SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD (Jan 1, 2023) Numbers 6:22-27, Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

 

In 1929, just 17 days short of his 9th birthday, the young Karol Wojtyla — the future Pope John Paul II — came home from the school in the evening. He was accustomed to see his father — a strong soldier in the Polish army — praying on his knees on their parlor’s hardwood floor. That day, when the young Karol, saw his father praying, he saw his dad’s knees bathing in a pool of tears. “What’s wrong, Papa?” the young future Pope asked his dad. “Karol, your mother has died!” was his father’s reply. Not knowing quite what to do, the eight-year-old ran out of his home to the local parish Church in Wadowice, less than half a block from the Wojtyla apartment. He entered the Church and almost instinctively ran up the aisle of the Church to a kneeler in front of a statue of our Lady and, with his own tears, said to her: “Blessed Mother of Jesus, I don’t know why God took my mother to His Home at the time He did. But I do know one thing: YOU are my mother now!” The Holy Father, who entrusted himself to our Lady before his ninth birthday, continued to consecrate himself to her ever after. His very motto, “Totus Tuus,” comes from a prayer of consecration to our Lady written by St. Louis de Montfort, which he prayed every day: “I am all yours, O Mary, and all I have is yours. I take you completely into my home. Give me your heart, O Mary,” so that I may love God with it. 

 

Today we celebrate the oldest of all Marian feasts in our liturgy, most appropriate for those of us concerned with new beginnings, new resolutions, and renewed hopes. Today’s Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, is a very appropriate way to begin a new year. Our ideal motto for the New Year 2023 should be “” To Jesus through Mary!” This is an occasion to renew our devotion to Mary, who is also Mother of the Church because she is our spiritual mother — and we are the Church.

There are 19 Marian feast days, solemnities, and memorials on the liturgical calendar, ranging from the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God on January 1 to the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. There are May devotions to Mary, and October is the month of the Holy Rosary, of which Mary is Queen. And then of course the Church has dedicated every Saturday to the Blessed Virgin.

The Church puts this feast of this solemnity today on the first day of the New Year to emphasize the importance of Mary’s role in the life of Christ and of the Church. She has a special role and mission given to her by God. As Mother of our Redeemer and of the redeemed, she reigns as the Queen at the side of Christ the King. She is a powerful intercessor for all of our needs here on earth. In celebrating her special feast day, we acknowledge this great gift for the Church and world; we call on her to be actively involved in our daily life; we imitate her virtuous life as a great inspiration; and we cooperate with all the graces we get through her.”

 

The shepherds mentioned in today’s gospel are models for every Christian. They clarify what's most important in life: seeking Christ, sharing Christ, and rejoicing in Christ. But life for the shepherds didn’t end on Christmas. They had to return to the humdrum of the daily grind. And after today, we will too.

How can we keep the meaning and lessons of Christmas shining in our hearts even after we take down the Christmas lights? Mary, whose motherhood we remember in a special way today, gives us the secret. 

Mary didn't let life's hustle and bustle drown out the beauty and wonder of Christmas.  St Luke tells us that "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."  God did not tell Mary his entire plan. We know much more than she did about how everything was going to work out. She had to walk in the dim light of faith, one step at a time, trusting in God, witnessing his action, and seconding it whenever she could. But she paid attention.

She pondered in her heart all of God's gifts to her, all of his words and deeds. Today in Holy Communion we will receive the Body of Christ, which was formed in the womb of Mary. When we do, let's ask our spiritual Mother, the Mother of God and of all Christians, to teach us how to take care of the precious faith we have received and renewed during these days, just as she took care of the baby Jesus.

In today’s Scripture God gives Moses and Aaron the formula they should use while conferring the Divine blessing upon the Israelites. That biblical blessing is very appropriate for us to receive on this New Year day:  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His Face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His Countenance upon you and give you peace” , today and every day of the coming year.

 CHRISTMAS DAY : Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14  

Eight-year-old Benny died of AIDS in 1987. CBS made a movie drama about the trauma called Moving Toward the Light. As Benny lies dying in his mother’s arms, he asks, “What will it be like?” His mother whispers softly in his ear, “You will see a light, Benny, far away — a beautiful, shining light at the end of a long tunnel. And your spirit will lift you out of your body and start to travel toward the light. And as you go, a veil will be lifted from your eyes, and suddenly, you will see everything … but most of all, you will feel a tremendous sense of love.” “Will it take long?” Benny asks. “No,” his mother answers, “not long at all. Like the twinkling of an eye.” — Many families have been devastated by AIDS. Amid the darkness and despair an eight-year-old boy and his mother witnessed to the sustaining power of the Light of God’s presence. They have touched the lives of a multitude of people. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is Light and in Him, is no darkness at all” – (1 John 1:5).

 

 While Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus goes back to Abraham, the father of God’s people, and Luke’s genealogy of Jesus’ ancestry goes all the way back to Adam, thus embracing the whole human race, John’s goes back to God Himself. John is the only Gospel writer who does not stop at Bethlehem to explain the “reason for the season.” John is more concerned with the WHY and WHO of Christmas than with the WHERE of Christmas. So he travels to eternity to reveal the Person of Jesus Christ. This is a great passage because it gives us the theology of Christmas. While the Gospel selections for the Vigil, Midnight, and Dawn Masses describe the history of Christmas, the selection from John’s Gospel for this Daytime Mass lifts us out of history into the realm of Mystery—His wonderful Name is the Word. The reading tells us that the Baby in the manger is the Word of God, the very Self-expression of God. He is one with God just as our words are part of us and they will always remain ours as inseparable. God’s Word was present at creation; He is actually the One through Whom and for Whom all things were made. The Prologue to the Gospel of John and the prologue to the Letter to the Hebrews in the second reading are superb affirmations of the Person of Jesus Christ, expressed in beautiful theological words and metaphors. 

The first reading gives us the assurance that just as Yahweh restored His chosen people to their homeland after the Babylonian exile, Jesus the Savior will restore mankind to the kingdom of God.  In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 98), the Psalmist reminds us that the Kingdom includes everyone, not just the Chosen People, singing, “All the ends of the earth have seen the Salvation by our God!” In the second reading, St. Paul tells us how God, Who conveyed His words to us in the past through His prophets, has sent His own Son so that He might  demonstrate to us humans, by His life, death and Resurrection, the real nature of our God. In the Prologue of his Gospel, John introduces the birth of Jesus as the dawning of the Light Who will remove the darkness of evil from the world. He records later in his Gospel why Light is the perfect symbol of Christmas:  Jesus said “I am the Light of the world,” (Jn 8:12) and “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14-16).

John says, “He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not” (1:11; RSV 2 Catholic).  Jesus “came home” to Israel, where the people should have known Him.  And it was the homefolk, “His own,” the Israelites, the Chosen People, who did not receive Him.  God had prepared them for centuries to receive the Messiah into their midst, but they rejected Him.  This rejection of the Word by Jesus’ own people is restricted neither to the time of Jesus nor to that of the Fourth Gospel. Much of the world today is still in rebellion, “preferring darkness to Light, because its deeds are evil” (3:19-20). We need no testimony to that if we look around or watch the news. It is not just others, but it is  true of all of us at certain points in our lives. But we do not need to remain imprisoned in those moments, as long as we are alive, turn to Him, repentant and believing, and become His own again.  “But to all who received Him, who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God” (v. 12).

Today, let’s remember that there isn’t room in the manger for all the baggage we carry around with us.  There’s no room for our pious pride and self-righteousness.  There’s no room for our human power and prestige.  There’s no room for the baggage of past failure and unforgiven sin.  There’s no room for our prejudice, bigotry, and jingoistic national pride.  There’s no room for bitterness and greed.  There is no room in the manger for anything other than the absolute reality of who and what we really are: very human, very real, very fragile, very vulnerable beings who desperately need the gift of love and grace which God so powerfully desires to give.

 

Today, while we remember and celebrate God’s first coming into our world in human form, we also look forward, because the liturgy we celebrate reminds us that the Lord is going to return in his Second Coming.  However, Christ is not going to return as a Child but as a Warrior, a Judge, a mighty Savior.  The liturgy calls on us to prepare His way, to be ready to be judged by Him.  So we are looking back and remembering the past coming of Jesus as our Savior, and looking forward and preparing for His future coming in glory as Judge to reward and punish.  In addition to these two “comings,” the Church teaches us that Christ is here now, Christ is present, Christ comes to us today, and Christ comes to us every day. Christmas is a celebration calling us to be vigilant and prepared. In his Dec. 22 speech, Pope Francis focused on Christmas as a time of joy but also conversion, which he said is a lifelong process requiring the faithful to always be vigilant. Christmas is actually a celebration intended to heighten that awareness of ours to the fact that Christ has been born, Christ lives, and Christ is present now in our souls and in our lives. May this awareness sharpen our eagerness to welcome Christ today and every day of our lives.

 CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT: Is 9:1-6; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14

Nine-year-old Wally was in second grade when most children his age were fourth graders. He was big for his years, a clumsy fellow, a slow learner. But Wally was a hopeful, willing, smiling lad, a natural defender of the underdog, and he was well-liked by his classmates. His parents encouraged him to audition for the annual parish Christmas play. Wally wanted to be a shepherd. Instead, he was given the role of the innkeeper. The director reasoned that Wally’s size would lend extra force to the innkeeper’s refusal of lodging to Joseph. During rehearsals, Wally was instructed to be firm with Joseph. When the play opened, no one was more caught up in the action than Wally. And when Joseph knocked on the door of the inn, Wally was ready. He flung the door open and asked menacingly, “What do you want?” “We seek lodging,” Joseph replied. “Seek it elsewhere,” Wally said in a firm voice. “There’s no room in the inn.” “Please, good innkeeper,” Joseph pleaded, “this is my wife, Mary. She is with child and is very tired. She needs a place to rest.” There was a long pause as Wally looked down at Mary. The prompter whispered Wally’s next line: “No! Be gone!” Wally remained silent. Then the forlorn couple turned and began to slowly move away. Seeing this, Wally’s brow creased with concern. Tears welled up in his eyes. Suddenly, he called out, “Don’t go! You can have my room.” 

The gospel reading this night said, they laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Each year when we hear this statement: “they had no room”, we are called to open up our hearts and make room for him, like Wally did in the play. He had room for the needy in his heart that was why he went out of the script of the play.

The Gospel for the midnight Mass tells us how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and how the news of his birth was first announced to shepherds by the angels. While Matthew places the birth of Jesus against the backdrop of Herod’s reign, Luke places it against the background of the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire, a census was taken periodically with the double object of assessing taxation and of discovering those who were subject to compulsory military service. Luke’s purpose in mentioning the census was to provide connection to the city of David, wherein the promised heir of David was to be born, as prophesied by Micah (5:1). Bethlehem was commonly thought of as the City of David because of David’s birth and childhood there. Luke mentions that baby Jesus was born in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough (food box), and it symbolizes the sacrificial meal that Jesus becomes, which provides sustenance for the whole world. Father Raymond Brown in his masterful book on the Infancy Narratives says that these stories are not so much literal history as stories with a theological point. The important thing to remember is that they are stories of God’s love and Jesus’ role in history and that’s what counts, not historical details.

Since David was a shepherd, it seems fitting that the shepherds were given the privilege of visiting David’s successor in the stable. The Temple sheep and lambs, meant for daily sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem, were under the care of shepherds year-round. How suitable, then, that despised shepherds were the first to see the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! Shepherding was a lonely, dirty job, and shepherds found it difficult to follow all the obligatory religious customs. Hence, they were scorned as non-observant Jews. So the Baby Jesus selected these marginalized people to share His love at the beginning of his earthly ministry. The shepherds expressed their joy and gratitude by “making known what had been told them” (v. 17). Just as very ordinary people would later become witnesses to the Resurrection, very ordinary shepherds became witnesses to the Incarnation. Other than the angels, they were the first to proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ birth. Once we have been privileged to experience God’s presence, we, too, have the responsibility and the privilege of sharing that experience with other people – of spreading the word – of proclaiming the Gospel.

Christmas asks us a tough question. Do we close the doors of our hearts to Jesus looking for a place to be reborn in our lives? There is no point in being sentimental about the doors slammed by the folk in Bethlehem, if there is no room in our own hearts for the same Jesus coming in the form of the needy.  We need to reverence each human life and to treat others respectfully as the living residences of the Incarnate God.  To neglect the old, to be contemptuous of the poor or to have no thought for the unemployed and the lonely is to ignore those individuals with whom Christ has so closely identified Himself.  Unless we are vigilant, like the people of Jerusalem, we can also fail to recognize the Messiah of our life. In his Dec. 22 speech, Pope Francis focused on Christmas as a time of joy but also conversion, which he said is a lifelong process requiring faithful to always be vigilant. 

 

The real meaning of Christmas actually is Emmanuel, God-with-us: God coming down to us; God seeking us out;  God coming alongside us; God revealing Himself to us; God bringing us forgiveness, healing, comfort, moral strength, guidance; God dwelling within us. Each one of us has, deep down in our souls, an incredible hunger: for purpose and meaning; to feel and celebrate the redeeming, forgiving, sustaining love of God; to be in the presence of God. Christmas is special because it reminds us concretely that God is indeed with us. Christmas is actually a celebration intended to heighten our awareness of the fact that Christ has been born, Christ lives, and Christ is present now in our souls and in our lives. May this awareness sharpen our eagerness to welcome Christ today and everyday of our life.

 

CHRISTMAS VIGIL : Is 62:1-5, Acts 13:16-17, 22-25, Mt 1:1-25 [1:18-25]

A king fell in love with a poor maid. The king wanted to marry her. When he asked his counselors, “How shall I declare my love?” they answered, “Your majesty has only to appear in all the glory of your royal raiments before the maid’s humble dwelling, and she will instantly fall at your feet and be yours.” But it was precisely that which troubled the king. He wanted her glorification, not his. In return for his love, he wanted hers, freely given. Finally, the king realized love’s truth, that freedom for the beloved demanded equality with the beloved. So, late one night, after all the counselors of the palace had retired, he slipped out a side door and appeared before the maid’s cottage dressed as a servant to confess his love for her. — Clearly, the fable is a Christmas story. God chose to express His love for us humans by becoming one like us. We are called to obey, not God’s power, but God’s love. God wants not submission to His power, but in return for His love, our own.

 

The gospel today presents before us the genealogy of Jesus who became part of a sinful humanity. Joseph, who became Mary’s legal husband becomes the legal father of Jesus. Later, by naming the child, Joseph acknowledged Him as his own. The legal father was on par with the biological father as regards rights and duties. Since it was common practice for couples to marry within their clan, probably Mary also belonged to the house of David. Joseph is presented as a righteous man (v. 19), who chose to obey God’s command rather than to observe rigidly a law that would have required him to divorce Mary publicly. He resolved to divorce Mary quietly in order that he might not cause her unnecessary pain. In this resolution, Joseph serves as a model of Christ-like compassion. He also demonstrates a balance between the Law of Torah and the Law of Love.

This is the first of four occasions on which an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. In each instance, the angel calls Joseph to action, and Joseph obeys. Joseph is not to hesitate, but is to complete his marriage to Mary, his betrothed, by taking her into his house as his wife. “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 

The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehosua, which means “YHWH is salvation.” Just as the first Joshua (successor of Moses), saved the Israelites from their enemies, the second Joshua (Jesus) will save them from their sins. The Jews, however, did not expect a Messiah Who would save them from their sins, but one who would deliver them from their political oppressors. Matthew stresses the fact that the birth of Jesus as Savior is the fulfillment of a prophecy by Isaiah (7:14):  “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall name him ‘Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.'” The fulfillment of the prophecy is important to Matthew’s first audience, Jewish converts, which is why Matthew mentions the fulfillment of eleven prophetic statements about Jesus in his Gospel.

This is to be noted that the Messiah’s actual given name was not Immanuel. There are many “names” given to Jesus in the Old and New Testaments, and Immanuel is one of them. Isaiah elsewhere prophesied of the Messiah, “He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Jeremiah (23:6) calls him “the Lord our Righteousness”. Jesus was never called by any of those “names” by the people He met in Galilee or Judea, but they are accurate descriptions of who He is and what He does. The angel said that Jesus “will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32) and “the Son of God” (verse 35), but neither of those was His given name. The names of Jesus Christ multiplied due to His divine nature and miraculous work. To say that Jesus would be called “Immanuel” means Jesus is God, that He dwelt among us in His incarnation, and that He is always with us, as he himself promises: I will be with you till the end of times.

We need to look for Jesus in unlikely places and persons. During the Christmas season we, like the Magi, must give our most precious gift, our life, to Jesus. We will learn to discover Him in the most unlikely places and in the most distasteful people –- in those who live in suffering or in distress, in poverty, or in fear. The message of Christmas is that we can truly find Jesus if we look in the right places –- in the streets, in the slums, in the asylums, in the orphanages, in the nursing homes –- starting in our own homes, workplaces, and town. God challenges us to be like the shepherds who overcame their fear in order to seek out Jesus, or like the Wise Men who traveled a long distance to find Him. Then we will have the true experience of Christmas – the joy of the Savior.

John the Baptist urges us to repent daily of our sins and to renew our lives by leveling the hills of pride and selfishness, by filling up the valleys of impurity, and by straightening the crooked paths of hatred. Our second step in preparing for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives is to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice and humility. It was by sacrifice that the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Magi were able to find the Savior. They were humble enough to see God in the Child in the manger. We, too, can experience Jesus by sharing Him with others, just as God shared His Son with us. Let us remember that the angels wished peace on earth only to those able to receive that peace, those “people of goodwill,” who possessed the goodwill and largeness of heart to share Jesus, our Savior, with others in love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and humble service. May Jesus be born in all our hearts, today and every day, and we are able to share Him with this truth truth-hungry world.

 

 ADVENT IV [A]  Is 7:10-14; Rom 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24 (L-22)

Today’s Gospel, from Matthew, focuses on the person and role of Joseph. It was common knowledge and expectation for New Testament times and writings that the Messiah would be of the House of David. Joseph is clearly pointed out as descendant of David in both genealogies of Matthew and Luke. In order for Jesus to fulfill the Messianic prophecy given by Isaiah, Joseph had to, and freely, willingly, did accept Jesus as his son, making Jesus a descendant of David because Joseph was a descendant of David. Through her marriage with Joseph she enters his family and legally becomes, she and her son Jesus, a part of the House of David. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus was not the biological child of Joseph.  But because Joseph was the husband of Mary at the time Jesus was born, and because he named and thus formally accepted the child as his own, Jesus was legally the son of Joseph and thus a descendant of David.

Joseph, in today’s Gospel, is a righteous man, unwilling to have Mary put to death for being pregnant. He falls asleep and, behold, an angel appears to him in his dreams. See and understand he is told. Shepherds were tending their flock, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to them and said, “Behold, I proclaim to you news of great joy. Go to Bethlehem. Find the infant in the manger. See and understand.” Behold!

King Ahaz in the first reading did not want to behold. He did not want to behold the work of God. He would rather decide his own fate and that of his Kingdom, then trust in God. Ahaz’s kingdom was the Kingdom of Judah, the southern of the two Hebrew Kingdoms. Here is what was happening: in the middle of the eighth century before Jesus, the powerful nation of Assyria was threatening to conquer its neighbors. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had made a pact with Syria to go to war against Assyria. Israel was in an alliance with pagans, the Syrians. Ahaz considered joining Judah to this alliance, or possibly making an alliance with Assyria, and then conquer the Northern Kingdom and become king of all the Jews, like David and Solomon.

This is when the prophet Isaiah came to him and told him to stay at peace and trust in God. Ahaz balked at this. He had his own plan. So Isaiah told him, "If you want proof that my message is from God, ask for a sign, and God will provide it." Ahaz might have appeared to be holy and pious when he said, "I will not tempt God," but actually what he was saying is that he did not want anyone telling him what choices to make. He certainly was not going to allow some prophet to determine his policies. He did not want to behold.

We all may have had temptations to react as Ahaz reacted when confronted with the action of God in our lives. There may have been temptations that we rather trust in our own ability to find happiness than be exposed to God and be forced to reject the pseudo joy of the world. Perhaps all of us to some degree or other have avoided God. Perhaps there are times that we think that embracing God in our lives would cost too much.

Isaiah told Ahaz that God had a far greater enterprise than the immediate political situation Judah was in. God was concerned with saving all His people for all time. "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and name him Immanuel." Seven hundred years before the angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary, the King of Judah was told how God would accomplish His plan to be with His People for all time. However, Ahaz did not want to behold. He did not want to trust in God.

In direct contrast to Ahaz, today's Gospel presents Joseph, a man who was also faced with a dilemma. He was betrothed to a beautiful young girl and anxiously awaiting the time that she would be ready to leave her parents and come into his home. Following the custom of the day, the first stage of marriage had taken place when Mary was still very young. That was the betrothal ceremony. From that point, Mary was Joseph’s wife, even though she still a virgin living with her parents. The marriage would be completed with the celebration of the entrance of Mary into Joseph's home. That is when they would have the big wedding feast, like Jesus would later attend with his disciples at Cana. There would be a great banquet and dancing and celebrating the new life of this couple and the new lives they hoped to bring into the world. It was exciting for Joseph.

Then it all came crashing down. Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. Now, the reading says that Joseph was an upright man, a just man. According to the common interpretation of the law, he could have declared that Mary was unfaithful, guilty of adultery, and had her put to death. Joseph could have had Mary killed, but he was a just man. He had a real relationship with God. The girl was young. He could not fathom God wanting her dead. He would just send Mary away. Joseph was open to the will of God. And because he was open to God in his life, because he trusted in God rather than his own plans, his own thoughts, Joseph was able to behold the wonders of God's love in the world.

"Behold!" the Church tells her children on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Behold where happiness is found. “Trust in God,” we are told. His wonders are beyond our imagination. Trust in Him and behold His wonders, and live in His happiness.

The responsorial Psalm,“Let the Lord enter; He is King of Glory,” reminds us that, like Joseph,  we must choose to let Jesus enter our hearts to rule our lives, for God never forces us to receive His gifts. May this last week of Advent help us, like Joseph, to be open to God’s plans in our lives.

 Advent III-A: Is. 35:1-6a, 10; Jas. 5:7-10; Mt. 11:2-11

The theme of the third advent week is the joy associated with Christmas. We are joyful in our waiting for the coming of the lord. The readings assure us that his coming is very near. To benefit from this joy, we have to follow the example of John the Baptist. According to the gospel, while bearing pains of imprisonment, John sent his disciples to Jesus asking: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’ John certainly knew who Jesus was. He himself bears witness to that: “I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ (Jn 1:33). So, it was for the sake of his disciples that John sent them to Jesus with the question. Jesus replied by telling him of the facts that confirm his presence as mentioned in Isaiah 35:5: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.

If we remember last week’s gospel, John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers and told them that they could not expect salvation just because they were sons of Abraham. He told everyone that they needed to repent. He called people sinners. And yet they crowded around him.

John was in jail because he did what he had been doing all along, proclaim the truth regardless of the ramifications. He told Herod that it was not right that he should marry his brother’s wife. This was not a politically healthy statement. It ended up costing John his life.

When the disciples of John went back, Jesus spoke to the crowd. “What did you go out to the desert to see?” What attracted you to John. Was it because he said what was popular, what was trendy, what was politically correct? Was John a reed swayed by the wind, blowing one way one day, another way another day? Or was John a proclaimer of the truth? The people Jesus spoke to had admitted that they were mystified by John’s words because they were straight forward and true. John did not care about anything other than the truth. People were sick of a world where every fact could be bent a dozen ways to serve the interest of the speaker. They were sick of the Temple priests, and the Jewish religious parties, the Sadducees and Pharisees, using religion for their own gain. They just wanted the truth. It attracted them. John fascinated them because he was not afraid of the truth.

I believe that more than half the world is now disenchanted by the perversion of truth in all areas of life. Honest people are attracted to anyone who will stand for the truth, regardless of whether it is popular or not, whether it is convenient or not, whether it is politically correct or not. They just want the truth. They do not want a reed bent by the wind. They want a John the Baptist who will die rather than sway from the truth. I believe that we also go to Church because like those people who went out into the desert to hear John the Baptizer, we are attracted when truth is proclaimed as written in the Bible, not when it is interpolated/twisted.

The truth alone can set us free. This truth that sets us free is more than a concept. It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” We rejoice because the light of truth, the light of Christ has destroyed the darkness of sin. The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, light of truth. We rejoice because we have been drawn by the truth. We rejoice because Jesus Christ is the truth. He embodies the truth. And He and the truth are, as the Letter to the Hebrews states, “The same, yesterday, today and forever.”

In these last days before Christmas, let's stir up our own joyful hope, so that it can overflow to others in deeds and words. Let’s not be swayed by half truth when Jesus is calling us to full truth and fullness of life. I came that you may have life, and have it in fullness.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the coming of God in our lives we need also to remind ourselves that we have been called to be the means of bringing Jesus into other people's lives. Jesus told John that he came to preach good news to the poor. Have we ever considered sharing the good news that we believe in? Some of our school kids took the message of Christ’s birth to some seniors and home bound this Friday. Let’s reflect, as adults, have we ever considered speaking about Christ and his arrival into this world and particularly in their lives? May this Christmas season give us the courage to share Christ and his gospel with others. Jesus said, blessed is he who takes no offense at me.

 ADVENT II [A]: Is 11:1-10; Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12

 Matthew begins today by telling us that Saint John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance in the wilderness of Judea. John's message was one of repentance in preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand. It is the same message that Jesus proclaimed when He began His ministry in Galilee. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." [Mt. 4:17] 

In the New Testament, the call to repentance appears as a fundamental part of the message proclaimed. John the Baptist appears prominently preaching about the need for repentance (Mat 3:2). Jesus continued the message of John the Baptist (Mat 4:17), and repentance also played a key role in the disciples’ preaching (Mk 6:12). Afterwards, Jesus declared that in his name repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations (Lk 24:47).

Indeed the Bible leaves no doubt that repentance is a necessary condition for salvation. This means that without repentance there is no salvation. In this aspect, repentance appears directly linked to faith.

Bible speaks of three types of repentance. The first is just a human reaction to the punishment for sin. An example of this type of repentance is shown by Esau (Gn 27:30-46). At no time did Esau truly repent of his sin. He only mourned the losses he had suffered (Hb12:17). Another one who demonstrated this kind of empty repentance was Judas Iscariot (Mat 27:3-5). They both mourned their own losses but not in relation to God.

The second type of repentance is called attrition. This is imperfect contrition, a desire not to sin for a reason other than love of God.

Attrition is counterfeit repentance, which never qualifies us for forgiveness in itself. It is like the repentance of a child who is caught in the act of disobeying his mother and cries out, ‘Mommy, Mommy, I’m sorry, please don’t spank me.’ Attrition is repentance motivated strictly by a fear of punishment. If with the hope of pardon, and the desire to exclude the wish to sin, the sinner confesses his sin to God, not out of genuine remorse but out of a desire to secure a ticket out of hell. Although this attrition cannot of itself, without the Sacrament of Penance, conduct the sinner to justification yet it does dispose him to receive the grace of God in the Sacrament of Penance. Therefore, at least attrition is required for the sacrament of reconciliation.  For smitten profitably with fear, the Ninivites at the preaching of Jona did fearful penance and obtained mercy from Lord.

True repentance can be seen in the words of King David when he asked, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). This kind of repentance can only exist in a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, and surely God will not despise it (Ps 51:17; cf. 1 Jn 1:9). It can be understood as a gift of God resulting from regeneration. Contrition is motivated by love of God, causing the penitent to regret sin as evidence of a turning away from God who loves us. Here the sinner mourns his sin, not for the loss of reward or for the threat of judgment, but because he has done injury to the honor of God.” 

Plato tells the story of a shepherd named Gyges, who was in the service of the king. One day there was a great storm and an earthquake where he was pasturing his flock. A great chasm opened in the earth and Gyges descended into the chasm. There he saw many astonishing things, including what looked like a human corpse. Although there were many amazing treasures in the chasm, he took nothing except a gold ring the corpse had on his finger. He then made his way out. He attended the usual meeting of shepherds which reported monthly to the king, and as he was sitting in the meeting, he happened to twist the bezel of the ring towards the inside of his hand. He immediately became invisible to his companions. He was astonished, and began twisting the ring again, and turned the bezel outwards, whereupon he became visible again. He experimented with the ring to see if it really had this power and found that every time he turned it outwards he became visible, and every time he turned it inwards, he became invisible. Having made this discovery, he managed to get himself invited to the palace where he stole great treasures from the king himself. Being invisible, he would never be caught. There would be no consequences for his actions whatsoever. — Plato asks the question, if we remove all consequences, all fear of punishment, is there any reason to seek honesty, virtue, and character? It’s a good question. John’s answer is that God takes sins seriously, and, hence, we must repent and renew our lives.

 

During Advent, we are called to be repentant of our sins. John the Baptist, the stern and uncompromising preacher, challenges our superficial attempts at change, demanding that we take a deeper look.  He says, Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. We must mend ruptures and soothe frictions, face family responsibilities, work honestly, and treat our employers and employees justly.   Start where you are, John says.  Our domestic and social lives must be put in order.    He calls for rectitude and social consciousness.   We must abandon our selfish thirst for consumption and, instead, be filled with the expectation of Jesus’ coming.   Therefore, following John’s advice, let us celebrate the memory of this first advent, prepare for Jesus’ new advent in our lives, and wait for his second advent at the end of the world.