MATTHEW 2:1-12
TODAY OUR CHURCH OFFERS A READING FROM ISAIAH TO GO WITH THE GOSPEL READING FROM MATTHEW. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIBLICAL STUDIES, YOU PROBABLY LEARNED THAT MATTHEW BUILT HIS GOSPEL ON THAT OF MARK, AND HE HAD OTHER SOURCES FROM WHICH TO FLESH OUT HIS OWN ACCOUNT OF CHRIST'S LIFE. YOU MIGHT ALSO HAVE LEARNED THAT MATTHEW WAS WRITING TO A COMMUNITY OF JEWS WHO HAD BECOME CHRISTIANS, AND TOOK GREAT PAINS TO SHOW THAT CHRIST'S LIFE WAS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECIES THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN TO THE JEWS; MATTHEW OFTEN COMMENTS “SO THAT THE SCRIPTURES WOULD BE FULFILLED” OR WORDS LIKE THAT. MATTHEW WAS INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH WHAT WE CALL THE “OLD TESTAMENT”, ESPECIALLY THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH .
BUT MATTHEW LIKE ALL THE GOSPEL WRITERS, HAS HIS OWN STORY TO TELL, HIS OWN TAKE ON THE EVENTS SURROUNDING CHRIST'S LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION. SO MATTHEW WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THINKING ABOUT THE ISAIAH READING WE JUST HEARD WHEN HE WROTE THE STORY OF THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. THE PROPHECY WAS THAT A TIME WOULD COME WHEN PEOPLE FROM THE EAST WOULD BRING TREASURES TO JERUSALEM, AS PART OF THE GLORY GOD HAD PLANNED FOR THAT CITY. AND THE TREASURES WOULD BE GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE. SO IF THAT WAS REALLY MATTHEW'S INTENT, WHY DID HE ADD “MYRRH” TO THE GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE?”
THE SECOND POINT IS THAT THE WISE MEN COME TO JERUSALEM. THIS IS WHERE THEY EXPECT TO FIND THE KING, THE MESSIAH. WHY WAS THAT? PRECISELY BECAUSE IF YOU READ THE PROPHECY IN ISAIAH, THAT'S WERE ALL THE ACTION IS GOING TO BE. AFTER ALL, JERUSALEM IS ALREADY THE CENTRAL CITY OF THE JEWISH NATION, AND IT HAS A GLORIOUS PAST. ISAIAH PREDICTS, AND THE WISE MEN SEEM TO FULFILL, THAT CARAVANS WILL COME BEARING TREASURES, KINGS AND PRINCES WILL COME TO LEARN FROM JERUSALEM. HOW DID THE MAGI LEARN ABOUT THIS? I SUSPECT SOME OF THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES WENT WITH THE JEWS WHO AT THAT TIME WERE SCATTERED IN COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE, AND IN PERSIA AS WELL. THESE WISE MEN PROBABLY KNEW JEWISH SCHOLARS AND THROUGH THEM THE PROPHECIES.
MATTHEW MEANS SOMETHING BY ALL THIS. HE IS SPEAKING TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES, HE MAKES IT A POINT THAT JESUS FULFILLS THE SCRIPTURES, BUT HERE, AS IN SOME OTHER PLACES IN HIS GOSPEL, THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES FROM WHAT HAD BEEN PREDICTED.
WHEN THE WISE MEN GET TO JERUSALEM, THEY ASK HEROD, “WHERE CAN WE FIND THIS KING?” AND HEROD CALLS HIS OWN SCHOLARS AND THEY DRAG OUT A DIFFERENT PROPHECY, THE ONE BY MICAH. THIS IS THE ONLY PROPHECY THAT CALLS ATTENTION TO BETHLEHEM AS THE PLACE FROM WHICH A RULER WILL COME FORTH. BETHLEHEM IS A HUMBLE VILLAGE, BUT IT HAS A HISTORY AS WELL. IT HAS AN ASSOCIATION WITH KING DAVID, WHO CAME FROM NEAR THERE. THERE ARE A FEW OTHER BIBLICAL FIGURES WHO HAVE SOME SORT OF CONNECTION TO BETHLEHEM, BUT OFTEN IT IS CALLED BY AN ALTERNATIVE NAME, SO IT ISN'T ALWAYS CLEAR TO THE CASUAL READER. AND WHAT MATTHEW WANTS US TO KNOW IS THAT THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, CHOSE TO COME FORTH FROM VERY HUMBLE BEGINNINGS. WERE THE MESSIAH TO BE A GREAT RULER, AS SOME BELIEVED HIM TO BE, ONE WOULD HAVE EXPECTED HIM TO COME FORTH FROM THE CAPITAL CITY. WHERE HE TO BE A GREAT PRIEST, AS SOME BELIEVED HE WOULD BE, YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED IF HE DID NOT COME FROM THE CITY WHERE THE PRIESTHOOD WAS EXERCISED, WHERE SACRIFICES WERE OFFERED TO GOD. BUT MATTHEW IS SAYING, “WHATEVER ELSE HE IS, THE MESSIAH IS A PROPHET, AND AS SUCH HE BEGINS AS AN OUTSIDER – OUTSIDE THE ESTABLISHMENT; OUTSIDE THE CENTER OF LEARNING; OUTSIDE THE PRIESTHOOD, OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE. PROPHETS ARE OUTSIDERS, OR THEY COULD NOT HOLD UP THE SINS OF A NATION FOR ALL TO SEE. AND OUTSIDERS, ESPECIALLY PROPHETS, MIGHT AS WELL EXPECT PERSECUTION.
AND WHAT ABOUT MYRRH? WHY DID MATTHEW MAKE A POINT THAT NOT ONLY WAS GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE BROUGHT TO THE NEW BORN KING, BUT MYRRH AS WELL? MYRRH WAS INDEED VALUABLE, AND ONE BIBLE SCHOLAR SAYS THAT MATTHEW WAS JUST PUTTING THINGS IN CONTEMPORARY TERMS, SINCE NOBODY KNEW ABOUT MYRRH WHEN ISAIAH WROTE HIS PROPHECY.
BUT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE ONLY OTHER REFERENCES TO MYRRH HAVE TO DO WITH BURIAL RITUALS. IN ONE GOSPEL ACCOUNT NICODEMUS BRINGS MYRRH TO ANOINT THE BODY OF JESUS AFTER JOSEPH OF ARIMETHEA OFFERS HIS TOMB FOR JESUS' BURIAL.
AND THE MAGI BRING GOLD, BECAUSE JESUS IS A KING; AND FRANKINCENSE BECAUSE HE IS THE HIGH PRIEST. BUT THEY ALSO BRING MYRRH, BECAUSE JESUS IS THE PROPHET WHO WILL BE REJECTED AND PUT TO DEATH; IN FACT, DURING JESUS' TIME, MYRRH WAS ASSOCIATED WITH EMBALMING DEAD BODIES. THE EPIPHANY IS THE TIME WHEN JESUS IS MADE KNOWN TO THE WORLD IN THE PERSONS OF THE MAGI, AND HE IS REVEALED AS KING, PRIEST, AND REJECTED PROPHET RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING.
AND I WONDER HOW MARY FELT AT THAT TIME? BECAUSE SHE KNEW AS DID EVERYONE ELSE WHAT MYRRH WAS FOR. IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE GIVING A COFFIN TO A BABY BEING BAPTIZED.
SO THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE, WRITTEN MANY YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRIST, AND WRITTEN FOR A COMMUNITY OF JEWISH CHRISTIANS TO SHOW THEM THAT JESUS WAS INDEED THE MESSIAH SENT BY GOD, IS THAT MATTHEW SHOWS THEM THAT JESUS DOES INDEED FULFILL THE PROPHECIES – BUT IN THE WAY HE FULFILLS THEM, HE TEACHES US THE KIND OF MESSIAH HE IS – A MESSIAH WHO IS KING AND PRIEST AND PROPHET, BUT A KING WHO GIVES UP HIS MAJESTY AND GLORY TO BE BORN IN A TINY TOWN FILLED WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE; HE IS A PRIEST WHO WILL BE THE BRIDGE BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, BUT DOES NOT HAVE ANY SORT OF CONNECTION TO THE TEMPLE, BECAUSE HE WILL BE THE NEW TEMPLE; AND HE IS A PROPHET WHO WILL NOT ONLY CALL THE PEOPLE BACK FROM THEIR SINFULNESS, BUT WILL ACCEPT DEATH TO SATISFY THE JUSTICE THAT IS DUE GOD FOR BREAKING HIS COMMANDMENTS.
SO THIS IS THE EPIPHANY. THIS IS THE REAL CHRIST. NOT GLORIOUS JERUSALEM, BUT HUMBLE BETHLEHEM. NOT JUST PRECIOUS GOLD OR SWEET FRANKINCENSE, BUT ALSO BITTER MYRRH, THE MYRRH OF DEATH.
SO LET US TODAY CONTEMPLATE THE WONDERFUL MOMENT WHEN IT WAS REVEALED THAT THE PROMISES GOD HAD MADE TO HIS PEOPLE WERE NOT JUST FOR THEM, BUT ALL WHO, LIKE THE MAGI, ARE WILLING TO FOLLOW THE STAR TO WORSHIP THE NEWBORN KING.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Feast of the Holy Family, 2009
LUKE 2:41-52
WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG, I WOULD SOMETIMES ASK MY MOTHER TO TELL ME A STORY ABOUT WHEN JESUS WAS A BOY. AND SHE WOULD. SHE TOLD ME A STORY ABOUT A TIME WHEN JESUS HAD MADE SOME LITTLE CLAY BIRDS AND SOME OF THE LOCAL BIG KIDS CAME AROUND AND STARTED TO THROW STONES AT THEM, SO JESUS WAVED HIS HAND AND THEY ALL FLEW AWAY. THERE WAS ANOTHER ABOUT HOW JOSEPH AND JESUS HAD ASSEMBLED A BED FOR SOMEONE, AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT IT WOULD BE TOO SHORT, SO JESUS PULLED ON ONE END OF THE BED AND IT STRETCHED OUT TO JUST THE RIGHT LENGTH. BUT THE THINGS WE THINK WE KNOW ABOUT THE LIFE OF THE HOLY FAMILY ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY LEGEND AND WISHFUL THINKING. JESUS' GRANDPARENTS ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE WERE JOACHIM AND ANNA, RIGHT? AND THEY BROUGHT MARY TO THE TEMPLE WHEN SHE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD AND LEFT HER TO BE RAISED BY THE TEMPLE AUTHORITIES. AND WHEN SHE AND JOSEPH MARRIED, HE WAS AN OLD MAN, WITH CHILDREN BY A PREVIOUS MARRIAGE. NO EVIDENCE FOR ANY OF THIS.
THE POINT IS, PEOPLE HAVE A NATURAL TENDENCY TO FILL IN THE BLANKS, AND ALL OF THE ABOVE STORIES WERE IN CIRCULATION IN THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURY. MY MOTHER HEARD THEM FROM HER MOTHER, WHO COULD BARELY READ, AND SHE HEARD THEM FROM WHERE? I DON'T KNOW.
THE STORY WE HEAR TODAY IS IN THE SCRIPTURES. AND IF I ASKED MY MOTHER HOW MARY AND JOSEPH TRAVELED A WHOLE DAY BEFORE NOTICING THAT JESUS WAS MISSING, SHE WOULD HAVE ANSWERED, “IN THOSE DAYS THE WOMEN TRAVELED TOGETHER AND SO DID THE MEN, AND JESUS WAS AT JUST THE AGE WHEN MARY MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED HIM TO BE WITH JOSEPH, AND JOSEPH MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED HIM TO BE WITH MARY. THAT'S ANOTHER STORY THAT GOES WAY BACK. BUT IT ISN'T TRUE. MARRIED COUPLES STAYED TOGETHER ON THOSE JOURNEYS. SO I WONDER HOW THE MOST PERFECT MOTHER THAT EVER WALKED THE EARTH, AND POSSIBLY THE MOST PERFECT HUMAN FATHER, DID NOT NOTICE THAT THEIR SON WAS MISSING? WHEN WE TOOK OUR KIDS TO DISNEYWORLD MANY YEARS AGO WE GOT ON THE MONORAIL AND MOMENTS AFTER WE SAT DOWN, WE NOTICED ONE OF THE KIDS WASN'T WITH US, CAUSING PANIC. I JUMPED OFF AT THE NEXT STOP AND RACED BACK AND FINALLY FOUND THE CHILD SURROUNDED BY A CROWD TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY SHE WAS SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HER VOICE. SHE OF COURSE WENT ON TO BECOME A LAWYER.
I THINK THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOW AND THEN IS THAT WE NO LONGER LIVE IN A COMMUNITY OF TRUST. MODERN PARENTS WANT TO KNOW AS MUCH AS THEY CAN ABOUT WHERE THEIR CHILDREN ARE AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. WE WORRY WHEN THEY ARE NOT VISIBLE. WE LEAVE THEM ONLY RELUCTANTLY, AND ONLY WITH SOMEONE WE TRUST. IN OUR INSTITUTIONS, THOSE WHO WORK WITH OUR CHILDREN ARE BACKGROUND-CHECKED, OR THEY CAN'T WORK. IF WE LEAVE A CHILD SLEEPING IN A LOCKED VEHICLE WITH THE WINDOW OPEN ON A PLEASANT SPRING DAY TO DROP OFF A LETTER OR RUN IN TO A DRUGSTORE FOR A MINUTE, WE MAY BE LIABLE TO ARREST. WE DON'T TRUST OUR NEIGHBORS, WE DON'T TRUST OTHER PEOPLE.
IT WAS VERY DIFFERENT IN JESUS' TIME. A TWELVE YEAR OLD BOY IN AN INFORMAL GATHERING OF PEOPLE WALKING BACK TO NAZARETH FROM JERUSALEM COULD WANDER OFF WITH HIS FRIENDS, COULD JOIN ANOTHER FAMILY FOR A WHILE, AND MARY AND JOSEPH KNEW THAT THEIR NEIGHBORS WOULD KEEP AN EYE ON JESUS JUST AS THEY WOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THEIR OWN NEIGHBOR'S CHILDREN. IF A CHILD GOT OUT OF LINE, ANY ADULT WOULD BE EXPECTED TO DISCIPLINE THE CHILD; AND IF A CHILD WAS HURT, OR SEEMED LOST, WELL, THE CHILD WAS A MEMBER OF THE VILLAGE, AND THE NEAREST ADULT WOULD STOP TO HELP. AND AMONG THE JEWS, THERE WAS NO FEAR THAT A CHILD WOULD BE ABDUCTED. THIS MIGHT HAPPEN OUT ON THE FRONTIER, OR IN PAGAN COUNTRY, BUT NOT RIGHT IN THE HEART OF JUDAH WHERE EVERYONE WAS A SON OR DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM.
SO TO ME, THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE. IT EVEN SEEMS LIKELY THAT THE OLD WISE MEN IN THE TEMPLE WERE ENJOYING THE COMPANY OF THIS VERY BRIGHT CHILD, AND EXPECTED THAT SOONER OR LATER, THE PARENTS WOULD RETRACE THEIR STEPS AND FIND HIM. THIS KIND OF ATTITUDE IS STILL VERY PREVALENT IN THE FEW ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA, AND IN OTHER PLACES WHERE THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITIES OF JEWISH PEOPLE.
THE HOLY FAMILY WAS PART OF A FAMILY OF FAMILIES, THE VILLAGE OF NAZARETH; AND THAT IN TURN WAS PART OF A LARGER FAMILY, A FAMILY THAT FELT ITSELF CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER IN A WAY THAT WE NO LONGER CAN EVEN IMAGINE, EXCEPT PERHAPS WITHIN OUR OWN EXTENDED FAMILY. AND HOW MUCH WE NEED TO REGAIN THAT ATTITUDE, IF WE ARE TO AVOID THE ONGOING ALIENATION OF OUR SOCIETY, A SOCIETY THAT FEARS THE WORST FROM IT'S MEMBERS, A SOCIETY WHERE PARENTS GUARD THEIR CHILDREN FROM OTHER ADULTS, WHERE ADULTS DON'T TRUST EACH OTHER, AND WHERE THE CONSEQUENCE OF THIS ATTITUDE IS SELFISHNESS, FEAR, ISOLATION, AND LONELINESS.
JESUS OFTEN COMPARED THE COMMUNITY THAT GREW UP AROUND HIM DURING HIS YEARS OF MINISTRY AS A FAMILY. HE SAID THAT THOSE WHO DID THE WILL OF THE FATHER WERE HIS MOTHER AND SISTER AND BROTHER AS WELL. BUILDING UP A COMMUNITY OF TRUST IS SOMETHING OUR PARISH AND OUR CHURCH ARE CALLED TO DO. WE CAN'T DO IT AS INDIVIDUALS, IT IS ONLY SOMETHING WE CAN DO COOPERATIVELY. AND AS WE ALL KNOW, THE FIRST THING WE NEED TO DO TO BUILD A COMMUNITY OF TRUST IS TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER, TO FIND WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER, AND TO MAKE PARISH LIFE, NOT JUST CHURCH ATTENDANCE, A VERY HIGH PRIORITY IN OUR LIVES. WE DON'T DO NEARLY AS WELL IN THIS MISSION AS MANY PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO DIFFERENT WORSHIPPING COMMUNITIES. MAYBE ITS' BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALLER, OR MAYBE ITS' BECAUSE THEY BELONG TO A MINORITY, BUT ITS NO EXCUSE.
SO ON THIS FEAST DAY IN WHICH WE CELEBRATE THE HOLY FAMILY, NOT ONLY SHOULD WE LOOK AT HOW ARE OWN FAMILIES ARE HOLY, BUT WE SHOULD LOOK AT HOW WE CAN MAKE OUR PARISH A COMMUNITY WHERE WE TRUST EACH OTHER, WHERE WE KNOW OUR FELLOW COMMUNICANTS WILL BE AS CARING TOWARDS OUR CHILDREN AS WE ARE; WHERE WE CAN HONESTLY SAY, “I TRUST THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE CATHOLIC.”
WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG, I WOULD SOMETIMES ASK MY MOTHER TO TELL ME A STORY ABOUT WHEN JESUS WAS A BOY. AND SHE WOULD. SHE TOLD ME A STORY ABOUT A TIME WHEN JESUS HAD MADE SOME LITTLE CLAY BIRDS AND SOME OF THE LOCAL BIG KIDS CAME AROUND AND STARTED TO THROW STONES AT THEM, SO JESUS WAVED HIS HAND AND THEY ALL FLEW AWAY. THERE WAS ANOTHER ABOUT HOW JOSEPH AND JESUS HAD ASSEMBLED A BED FOR SOMEONE, AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT IT WOULD BE TOO SHORT, SO JESUS PULLED ON ONE END OF THE BED AND IT STRETCHED OUT TO JUST THE RIGHT LENGTH. BUT THE THINGS WE THINK WE KNOW ABOUT THE LIFE OF THE HOLY FAMILY ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY LEGEND AND WISHFUL THINKING. JESUS' GRANDPARENTS ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE WERE JOACHIM AND ANNA, RIGHT? AND THEY BROUGHT MARY TO THE TEMPLE WHEN SHE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD AND LEFT HER TO BE RAISED BY THE TEMPLE AUTHORITIES. AND WHEN SHE AND JOSEPH MARRIED, HE WAS AN OLD MAN, WITH CHILDREN BY A PREVIOUS MARRIAGE. NO EVIDENCE FOR ANY OF THIS.
THE POINT IS, PEOPLE HAVE A NATURAL TENDENCY TO FILL IN THE BLANKS, AND ALL OF THE ABOVE STORIES WERE IN CIRCULATION IN THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURY. MY MOTHER HEARD THEM FROM HER MOTHER, WHO COULD BARELY READ, AND SHE HEARD THEM FROM WHERE? I DON'T KNOW.
THE STORY WE HEAR TODAY IS IN THE SCRIPTURES. AND IF I ASKED MY MOTHER HOW MARY AND JOSEPH TRAVELED A WHOLE DAY BEFORE NOTICING THAT JESUS WAS MISSING, SHE WOULD HAVE ANSWERED, “IN THOSE DAYS THE WOMEN TRAVELED TOGETHER AND SO DID THE MEN, AND JESUS WAS AT JUST THE AGE WHEN MARY MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED HIM TO BE WITH JOSEPH, AND JOSEPH MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED HIM TO BE WITH MARY. THAT'S ANOTHER STORY THAT GOES WAY BACK. BUT IT ISN'T TRUE. MARRIED COUPLES STAYED TOGETHER ON THOSE JOURNEYS. SO I WONDER HOW THE MOST PERFECT MOTHER THAT EVER WALKED THE EARTH, AND POSSIBLY THE MOST PERFECT HUMAN FATHER, DID NOT NOTICE THAT THEIR SON WAS MISSING? WHEN WE TOOK OUR KIDS TO DISNEYWORLD MANY YEARS AGO WE GOT ON THE MONORAIL AND MOMENTS AFTER WE SAT DOWN, WE NOTICED ONE OF THE KIDS WASN'T WITH US, CAUSING PANIC. I JUMPED OFF AT THE NEXT STOP AND RACED BACK AND FINALLY FOUND THE CHILD SURROUNDED BY A CROWD TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY SHE WAS SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HER VOICE. SHE OF COURSE WENT ON TO BECOME A LAWYER.
I THINK THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOW AND THEN IS THAT WE NO LONGER LIVE IN A COMMUNITY OF TRUST. MODERN PARENTS WANT TO KNOW AS MUCH AS THEY CAN ABOUT WHERE THEIR CHILDREN ARE AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. WE WORRY WHEN THEY ARE NOT VISIBLE. WE LEAVE THEM ONLY RELUCTANTLY, AND ONLY WITH SOMEONE WE TRUST. IN OUR INSTITUTIONS, THOSE WHO WORK WITH OUR CHILDREN ARE BACKGROUND-CHECKED, OR THEY CAN'T WORK. IF WE LEAVE A CHILD SLEEPING IN A LOCKED VEHICLE WITH THE WINDOW OPEN ON A PLEASANT SPRING DAY TO DROP OFF A LETTER OR RUN IN TO A DRUGSTORE FOR A MINUTE, WE MAY BE LIABLE TO ARREST. WE DON'T TRUST OUR NEIGHBORS, WE DON'T TRUST OTHER PEOPLE.
IT WAS VERY DIFFERENT IN JESUS' TIME. A TWELVE YEAR OLD BOY IN AN INFORMAL GATHERING OF PEOPLE WALKING BACK TO NAZARETH FROM JERUSALEM COULD WANDER OFF WITH HIS FRIENDS, COULD JOIN ANOTHER FAMILY FOR A WHILE, AND MARY AND JOSEPH KNEW THAT THEIR NEIGHBORS WOULD KEEP AN EYE ON JESUS JUST AS THEY WOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THEIR OWN NEIGHBOR'S CHILDREN. IF A CHILD GOT OUT OF LINE, ANY ADULT WOULD BE EXPECTED TO DISCIPLINE THE CHILD; AND IF A CHILD WAS HURT, OR SEEMED LOST, WELL, THE CHILD WAS A MEMBER OF THE VILLAGE, AND THE NEAREST ADULT WOULD STOP TO HELP. AND AMONG THE JEWS, THERE WAS NO FEAR THAT A CHILD WOULD BE ABDUCTED. THIS MIGHT HAPPEN OUT ON THE FRONTIER, OR IN PAGAN COUNTRY, BUT NOT RIGHT IN THE HEART OF JUDAH WHERE EVERYONE WAS A SON OR DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM.
SO TO ME, THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE. IT EVEN SEEMS LIKELY THAT THE OLD WISE MEN IN THE TEMPLE WERE ENJOYING THE COMPANY OF THIS VERY BRIGHT CHILD, AND EXPECTED THAT SOONER OR LATER, THE PARENTS WOULD RETRACE THEIR STEPS AND FIND HIM. THIS KIND OF ATTITUDE IS STILL VERY PREVALENT IN THE FEW ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA, AND IN OTHER PLACES WHERE THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITIES OF JEWISH PEOPLE.
THE HOLY FAMILY WAS PART OF A FAMILY OF FAMILIES, THE VILLAGE OF NAZARETH; AND THAT IN TURN WAS PART OF A LARGER FAMILY, A FAMILY THAT FELT ITSELF CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER IN A WAY THAT WE NO LONGER CAN EVEN IMAGINE, EXCEPT PERHAPS WITHIN OUR OWN EXTENDED FAMILY. AND HOW MUCH WE NEED TO REGAIN THAT ATTITUDE, IF WE ARE TO AVOID THE ONGOING ALIENATION OF OUR SOCIETY, A SOCIETY THAT FEARS THE WORST FROM IT'S MEMBERS, A SOCIETY WHERE PARENTS GUARD THEIR CHILDREN FROM OTHER ADULTS, WHERE ADULTS DON'T TRUST EACH OTHER, AND WHERE THE CONSEQUENCE OF THIS ATTITUDE IS SELFISHNESS, FEAR, ISOLATION, AND LONELINESS.
JESUS OFTEN COMPARED THE COMMUNITY THAT GREW UP AROUND HIM DURING HIS YEARS OF MINISTRY AS A FAMILY. HE SAID THAT THOSE WHO DID THE WILL OF THE FATHER WERE HIS MOTHER AND SISTER AND BROTHER AS WELL. BUILDING UP A COMMUNITY OF TRUST IS SOMETHING OUR PARISH AND OUR CHURCH ARE CALLED TO DO. WE CAN'T DO IT AS INDIVIDUALS, IT IS ONLY SOMETHING WE CAN DO COOPERATIVELY. AND AS WE ALL KNOW, THE FIRST THING WE NEED TO DO TO BUILD A COMMUNITY OF TRUST IS TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER, TO FIND WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER, AND TO MAKE PARISH LIFE, NOT JUST CHURCH ATTENDANCE, A VERY HIGH PRIORITY IN OUR LIVES. WE DON'T DO NEARLY AS WELL IN THIS MISSION AS MANY PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO DIFFERENT WORSHIPPING COMMUNITIES. MAYBE ITS' BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALLER, OR MAYBE ITS' BECAUSE THEY BELONG TO A MINORITY, BUT ITS NO EXCUSE.
SO ON THIS FEAST DAY IN WHICH WE CELEBRATE THE HOLY FAMILY, NOT ONLY SHOULD WE LOOK AT HOW ARE OWN FAMILIES ARE HOLY, BUT WE SHOULD LOOK AT HOW WE CAN MAKE OUR PARISH A COMMUNITY WHERE WE TRUST EACH OTHER, WHERE WE KNOW OUR FELLOW COMMUNICANTS WILL BE AS CARING TOWARDS OUR CHILDREN AS WE ARE; WHERE WE CAN HONESTLY SAY, “I TRUST THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE CATHOLIC.”
Friday, December 25, 2009
Mass at Dawn, Christmas 2009
LUKE 2:15-20
WE TRY SO HARD TO MAKE CHRISTMAS LIKE IT USED TO BE. MOST OF US FIRST BECAME AWARE OF CHRISTMAS IN THE TRADITIONS OF OUR OWN FAMILIES. EACH YEAR AS CHILDREN WE WOULD REMEMBER THE LAST CHRISTMAS, AND WE GRADUALLY BEGAN TO NOTICE WHAT WAS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR, AND WHAT WAS THE SAME. WHEN I WAS LITTLE, WE USED A LOT OF TINSEL EVERY YEAR. WE DON'T ANYMORE IN MY HOUSE. BUT TINSEL WAS THIN STRIPS OF SOME KIND OF FLEXIBLE METAL, PROBABLY LEAD BASED, THAT WAS DRAPED OVER THE TREE AFTER ALL THE ORNAMENTS AND LIGHTS WERE HUNG. AFTER CHRISTMAS, MY MOTHER WOULD TAKE IT DOWN AND CAREFULLY PACK IT AWAY, AND WE WOULD BE PICKING UP STRAY PIECES OF TINSEL FOR A MONTH OR TWO. DESPITE ALL HER CARE, WE USUALLY HAD TO BUY MORE THE NEXT YEAR, BECAUSE SOMEHOW IT GOT TANGLED INTO A MESS WHILE HIDDEN AWAY.
ONE YEAR, WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, MY MOTHER DECIDED WE WOULD NOT PUT TINSEL ON THE TREE. MY SISTER AND I WAILED AND MOANED AND FINALLY SHE RELENTED. SHE MADE US HANG THE TINSEL AND PUT IT AWAY, SO THE NEXT YEAR WE DIDN'T PROTEST AS MUCH.
WHEN JOAN AND I MARRIED AND HAD CHILDREN, WE BEGAN TO BLEND THE TRADITIONS OF OUR TWO FAMILIES, AND NOW WE SEE OUR MARRIED DAUGHTERS DOING THE SAME. THE AIM FOR ALL OF THIS EFFORT IS TO KEEP SOMETHING ABOUT THE SEASON, THE MORE, THE BETTER, CONSTANT DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS. WE LIKE THE WAY CHRISTMAS REMINDS US OF THE DAYS WHEN WE WERE LITTLE AND IT WAS A MAGICAL SEASON.
AND IT'S IRONIC; WE LOVE THE UNCHANGEABLE NATURE OF THE CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. WE REVEL IN THE SAME OLD ORNAMENTS, THE SAME GIFT-OPENING TRADITIONS, THE SAME EGGNOG – ALL THOSE RITUALS – BUT WE ARE REALLY CELEBRATING THE MOMENT IN ALL OF HISTORY WHEN THINGS CHANGED FOREVER. GOD BROKE INTO TIME AND SPACE. GOD BECAME MAN, SO MAN COULD SHARE GOD'S LIFE. AND NOTHING WOULD EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.
THERE ARE LEGENDS SURROUNDING THE BIRTHS OF OTHER GREAT MEN AND WOMEN DOWN THROUGH THE AGES. THEIR BIRTHS ARE PROPHESIED, AS WAS CHRIST'S. SOMETIMES COMETS OR STRANGE STARS OR OTHER COSMIC PHENOMENA SIGNALED THE BIRTH, AS THE STAR DID CHRIST'S. NATURE BEHAVED IN UNUSUAL WAYS. AND IT WASN'T UNUSUAL FOR UNEARTHLY SPIRITS TO ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT ONE. BUT HERE IS WHERE JESUS' BIRTH CHANGED EVERYTHING. HEAVENLY BEINGS DID ANNOUNCE HIS BIRTH, BUT TO SHEPHERDS, NOT NOBLEMEN OR KINGS. SHEPHERDS. PROBABLY NOBODY CARED WHETHER THEY REGISTERED FOR THE CENSUS AT ALL, WHICH IS WHY THEY WERE OUT IN THE FIELDS. AFTER ALL, THEY MOVED AROUND A GREAT DEAL, THEY HAD NO MONEY OR PROPERTY SO COULDN'T BE TAXED; THEY WERE ALWAYS RITUALLY UNCLEAN, SINCE YOU REALLY COULDN'T KEEP THE LAW WHEN YOUR SCHEDULE DEPENDED ON SHEEP, AND WHEN YOU HAD TO GROOM THEM AND CLEAN THEM EVERY DAY. AND THE SHEPHERDS PROBABLY DIDN'T CARE ANYWAY. IF THEY THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT ALL, THEY FIGURED THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE AT SALVATION, BECAUSE IF YOU BELIEVED THE PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES, YOU HAD TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME DOING THE THINGS THAT MADE YOU HOLY, AND THE PROOF THAT YOU WERE LOVED BY GOD WAS THAT YOU WERE RICH AND LIVED IN A FINE HOUSE. AND THESE WERE THE FIRST WITNESSES OF THE MOST DISRUPTIVE CHANGE, THE GREATEST CHANGE, IN ALL OF HISTORY. THE WORLD HAD BEEN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. THE POOR HAD THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM.
AND THEY WENT DOWN TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES. AND AS THEY DREW NEAR LOVE ITSELF, LOVE CHANGED THEM; THEY KNELT BEFORE A BABY, A BABY WHO LOOKED LIKE ANY OTHER BABY, AND ALTHOUGH THEY WERE ROUGH AND UNEDUCATED, EVEN THEIR INSENSITIVE SOULS FELT THE BURNING PRESENCE OF GOD WHO BROKE INTO THE WORLD, THE FIRE AT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. THE UNIMAGINABLE PRESENCE THAT BROUGHT EVERYTHING INTO BEING, THAT HELD THE WORLD TOGETHER, WAS THERE IN THE BABY. LOVE WAS THERE.
AND THEY WERE CHANGED. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT THEY LEFT GLORIFYING GOD AND PRAISING HIM, AND THEY WERE SO CHANGED BY THEIR APPROACH TO LOVE IN PERSON THAT SOMEHOW THE WORDS THEY SPOKE TO OTHERS DID NOT BRING ABOUT RIDICULE, DID NOT FALL ON DEAF EARS, BUT ASTONISHED THOSE WHO LISTENED TO THEM. AND SOME OF THOSE WHO LISTENED, WHO HAD BEEN CHANGED BY THE SHEPHERDS' WORDS BECAUSE THEY TOO COULD SENSE THAT LOVE HAD DONE SOMETHING TO THESE MEN, AND WAITED TO DO SOMETHING TO THEM AS WELL. LOVE IS LIKE THE FLAME ON A CANDLE, WHICH CAN GIVE ITSELF AWAY INDEFINITELY, AND NEVER BE DIMINISHED.
SO TODAY I'M GOING TO GO HOME AND DIVE INTO THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. THERE WILL BE GRANDCHILDREN WHO ARE WAITING ANXIOUSLY TO OPEN THEIR PRESENTS. AND I LOOK FORWARD AS WELL; EVERY NEW TIE WILL BE A SURPRISE. AND WE'LL SING A FEW OLD CAROLS, AND PLAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC ALL DAY, AND DRINK SOME EGGNOG AND EAT A VERY SPECIAL SUPPER, SOME DISHES WHICH ARE LIKE THOSE OF MY CHILDHOOD AND AND SOME LIKE THOSE OF JOAN'S, AND WE MIGHT REMINISCE ABOUT CHRISTMASES IN THE PAST AND TRY TO CONVEY OUR OWN WONDER TO OUR GRANDCHILDREN, WHO ARE STORING UP THEIR OWN MEMORIES.
BUT THE MOST WONDERFUL PART OF CHRISTMAS, THE PART THAT HAS BEEN CARRIED FORWARD FROM THAT MOMENT IN A LITTLE TOWN IN A FAR CORNER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, WILL BE THAT MOMENT WHEN WE APPROACH BETHLEHEM, THE HOUSE OF BREAD, AND WE SEE AND TAKE INTO OURSELVES THE PERSON IN THE MANGER, LOVE WHO GIVES HIMSELF FOR FOOD IN THE FORM OF BREAD AND WINE. AND IF WE ONLY LET OUR SOULS SEE AND FEEL, WE WILL BE LIKE THOSE SHEPHERDS, WE WILL FEEL THE LOVE WHICH HAS BROKEN THROUGH OUR WORLD AND CHANGED IT FOREVER, AND GOD WILLING, WE WILL LET IT CHANGE US AND SET US ON FIRE.
CHRISTMAS, THE REAL UNCHANGEABLE PART OF CHRISTMAS, COMES EVERY DAY, EVERY WEEK, AT EVERY MASS, WHEN WE REMEMBER THAT MOMENT WHEN LOVE BROKE INTO THE WORLD, AND STILL DOES, AND STILL FEEDS US, AND STILL CHANGES US.
THE CHURCH IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS IS ILL. FEWER AND FEWER YOUNG COUPLES RECEIVE THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY TO BEGIN THEIR LIVES TOGETHER. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT MUCH TO THEM. FEWER AND FEWER CATHOLICS BOTHER TO ATTEND SUNDAY MASS. FEWER AND FEWER YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN CATCH ON FIRE AND DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO GOD AND HIS CHURCH. AND CHURCHES ARE BOARDED UP, AND PARISHES ARE CONSOLIDATED, AND THE DECLINE CONTINUES. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER – DRAW NEAR TO LOVE-- IT IS RIGHT HERE, JUST AS TRULY AS IT WAS IN BETHLEHEM. AND CATCH ON FIRE, AND TELL OTHERS, AND SPREAD THE FIRE ANEW, LIKE THOSE SHEPHERDS ON THE HILLSIDES ON THAT STARRY NIGHT WHEN THINGS CHANGED FOREVER.
WE TRY SO HARD TO MAKE CHRISTMAS LIKE IT USED TO BE. MOST OF US FIRST BECAME AWARE OF CHRISTMAS IN THE TRADITIONS OF OUR OWN FAMILIES. EACH YEAR AS CHILDREN WE WOULD REMEMBER THE LAST CHRISTMAS, AND WE GRADUALLY BEGAN TO NOTICE WHAT WAS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR, AND WHAT WAS THE SAME. WHEN I WAS LITTLE, WE USED A LOT OF TINSEL EVERY YEAR. WE DON'T ANYMORE IN MY HOUSE. BUT TINSEL WAS THIN STRIPS OF SOME KIND OF FLEXIBLE METAL, PROBABLY LEAD BASED, THAT WAS DRAPED OVER THE TREE AFTER ALL THE ORNAMENTS AND LIGHTS WERE HUNG. AFTER CHRISTMAS, MY MOTHER WOULD TAKE IT DOWN AND CAREFULLY PACK IT AWAY, AND WE WOULD BE PICKING UP STRAY PIECES OF TINSEL FOR A MONTH OR TWO. DESPITE ALL HER CARE, WE USUALLY HAD TO BUY MORE THE NEXT YEAR, BECAUSE SOMEHOW IT GOT TANGLED INTO A MESS WHILE HIDDEN AWAY.
ONE YEAR, WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, MY MOTHER DECIDED WE WOULD NOT PUT TINSEL ON THE TREE. MY SISTER AND I WAILED AND MOANED AND FINALLY SHE RELENTED. SHE MADE US HANG THE TINSEL AND PUT IT AWAY, SO THE NEXT YEAR WE DIDN'T PROTEST AS MUCH.
WHEN JOAN AND I MARRIED AND HAD CHILDREN, WE BEGAN TO BLEND THE TRADITIONS OF OUR TWO FAMILIES, AND NOW WE SEE OUR MARRIED DAUGHTERS DOING THE SAME. THE AIM FOR ALL OF THIS EFFORT IS TO KEEP SOMETHING ABOUT THE SEASON, THE MORE, THE BETTER, CONSTANT DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS. WE LIKE THE WAY CHRISTMAS REMINDS US OF THE DAYS WHEN WE WERE LITTLE AND IT WAS A MAGICAL SEASON.
AND IT'S IRONIC; WE LOVE THE UNCHANGEABLE NATURE OF THE CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. WE REVEL IN THE SAME OLD ORNAMENTS, THE SAME GIFT-OPENING TRADITIONS, THE SAME EGGNOG – ALL THOSE RITUALS – BUT WE ARE REALLY CELEBRATING THE MOMENT IN ALL OF HISTORY WHEN THINGS CHANGED FOREVER. GOD BROKE INTO TIME AND SPACE. GOD BECAME MAN, SO MAN COULD SHARE GOD'S LIFE. AND NOTHING WOULD EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.
THERE ARE LEGENDS SURROUNDING THE BIRTHS OF OTHER GREAT MEN AND WOMEN DOWN THROUGH THE AGES. THEIR BIRTHS ARE PROPHESIED, AS WAS CHRIST'S. SOMETIMES COMETS OR STRANGE STARS OR OTHER COSMIC PHENOMENA SIGNALED THE BIRTH, AS THE STAR DID CHRIST'S. NATURE BEHAVED IN UNUSUAL WAYS. AND IT WASN'T UNUSUAL FOR UNEARTHLY SPIRITS TO ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT ONE. BUT HERE IS WHERE JESUS' BIRTH CHANGED EVERYTHING. HEAVENLY BEINGS DID ANNOUNCE HIS BIRTH, BUT TO SHEPHERDS, NOT NOBLEMEN OR KINGS. SHEPHERDS. PROBABLY NOBODY CARED WHETHER THEY REGISTERED FOR THE CENSUS AT ALL, WHICH IS WHY THEY WERE OUT IN THE FIELDS. AFTER ALL, THEY MOVED AROUND A GREAT DEAL, THEY HAD NO MONEY OR PROPERTY SO COULDN'T BE TAXED; THEY WERE ALWAYS RITUALLY UNCLEAN, SINCE YOU REALLY COULDN'T KEEP THE LAW WHEN YOUR SCHEDULE DEPENDED ON SHEEP, AND WHEN YOU HAD TO GROOM THEM AND CLEAN THEM EVERY DAY. AND THE SHEPHERDS PROBABLY DIDN'T CARE ANYWAY. IF THEY THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT ALL, THEY FIGURED THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE AT SALVATION, BECAUSE IF YOU BELIEVED THE PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES, YOU HAD TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME DOING THE THINGS THAT MADE YOU HOLY, AND THE PROOF THAT YOU WERE LOVED BY GOD WAS THAT YOU WERE RICH AND LIVED IN A FINE HOUSE. AND THESE WERE THE FIRST WITNESSES OF THE MOST DISRUPTIVE CHANGE, THE GREATEST CHANGE, IN ALL OF HISTORY. THE WORLD HAD BEEN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. THE POOR HAD THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM.
AND THEY WENT DOWN TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES. AND AS THEY DREW NEAR LOVE ITSELF, LOVE CHANGED THEM; THEY KNELT BEFORE A BABY, A BABY WHO LOOKED LIKE ANY OTHER BABY, AND ALTHOUGH THEY WERE ROUGH AND UNEDUCATED, EVEN THEIR INSENSITIVE SOULS FELT THE BURNING PRESENCE OF GOD WHO BROKE INTO THE WORLD, THE FIRE AT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. THE UNIMAGINABLE PRESENCE THAT BROUGHT EVERYTHING INTO BEING, THAT HELD THE WORLD TOGETHER, WAS THERE IN THE BABY. LOVE WAS THERE.
AND THEY WERE CHANGED. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT THEY LEFT GLORIFYING GOD AND PRAISING HIM, AND THEY WERE SO CHANGED BY THEIR APPROACH TO LOVE IN PERSON THAT SOMEHOW THE WORDS THEY SPOKE TO OTHERS DID NOT BRING ABOUT RIDICULE, DID NOT FALL ON DEAF EARS, BUT ASTONISHED THOSE WHO LISTENED TO THEM. AND SOME OF THOSE WHO LISTENED, WHO HAD BEEN CHANGED BY THE SHEPHERDS' WORDS BECAUSE THEY TOO COULD SENSE THAT LOVE HAD DONE SOMETHING TO THESE MEN, AND WAITED TO DO SOMETHING TO THEM AS WELL. LOVE IS LIKE THE FLAME ON A CANDLE, WHICH CAN GIVE ITSELF AWAY INDEFINITELY, AND NEVER BE DIMINISHED.
SO TODAY I'M GOING TO GO HOME AND DIVE INTO THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. THERE WILL BE GRANDCHILDREN WHO ARE WAITING ANXIOUSLY TO OPEN THEIR PRESENTS. AND I LOOK FORWARD AS WELL; EVERY NEW TIE WILL BE A SURPRISE. AND WE'LL SING A FEW OLD CAROLS, AND PLAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC ALL DAY, AND DRINK SOME EGGNOG AND EAT A VERY SPECIAL SUPPER, SOME DISHES WHICH ARE LIKE THOSE OF MY CHILDHOOD AND AND SOME LIKE THOSE OF JOAN'S, AND WE MIGHT REMINISCE ABOUT CHRISTMASES IN THE PAST AND TRY TO CONVEY OUR OWN WONDER TO OUR GRANDCHILDREN, WHO ARE STORING UP THEIR OWN MEMORIES.
BUT THE MOST WONDERFUL PART OF CHRISTMAS, THE PART THAT HAS BEEN CARRIED FORWARD FROM THAT MOMENT IN A LITTLE TOWN IN A FAR CORNER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, WILL BE THAT MOMENT WHEN WE APPROACH BETHLEHEM, THE HOUSE OF BREAD, AND WE SEE AND TAKE INTO OURSELVES THE PERSON IN THE MANGER, LOVE WHO GIVES HIMSELF FOR FOOD IN THE FORM OF BREAD AND WINE. AND IF WE ONLY LET OUR SOULS SEE AND FEEL, WE WILL BE LIKE THOSE SHEPHERDS, WE WILL FEEL THE LOVE WHICH HAS BROKEN THROUGH OUR WORLD AND CHANGED IT FOREVER, AND GOD WILLING, WE WILL LET IT CHANGE US AND SET US ON FIRE.
CHRISTMAS, THE REAL UNCHANGEABLE PART OF CHRISTMAS, COMES EVERY DAY, EVERY WEEK, AT EVERY MASS, WHEN WE REMEMBER THAT MOMENT WHEN LOVE BROKE INTO THE WORLD, AND STILL DOES, AND STILL FEEDS US, AND STILL CHANGES US.
THE CHURCH IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS IS ILL. FEWER AND FEWER YOUNG COUPLES RECEIVE THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY TO BEGIN THEIR LIVES TOGETHER. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT MUCH TO THEM. FEWER AND FEWER CATHOLICS BOTHER TO ATTEND SUNDAY MASS. FEWER AND FEWER YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN CATCH ON FIRE AND DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO GOD AND HIS CHURCH. AND CHURCHES ARE BOARDED UP, AND PARISHES ARE CONSOLIDATED, AND THE DECLINE CONTINUES. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER – DRAW NEAR TO LOVE-- IT IS RIGHT HERE, JUST AS TRULY AS IT WAS IN BETHLEHEM. AND CATCH ON FIRE, AND TELL OTHERS, AND SPREAD THE FIRE ANEW, LIKE THOSE SHEPHERDS ON THE HILLSIDES ON THAT STARRY NIGHT WHEN THINGS CHANGED FOREVER.
Christmas Vigil, 2009
MATTHEW 1:18-25
IF YOU READ THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT, JOSEPH IS MENTIONED ONLY IN THE GOSPELS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE. AND IT IS ONLY IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW THAT WE GET JUST A LITTLE HINT INTO WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE WAS. IT SAYS THAT HE IS A RIGHTEOUS MAN. HE IS OBEDIENT TO GOD AND THERE ARE FIVE TIMES GOD SPEAKS TO HIM THROUGH A MESSENGER – WHEN HE IS TOLD TO TAKE MARY INTO HIS HOME, WHEN HE IS COMMANDED TO TAKE MARY AND JESUS TO EGYPT; WHEN HE IS TOLD TO RETURN, AND WHEN HE IS TOLD TO RETURN BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE. AND THESE MESSAGES ALL COME IN DREAMS. WE HEAR ABOUT HIM ONCE MORE, IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, WHEN HE AND MARY GO TO THE TEMPLE TO FIND THEIR 12 YEAR OLD SON WHO DECIDED TO STAY THERE RATHER THAN RETURN HOME WITH THEM. AFTER THAT, HE DROPS OUT OF THE PICTURE COMPLETELY, AND THE OTHER THINGS WE “KNOW” ABOUT JOSEPH, THAT HE WAS AN OLD MAN, THAT HE HAD SONS AND DAUGHTERS BY A PREVIOUS MARRIAGE, THAT HE WORKED AS A CARPENTER, THAT JOSEPH TAUGHT JESUS HIS TRADE, THAT JOSEPH DIED WHILE JESUS WAS STILL LIVING IN NAZARETH, BEFORE HIS MINISTRY – THOSE THINGS AREN'T IN THE BIBLE, BUT YOU CAN MAKE A CASE FOR THEM, I GUESS, FROM THE BIBLE AND FROM THINKING ABOUT THE WAY PEOPLE LIVED AT THAT TIME.
ON THE SURFACE, JOSEPH SEEMS TO BE A BIT PLAYER, AND ALONE AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY, WE DON'T KNOW ANY OF THE WORDS HE MIGHT HAVE SPOKEN.
AND YET, JOSEPH IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON NAME FOR CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM BOYS. AND YET, JOSEPH IS THE PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. AND YET, THERE ARE CONGREGATIONS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS WHO TAKE JOSEPH AS THEIR SPECIAL PATRON. AND YET AFTER JESUS AND MARY, THE THIRD MOST COMMON NAME GIVEN TO CHURCHES IS JOSEPH.
SO WHY IS THIS OBSCURE, HUMBLE MAN SO CELEBRATED? WHY IS HE A MAN WORTHY OF IMITATION? WHAT CAN JOSEPH TELL US, JOSEPH WHO NEVER SPEAKS?
JOSEPH IS RIGHTEOUS. THAT MIGHT BE TRANSLATED, “JUST”. TO BE RIGHTEOUS OR JUST MEANS THAT WE ARE EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO WHAT IS RIGHT, AND WE VALUE THIS SO MUCH THAT WE WILL PUT ASIDE OTHER CONCERNS SO THAT JUSTICE IS SATISFIED. JOSEPH WAS RIGHTEOUS WHEN HE DECIDED TO QUIETLY DIVORCE MARY RATHER THAN DENOUNCE HER AND HAVE HER STONED. HE FELT THAT HE HAD BEEN SINNED AGAINST, AND AT THE SAME TIME, KNEW THAT THE PUNISHMENT WAS TOO SEVERE, EVEN THOUGH HE COULD HAVE DEMANDED IT. HE ACTED JUSTLY. WHEN THE ANGEL SPOKE TO JOSEPH, THIS HAD TO DO WITH GOD'S COMMAND. JOSEPH HAD GONE AS FAR AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO SATISFY JUSTICE.
THE TRIP TO BETHLEHEM TO REGISTER IN THE CENSUS WAS ALSO A REFLECTION OF JOSEPH'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE WAS WILLING TO GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO OBEY A COMMAND FROM THE EMPEROR; JOSEPH WOULD HAVE NEVER CHEATED ON HIS TAXES, AND PROBABLY WOULD NEVER EVEN HAVE RUN A STOPLIGHT.
JOSEPH RECOGNIZES THAT HE BELONGS TO GOD, THAT GOD HAS A RIGHT TO EVERYTHING HE HAS, AND WHEN GOD ASKS SOMETHING OF HIM, HE DOES NOT HESITATE, HE DOES NOT QUESTION. HE WALKS TO JERUSALEM, HE WALKS TO EGYPT.
JOSEPH LETS GOD LEAD HIM. GOD LEADS HIM IN THE OBVIOUS WAYS I MENTIONED, BUT JOSEPH SPENDS MOST OF HIS LIFE WORKING, KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLY, PUTTING ASIDE WHAT HE WANTS TO DO TO TO SERVE HIS WIFE AND SON. ALL FATHERS IN THIS CHURCH KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE A HUSBAND AND FATHER, AND WE ALL KNOW WE DON'T MEET THE MARK MOST OF THE TIME. JOSEPH DID MEET THE MARK. ALL HE CARED ABOUT, AFTER GOD, WAS THE WELFARE OF MARY AND JESUS. THAT WAS RESPONDING TO GOD'S LEADING; THAT WAS THE VOCATION GIVEN BY GOD.
SO JOSEPH, THE JUST MAN, LIVES A LIFE THAT ALL OF US CAN IMITATE – DOING EVERYTHING AS WELL AS WE CAN, LIVING A LIFE IN CONSTANT GRATITUDE FOR THE GOOD AND THE BAD, THE GREAT AND THE SMALL, KNOWING THAT WHATEVER WE HAVE IS GIVEN TO US BY GOD FOR HIS GOOD PURPOSES, AND KNOWING THAT WHAT GOOD THINGS WE ARE GIVEN FROM GOD ARE MAGNIFIED WHEN THEY ARE SHARED; AND BEING LED BY GOD IN THE ORDINARY AS WELL AS THE EXTRAORDINARY. AND JOSEPH SPENDS HIS LIFE GIVING HIMSELF AWAY.
WE HAVE NOTHING LEFT OF JOSEPH EXCEPT A FEW PASSAGES IN MATTHEW AND LUKE. AND IN THE CRÈCHE, OUR EYES ARE FIXED ON THE CHILD AND HIS MOTHER; JOSEPH STANDS IN THE BACKGROUND.
SO JOSEPH TEACHES US WITH HIS LIFE. BUT THERE IS MORE.
THERE ARE GREAT SAINTS LIKE THOMAS AQUINAS AND AUGUSTINE AND ALPHONSUS LIGOURI, WHO WROTE TIMELESS VOLUMES OF THEOLOGY, WHICH CONTINUE TO DEEPLY INFLUENCE OUR CATHOLIC FAITH EVEN TODAY. BUT JOSEPH TEACHES US INDIRECTLY, BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONE WHO TAUGHT JESUS TO READ. HE SHOWED JESUS HOW HE UNDERSTOOD THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES. HE TAUGHT JESUS THAT EVERYONE WAS VALUABLE, EVEN THE ROMANS AND THE SAMARITANS. HE PROBABLY TAUGHT JESUS HIS COUNTER-CULTURAL APPROACH TO WOMEN, CONVERSING WITH THEM IN PUBLIC, SEEING THEM AS REAL PERSONS AND NOT PETS OR SLAVES. HOW COULD HE NOT, LIVING WITH MARY? HE TAUGHT JESUS TO TAKE PRIDE IN HIS WORK AND TO DO IT AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, NO MATTER HOW HUMBLE. AND HE WAS THE ONE WHO HELPED JESUS SEE GOD REFLECTED IN FIG TREES AND STORMS AT SEA AND SMALL BIRDS AND FIELDS OF FLOWERS. AND BECAUSE HE WAS SUCH A GOOD, LOVING, WISE AND GENEROUS FATHER, JESUS HAD EXPERIENCED FATHERHOOD AT IT'S BEST, AND COULD COMFORTABLY REFER TO HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WITH THE SAME NAME HE CALLED JOSEPH – ABBA, DADDY. AND HE TAUGHT HIS FOLLOWERS A NEW WAY TO THINK ABOUT GOD – AS FATHER.
AND JESUS PASSES ON MUCH OF WHAT JOSEPH TAUGHT HIM, AND JESUS EVEN SPEAKS WITH THE SAME ACCENTS AND RHYTHMS THAT YOU COULD HEAR IN JOSEPH'S VOICE. SONS IMITATE THEIR FATHERS.
SO JOSEPH TEACHES BY HIS LIFE, AND HE TEACHES BY WORDS, WORDS WE HEAR THROUGH JESUS' VOICE. AND JUST AS HE PROTECTS AND INSTRUCTS JESUS, HE CONTINUES BE OUR PROTECTOR AND TEACHER, BECAUSE WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST.
SO LET US RESOLVE THIS CHRISTMAS EVE TO LISTEN TO JOSEPH. AND LET US MOVE HIM FROM THE BACK OF THE MANGER SCENE TO A MORE PROMINENT POSITION IN OUR HEARTS.
IF YOU READ THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT, JOSEPH IS MENTIONED ONLY IN THE GOSPELS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE. AND IT IS ONLY IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW THAT WE GET JUST A LITTLE HINT INTO WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE WAS. IT SAYS THAT HE IS A RIGHTEOUS MAN. HE IS OBEDIENT TO GOD AND THERE ARE FIVE TIMES GOD SPEAKS TO HIM THROUGH A MESSENGER – WHEN HE IS TOLD TO TAKE MARY INTO HIS HOME, WHEN HE IS COMMANDED TO TAKE MARY AND JESUS TO EGYPT; WHEN HE IS TOLD TO RETURN, AND WHEN HE IS TOLD TO RETURN BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE. AND THESE MESSAGES ALL COME IN DREAMS. WE HEAR ABOUT HIM ONCE MORE, IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, WHEN HE AND MARY GO TO THE TEMPLE TO FIND THEIR 12 YEAR OLD SON WHO DECIDED TO STAY THERE RATHER THAN RETURN HOME WITH THEM. AFTER THAT, HE DROPS OUT OF THE PICTURE COMPLETELY, AND THE OTHER THINGS WE “KNOW” ABOUT JOSEPH, THAT HE WAS AN OLD MAN, THAT HE HAD SONS AND DAUGHTERS BY A PREVIOUS MARRIAGE, THAT HE WORKED AS A CARPENTER, THAT JOSEPH TAUGHT JESUS HIS TRADE, THAT JOSEPH DIED WHILE JESUS WAS STILL LIVING IN NAZARETH, BEFORE HIS MINISTRY – THOSE THINGS AREN'T IN THE BIBLE, BUT YOU CAN MAKE A CASE FOR THEM, I GUESS, FROM THE BIBLE AND FROM THINKING ABOUT THE WAY PEOPLE LIVED AT THAT TIME.
ON THE SURFACE, JOSEPH SEEMS TO BE A BIT PLAYER, AND ALONE AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY, WE DON'T KNOW ANY OF THE WORDS HE MIGHT HAVE SPOKEN.
AND YET, JOSEPH IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON NAME FOR CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM BOYS. AND YET, JOSEPH IS THE PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. AND YET, THERE ARE CONGREGATIONS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS WHO TAKE JOSEPH AS THEIR SPECIAL PATRON. AND YET AFTER JESUS AND MARY, THE THIRD MOST COMMON NAME GIVEN TO CHURCHES IS JOSEPH.
SO WHY IS THIS OBSCURE, HUMBLE MAN SO CELEBRATED? WHY IS HE A MAN WORTHY OF IMITATION? WHAT CAN JOSEPH TELL US, JOSEPH WHO NEVER SPEAKS?
JOSEPH IS RIGHTEOUS. THAT MIGHT BE TRANSLATED, “JUST”. TO BE RIGHTEOUS OR JUST MEANS THAT WE ARE EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO WHAT IS RIGHT, AND WE VALUE THIS SO MUCH THAT WE WILL PUT ASIDE OTHER CONCERNS SO THAT JUSTICE IS SATISFIED. JOSEPH WAS RIGHTEOUS WHEN HE DECIDED TO QUIETLY DIVORCE MARY RATHER THAN DENOUNCE HER AND HAVE HER STONED. HE FELT THAT HE HAD BEEN SINNED AGAINST, AND AT THE SAME TIME, KNEW THAT THE PUNISHMENT WAS TOO SEVERE, EVEN THOUGH HE COULD HAVE DEMANDED IT. HE ACTED JUSTLY. WHEN THE ANGEL SPOKE TO JOSEPH, THIS HAD TO DO WITH GOD'S COMMAND. JOSEPH HAD GONE AS FAR AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO SATISFY JUSTICE.
THE TRIP TO BETHLEHEM TO REGISTER IN THE CENSUS WAS ALSO A REFLECTION OF JOSEPH'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE WAS WILLING TO GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO OBEY A COMMAND FROM THE EMPEROR; JOSEPH WOULD HAVE NEVER CHEATED ON HIS TAXES, AND PROBABLY WOULD NEVER EVEN HAVE RUN A STOPLIGHT.
JOSEPH RECOGNIZES THAT HE BELONGS TO GOD, THAT GOD HAS A RIGHT TO EVERYTHING HE HAS, AND WHEN GOD ASKS SOMETHING OF HIM, HE DOES NOT HESITATE, HE DOES NOT QUESTION. HE WALKS TO JERUSALEM, HE WALKS TO EGYPT.
JOSEPH LETS GOD LEAD HIM. GOD LEADS HIM IN THE OBVIOUS WAYS I MENTIONED, BUT JOSEPH SPENDS MOST OF HIS LIFE WORKING, KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLY, PUTTING ASIDE WHAT HE WANTS TO DO TO TO SERVE HIS WIFE AND SON. ALL FATHERS IN THIS CHURCH KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE A HUSBAND AND FATHER, AND WE ALL KNOW WE DON'T MEET THE MARK MOST OF THE TIME. JOSEPH DID MEET THE MARK. ALL HE CARED ABOUT, AFTER GOD, WAS THE WELFARE OF MARY AND JESUS. THAT WAS RESPONDING TO GOD'S LEADING; THAT WAS THE VOCATION GIVEN BY GOD.
SO JOSEPH, THE JUST MAN, LIVES A LIFE THAT ALL OF US CAN IMITATE – DOING EVERYTHING AS WELL AS WE CAN, LIVING A LIFE IN CONSTANT GRATITUDE FOR THE GOOD AND THE BAD, THE GREAT AND THE SMALL, KNOWING THAT WHATEVER WE HAVE IS GIVEN TO US BY GOD FOR HIS GOOD PURPOSES, AND KNOWING THAT WHAT GOOD THINGS WE ARE GIVEN FROM GOD ARE MAGNIFIED WHEN THEY ARE SHARED; AND BEING LED BY GOD IN THE ORDINARY AS WELL AS THE EXTRAORDINARY. AND JOSEPH SPENDS HIS LIFE GIVING HIMSELF AWAY.
WE HAVE NOTHING LEFT OF JOSEPH EXCEPT A FEW PASSAGES IN MATTHEW AND LUKE. AND IN THE CRÈCHE, OUR EYES ARE FIXED ON THE CHILD AND HIS MOTHER; JOSEPH STANDS IN THE BACKGROUND.
SO JOSEPH TEACHES US WITH HIS LIFE. BUT THERE IS MORE.
THERE ARE GREAT SAINTS LIKE THOMAS AQUINAS AND AUGUSTINE AND ALPHONSUS LIGOURI, WHO WROTE TIMELESS VOLUMES OF THEOLOGY, WHICH CONTINUE TO DEEPLY INFLUENCE OUR CATHOLIC FAITH EVEN TODAY. BUT JOSEPH TEACHES US INDIRECTLY, BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONE WHO TAUGHT JESUS TO READ. HE SHOWED JESUS HOW HE UNDERSTOOD THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES. HE TAUGHT JESUS THAT EVERYONE WAS VALUABLE, EVEN THE ROMANS AND THE SAMARITANS. HE PROBABLY TAUGHT JESUS HIS COUNTER-CULTURAL APPROACH TO WOMEN, CONVERSING WITH THEM IN PUBLIC, SEEING THEM AS REAL PERSONS AND NOT PETS OR SLAVES. HOW COULD HE NOT, LIVING WITH MARY? HE TAUGHT JESUS TO TAKE PRIDE IN HIS WORK AND TO DO IT AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, NO MATTER HOW HUMBLE. AND HE WAS THE ONE WHO HELPED JESUS SEE GOD REFLECTED IN FIG TREES AND STORMS AT SEA AND SMALL BIRDS AND FIELDS OF FLOWERS. AND BECAUSE HE WAS SUCH A GOOD, LOVING, WISE AND GENEROUS FATHER, JESUS HAD EXPERIENCED FATHERHOOD AT IT'S BEST, AND COULD COMFORTABLY REFER TO HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WITH THE SAME NAME HE CALLED JOSEPH – ABBA, DADDY. AND HE TAUGHT HIS FOLLOWERS A NEW WAY TO THINK ABOUT GOD – AS FATHER.
AND JESUS PASSES ON MUCH OF WHAT JOSEPH TAUGHT HIM, AND JESUS EVEN SPEAKS WITH THE SAME ACCENTS AND RHYTHMS THAT YOU COULD HEAR IN JOSEPH'S VOICE. SONS IMITATE THEIR FATHERS.
SO JOSEPH TEACHES BY HIS LIFE, AND HE TEACHES BY WORDS, WORDS WE HEAR THROUGH JESUS' VOICE. AND JUST AS HE PROTECTS AND INSTRUCTS JESUS, HE CONTINUES BE OUR PROTECTOR AND TEACHER, BECAUSE WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST.
SO LET US RESOLVE THIS CHRISTMAS EVE TO LISTEN TO JOSEPH. AND LET US MOVE HIM FROM THE BACK OF THE MANGER SCENE TO A MORE PROMINENT POSITION IN OUR HEARTS.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle C
LUKE 1:39-45
THE KORAN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN OUR BIBLE. DID YOU KNOW THAT MARY IS MENTIONED 35 TIMES IN THE KORAN? IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SHE IS MENTIONED 19 TIMES. BISHOP FULTON SHEEN WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT MARY AND THE MOSLEMS, AND SAID THAT BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BOTH REVERE HER, SHE WILL SOMEDAY BE THE BRIDGE THAT BRINGS THESE TWO RELIGIONS TOGETHER, AND WE SHOULD PRAY TO HER FOR THAT INTENTION. THERE WAS A 12TH CENTURY MOSLEM POET AND MYSTIC, KNOWN AS RUMI, WHO WAS DEEPLY DEVOTED TO JESUS AND MARY,WHO WROTE THIS POEM, WHICH WAS RECENTLY TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE.
LISTEN:
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY AND EACH OF US HAS A JESUS INSIDE. WHO IS NOT IN HOLY LABOR? EVERY PERSON IS.
SEE THE VALUE OF TRUE ART WHEN A SOUL IS IN THE MOOD TO CREATE BEAUTY,
FOR THE WITNESS MIGHT THEN KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT, GOD IS REALLY THERE WITHIN,
SEEMING TO DRAW LIFE FROM US THROUGH HIS UNIVERSE,
THOUGH ALSO NEEDING TO BE BORN, YES GOD ALSO NEEDS TO BE BORN,
BIRTH FROM A HAND'S LOVING TOUCH, BIRTH FROM A SONG BREATHING LIFE INTO THIS WORLD.
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY. EACH OF US HAS A JESUS WITHIN, BUT SO LONG AS NO PAIN APPEARS, OUR JESUS IS NOT BORN.
TODAY THE GOSPEL SHOWS US THE PREGNANT MARY, WHO REJOICES WITH ELIZABETH, FOR THE WORK THAT GOD HAS BEGUN IN THEM. MARY CANNOT KNOW WHAT LIES AHEAD, THE PAIN THAT SHE WILL GO THROUGH, NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH, BUT THE MOMENTS OF SUFFERING, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL, THAT WILL COME BECAUSE SHE CHOSE TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS.
ALL OF US REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN SOMEONE TOLD JESUS THAT HIS MOTHER WAS OUTSIDE AND WANTED TO TALK TO HIM. HIS REPLY SEEMS SHOCKING. “WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO ARE MY BROTHERS?” AND POINTING TO HIS DISCIPLES, HE SAID, “HERE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS. FOR WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHER AND MY SISTER.” AND THERE IS THE PASSAGE IN WHICH A WOMAN CRIES OUT, “BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE YOU, AND THE BREASTS THAT NURSED YOU!” AND JESUS REPLIES, “NO, RATHER, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT.” DOES IT SEEM AS THOUGH JESUS IS DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM HIS MOTHER? PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY HE IS SAYING, “ANYONE CAN GIVE BIRTH, BUT THE REAL CONNECTION TO ME IS THROUGH FAITH, THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD. AND MARY SHOULD NOT BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE PHYSICALLY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. RATHER, SHE SHOULD BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD AND KEPT IT, BETTER THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING BEFORE OR AFTER. AND YOU AND I SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ALL CALLED TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS IN THIS BROADER SENSE, IN IMITATION OF MARY.
FIRST, JESUS MUST BE CONCEIVED IN US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE FIRST THING THAT THE SPIRIT DOES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD IS TO CREATE A LONGING FOR GOD. ONE CAN RESPOND BY IGNORING THAT LONGING, OR NURTURING IT. TO NURTURE IT REQUIRES A RESPONSE, AND THAT RESPONSE IS TO LEARN WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE WANTS FROM ME. IT MUST BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE, AND A PART THAT WILL NEVER CEASE. IT REQUIRES DEVELOPING A HABIT OF PRAYER SO THAT YOU TRAIN YOUR SPIRITUAL SENSES TO BE MORE SENSITIVE. AND AT SOME POINT, GOD WILL MAKE A REQUEST OF YOU. YOU CAN TELL WHEN THIS HAPPENS, AND IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE GIVING BIRTH TO JESUS. IT IS A TIME WHEN YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, AND YOU REALIZE THAT IF YOU DO IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING THAT IS PRECIOUS TO YOU. AND YOU ARE NOT COMPELLED, YOUR FREE WILL IS HONORED. GIVING BIRTH PHYSICALLY IS UNCOMFORTABLE EVEN IN OUR DAY AND AGE, BUT WAS EXCRUCIATING IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS NO ANESTHESIA, AND WHEN WE TAKE THE ROAD THAT SEPARATES US FROM SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WE LOVE IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, THAT IS PAINFUL.
AND WHEN WE GIVE BIRTH, IT IS NOT OVER. BECAUSE LIKE MARY, WHEN WE FOLLOW GOD'S PATH FOR US, WE CAN EXPECT MORE PAIN, MORE STRUGGLE. MOTHER THERESA, IN MUCH OF HER LIFE, WAS IN GREAT EMOTIONAL PAIN, BECAUSE SHE FELT THAT GOD HAD ABANDONED HER. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS HAD SIMILAR FEELINGS, AND DESCRIBED THEM IN HIS MYSTICAL POEM “THE DARK NIGHT OF THE CROSS”. AND WHEN WE TURN OUR LIVES OVER TO GOD WE CAN EXPECT THAT HE WILL DO THIS TO US AS WELL, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO FORM US INTO JESUS CHRIST, HE WANTS TO MAKE US FULLY HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. AND TO BE CHRIST IS TO GO THROUGH A PASSION. MARY STRUGGLED TO KEEP JESUS CLEAN AND WELL FED, TO FORM HIS CHARACTER AND TEACH HIM ABOUT GOD AND HOW GOD WORKED WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. AND MARY SUFFERED WHEN SHE HAD TO ESCAPE TO EGYPT AND LIVE AS A STRANGER IN THAT STRANGE LAND. WHEN SHE HEARD THE PROPHECIES OF SIMEON, WHEN JESUS REMAINED BEHIND IN THE TEMPLE, AND WHEN JOSEPH DIED, AND WHEN JESUS LEFT HER TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND SHE MUST HAVE SUFFERED AS THE YEARS WENT BY AND SHE WAS NEVER AGAIN ADDRESSED BY THE ANGEL WHO SET HER UPON HER PATH OF LIFE, AS JESUS WENT OUT TO PREACH, ONLY TO BE CRUCIFIED, AND AS THE SON SHE LOVED ROSE FROM THE DEAD BUT SHORTLY AFTER, DISAPPEARED FROM HER LIFE IN PHYSICAL FORM ALTOGETHER. AND SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING MARY HAD LEFT WAS FAITH, AND HER DETERMINATION TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. AND IF WE TRULY IMITATE MARY, IF WE TRULY NURTURE THE CHRIST TO WHOM WE ARE GIVING BIRTH, WE WILL OFTEN SAY WITH ST THERESA OF AVILA, “GOD, IF THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT IS NO WONDER YOU HAVE SO FEW OF THEM.”
SO TODAY, LET US REJOICE THAT GOD CALLS US TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT, AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL. AND LET US HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT, SO THAT WE WILL BE BLESSED. AND LET US REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS, WHO ALSO HONOR OUR MOTHER MARY.
THE KORAN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN OUR BIBLE. DID YOU KNOW THAT MARY IS MENTIONED 35 TIMES IN THE KORAN? IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SHE IS MENTIONED 19 TIMES. BISHOP FULTON SHEEN WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT MARY AND THE MOSLEMS, AND SAID THAT BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BOTH REVERE HER, SHE WILL SOMEDAY BE THE BRIDGE THAT BRINGS THESE TWO RELIGIONS TOGETHER, AND WE SHOULD PRAY TO HER FOR THAT INTENTION. THERE WAS A 12TH CENTURY MOSLEM POET AND MYSTIC, KNOWN AS RUMI, WHO WAS DEEPLY DEVOTED TO JESUS AND MARY,WHO WROTE THIS POEM, WHICH WAS RECENTLY TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE.
LISTEN:
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY AND EACH OF US HAS A JESUS INSIDE. WHO IS NOT IN HOLY LABOR? EVERY PERSON IS.
SEE THE VALUE OF TRUE ART WHEN A SOUL IS IN THE MOOD TO CREATE BEAUTY,
FOR THE WITNESS MIGHT THEN KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT, GOD IS REALLY THERE WITHIN,
SEEMING TO DRAW LIFE FROM US THROUGH HIS UNIVERSE,
THOUGH ALSO NEEDING TO BE BORN, YES GOD ALSO NEEDS TO BE BORN,
BIRTH FROM A HAND'S LOVING TOUCH, BIRTH FROM A SONG BREATHING LIFE INTO THIS WORLD.
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY. EACH OF US HAS A JESUS WITHIN, BUT SO LONG AS NO PAIN APPEARS, OUR JESUS IS NOT BORN.
TODAY THE GOSPEL SHOWS US THE PREGNANT MARY, WHO REJOICES WITH ELIZABETH, FOR THE WORK THAT GOD HAS BEGUN IN THEM. MARY CANNOT KNOW WHAT LIES AHEAD, THE PAIN THAT SHE WILL GO THROUGH, NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH, BUT THE MOMENTS OF SUFFERING, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL, THAT WILL COME BECAUSE SHE CHOSE TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS.
ALL OF US REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN SOMEONE TOLD JESUS THAT HIS MOTHER WAS OUTSIDE AND WANTED TO TALK TO HIM. HIS REPLY SEEMS SHOCKING. “WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO ARE MY BROTHERS?” AND POINTING TO HIS DISCIPLES, HE SAID, “HERE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS. FOR WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHER AND MY SISTER.” AND THERE IS THE PASSAGE IN WHICH A WOMAN CRIES OUT, “BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE YOU, AND THE BREASTS THAT NURSED YOU!” AND JESUS REPLIES, “NO, RATHER, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT.” DOES IT SEEM AS THOUGH JESUS IS DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM HIS MOTHER? PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY HE IS SAYING, “ANYONE CAN GIVE BIRTH, BUT THE REAL CONNECTION TO ME IS THROUGH FAITH, THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD. AND MARY SHOULD NOT BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE PHYSICALLY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. RATHER, SHE SHOULD BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD AND KEPT IT, BETTER THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING BEFORE OR AFTER. AND YOU AND I SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ALL CALLED TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS IN THIS BROADER SENSE, IN IMITATION OF MARY.
FIRST, JESUS MUST BE CONCEIVED IN US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE FIRST THING THAT THE SPIRIT DOES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD IS TO CREATE A LONGING FOR GOD. ONE CAN RESPOND BY IGNORING THAT LONGING, OR NURTURING IT. TO NURTURE IT REQUIRES A RESPONSE, AND THAT RESPONSE IS TO LEARN WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE WANTS FROM ME. IT MUST BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE, AND A PART THAT WILL NEVER CEASE. IT REQUIRES DEVELOPING A HABIT OF PRAYER SO THAT YOU TRAIN YOUR SPIRITUAL SENSES TO BE MORE SENSITIVE. AND AT SOME POINT, GOD WILL MAKE A REQUEST OF YOU. YOU CAN TELL WHEN THIS HAPPENS, AND IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE GIVING BIRTH TO JESUS. IT IS A TIME WHEN YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, AND YOU REALIZE THAT IF YOU DO IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING THAT IS PRECIOUS TO YOU. AND YOU ARE NOT COMPELLED, YOUR FREE WILL IS HONORED. GIVING BIRTH PHYSICALLY IS UNCOMFORTABLE EVEN IN OUR DAY AND AGE, BUT WAS EXCRUCIATING IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS NO ANESTHESIA, AND WHEN WE TAKE THE ROAD THAT SEPARATES US FROM SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WE LOVE IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, THAT IS PAINFUL.
AND WHEN WE GIVE BIRTH, IT IS NOT OVER. BECAUSE LIKE MARY, WHEN WE FOLLOW GOD'S PATH FOR US, WE CAN EXPECT MORE PAIN, MORE STRUGGLE. MOTHER THERESA, IN MUCH OF HER LIFE, WAS IN GREAT EMOTIONAL PAIN, BECAUSE SHE FELT THAT GOD HAD ABANDONED HER. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS HAD SIMILAR FEELINGS, AND DESCRIBED THEM IN HIS MYSTICAL POEM “THE DARK NIGHT OF THE CROSS”. AND WHEN WE TURN OUR LIVES OVER TO GOD WE CAN EXPECT THAT HE WILL DO THIS TO US AS WELL, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO FORM US INTO JESUS CHRIST, HE WANTS TO MAKE US FULLY HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. AND TO BE CHRIST IS TO GO THROUGH A PASSION. MARY STRUGGLED TO KEEP JESUS CLEAN AND WELL FED, TO FORM HIS CHARACTER AND TEACH HIM ABOUT GOD AND HOW GOD WORKED WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. AND MARY SUFFERED WHEN SHE HAD TO ESCAPE TO EGYPT AND LIVE AS A STRANGER IN THAT STRANGE LAND. WHEN SHE HEARD THE PROPHECIES OF SIMEON, WHEN JESUS REMAINED BEHIND IN THE TEMPLE, AND WHEN JOSEPH DIED, AND WHEN JESUS LEFT HER TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND SHE MUST HAVE SUFFERED AS THE YEARS WENT BY AND SHE WAS NEVER AGAIN ADDRESSED BY THE ANGEL WHO SET HER UPON HER PATH OF LIFE, AS JESUS WENT OUT TO PREACH, ONLY TO BE CRUCIFIED, AND AS THE SON SHE LOVED ROSE FROM THE DEAD BUT SHORTLY AFTER, DISAPPEARED FROM HER LIFE IN PHYSICAL FORM ALTOGETHER. AND SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING MARY HAD LEFT WAS FAITH, AND HER DETERMINATION TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. AND IF WE TRULY IMITATE MARY, IF WE TRULY NURTURE THE CHRIST TO WHOM WE ARE GIVING BIRTH, WE WILL OFTEN SAY WITH ST THERESA OF AVILA, “GOD, IF THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT IS NO WONDER YOU HAVE SO FEW OF THEM.”
SO TODAY, LET US REJOICE THAT GOD CALLS US TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT, AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL. AND LET US HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT, SO THAT WE WILL BE BLESSED. AND LET US REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS, WHO ALSO HONOR OUR MOTHER MARY.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Third Sunday in Advent, cycle C
LUKE 3:10-18
SOME STORIES IN THE BIBLE MIGHT BE TERMED “MYTHS”. I DON'T MEAN THEY NEVER HAPPENED. BUT WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHEN IT HAPPENED, IN SOME CASES WE DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENED, AND IN SOME CASES WE KNOW THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, LIKE THE STORY OF JONAH. MANY OF THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE STARTED OUT AS LEGENDS WHOSE ROOTS WERE IN THE REMEMBERED HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE, AND ONLY LATER WERE WRITTEN DOWN AFTER MUCH TELLING AND RETELLING WITH A DETAIL ADDED HERE, AND ANOTHER SUBTRACTED THERE. AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. WE CATHOLICS KNOW THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THEOLOGICAL TRUTH, AND WHILE THERE ARE SOME FACTUAL THINGS WE BELIEVE AS CATHOLICS – THAT THE HUMAN RACE DESCENDED FROM A FIRST COUPLE; THAT THERE REALLY WAS AN ABRAHAM AND A MOSES; THAT MARY REALLY WAS A VIRGIN AT THE TIME OF JESUS' CONCEPTION, THESE FACTS HAVE TO BE TRUE, BECAUSE THEY ARE ORGANIC PARTS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE AND TOUCH UPON THE VALIDITY OF OUR WHOLE RELIGION. FACTS MATTER SOMETIMES. AND LUKE WANTS US TO BE SURE TO KNOW THAT HIS STORY IS FACTUAL.
THERE WAS A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, PINPOINTED BY RELATING IT TO WHEN CERTAIN KINGS AND HIGH PRIESTS WERE ALIVE, WHEN A STRANGE MAN CAME OUT OF THE DESERT. HE CALLED THE PEOPLE A BROOD OF VIPERS; HE PREDICTED THAT THE FUTURE FOR THEM WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE, UNLESS THEY CHANGED. THE WORD HE USED WAS REPENT, BUT THE WORD IN GREEK MEANT CHANGE, OR TURN AROUND, OR TURN BACK. WE PROBABLY DON'T QUITE KNOW WHAT THE ARAMAIC WORD MEANT TO THOSE WHO HEARD HIM, AND TO HIM. BUT I THINK AN INTERESTING TRANSLATION OF THAT WORD MIGHT BE SOMETHING MY MOTHER USED TO SAY TO ME WHEN SHE WAS UPSET WITH MY BEHAVIOR: PULL UP YOUR SOCKS! OR “SHAPE UP”.
AND HE ATTRACTED CROWDS, AND THEY DID NOT SEEM TO GET UPSET WITH WHAT HE CALLED THEM, WHAT HE THREATENED THEM WITH, OR TELLING THEM THAT BEING DESCENDENTS OF GOD'S FRIEND ABRAHAM REALLY DIDN'T MATTER. WHY THEY DIDN'T TURN AROUND AND GO HOME, OR PERHAPS PICK UP ROCKS AND STONE HIM, WE'LL NEVER KNOW. MAYBE THEY SAW THAT HE WAS ON TO SOMETHING.
SO THEY ASKED HIM, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”
AND HIS ANSWERS WERE SIMPLE: “IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS LESS THAN THEY NEED. AND IF YOU COLLECT TAXES FOR THE ROMANS, DON'T OVERCHARGE, DON'T CHEAT. AND IF YOU ARE A SOLDIER, DON'T USE YOUR POWER TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE.” NOTICE, HE DID NOT SAY TO THE PEOPLE, GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST. HE DID NOT SAY, QUIT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR; YOU ARE COLLABORATING WITH THE ENEMY OF THE JEWS; HE DID NOT SAY TO THE SOLDIERS, QUIT WORKING FOR ROMANS, QUIT MAKING YOUR LIVING BY FIGHTING ON BEHALF OF THE ROMANS.
SOME HEARD HIM, I'M SURE, WITH A SENSE OF RELIEF; SOME WITH DISAPPOINTMENT – “IS THAT ALL? AND YOU CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD?” AND MANY HEARD HIM AND THOUGHT, WOW, THOSE ARE GOOD POINTS. AND THEN WENT BACK TO THE LIVES THEY HAD LED, AND MADE NO CHANGES AT ALL.
JOHN'S CHARGE TO US IS THE SAME. REPENTANCE, TURNING BACK, PULLING UP OUR SOCKS, DOESN'T REQUIRE A TOTAL LIFE MAKE OVER. IT DOES REQUIRE SELF AWARENESS, IT DOES REQUIRE LOOKING AT OUR ORDINARY LIVES AND ASKING, WHAT SHOULD I DO?
IF YOU GO TO A ZOO, YOU MAY SEE LIONS. THEY DON'T MOVE AROUND MUCH, AND WHEN THEY DO, IT IS IN CIRCLES. THEY DON'T HAVE A REASON TO CHANGE, TO IMPROVE, TO LOOK BEYOND THEMSELVES. EVERY NEED IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND EVERY NEED OF THEIR MATE AND THEIR OFFSPRING AS WELL. WE HUMANS ARE LIKE THAT. WHEN WE LIVE FOR OURSELVES, WHEN WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR UNIVERSE, THEN THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO REACH A POINT WHERE WE CAN BE LIKE A LION IN A ZOO. UNTIL WE GET THERE EVERY MOMENT IS TAKEN UP WITH GETTING THERE, AND THEN WE CAN REST AND COUNT OUR MONEY AND OUR THINGS.
BUT JOHN IS SAYING THAT THIS IS NO WAY FOR A HUMAN BEING TO LIVE. IF WE LIVE THIS WAY, WE WILL NEVER ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL, WE WILL NEVER BECOME HOLY. BUT IF WE LIVE A LIFE OF REPENTANCE, AND IT IS A LIFETIME PROJECT, WE WILL ALWAYS BE LOOKING AT WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZING THAT WE NEED TO STRUGGLE TO PURGE WHAT WE DO OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS, OF MEDIOCRITY, OF DOING ENOUGH TO JUST GET BY, OF PETTY THINGS, LIKE MAKING PERSONAL CALLS OR USING THE INTERNET FOR PERSONAL REASONS WHILE AT WORK; LIKE VEGGING OUT IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION SET; LIKE NOT VOTING BECAUSE I'VE GOT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO; LIKE MAKING NO EFFORT TO DISCERN GOD'S WILL FOR US THROUGH THE DIALOGUE WITH GOD WE CALL PRAYER, THROUGH STUDY OF GOD'S REVELATION.
PART OF THIS PROJECT OF REMAKING OURSELVES RIGHT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO, IS THE REMAKING OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US. IF WE BELIEVE IT BELONGS TO ME, I'LL HANG ON TO IT. BUT IF I BELIEVE IT IS GOD'S, ON LOAN, THEN I AM MORE LIKELY TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NONE. OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TAUGHT THAT TO BE CHARITABLE IS A GOOD DEED, BUT THERE ISN'T A DOWNSIDE; ON THE OTHER HAND, AN APPEAL TO JUSTICE IS MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN A RESPONSE. AFTER ALL, THE PATRIARCHS WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR JUSTICE, AND GOD IS JUST, AND THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT JUSTICE NOT DONE IS TO RISK INJUSTICE TO YOURSELF. AND JUSTICE REQUIRES THAT NO ONE BE DENIED FOOD AND CLOTHING AND THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE, IF WE CAN HELP IT.
SO GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE THE SPECTACULAR; HE ONLY ASKS A VERY LITTLE EFFORT FROM YOU AND I, NAMELY, TO STRIVE TO DO EVERYTHING AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, TO BE SENSITIVE TO THOSE ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES THAT ARE LESS THAN PERFECT, AND, KNOWING THAT WE WILL NEVER QUITE BE PERFECT AS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT, AT LEAST TRY TO REACH FOR PERFECTION; AND HE REQUIRES THAT WE TREAT ALL THE GOOD THINGS HE HAS GIVEN US, JUST AS HE TREATS THEM; THEY ARE THERE TO BE GIVEN AWAY. AND LIVING THIS WAY MAKES US BETTER AND HAPPIER, AND MORE CAPABLE OF LOVE.
IT MAY BE A LITTLE EFFORT, BUT IT REALLY IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE, A CONSTANT SELF-EXAMINATION, AND IT LASTS A LIFETIME. AND THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED.
AND IN A FEW DAYS WE WILL CELEBRATE GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US; MAY THIS CHRISTMAS SEE US FINDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
SOME STORIES IN THE BIBLE MIGHT BE TERMED “MYTHS”. I DON'T MEAN THEY NEVER HAPPENED. BUT WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHEN IT HAPPENED, IN SOME CASES WE DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENED, AND IN SOME CASES WE KNOW THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, LIKE THE STORY OF JONAH. MANY OF THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE STARTED OUT AS LEGENDS WHOSE ROOTS WERE IN THE REMEMBERED HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE, AND ONLY LATER WERE WRITTEN DOWN AFTER MUCH TELLING AND RETELLING WITH A DETAIL ADDED HERE, AND ANOTHER SUBTRACTED THERE. AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. WE CATHOLICS KNOW THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THEOLOGICAL TRUTH, AND WHILE THERE ARE SOME FACTUAL THINGS WE BELIEVE AS CATHOLICS – THAT THE HUMAN RACE DESCENDED FROM A FIRST COUPLE; THAT THERE REALLY WAS AN ABRAHAM AND A MOSES; THAT MARY REALLY WAS A VIRGIN AT THE TIME OF JESUS' CONCEPTION, THESE FACTS HAVE TO BE TRUE, BECAUSE THEY ARE ORGANIC PARTS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE AND TOUCH UPON THE VALIDITY OF OUR WHOLE RELIGION. FACTS MATTER SOMETIMES. AND LUKE WANTS US TO BE SURE TO KNOW THAT HIS STORY IS FACTUAL.
THERE WAS A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, PINPOINTED BY RELATING IT TO WHEN CERTAIN KINGS AND HIGH PRIESTS WERE ALIVE, WHEN A STRANGE MAN CAME OUT OF THE DESERT. HE CALLED THE PEOPLE A BROOD OF VIPERS; HE PREDICTED THAT THE FUTURE FOR THEM WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE, UNLESS THEY CHANGED. THE WORD HE USED WAS REPENT, BUT THE WORD IN GREEK MEANT CHANGE, OR TURN AROUND, OR TURN BACK. WE PROBABLY DON'T QUITE KNOW WHAT THE ARAMAIC WORD MEANT TO THOSE WHO HEARD HIM, AND TO HIM. BUT I THINK AN INTERESTING TRANSLATION OF THAT WORD MIGHT BE SOMETHING MY MOTHER USED TO SAY TO ME WHEN SHE WAS UPSET WITH MY BEHAVIOR: PULL UP YOUR SOCKS! OR “SHAPE UP”.
AND HE ATTRACTED CROWDS, AND THEY DID NOT SEEM TO GET UPSET WITH WHAT HE CALLED THEM, WHAT HE THREATENED THEM WITH, OR TELLING THEM THAT BEING DESCENDENTS OF GOD'S FRIEND ABRAHAM REALLY DIDN'T MATTER. WHY THEY DIDN'T TURN AROUND AND GO HOME, OR PERHAPS PICK UP ROCKS AND STONE HIM, WE'LL NEVER KNOW. MAYBE THEY SAW THAT HE WAS ON TO SOMETHING.
SO THEY ASKED HIM, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”
AND HIS ANSWERS WERE SIMPLE: “IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS LESS THAN THEY NEED. AND IF YOU COLLECT TAXES FOR THE ROMANS, DON'T OVERCHARGE, DON'T CHEAT. AND IF YOU ARE A SOLDIER, DON'T USE YOUR POWER TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE.” NOTICE, HE DID NOT SAY TO THE PEOPLE, GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST. HE DID NOT SAY, QUIT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR; YOU ARE COLLABORATING WITH THE ENEMY OF THE JEWS; HE DID NOT SAY TO THE SOLDIERS, QUIT WORKING FOR ROMANS, QUIT MAKING YOUR LIVING BY FIGHTING ON BEHALF OF THE ROMANS.
SOME HEARD HIM, I'M SURE, WITH A SENSE OF RELIEF; SOME WITH DISAPPOINTMENT – “IS THAT ALL? AND YOU CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD?” AND MANY HEARD HIM AND THOUGHT, WOW, THOSE ARE GOOD POINTS. AND THEN WENT BACK TO THE LIVES THEY HAD LED, AND MADE NO CHANGES AT ALL.
JOHN'S CHARGE TO US IS THE SAME. REPENTANCE, TURNING BACK, PULLING UP OUR SOCKS, DOESN'T REQUIRE A TOTAL LIFE MAKE OVER. IT DOES REQUIRE SELF AWARENESS, IT DOES REQUIRE LOOKING AT OUR ORDINARY LIVES AND ASKING, WHAT SHOULD I DO?
IF YOU GO TO A ZOO, YOU MAY SEE LIONS. THEY DON'T MOVE AROUND MUCH, AND WHEN THEY DO, IT IS IN CIRCLES. THEY DON'T HAVE A REASON TO CHANGE, TO IMPROVE, TO LOOK BEYOND THEMSELVES. EVERY NEED IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND EVERY NEED OF THEIR MATE AND THEIR OFFSPRING AS WELL. WE HUMANS ARE LIKE THAT. WHEN WE LIVE FOR OURSELVES, WHEN WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR UNIVERSE, THEN THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO REACH A POINT WHERE WE CAN BE LIKE A LION IN A ZOO. UNTIL WE GET THERE EVERY MOMENT IS TAKEN UP WITH GETTING THERE, AND THEN WE CAN REST AND COUNT OUR MONEY AND OUR THINGS.
BUT JOHN IS SAYING THAT THIS IS NO WAY FOR A HUMAN BEING TO LIVE. IF WE LIVE THIS WAY, WE WILL NEVER ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL, WE WILL NEVER BECOME HOLY. BUT IF WE LIVE A LIFE OF REPENTANCE, AND IT IS A LIFETIME PROJECT, WE WILL ALWAYS BE LOOKING AT WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZING THAT WE NEED TO STRUGGLE TO PURGE WHAT WE DO OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS, OF MEDIOCRITY, OF DOING ENOUGH TO JUST GET BY, OF PETTY THINGS, LIKE MAKING PERSONAL CALLS OR USING THE INTERNET FOR PERSONAL REASONS WHILE AT WORK; LIKE VEGGING OUT IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION SET; LIKE NOT VOTING BECAUSE I'VE GOT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO; LIKE MAKING NO EFFORT TO DISCERN GOD'S WILL FOR US THROUGH THE DIALOGUE WITH GOD WE CALL PRAYER, THROUGH STUDY OF GOD'S REVELATION.
PART OF THIS PROJECT OF REMAKING OURSELVES RIGHT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO, IS THE REMAKING OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US. IF WE BELIEVE IT BELONGS TO ME, I'LL HANG ON TO IT. BUT IF I BELIEVE IT IS GOD'S, ON LOAN, THEN I AM MORE LIKELY TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NONE. OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TAUGHT THAT TO BE CHARITABLE IS A GOOD DEED, BUT THERE ISN'T A DOWNSIDE; ON THE OTHER HAND, AN APPEAL TO JUSTICE IS MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN A RESPONSE. AFTER ALL, THE PATRIARCHS WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR JUSTICE, AND GOD IS JUST, AND THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT JUSTICE NOT DONE IS TO RISK INJUSTICE TO YOURSELF. AND JUSTICE REQUIRES THAT NO ONE BE DENIED FOOD AND CLOTHING AND THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE, IF WE CAN HELP IT.
SO GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE THE SPECTACULAR; HE ONLY ASKS A VERY LITTLE EFFORT FROM YOU AND I, NAMELY, TO STRIVE TO DO EVERYTHING AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, TO BE SENSITIVE TO THOSE ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES THAT ARE LESS THAN PERFECT, AND, KNOWING THAT WE WILL NEVER QUITE BE PERFECT AS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT, AT LEAST TRY TO REACH FOR PERFECTION; AND HE REQUIRES THAT WE TREAT ALL THE GOOD THINGS HE HAS GIVEN US, JUST AS HE TREATS THEM; THEY ARE THERE TO BE GIVEN AWAY. AND LIVING THIS WAY MAKES US BETTER AND HAPPIER, AND MORE CAPABLE OF LOVE.
IT MAY BE A LITTLE EFFORT, BUT IT REALLY IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE, A CONSTANT SELF-EXAMINATION, AND IT LASTS A LIFETIME. AND THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED.
AND IN A FEW DAYS WE WILL CELEBRATE GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US; MAY THIS CHRISTMAS SEE US FINDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Second Sunday of Advent, cycle C
LUKE 3:1-6
MY WIFE SAYS I HAVE A LOUSY SENSE OF DIRECTION. BUT IT ISN'T THAT SO MUCH AS THE FACT THAT WHEN WE ARE OUT DRIVING, I GET DISTRACTED. I PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD, BUT I FORGET THE EXIT I WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE. I DON'T HAVE NEARLY AS MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I'M DRIVING ALONE, FOR SOME REASON. I GUESS WHEN I AM WITH MY WIFE I EXPECT HER TO TELL ME WHEN TO TURN. THAT'S ONE KIND OF BEING LOST. YOU LOSE A LITTLE TIME, YOU GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF BEING LOST THAT I'VE ONLY EXPERIENCED ONCE. I WAS LOST ONE TIME IN A FOREST IN MONTANA. I WAS OUT HIKING BY MYSELF AND HAD NO PARTICULAR DESTINATION IN MIND. I FOLLOWED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A TRAIL. WHEN I DECIDED TO TURN BACK, EVERYTHING LOOKED UNFAMILIAR. I COULDN'T TELL WHERE I HAD BEEN. AS TIME WENT ON, PANIC SET IN. I KNEW THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE DIRECTION WHERE I COULD EXPECT TO FIND MY CAR, AND ALL THE OTHERS LAD DEEPER INTO THE FOREST. I TRIED TO FIND HIGH GROUND, BUT STILL DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE. FORTUNATELY AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR OF STUMBLING AROUND, I RAN ACROSS A STREAM AND FOLLOWED IT UNTIL I CAME TO A ROAD.
BEING LOST IN A FOREST OR A DESERT IS FRIGHTENING BECAUSE YOU GET DISORIENTED. THINGS START TO LOOK THE SAME, WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU GO. AND ALL THE WHILE, IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE – BEING LOST.
OUR GOSPEL TODAY USES IMAGES WHICH ARE STRANGE TO US. THE GOSPEL QUOTES FROM ISAIAH THE PROPHET, AND TALKS ABOUT KNOCKING DOWN MOUNTAINS AND FILLING UP VALLEYS, MAKING CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT AND ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH. AND NOT JUST DOING THIS TO MAKE A PATH, BUT EVERY MOUNTAIN, EVERY VALLEY, EVERY ROAD. IT IS LIKE THE WHOLE WORLD IS TURNED INTO A GIANT MARBLE, SMOOTH AND THE SAME IN EVERY DIRECTION. WHEN THE PASSAGE STARTS, THE IDEA IS TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. BUT WHEN IT ENDS, IT IS US WHO ARE BEING PREPARED, PREPARED TO SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.
ADVENT IS AN INTERESTING SEASON. IT IS A TIME WHEN WE ARE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THE SALVATION OF GOD, THE MOMENT WHEN GOD ENTERS OUR WORLD, WHEN HE TAKES ON OUR FLESH, WHEN HE BEGINS TO LIVE WITH US AND FOR US, AND ULTIMATELY DIE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE HIS LIFE. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY DISTRACTIONS, MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR. CHRISTMAS MUSIC IS HEARD ON EVERY RADIO, IN EVERY STORE; THE NEWSPAPERS ARE FILLED WITH INSERTS REMINDING US ITS TIME TO BUY PRESENTS. TELEVISION IS SATURATED WITH CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, VARIOUS MUSICAL SPECIALS WHERE PEOPLE WHO FLAUNT MORALITY DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR SING SILENT NIGHT. CHRIST WILL COME INTO THE MIDDLE OF A TRULY PAGAN WORLD, BUT HE ALWAYS DOES.
ANOTHER THING THAT HAPPENS, AT LEAST TO ME, DURING THIS SEASON IS PRESSURE. IN ADDITION TO MY REGULAR DUTIES, I'VE GOT TO SHOP, WRAP, MAIL, GET OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS, ATTEND A PARTY OR THREE, AND WITH MY WIFE PLAN WHAT WE ARE GOING TO FEED EVERYONE WHEN THEY GET HERE. AND I LOSE SIGHT OF MY PRAYER LIFE, MY PEACE IS DISTURBED, AND SOMETIMES I LET OUT MY TENSION ON THOSE AROUND ME. AND OTHER PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE SAME PRESSURE, AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS ARE JUST RIGHT, SPARKS WILL FLY, THINGS WILL BE SAID THAT SHOULDN'T BE, AND RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE HARMED, DURING A TIME WHEN RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD BE HEALED.
AND LASTLY, THIS IS A SEASON OF NEGLECT. THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL FEEL THAT I SHOULD HAVE REMEMBERED TO SEND THEM A CARD, OR GIVE THEM A GIFT. SOMEONE WILL EXPECT ME TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR GIFT TO ME, AND I'LL FORGET. AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE, SOME WHOM I KNOW WELL AND SOME WHOM I DON'T KNOW, WHO ARE ALWAYS LONELY, BUT WILL FEEL EVEN MORE LONELY THIS SEASON, AND I COULD MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR ONE OF THEM WITH JUST A LITTLE OF MY TIME AND INTEREST. THE ADVENT SEASON TENDS TO SHARPEN AND FOCUS LONELINESS.
ADVENT IS FULL OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED ROADS AND ROUGH ROADS THAT KEEP US FROM SEEING THE SALVATION OF GOD, THAT GET IN THE WAY OF THE GREAT KING WHO SEEKS TO COME TO US.
HOW ARE YOU AND I GOING TO TEAR DOWN OUR MOUNTAINS, FILL IN OUR VALLEYS, MAKE OUR CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT? I THINK YOU AND I KNOW WHAT TO DO.
DO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THIS SEASON THAT CALLS US BACK TO ITS TRUE MEANING? A LITTLE CEREMONY AROUND AN ADVENT WREATH IN OUR HOMES HELPS. TAKING TIME TO BREAK OUR ROUTINE AND SAY THE ROSARY HELPS. WE SHOULD PUT SOME SPACE IN EACH DAY TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD WHO COMES TO US IN THE DIVINE CHILD. AFTER WE'VE KNOCKED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN THAT KEEPS US FROM OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WE NEED TO TURN TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOR. WHAT ARE WE DOING DIFFERENTLY IN THIS ADVENT SEASON? ARE WE MAKING AN EFFORT TO VISIT THE LONELY, THE SHUT IN? ARE THERE PEOPLE FROM WHOM WE ARE ESTRANGED? ISN'T IT TIME TO MAKE THAT EFFORT TO HEAL THE RELATIONSHIP? HOW ARE WE GOING TO FILL IN THE VALLEYS THAT SEPARATE US FROM OUR NEIGHBOR? AND WHAT ABOUT OURSELVES? IF THE SEASON IS MAKING US CRAZY, IF WE ARE ANXIOUS AND BOUND UP IN ALL THE SO-CALLED SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS WE HAVE DURING THIS TIME, WELL, THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. GOD OFFERS US PEACE AND JOY, AND IF WE AREN'T TAKING IT, THEN OUR ROADS ARE TOO CROOKED, OUR PATHS TOO ROUGH.
IN ADVENT WE RISK BEING LOST, BEING UNABLE TO PROCEED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BECAUSE OF ALL THE OBSTACLES THAT CONFRONT US. ALL OF OUR MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED AND ROUGH ROADS ARE THERE ALL YEAR LONG, BUT THEY ARE GREATLY MAGNIFIED IN THIS SEASON. IF WE CAN LEARN TO REMOVE THESE OBSTACLES NOW, SO THAT WE CAN SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD WHICH BEGAN THAT MOMENT LONG AGO WHEN JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD, WE WILL BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THOSE DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR.
SO TODAY ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT IT IS GOOD TO LOOK AT HOW WE ARE REALLY PREPARING FOR THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
MY WIFE SAYS I HAVE A LOUSY SENSE OF DIRECTION. BUT IT ISN'T THAT SO MUCH AS THE FACT THAT WHEN WE ARE OUT DRIVING, I GET DISTRACTED. I PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD, BUT I FORGET THE EXIT I WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE. I DON'T HAVE NEARLY AS MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I'M DRIVING ALONE, FOR SOME REASON. I GUESS WHEN I AM WITH MY WIFE I EXPECT HER TO TELL ME WHEN TO TURN. THAT'S ONE KIND OF BEING LOST. YOU LOSE A LITTLE TIME, YOU GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF BEING LOST THAT I'VE ONLY EXPERIENCED ONCE. I WAS LOST ONE TIME IN A FOREST IN MONTANA. I WAS OUT HIKING BY MYSELF AND HAD NO PARTICULAR DESTINATION IN MIND. I FOLLOWED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A TRAIL. WHEN I DECIDED TO TURN BACK, EVERYTHING LOOKED UNFAMILIAR. I COULDN'T TELL WHERE I HAD BEEN. AS TIME WENT ON, PANIC SET IN. I KNEW THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE DIRECTION WHERE I COULD EXPECT TO FIND MY CAR, AND ALL THE OTHERS LAD DEEPER INTO THE FOREST. I TRIED TO FIND HIGH GROUND, BUT STILL DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE. FORTUNATELY AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR OF STUMBLING AROUND, I RAN ACROSS A STREAM AND FOLLOWED IT UNTIL I CAME TO A ROAD.
BEING LOST IN A FOREST OR A DESERT IS FRIGHTENING BECAUSE YOU GET DISORIENTED. THINGS START TO LOOK THE SAME, WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU GO. AND ALL THE WHILE, IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE – BEING LOST.
OUR GOSPEL TODAY USES IMAGES WHICH ARE STRANGE TO US. THE GOSPEL QUOTES FROM ISAIAH THE PROPHET, AND TALKS ABOUT KNOCKING DOWN MOUNTAINS AND FILLING UP VALLEYS, MAKING CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT AND ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH. AND NOT JUST DOING THIS TO MAKE A PATH, BUT EVERY MOUNTAIN, EVERY VALLEY, EVERY ROAD. IT IS LIKE THE WHOLE WORLD IS TURNED INTO A GIANT MARBLE, SMOOTH AND THE SAME IN EVERY DIRECTION. WHEN THE PASSAGE STARTS, THE IDEA IS TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. BUT WHEN IT ENDS, IT IS US WHO ARE BEING PREPARED, PREPARED TO SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.
ADVENT IS AN INTERESTING SEASON. IT IS A TIME WHEN WE ARE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THE SALVATION OF GOD, THE MOMENT WHEN GOD ENTERS OUR WORLD, WHEN HE TAKES ON OUR FLESH, WHEN HE BEGINS TO LIVE WITH US AND FOR US, AND ULTIMATELY DIE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE HIS LIFE. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY DISTRACTIONS, MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR. CHRISTMAS MUSIC IS HEARD ON EVERY RADIO, IN EVERY STORE; THE NEWSPAPERS ARE FILLED WITH INSERTS REMINDING US ITS TIME TO BUY PRESENTS. TELEVISION IS SATURATED WITH CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, VARIOUS MUSICAL SPECIALS WHERE PEOPLE WHO FLAUNT MORALITY DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR SING SILENT NIGHT. CHRIST WILL COME INTO THE MIDDLE OF A TRULY PAGAN WORLD, BUT HE ALWAYS DOES.
ANOTHER THING THAT HAPPENS, AT LEAST TO ME, DURING THIS SEASON IS PRESSURE. IN ADDITION TO MY REGULAR DUTIES, I'VE GOT TO SHOP, WRAP, MAIL, GET OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS, ATTEND A PARTY OR THREE, AND WITH MY WIFE PLAN WHAT WE ARE GOING TO FEED EVERYONE WHEN THEY GET HERE. AND I LOSE SIGHT OF MY PRAYER LIFE, MY PEACE IS DISTURBED, AND SOMETIMES I LET OUT MY TENSION ON THOSE AROUND ME. AND OTHER PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE SAME PRESSURE, AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS ARE JUST RIGHT, SPARKS WILL FLY, THINGS WILL BE SAID THAT SHOULDN'T BE, AND RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE HARMED, DURING A TIME WHEN RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD BE HEALED.
AND LASTLY, THIS IS A SEASON OF NEGLECT. THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL FEEL THAT I SHOULD HAVE REMEMBERED TO SEND THEM A CARD, OR GIVE THEM A GIFT. SOMEONE WILL EXPECT ME TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR GIFT TO ME, AND I'LL FORGET. AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE, SOME WHOM I KNOW WELL AND SOME WHOM I DON'T KNOW, WHO ARE ALWAYS LONELY, BUT WILL FEEL EVEN MORE LONELY THIS SEASON, AND I COULD MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR ONE OF THEM WITH JUST A LITTLE OF MY TIME AND INTEREST. THE ADVENT SEASON TENDS TO SHARPEN AND FOCUS LONELINESS.
ADVENT IS FULL OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED ROADS AND ROUGH ROADS THAT KEEP US FROM SEEING THE SALVATION OF GOD, THAT GET IN THE WAY OF THE GREAT KING WHO SEEKS TO COME TO US.
HOW ARE YOU AND I GOING TO TEAR DOWN OUR MOUNTAINS, FILL IN OUR VALLEYS, MAKE OUR CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT? I THINK YOU AND I KNOW WHAT TO DO.
DO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THIS SEASON THAT CALLS US BACK TO ITS TRUE MEANING? A LITTLE CEREMONY AROUND AN ADVENT WREATH IN OUR HOMES HELPS. TAKING TIME TO BREAK OUR ROUTINE AND SAY THE ROSARY HELPS. WE SHOULD PUT SOME SPACE IN EACH DAY TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD WHO COMES TO US IN THE DIVINE CHILD. AFTER WE'VE KNOCKED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN THAT KEEPS US FROM OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WE NEED TO TURN TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOR. WHAT ARE WE DOING DIFFERENTLY IN THIS ADVENT SEASON? ARE WE MAKING AN EFFORT TO VISIT THE LONELY, THE SHUT IN? ARE THERE PEOPLE FROM WHOM WE ARE ESTRANGED? ISN'T IT TIME TO MAKE THAT EFFORT TO HEAL THE RELATIONSHIP? HOW ARE WE GOING TO FILL IN THE VALLEYS THAT SEPARATE US FROM OUR NEIGHBOR? AND WHAT ABOUT OURSELVES? IF THE SEASON IS MAKING US CRAZY, IF WE ARE ANXIOUS AND BOUND UP IN ALL THE SO-CALLED SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS WE HAVE DURING THIS TIME, WELL, THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. GOD OFFERS US PEACE AND JOY, AND IF WE AREN'T TAKING IT, THEN OUR ROADS ARE TOO CROOKED, OUR PATHS TOO ROUGH.
IN ADVENT WE RISK BEING LOST, BEING UNABLE TO PROCEED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BECAUSE OF ALL THE OBSTACLES THAT CONFRONT US. ALL OF OUR MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED AND ROUGH ROADS ARE THERE ALL YEAR LONG, BUT THEY ARE GREATLY MAGNIFIED IN THIS SEASON. IF WE CAN LEARN TO REMOVE THESE OBSTACLES NOW, SO THAT WE CAN SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD WHICH BEGAN THAT MOMENT LONG AGO WHEN JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD, WE WILL BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THOSE DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR.
SO TODAY ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT IT IS GOOD TO LOOK AT HOW WE ARE REALLY PREPARING FOR THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
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