night (traditionally held at Midnight) thus popularly called “The Midnight Mass.” Because in the Gospel Reading from St. Luke, Jesus’ birth in a stable at the outskirts of Bethlehem is announced to the Shepherds by the Angels, the Mass is also called “The Mass of the Shepherds.” Most of us, whether we go to this Mass on the Night of Christmas Eve or tommorrow on Christmas Day remember _this Mass_ as the Christmas Mass because it has all the elements that we remember of Jesus’ birth – Mary, Joseph, the Inn keeper, the stable, the animals, the manger, the swaddling clothes, “the people in darkness” who’ve “seen a great light” the shepherds the angels, etc. We remember the miracle of Jesus, who, _if we believe_ was the Son of God, but CHOSE to enter the world in this stupendously humble way – as a baby, to an utterly unimportant couple, huddling at the edge of an unimportant village, in an utterly unimportant country, in a stable, among the animals. This Mass was traditionally held in a chapel, below / beside the main altar at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where a relic from the “Holy Crib” (brought back to Rome by Emperoro Constantine’s mother St. Helen) was kept. (Interestingly enough, by the Mass’s location – in a chapel, arguably “in the basement” of the Basilica) it appears the Liturgy planners expected attendance at this Mass to _not_ be "particularly large." How wrong "the planners" were ;-).
The Third Mass, was the Mass at Dawn which was traditionally held in Rome at an obscure church, St. Anastasia’s at the foot of Palatine Hill (at the base of the hill where the Roman Emperor lived... the Emperor apparently was using some of his clout...). The Gospel Reading for this Mass came also from Luke and continues the story from the Mass at Night. We’re reminded that after the Shepherds visited the infant Jesus they returned to the fields recalling the story to everyone that they saw, and that “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” We’re called to do the same.
Finally, the Fourth Mass, the Mass of the Day on Christmas Day, is the most theological Mass of this day with readings taken from the Letter of the Hebrews: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son” and from the prologue to the Gospel of John “In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This Mass is best celebrated later in the day after the main festivities at home have taken place, the presents have been opened and the family goes back to Church to reflect on the meaning of all that was celebrated on this day.
I’d encourage anyone who wishes to look-up the Readings for these Masses (link here or above)
These are the Four Masses of the Catholic Church’s celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord (Christ-Mass).
****
Very well, at Annunciata, the 5 PM Mass on Christmas Eve has come to be known as the “kids Mass” and the last couple of years, we’ve asked families to dress their little kids as their favorite characters in the story of Jesus’ birth. As such, we use a conflated Gospel Reading taken from Luke from the Mass of the Shepherds and also the Gospel Reading from Matthew taken from Epiphany about the Three Kings so that all the kids that dress up can appear in the story.
We also made a conscious point of allowing everyone to come as they wished, no auditions to play Mary or Joseph, no lotteries, etc, so that everyone who wanted to could dress up their kid as Mary or Joseph or one of the Three Kings, etc could do so in peace and thus produce happy memories for them and their families for the rest of their lives.
****
It’s also been a great joy for me to celebrate _this_ 5 PM Mass over the years because I’ve had the joy of reminding people each year that IT IS ABSOLUTELY OKAY if “Christmas does not come out perfectly” for them this year.
I say this because there can be enormous pressure that Christmas be perfect. And yet with a group the size of this parish, one can be certain that among us will people who will break something, forget something, burn something, say something stupid (again) with _everybody’s eyes rolling_ again, etc, etc.
And the story of Jesus’ birth shows us, that as far as God is concerned, THIS IS OKAY. Indeed, one COULD EVEN IMAGINE that GOD _chose_ to enter into _our world_ IN THIS WAY _precisely_ because GOD KNEW that there would be enormous pressure to “get things right” and that some people would inevitably screw up.
So we have this account of Mary and Joseph giving birth to the SON OF GOD in a stable outside of Bethlehem to remind us that it is okay for things to not be perfect.
Indeed, if one reads between the lines, it is clear that _circumstances conspired_ to “make things less than ideal.” And actually, both members of the Holy Family (Mary and Joseph) could have been _unfairly_ “blamed” for the mess even though the circumstances were not really their fault.
Joseph an “out of town relative” of the “lineage of King David” could have been “blamed” for “not knowing his relatives in Bethlehem as well as he thought.”
Mary, near her time of delivery could ahve been “blamed” for simply being “too slow” moving about for Jospeh and her to get everything done that they needed to in Bethlehem to have the time “to get a decent hotel room” that evening.
Both Mary's and Joseph's “failings” _easily_ fall within the realm of possibility in our families.
So, as I say every year at this Mass, please MAKE IT A POINT to LET THINGS GO this EVENING and TOMMORROW as you celebrate Christmas. PLEASE DON'T MAKE A FEDERAL CASE OUT OF HONEST MISTAKES.
If someone breaks something, smile. If someone burns something, let it go. If someone forgets something, let it pass. Your complaining or making an issue of it, won’t fix this mess-ups anyway but IT WILL CERTAINLY IMPEDE a happy celebration of Christmas in your home.
As it is, God came into the world, knowing that people would be both jealous of him (much of our day-to-day lives we seem to walk around acting as if we ourselves were "little gods...") and fearful of him ("oh my, now we have to listen to him ..."). God chose to enter the world IN THIS WAY, as a BABY, perhaps precisely because ABSOLUTELY NO ONE IS AFRAID OF A BABY.
And if God can be so UNDEMANDING of us, can we be similarly undemanding of the friends and relatives around us.
So God bless you all and in the name of everybody associated with Annunciata, a HAPPY and BLESSED CHRISTMAS to you all, and please please please, if somebody screws up something at home ... let it go ;-).
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Dec 19, 2010 - 4th Sun of Advent - St. Joseph and who do we need to welcome back in this Christmas?
Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/121910.shtml
When I was in the Seminary, I was told that one of the neat things about Catholic Liturgy was that there are elements that are always the same and there are others that change from day-to-day, week-to-week, season-to-season, year-to-year. The elements that are constant give the liturgy continuity – what happens every Sunday is not a total ‘surprise,’ while the elements that change keep us awake, keep us from getting bored. We find ourselves at a Sunday when both these sets of elements are present to us in a nice way.
First, we are in the Season of Advent. So we have the Advent wreath, we have the four Advent Candles. And the Readings each year for the Sundays of Advent follow familiar themes. The Gospel Reading from the First Sunday of Advent sets the mood. It reminds us of how long the Prophets and the People of Israel waited for the arrival of the Anointed One, the Messiah. Then the Gospel Readings of the 2nd to 4th Sunday focus on the Biblical figure who immediately preceded the birth of Jesus. The 2nd and 3rd Sundays of Advent focus on John the Baptist. The 4th Sunday generally focuses on Mary BUT (and here comes the exception) THIS YEAR, because our Gospel Readings come from Matthew, Mary is present in the Reading but only through how eyes and thoughts of St. Joseph, as HE grapples with the news that Mary gives him, that she finds herself pregnant with a child that clearly was not his. So while WE USUALLY remember that the 4th Sunday of Advent is about Mary, EVERY THREE YEARS (whenever we use the Gospel of Matthew in the Sunday Liturgy) we focus on the OTHER immediate predecessor to Jesus that we can at times forget – St. Joseph.
And it’s good to remember St. Joseph for all kinds of reasons, first among them that HE TOO, like Mary, was asked to believe the impossible. He too was being asked to be exposed to shame and ridicule (being thought of as a chump), and he _did_ have the opportunity to walk away from the situation.
But we find that he didn’t find the decision to “walk away” or a way to do it to be easy. And we can probably understand a bit why because we ourselves would find such a situation difficult to resolve. Why? Because while FROM THE OUTSIDE the situation could often seem rather “cut and dry” (“She betrayed you. Dump her...”).
Inside the relationship, however, the situation is more complex. It’s obvious that Joseph cared for Mary. They had been getting married after all. Given what we know of Mary, _her_ suddenly coming to Joseph with the news that she’s pregnant (and obviously _not_ by Joseph) would have been wildly uncharacteristic of her. Sure one could answer sarcastically “Well, ya _never_ know about people..,” and “It’s often the ones you _least_ expect ...” but at minimum that would have been enormously painful to St. Joseph to hear that, and it would have utterly blown his previous understanding of what kind of a person he thought Mary was. Without much doubt St. Joseph would have been utterly shocked and confused by the matter.
Then let us remember that at the time of Jesus’ birth, the “morality code”/”the morality police” were far stricter than today. Adultery was punished by stoning. A young woman, found pregnant prior to marriage was to be stoned to death as well, but with the added horror to both her and her family. Instead of being taken outside the village to be stoned to death there (outside the community), the young unmarried mother would have been stoned to death on the doorstep of her parents’ home, so that the parents would be left to clean up the mess. (Deut 22:20-21) How’s that for “deterrence?” And all this was to have been done “in the name of God / God’s law.”
So it is no surprise that it was written of St. Joseph that he was a just man who didn’t want to expose Mary to shame (Mt 1:19), was already seeking to find some way to do the right thing and minimize the damage when he went to “sleep on it.”
We can probably relate to St. Joseph because all the tough advice that we may give to our friends finding themselves in relationship difficulty, if we ourselves would find ourselves in a crisis situation in our relationships, we ourselves would probably be doing the same as St. Joseph was trying to do. This is because we also _don’t_ want to give-up on a loved-one who has hurt us or disappointed us.
That St. Joseph’s story made Matthew’s Gospel indicates to us, that GOD is telling us that OUR “hope despite the evidence” (faith?, love?) is okay. AND IT IS OKAY BECAUSE GOD IS SIMILARLY PATIENT AND HOPEFUL WITH EACH OF US AS WELL.
Indeed, St. Joseph’s story completes our 4 week journey through Advent this year:
In the 1st Sunday, we’re reminded that Israel was waiting for the arrival of an Anointed One, a Messiah who’d make things right. In the 2nd Sunday, we’re reminded of St. John the Baptist’s preaching about he coming of that Messiah and we remember that John the Baptist was tough on everyone – on the people of his time, on the leaders of this time, even tough on himself (living out in the desert, eating nothing but insects, wearing nothing but a hair-shirt and calling out to the people simply “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”).
In the 3rd Sunday, the tone changed. We heard that John the Baptist appeared disappointed in Jesus sending his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the “one who is to come should we wait for another?”
Why was he asking this? Because John was expecting fire and brimstone, judgement, vengeance. Instead, Jesus was giving sight back to the blind, healing the sick, curing lepers and giving hope back to the poor. In the Gospel Reading last week, we heard Jesus reminding John’s disciples that THIS HEALING MISSION was ALSO PART OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH. (We always seem to get stuck on focusing on the fireworks ...).
This 4th Sunday of Advent, we listen to this story about St. Joseph, the one who would be Jesus’ step-father in this world and of Jesus’ mother, Mary. It’s a story not of righteous anger but of making do, forgiveness, accepting perhaps the impossible for the sake of the relationship, FOR THE SAKE OF THE ONE WHO IS TO COME INTO THE WORLD (the baby Jesus).
It’s remarkable really – GOD ENTERED INTO THE WORLD BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE CHOSE TO _LET HIM_ DO SO. And Jesus could well have learned a lot about his future reconciling mission through their soft example.
Jesus then becomes _not_ a vengeful Messiah but a reconciling one, preaching that God is Our Father, who just wants us all back together at HIS TABLE at HIS HOUSE.
Last week, I started talking about the possibility that the Second Coming of Jesus could well be much like the first, that is NOT like a FIRESTORM but rather as another (final? who knows, maybe not final. What parent ever completely gives up on his/her kids?) invitation to simply come home.
And therein perhaps lies the key to our preparation during THIS YEAR’S SEASON OF ADVENT.
Like it or not, Christmas time is when families get together and with that old hurts and resentments can resurface. True.
But Christmas time also offers an annual invitation to let bygones be bygones to both finally forgive and to say that one’s sorry.
What a great way to celebrate the coming of the Messiah, the coming of Christmas, in simply saying “I’m sorry” or “welcome back home.” We are all God’s children after all and who among us do we really believe, no matter how much he/she may have hurt us, really deserves to be _eternally cast out_, eternally exposed to shame?
When I was in the Seminary, I was told that one of the neat things about Catholic Liturgy was that there are elements that are always the same and there are others that change from day-to-day, week-to-week, season-to-season, year-to-year. The elements that are constant give the liturgy continuity – what happens every Sunday is not a total ‘surprise,’ while the elements that change keep us awake, keep us from getting bored. We find ourselves at a Sunday when both these sets of elements are present to us in a nice way.
First, we are in the Season of Advent. So we have the Advent wreath, we have the four Advent Candles. And the Readings each year for the Sundays of Advent follow familiar themes. The Gospel Reading from the First Sunday of Advent sets the mood. It reminds us of how long the Prophets and the People of Israel waited for the arrival of the Anointed One, the Messiah. Then the Gospel Readings of the 2nd to 4th Sunday focus on the Biblical figure who immediately preceded the birth of Jesus. The 2nd and 3rd Sundays of Advent focus on John the Baptist. The 4th Sunday generally focuses on Mary BUT (and here comes the exception) THIS YEAR, because our Gospel Readings come from Matthew, Mary is present in the Reading but only through how eyes and thoughts of St. Joseph, as HE grapples with the news that Mary gives him, that she finds herself pregnant with a child that clearly was not his. So while WE USUALLY remember that the 4th Sunday of Advent is about Mary, EVERY THREE YEARS (whenever we use the Gospel of Matthew in the Sunday Liturgy) we focus on the OTHER immediate predecessor to Jesus that we can at times forget – St. Joseph.
And it’s good to remember St. Joseph for all kinds of reasons, first among them that HE TOO, like Mary, was asked to believe the impossible. He too was being asked to be exposed to shame and ridicule (being thought of as a chump), and he _did_ have the opportunity to walk away from the situation.
But we find that he didn’t find the decision to “walk away” or a way to do it to be easy. And we can probably understand a bit why because we ourselves would find such a situation difficult to resolve. Why? Because while FROM THE OUTSIDE the situation could often seem rather “cut and dry” (“She betrayed you. Dump her...”).
Inside the relationship, however, the situation is more complex. It’s obvious that Joseph cared for Mary. They had been getting married after all. Given what we know of Mary, _her_ suddenly coming to Joseph with the news that she’s pregnant (and obviously _not_ by Joseph) would have been wildly uncharacteristic of her. Sure one could answer sarcastically “Well, ya _never_ know about people..,” and “It’s often the ones you _least_ expect ...” but at minimum that would have been enormously painful to St. Joseph to hear that, and it would have utterly blown his previous understanding of what kind of a person he thought Mary was. Without much doubt St. Joseph would have been utterly shocked and confused by the matter.
Then let us remember that at the time of Jesus’ birth, the “morality code”/”the morality police” were far stricter than today. Adultery was punished by stoning. A young woman, found pregnant prior to marriage was to be stoned to death as well, but with the added horror to both her and her family. Instead of being taken outside the village to be stoned to death there (outside the community), the young unmarried mother would have been stoned to death on the doorstep of her parents’ home, so that the parents would be left to clean up the mess. (Deut 22:20-21) How’s that for “deterrence?” And all this was to have been done “in the name of God / God’s law.”
So it is no surprise that it was written of St. Joseph that he was a just man who didn’t want to expose Mary to shame (Mt 1:19), was already seeking to find some way to do the right thing and minimize the damage when he went to “sleep on it.”
We can probably relate to St. Joseph because all the tough advice that we may give to our friends finding themselves in relationship difficulty, if we ourselves would find ourselves in a crisis situation in our relationships, we ourselves would probably be doing the same as St. Joseph was trying to do. This is because we also _don’t_ want to give-up on a loved-one who has hurt us or disappointed us.
That St. Joseph’s story made Matthew’s Gospel indicates to us, that GOD is telling us that OUR “hope despite the evidence” (faith?, love?) is okay. AND IT IS OKAY BECAUSE GOD IS SIMILARLY PATIENT AND HOPEFUL WITH EACH OF US AS WELL.
Indeed, St. Joseph’s story completes our 4 week journey through Advent this year:
In the 1st Sunday, we’re reminded that Israel was waiting for the arrival of an Anointed One, a Messiah who’d make things right. In the 2nd Sunday, we’re reminded of St. John the Baptist’s preaching about he coming of that Messiah and we remember that John the Baptist was tough on everyone – on the people of his time, on the leaders of this time, even tough on himself (living out in the desert, eating nothing but insects, wearing nothing but a hair-shirt and calling out to the people simply “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”).
In the 3rd Sunday, the tone changed. We heard that John the Baptist appeared disappointed in Jesus sending his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the “one who is to come should we wait for another?”
Why was he asking this? Because John was expecting fire and brimstone, judgement, vengeance. Instead, Jesus was giving sight back to the blind, healing the sick, curing lepers and giving hope back to the poor. In the Gospel Reading last week, we heard Jesus reminding John’s disciples that THIS HEALING MISSION was ALSO PART OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH. (We always seem to get stuck on focusing on the fireworks ...).
This 4th Sunday of Advent, we listen to this story about St. Joseph, the one who would be Jesus’ step-father in this world and of Jesus’ mother, Mary. It’s a story not of righteous anger but of making do, forgiveness, accepting perhaps the impossible for the sake of the relationship, FOR THE SAKE OF THE ONE WHO IS TO COME INTO THE WORLD (the baby Jesus).
It’s remarkable really – GOD ENTERED INTO THE WORLD BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE CHOSE TO _LET HIM_ DO SO. And Jesus could well have learned a lot about his future reconciling mission through their soft example.
Jesus then becomes _not_ a vengeful Messiah but a reconciling one, preaching that God is Our Father, who just wants us all back together at HIS TABLE at HIS HOUSE.
Last week, I started talking about the possibility that the Second Coming of Jesus could well be much like the first, that is NOT like a FIRESTORM but rather as another (final? who knows, maybe not final. What parent ever completely gives up on his/her kids?) invitation to simply come home.
And therein perhaps lies the key to our preparation during THIS YEAR’S SEASON OF ADVENT.
Like it or not, Christmas time is when families get together and with that old hurts and resentments can resurface. True.
But Christmas time also offers an annual invitation to let bygones be bygones to both finally forgive and to say that one’s sorry.
What a great way to celebrate the coming of the Messiah, the coming of Christmas, in simply saying “I’m sorry” or “welcome back home.” We are all God’s children after all and who among us do we really believe, no matter how much he/she may have hurt us, really deserves to be _eternally cast out_, eternally exposed to shame?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Dec 12, 2010 - The Coming of the Lord in the GOOD (rather than the merely GREAT)
Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/121210.shtml
Today we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, a season of Preparation for the coming celebration of Christmas. And the Gospel Reading offers us an aspect of preparation for something – the possibility that what we are preparing or waiting for may not turn out the way we expected it to turn out. John the Baptist, sitting in jail after devoting his life for the preparation of his Lord’s coming, sends his followers to Jesus with the question: “Are you the one who is to come or should we wait for another?”
The pain in that question is obvious and if there was anyone who had earned the right to ask that question it would have been John. He sacrificed everything he had, his comfort, his reputation, and soon his life, in the cause of preparing the way of the Lord, and it wasn’t turning out the way he expected it. Where was the vengeance, the vindication of that chosen suffering?
John had challenged the entire society, the entire establishment, all those in power, to repent, to change, to humble themselves before the coming of the Annointed One. And the apparent Annointed One – Jesus – wasn’t castigating anybody. Where were the fireworks? Where was the blood? What was the earth-shaking Glory that was supposed to come with the coming of the Lord?
Jesus responds to John’s disciples with words that John probably would have understood:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
And certainly John would have probably understood, because WE probably understand. Still what a disappointment it must have been to John, sitting in his cell, knowing that his way out of jail will probably only come with his death, that God’s glory would be manifested so simply, so humbly. Was it worth the sacrifice, to see God’s entry into the world IN THIS WAY?
There are more than a few of us, who imagine Jesus’ return in the same dramatic fashion as John and the Prophets did – in drama and terrible and, often enough, righteous, arguably justified violence.
After three years of a brutal insurrection by the American South to defend a practice that is so obviously Evil (human race-based slavery) that it is hard to believe that ANYONE today would seek to explain away that TRUE basis for Southern secession (and yet there are plenty of people who try), the North, which did have Right on its side, finally started marching. And one can practically hear the relentless clapping of the boots against the ground as General Grant’s and Sherman’s troops marched forward singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic:
“Mine eyes have seen the Glory
of the Coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage,
where the Grapes of Wrath are stored
He has loosed the fateful lightning
Of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.”
As if to say enough is enough, the time for continued nonsense and injustice is over. Run, for the Righteous vengeance of the Lord is coming upon you ...
And yet, a 150 years later, what has really changed? A lot, perhaps, but honestly, how much?
So _I’m_ coming to the point of entertaining the possibility that we, like John the Baptist, have it all wrong about the Second Coming.
Maybe God will come back IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS HE CAME THE FIRST TIME. QUIETLY.
And maybe, he’s in fact ALREADY HERE. How?
One can not help but hear in Jesus’ response to John, a parallel to today’s psychoanalytical method, where the counselor simply hears the patient complain. And may hear the patient complain FOR YEARS. And maybe the complaints ARE ACTUALLY JUST. The counselor jots down notes, perhaps doodles, gives (perhaps somewhat surprisingly) only positive support and waits for the traumatized patient to finally calm down.
It’s not to say that the injustices are not there. They may be and often are. But it’s beside the point. If we do believe then both the oppressor and the oppressed are children of the same God. And there isn’t going to be a happy family meal until both calm down.
The pop psychology phrase of the 1970s “I’m Okay, You’re Okay,” seems ridiculous in the context of the American Civil War, to which I referred to above. And to many sincere Christians it may seem as something heretical. Where’s the Sin? Where’s the admission that NONE OF US is “Okay?” But perhaps in that phrase is described the Original state of affairs when God created everything “and it was GOOD,” and the goal to which we strive when we’re all back to being Good again.
The Scriptures lend all kinds of support to the notion that God’s presence is NOT to be seen in simply “the Great,” but rather in the humble, a few steps down from “the Great,” that is, in “the Good.” (And here, I could truly give all kinds of examples, from Moses encountering God in a single burning bush in a wide open Desert, to countless examples from David's life to Elijah encountering God in a whisper, Jesus entering the world in the context of a nobody family finding refuge in a stable...).
Perhaps then, what we wait for, may NOT turn out the way we expect it to. But if we believe, then we know it will ultimately end up the way it is supposed to... at a family meal where everyone, ALL OF GOD'S CHILDREN (as Martin Luther King, Jr, liked to say ;-), are present, loved, respected and happy.
God bless us all.
Today we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, a season of Preparation for the coming celebration of Christmas. And the Gospel Reading offers us an aspect of preparation for something – the possibility that what we are preparing or waiting for may not turn out the way we expected it to turn out. John the Baptist, sitting in jail after devoting his life for the preparation of his Lord’s coming, sends his followers to Jesus with the question: “Are you the one who is to come or should we wait for another?”
The pain in that question is obvious and if there was anyone who had earned the right to ask that question it would have been John. He sacrificed everything he had, his comfort, his reputation, and soon his life, in the cause of preparing the way of the Lord, and it wasn’t turning out the way he expected it. Where was the vengeance, the vindication of that chosen suffering?
John had challenged the entire society, the entire establishment, all those in power, to repent, to change, to humble themselves before the coming of the Annointed One. And the apparent Annointed One – Jesus – wasn’t castigating anybody. Where were the fireworks? Where was the blood? What was the earth-shaking Glory that was supposed to come with the coming of the Lord?
Jesus responds to John’s disciples with words that John probably would have understood:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
And certainly John would have probably understood, because WE probably understand. Still what a disappointment it must have been to John, sitting in his cell, knowing that his way out of jail will probably only come with his death, that God’s glory would be manifested so simply, so humbly. Was it worth the sacrifice, to see God’s entry into the world IN THIS WAY?
There are more than a few of us, who imagine Jesus’ return in the same dramatic fashion as John and the Prophets did – in drama and terrible and, often enough, righteous, arguably justified violence.
After three years of a brutal insurrection by the American South to defend a practice that is so obviously Evil (human race-based slavery) that it is hard to believe that ANYONE today would seek to explain away that TRUE basis for Southern secession (and yet there are plenty of people who try), the North, which did have Right on its side, finally started marching. And one can practically hear the relentless clapping of the boots against the ground as General Grant’s and Sherman’s troops marched forward singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic:
“Mine eyes have seen the Glory
of the Coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage,
where the Grapes of Wrath are stored
He has loosed the fateful lightning
Of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.”
As if to say enough is enough, the time for continued nonsense and injustice is over. Run, for the Righteous vengeance of the Lord is coming upon you ...
And yet, a 150 years later, what has really changed? A lot, perhaps, but honestly, how much?
So _I’m_ coming to the point of entertaining the possibility that we, like John the Baptist, have it all wrong about the Second Coming.
Maybe God will come back IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS HE CAME THE FIRST TIME. QUIETLY.
And maybe, he’s in fact ALREADY HERE. How?
One can not help but hear in Jesus’ response to John, a parallel to today’s psychoanalytical method, where the counselor simply hears the patient complain. And may hear the patient complain FOR YEARS. And maybe the complaints ARE ACTUALLY JUST. The counselor jots down notes, perhaps doodles, gives (perhaps somewhat surprisingly) only positive support and waits for the traumatized patient to finally calm down.
It’s not to say that the injustices are not there. They may be and often are. But it’s beside the point. If we do believe then both the oppressor and the oppressed are children of the same God. And there isn’t going to be a happy family meal until both calm down.
The pop psychology phrase of the 1970s “I’m Okay, You’re Okay,” seems ridiculous in the context of the American Civil War, to which I referred to above. And to many sincere Christians it may seem as something heretical. Where’s the Sin? Where’s the admission that NONE OF US is “Okay?” But perhaps in that phrase is described the Original state of affairs when God created everything “and it was GOOD,” and the goal to which we strive when we’re all back to being Good again.
The Scriptures lend all kinds of support to the notion that God’s presence is NOT to be seen in simply “the Great,” but rather in the humble, a few steps down from “the Great,” that is, in “the Good.” (And here, I could truly give all kinds of examples, from Moses encountering God in a single burning bush in a wide open Desert, to countless examples from David's life to Elijah encountering God in a whisper, Jesus entering the world in the context of a nobody family finding refuge in a stable...).
Perhaps then, what we wait for, may NOT turn out the way we expect it to. But if we believe, then we know it will ultimately end up the way it is supposed to... at a family meal where everyone, ALL OF GOD'S CHILDREN (as Martin Luther King, Jr, liked to say ;-), are present, loved, respected and happy.
God bless us all.
Dec 5, 2010 - 2nd Sunday of Advent - A Muscular Preparation for the Season
Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/120510.shtml
We find ourselves at the 2nd Sunday of Advent a Season in which (1) we remember the people of Israel’s waiting for the Messiah, (2) we prepare for the annual celebration of Christmas in which we remember Jesus’ first coming into the world as the one we believe to have been the Messiah, and (3) we remember the promise that Jesus will come to us at the end of our lives and at the end of the world.
During this time, we also remember two important persons who came into this world in the period just preceding the coming of Jesus. That is, we remember John the Baptist and Mary. The Gospel Reading this Sunday and the next will invoke John the Baptist. And the Gospel Reading on the 4th Sunday of Advent always refers in some way to Mary. Additionally, during this week, we will be celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and in our parish we are in the midst of celebrating the Novena to Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe. So there’s little doubt that these two figures play an important role in this season of preparation called Advent.
Very good...
This Sunday, the Gospel Reading focuses on John the Baptist. And John the Baptist is presented as a tough guy. He lives out in the desert, he wears a shirt of camel-hair, and he eats locusts and wild honey for food. His preaching is also tough. He demands repentance. He has no patience for complacency, half measures or hypocrisy. He’s even tough on himself, noting that the one to succeed him is so much greater than he that he woudn’t be worthy to even untie his (successor’s) sandal straps.
This image of John the Baptist screaming out in the Desert “make way for the Lord,” may in fact be somewhat disturbing at a time like Advent, which in our country today we consider to be warmest and fuzziest Season of the year. Jingle bells are ringing, all sorts of people are dressing up as Santa Claus or little green elves and we're told that the message of the season is kindness toward others, etc, etc.
Thus the image of John the Baptist out there in his camel hair shirt, feeding on locusts and reminding the good, religious folk of his time that “God could make children to Abraham out of the rocks (surrounding them)” DOES NOT quite fit the “smaltziness” of the American Christmas shopping season. BUT PERHAPS THAT IS GOOD.
Next week, we will hear a softer Gospel Reading. However, PERHAPS it’s worthwhile to linger in this week in the angrier, much more challenging image of John the Baptist as a spiritual Drill Sargent. Why? Because if we’re talking about preparation, then we ought to remember that in the traditional Christian sense, preparation meant sacrifice, challenge, meant really getting ready for the upcoming feast days, really challenging ourselves to become more of who God wants us to be.
Last week I noted that in the U.S., Advent comes at a time between the two most family oriented holidays of the year – Thanksgiving and Christmas. And PERHAPS it is a worthwhile challenge to see if as a result of this Season of preparation we can resolve some of the conflicts that may exist at home.
Yes these conflicts can be difficult. Yes resolution depends on the good will of all those concerned BUT WE CAN STILL DO OUR PART. And PERHAPS it is good to hear John’s challenge and warning: “The ax lies at the base of the tree. And all trees that do not give good fruit will be chopped down.”
We will, thankfully, hear something softer next week. However this week, perhaps it is worthwhile to linger with the challenge that John the Baptist gives and to see what we can do to truly prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.
We find ourselves at the 2nd Sunday of Advent a Season in which (1) we remember the people of Israel’s waiting for the Messiah, (2) we prepare for the annual celebration of Christmas in which we remember Jesus’ first coming into the world as the one we believe to have been the Messiah, and (3) we remember the promise that Jesus will come to us at the end of our lives and at the end of the world.
During this time, we also remember two important persons who came into this world in the period just preceding the coming of Jesus. That is, we remember John the Baptist and Mary. The Gospel Reading this Sunday and the next will invoke John the Baptist. And the Gospel Reading on the 4th Sunday of Advent always refers in some way to Mary. Additionally, during this week, we will be celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and in our parish we are in the midst of celebrating the Novena to Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe. So there’s little doubt that these two figures play an important role in this season of preparation called Advent.
Very good...
This Sunday, the Gospel Reading focuses on John the Baptist. And John the Baptist is presented as a tough guy. He lives out in the desert, he wears a shirt of camel-hair, and he eats locusts and wild honey for food. His preaching is also tough. He demands repentance. He has no patience for complacency, half measures or hypocrisy. He’s even tough on himself, noting that the one to succeed him is so much greater than he that he woudn’t be worthy to even untie his (successor’s) sandal straps.
This image of John the Baptist screaming out in the Desert “make way for the Lord,” may in fact be somewhat disturbing at a time like Advent, which in our country today we consider to be warmest and fuzziest Season of the year. Jingle bells are ringing, all sorts of people are dressing up as Santa Claus or little green elves and we're told that the message of the season is kindness toward others, etc, etc.
Thus the image of John the Baptist out there in his camel hair shirt, feeding on locusts and reminding the good, religious folk of his time that “God could make children to Abraham out of the rocks (surrounding them)” DOES NOT quite fit the “smaltziness” of the American Christmas shopping season. BUT PERHAPS THAT IS GOOD.
Next week, we will hear a softer Gospel Reading. However, PERHAPS it’s worthwhile to linger in this week in the angrier, much more challenging image of John the Baptist as a spiritual Drill Sargent. Why? Because if we’re talking about preparation, then we ought to remember that in the traditional Christian sense, preparation meant sacrifice, challenge, meant really getting ready for the upcoming feast days, really challenging ourselves to become more of who God wants us to be.
Last week I noted that in the U.S., Advent comes at a time between the two most family oriented holidays of the year – Thanksgiving and Christmas. And PERHAPS it is a worthwhile challenge to see if as a result of this Season of preparation we can resolve some of the conflicts that may exist at home.
Yes these conflicts can be difficult. Yes resolution depends on the good will of all those concerned BUT WE CAN STILL DO OUR PART. And PERHAPS it is good to hear John’s challenge and warning: “The ax lies at the base of the tree. And all trees that do not give good fruit will be chopped down.”
We will, thankfully, hear something softer next week. However this week, perhaps it is worthwhile to linger with the challenge that John the Baptist gives and to see what we can do to truly prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.
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