The Baptism of the Lord (A)

(Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17)

Our readings today began with the Lord saying through the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights;

and they ended, as you heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew, with the voice of the heavenly Father declaring:

            This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

There can, therefore, be no doubt about the focal point of our celebration today: we must look at, and learn to appreciate, Jesus, the Father's beloved and only-begotten Son, His chosen Servant in Whom His soul delights. 

Notice, first of all then, that the Father does not proclaim Jesus as did John the Baptist by declaring:

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

At the Baptism in the Jordan, the Father does not say "this is your Saviour" nor any other such introductory words making reference to Jesus’ saving mission.  No, the Father’s proclamation relates Jesus to Himself, expressing His delight in His Son-made-flesh; and thereby the Father would seem to  invite us to learn, first of all, to delight in Jesus because of Who He is, not simply because of what He does for us:

            This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The canonization of saints can be somewhat misleading: because it has to be shown that any candidate for canonization had practiced Christian virtues to a heroic degree, people can easily think that holiness demands, first of all, the practice of virtues.  That in turn leads some devout people and even spiritual teachers to consider the pursuit of the spiritual life to be a matter of drawing up a list of virtues, practicing the first until it is mastered, then going on to the next virtue, and so on; meanwhile, of course, always avoiding any trace of sin.  That can lead to a very strange image of and negative attitude to, Christian living: indeed, it can lead to a very unattractive and somewhat inhuman way of life.

In fact, however, Christian holiness can only be characterized -- fundamentally and essentially -- as loving God, whole-heartedly and supremely, at all times and under all circumstances; avoidance of evil and the practice of virtues following necessarily and even naturally from that all-absorbing love.

First of all, therefore, that such love may reign in our hearts and in our lives, we must learn to appreciate the Person of Jesus presented to us by the Father; and then -- in Jesus and by the power of the Spirit -- we must learn to listen and follow as Jesus, in His turn, reveals the Father to us in all His majesty, faithfulness and truth, beauty and goodness.  Thus we might begin to learn how to love the Father with Jesus' own love, being shared with us through the Spirit, for in that way we are called to become adopted -- but authentic, and true -- children of the Father, in Jesus, by the Spirit.

Let us, therefore, look anew at today's readings.

Isaiah told us, in the first reading, about the Servant:

Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations;

while Peter told us in the second reading:

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power.

Both passages clearly relate to Jesus' experience in the Jordan at His baptism by John.  After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him.  In that way we know that Isaiah's prophecies about the Servant were, indeed, prophecies about Jesus. 

Now, John had not wanted to baptise Jesus, as you heard:

John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"

Jesus, however, would have none of that: He had come to do His Father's will ("all righteousness") which meant that His life could not be lived in accordance with merely human standards nor be subject to merely human judgements, however holy those setting such standards or making such judgements:

Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." 

Isaiah had foretold the mission the Father had in store for Jesus:

            He will bring forth justice to the nations.

Few words, but words full of meaning, because "justice" means the truth about God and God's truth for us.

But Isaiah devoted more words to telling us how the Servant, Jesus, would go about His work; in other words, telling us something about what sort of Person the Servant would prove to be:

He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street.

There would be no taking advantage of simple people by bombast, nor any haranguing of emotional crowds: He was to proclaim His message of justice, calmly, truthfully, and with full respect for His hearers.

Isaiah then went on to show us another aspect of God's Chosen Servant -- the Son, in Whom the Father delights -- when he said:

A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.

And so, although anointed with the Spirit and with power, Jesus would be characterized by His gentleness to and, once again, His respect for, His people.   St. Peter confirmed this in our second reading:

Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Nevertheless, since He had been given the mission to bring forth true justice on earth, He would inevitably meet with opposition in a sinful world, and this prospect led Isaiah to give another characteristic of the Chosen Servant and Beloved Son:

He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth.

Neither breaking what is bruised nor extinguishing what glows but dimly , He Himself would be neither disheartened nor crushed by His experiences of life in a sinful world.  He would, indeed, experience similar trials to those we experience, but He would live through them as the Son beloved by His Father, as the Servant upheld by His Lord. In that way Jesus would be like us, one with us and able to understand us but, nevertheless, the One who would faithfully bring forth justice, the One Who would not falter in His mission:

            until He has established justice in the earth.

People of God, that means, Jesus will never give up in His endeavours to help us appreciate the Father's goodness and love, never give up in His endeavours to raise us up to become worthy children of such a Father.

Today, however, there are many who try to proclaim Jesus’ love by telling us how much He empathizes with us in our sufferings because He too has suffered, and how His whole purpose is to bring us comfort and joy, peace and love, now.  And they leave it at that, being unwilling or afraid to speak of any further suffering to be borne or efforts to be made by those who want to belong to God.

That is a travesty of the full truth: a comforting little half-truth, easy to speak but deadly in its effects, for it would leave us no longer looking up to, and striving for, heaven; but resting here on earth, satisfied with ourselves and our immediate prospects. 

The true Jesus, on the other hand, we are told:

Will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth;

that is, until He has established true justice in the hearts, minds, and lives of you and me, and of countless others like us throughout the whole world, who will listen to His Good News and learn to fight the good fight to leave behind the tinsel glitter of this world, the insidious delights of the flesh, the opinions and esteem of men, and our very own self-solicitude and pride, in order to follow His compelling love and win a new and better home in heaven.

People are not always willing to learn to lift their eyes to heaven, because the devil abuses their weakness and ignorance so that they know neither their own needs, nor the goodness of God to be found in His power presently at work in our lives and in His wondrously beautiful and fulfilling promises for our future.  But through Isaiah, God tells us clearly of the Lord:

I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind yes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

Although we are indeed blind and prisoners, only the proud can resist God's gift of such a Saviour, Who intends indeed to free us from our sins and enlighten our ignorance by drawing us, as the prophet Hosea foretold:

            With cords of a man, with bands of love  (Hosea 11:4)

And this Jeremiah told us with even more striking words:

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you and you shall be rebuilt. (Jeremiah 31:3-4)

So, People of God, let us resolve this very day to allow God to rebuild our lives as He draws us with the cords of man and bands of love, and let us seek anew to appreciate and love more and more the Jesus recommended to us in our Gospel reading:

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

However, we should not be dismayed or disheartened when difficulties arise or trials overtake us.  The establishment of true justice in our darkened minds and unruly hearts, and in our lives formed by years of worldly conformity and self-indulgence, is both absolutely necessary and supremely sensitive, and can be as painful as it is demanding.  Nevertheless, the rewards are immeasurable greater than any such costs; for a room in our Father’s house, and a place at His eternal banquet, are already being prepared for us: a room where we will be at home, a place that will both befit us and give us honour among our fellow guests.

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you and you shall be rebuilt …..                                 

in Our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, for the Father.      

                                                            

The Epiphany       

               (Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12)

                               

In the Eastern Church today’s solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord is given precedence over Christmas, whereas for us in the West, Christmas Day is the greater celebration; and the reason for this diversity is that these two solemn celebrations are complementary. 

At Christmas we celebrate God’s gracious humility and merciful goodness whereby His only-begotten Son takes to Himself human nature, puts on human flesh, and involves Himself totally – sin alone excepted because of His unassailable holiness  -- in the mess into which we have got ourselves, the mess publicised daily in the media.   And that Christmas awareness of such amazing humility and goodness on God’s part batters at the foundations of our pride and fills us with humble gratitude and childlike trust.

On Christmas Day we recalled the words of Elizabeth to Mary our Mother:

Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord (Lk. 1:45);

and we too, as her true children, likewise renewed at Christmas our belief and trust in all God’s promises for our salvation.

At the Epiphany, on the other hand, we rejoice in the divine glory manifested in the life and being of One like us, Jesus of Nazareth, Our Saviour: as a Infant, like a wondrous loadstone, He draws the heavens (planetary movements quite recently apparently confirmed by computer simulation) and the Magi to His crib; at His baptism, His humility before John opened the very heavens, calling forth a divine witness as the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father proclaimed Him to be His beloved Son; at the wedding in Cana, where He changed water into rich and copious new wine, His power was matched and manifested by His supreme generosity and human awareness.  And these signs of His majesty, glory, and power and compassion, give us unshakeable confidence that what He has promised, He can and will fulfil in and for His Church throughout the enduring ages of her public ministry, and in and for all His true disciples, as they try to live their personal lives for the praise and glory of His name. 

As you all are well aware human joy appears most desirable, but experience can show it to be equally unreliable: worldly joy can change some people into louts and hooligans as easily as it makes others into happy and generous companions; moreover, when circumstances change, such joy can quickly disappear, leaving behind it corresponding sadness and gloom. 

For us, therefore, who are disciples of Jesus, there should be a more than worldly, human, joy when we celebrate the birth, the majesty and power, of Jesus, because His Kingdom is not of this world, as He Himself said.  Jesus the Lord has triumphed for us by destroying sin and death in our flesh, and His promise is that He will share His triumph with all who put their faith in Him and become one with Him through baptism and the Eucharist.  His victories are eternally valid for in His Resurrection human flesh is once again restored to heaven and is now, indeed, placed at the right hand of the Father in glory; and He, the Son of Man, is now both willing and able to triumph over the darkness of  sin and ignorance, not only in our minds and hearts, but also in the world around us, as was shown by His bringing to naught the schemes of that cunning and murderous tyrant, Herod.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you and His glory will be seen upon you.

At Christmas we rejoiced and renewed our humble and grateful trust in the promises made to us in Christ, for St. Paul teaches us that:

All the promises of God have their "Yes" in Him.  That is why, when we give glory to God, it is through Christ Jesus that we say "Amen". (2 Cor 1:20)

Now, on this feast of the Epiphany, a word which means the shining-forth, the manifestation, of the glory of Christ, let us stir up anew the confidence which heaven alone gives, as you heard the prophet Isaiah proclaim:

Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.

Grateful trust and sure confidence, humility and power, patience and vigour,  each so necessary to the other for the fulfilment of our personal calling and Christian vocation, just as Christmas and Epiphany are equally essential for our liturgical awareness and appreciation of Jesus, perfect God and perfect Man, our only Saviour.

And so, though the deep darkness of human sin is so evident in the world around, and even though there may be no light in our own soul at times, nevertheless, His glory will appear for those who firmly believe His promises and confidently commit their lives to His most loving, and supremely powerful, Providence.

Therefore, People of God, I urge you in this holy season to experience deeper peace by renewing and deepening your trust in Jesus’ promises, and to renew your confidence and joy as you celebrate His glory and power, for such are the signs given and the blessings offered us in the Christmas season.  We are told that the multitude of angels sang:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! 

Meanwhile the shepherds who had told their good tidings to all gathered around the Infant Christ:

Returned (to their sheep in the fields), glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Let all of us, too, sincerely pray that our celebration of the Epiphany today may give glory to God, and -- through the comforting and strengthening of all who are her true children -- further the exaltation of Holy Mother Church.  Amen.  

Solemnity of Mary,

the Mother of God,

(Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21)

In the second reading we heard St. Paul telling his converts in Galatia:

As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

Those words of St. Paul invite us today to consider how wonderfully the Spirit dwelt in the heart of Mary!  Indeed, they show us the magnitude of her blessing when we consider that the Spirit abided in and filled her whole being to such an extent that, whereas we are enabled by the Spirit, Paul tells us, to respond with love to God with the word 'Father', the Spirit dwelling in Mary worked so wondrously in her that she was enabled to respond to God the Father with an intensity of love that enabled her to bring forth not just words of praise for the Father from her lips, but the Divine Word, the Father’s co-eternal Son made Man, from her womb!   And so intense, so complete and unreserved, was this response of Mary to God’s word delivered to her by the angel Gabriel, that Jesus openly praised her for that above all else:

And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:27-28)

When, on another occasion, His teaching of the people was interrupted by a message to the effect that His mother and family members were asking for Him, He expressed His displeasure at such an intrusion by making perfectly clear the priorities that guided and governed His life and work:

"Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." (Mark 3:33-35)

We can also compare and contrast Mary with Moses who, as you heard in the first reading, brought great blessings down on Israel.  There, we were told how God blessed the Chosen People of the Old Testament through the words of priestly blessing He gave to Moses for the use of Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and their descendants:

Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them, 'This is how you shall bless the Israelites.  Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you!  The LORD let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!  The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace.'  So shall they invoke My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Those are truly beautiful words used to confer a treasured blessing.  But consider how, under the New Testament covenant, God the Father blesses us through Mary and her Son: unlike Moses, Mary does not hand down one special form of blessing for one Chosen People; she brings forth the One Eternal Word of God Himself clothed in human flesh, her flesh and blood, God's saving presence in Mother Church and gracious blessing for the whole world!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.  (Eph 1:3-8)

Holy Mary, you are indeed blessed above all women by God the Father, for through you there comes to us the One in Whom and through Whom all the blessings of heaven itself are ours!

Again, in our Gospel reading we learnt that those who searched for the Child found:

            Mary (and Joseph), and the Babe lying in a manger.

So it is for all those disciples whom Jesus has told to take Mary to their hearts as their own Mother: in our search for Jesus, we will find Him, most easily and most surely, with the help and comfort of Mary’s prayerful presence in our lives.  Mary is no mere addition, certainly no complication, for Catholic spirituality.  Indeed, we can readily appreciate the privilege of Mary that enables her to lead each and every one of us to Jesus when we recall that she is not simply the model of the Church, but that, during her pregnancy she was, in all literal truth, the original Church itself, the unique dwelling place on earth of Jesus, God’s Son made flesh, the New Testament Ark of God’s presence among His People; and that she still is the purest essence of the Church, without spot of wrinkle of any sort.  Only in Mother Church can each and every one of us find Jesus truly and love Him fully.

Finally, we need to recognise that Mary is also our model and inspiration for our personal relationship with Jesus, in so far as the Scriptures tell us that she, our Mother, was, and is always, most sublimely one with Jesus:

Mary kept all these things (that she had experienced and heard concerning Jesus) and pondered them in her heart.

There is to be found the supreme example and the surest guidance for anyone seeking the salvation of God, for anyone hoping and longing to find God, as our most perfect Father, in and through Jesus.  Imitate Mary by treasuring the Good News of Jesus handed down to us by Mother Church: in her teaching which forms us as His disciples, and in her Scriptures which not only recount for us the foretelling and forthcoming of the Christ, but also, together with her sacraments, mediate His very presence in our midst and in our hearts today.

People of God, hear the Good News of Jesus with reverence and joy; treasure and nurture His grace in your hearts; and seek, above all, to respond – by the Spirit -- with that wholehearted confidence in, and gratitude to, God, to which Mary gave such perfect expression when she said (Luke 1:38):

Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.

The Holy Family (A)  

(Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21; Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23)

Today’s readings are concerned, as we should expect, with human relationships, particularly those of family life.  In our modern society, where parental responsibility is, at times, notably and tragically lacking, there is a marked tendency for the government and society in general to “take over” from parents, and a corresponding tendency to give children rights against their parents.  This political support of, and encouragement for, children against their parents, has no parallel in the Bible.

There, children have rights indeed, and Jesus Himself tells us to reverence and respect them:

See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven. (Matt 18:10)

 St. Paul tells his converts in the Church at Corinth (2 Cor 12:14) that:

Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for (their) parents, but parents for (their) children.

The Scriptures are not ignorant of the abusive behaviour of some parents but, notwithstanding those failings of the few, hold firmly to the best teaching and only model for the wholesome upbringing of the many, as you heard in the first reading:

The Lord honours the father in his children, and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons.  Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins; he who honours his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.

We read in the Gospel how God Himself dealt with His Son as a human child.  The Father in heaven did not by-pass Mary and Joseph to communicate directly to the Infant, nor even to the young boy Jesus.  The heavenly Father spoke to Joseph and to Mary: they were the ones who would tell the Child and the Boy what to do and how to behave; they were the instruments of God for the Child, even though the Child was God’s own Son.  Consequently we can easily recognize the Christian attitude and teaching as regards parenthood: it is an honour and a privilege to be a Christian parent, it is a position of authority and also a position of responsibility; authority given by God and responsibility before God.  In all that is good, for the spiritual and the human good (both physical and psychological) of the child, the parents have a God-given authority and also a God-given backing: they do not need to have degrees in child psychology, nor certificates in human and social studies; seeking sincerely the good of their child, in favour with God and man (as the Scriptures say of Jesus), they will be guided by God in all the normal situations of life, and even in the extraordinary circumstances where no human help can be found.  No Social Services, no child experts, can supply for God-given parents, and no legislation should be allowed which insinuates otherwise, nor should parents themselves ever begin to doubt their own special grace for bringing up their child as a child of God and as a positive and helpful member of society.

Parents, being aware of their position of authority and responsibility, should be ever on the watch to help each other in the acceptance and fulfilment of that position.  You will recall how Mary, the mother, spoke to her Child when He had been lost for three days:

And when they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you." (Luke 2:48)

Mary was concerned, first of all, for Joseph’s authority; she wanted first of all to remind her Child of the respect He owed Joseph:

His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you."

“Your father and I”, that was the order of concern for Mary: Joseph’s position first, her own, second.  That is a model for all parents, for the Christian husband should have as his first concern that his child should love its mother; whilst the mother, like Mary, should always first teach and inculcate the child’s obedience to and respect for the father.

Finally, today, Christian parents should recognize that they, together, are the  basis and foundation for the well being -- spiritual, psychological and physical -- of their children; consequently they should pay close attention to the words of our second reading today.  On no account should they ever allow their child to separate them, for the good of the child they should come first for each other:

And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.   (Col. 3:12-15)

Remember also those other words of St. Paul:

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them.

Those are not words of domination but of co-operation for the good of the children, the words mean what I have already explained and what Mary has already shown: that the wife should be concerned that her children respect and obey their father, and she should give them an example of that attitude; and that the father, in his turn, must insist that his children follow his example in loving their mother.  It is on that firm and solid foundation that the other words of Paul will be fulfilled:

Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. (Col. 3:20)

In this respect we can discover the particular reason for Joseph’s position in the Holy Family.  Joseph was not the physical father of Mary’s child and it might seem, for that very reason, that he could never be really essential for the coherence and establishment of that family.  He was legally necessary for Jesus’ Messianic descent from King David, and he was physically necessary to protect the Child and His mother especially to save them from Herod’s persecution.  But, since it was Mary who -- having given, exclusively from the human standpoint, both body and blood to the Child -- would then be largely responsible for the mental and spiritual formation of His human character, wasn’t Joseph therefore, for the essentials, somewhat superfluous, supernumerary?  

By no means, for here we touch on the supreme contribution of St. Joseph to Jesus’ human make-up – not just for His protection and upkeep, His health and security – but indeed for His make-up as a human-being, and above all, as Son-in- human-flesh before His heavenly Father.  For Jesus, as man, had to learn about God, to recognize and respond to, His heavenly Father through the understanding and awareness of His human mind, and the experience and sensitivity of His human heart; and in order to do this He had first to learn what ‘father’ meant for Him as a child, a son, in a human family,  above all, He needed to learn not simply what the word ‘father’ meant, but  what was to be expected of a father and how a true child should relate to its true father.   As a child at Mary’s feet -- in her constant company and under her watchful guidance -- He would read and learn, love and appreciate, the Scriptures speaking of God’s love of and concern for, Israel His child, and in the synagogue He would learn to respond as an Israelite to such a God and Father.  However, at home, He would learn to respond as an individual person to a human father through His Personal experience of Joseph’s individual presentation of fatherhood, and also from observing His mother Mary in her own attitude and response to Joseph as father in the family.   Initially, such experiences would be very influential in helping the Child relate to the Heavenly Father -- uniquely His own true Father -- speaking to Him through the Scriptures, hearing and responding to Him in His life of human prayer and worship.   Joseph would thus, initially, be supremely important for what was of supreme importance in Jesus’ life: promoting and guiding His initial sensitivity and responsiveness to, His growing appreciation and love for, His heavenly Father.

People of God, we should all recognize that the Scriptures do not offer mere options for our consideration, options that we can ignore or reject as the fancy takes us; nor is the Spirit of the Scriptures subject to the spirit of modern times.  Holy Scripture, with its example of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, gives us divine and authoritative guidance together with the promise of sustaining grace and strength.   We can indeed ignore it, we can reject it, because God has made us free; but we cannot do those things without cost, and most certainly, we will never be able to find better guidance, strength, or fulfilment from the prevalent ideas of currently acceptable worldly wisdom, the lurid examples of many news-making lights in today’s decadent society, or again, the preferred easy options of the many whose main aims are earthly pleasure and plenty, and conformity with the prevalent attitude of current society.

                                                         

Midnight Mass, Christmas

(Isaiah 9:1-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14)

The angel said, "Do not be afraid; I bring you good news, news of great joy  for the whole nation.  Today there has been born to you in the city of David a deliverer – the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger."

Let us think a little on those words: ‘This will be a sign for you: a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.’

What might that infant signify?  What would strike you about such a baby?     What could there be in the baby itself so impressive that it could serve as a sign for the shepherds and for us?

Now there could well be some difference in the order of precedence but I think all of us will agree – on consideration -- that a baby speaks to us about new life and new beginning; again, an infant is so helpless and vulnerable, and yet, nevertheless, exudes a mysteriously protective and literally disarming innocence.  Finally, an infant is wrapped, so to speak, not merely in swaddling clothes, but in an all-embracing beauty somehow independent of its individual features.

In a baby, then, we see new life, a new beginning in life, and in this respect the Babe of Bethlehem was supremely significant, because the Son of God became the Infant Jesus in order to bring new life to the human race, in order to offer sinful men and women a new beginning.  Jesus is our deliverer, our saviour, because He comes to free us from the power of sin and the fear of death: He offers new life, divine life, to all those who are aware of the abiding emptiness of worldly glory and the ultimate frustration of human attempts at self-justification, and who, believing in the Good News, commit themselves to Jesus by faith; and subsequently hope -- by the power of His Spirit -- to live and die with Him for the glory of Father.  And, by thus embracing the Gospel of Jesus and accepting the Gift of His Spirit through the ministry of Mother Church, there are many who have come to experience and recognise -- in the hitherto unsounded depths of their human nature – an echo, so to speak, instinctively resonating with and corresponding to this new beginning and thereby testifying that the divine life of ultimate and eternal fulfilment is indeed stirring within them.

There are, of course, others who would seek new life only in order to know again certain aspects of the death-streaked life of ordinary earthly experience, or to enjoy once more the taste and tang of sins committed earlier, sins in which they are no longer able to indulge, perhaps, because of age and infirmity.  For people with such restricted or perverted horizons there is no possibility of new, or renewed, life; their bodies will perish and they too will perish with them, not, as they might fondly hope, into silent and peaceful oblivion, but into the punishment of eternal loss.

An infant is characterized also by its innocence, and in this respect too, the Child of Bethlehem was a sign for the shepherds as He is for us, because Jesus comes to free us from the disfiguring and destructive power of sin.  The Christ Child stirs up in many a vague, perhaps even reluctant, awareness that they have failed to live up to their conscience, that they have tarnished the best in themselves, that they have too often betrayed that which was worthwhile and true, and lived – devoted themselves -- to things now seen as more or less unworthy, more or less, indeed, degrading.  For such people, contemplation of the Babe in the manger at Christmas stirs thoughts, brings back memories, and causes emotions both bitter and sweet.  Such experiences, though perhaps painful, are, nonetheless, worthy of Christmas; for the Infant Jesus is a continual reminder from God the Father that in Him – the Jesus Who is Emmanuel, that is, ever abiding with us and in us thanks to the Church -- there is not only a real possibility of, and opportunity for, a new beginning of innocence, but also the offer of an accompanying wisdom and power that will protect, strengthen, and bring such a beginning to fulfilment, if we will but sincerely turn back to Him, humbly take His yoke upon us, and perseveringly walk in His ways.

Moreover, the Babe revealed to the shepherds of Bethlehem was, in His helplessness and powerlessness, also a blessed sign that Jesus, and also His Church, has no mission, no desire, to dominate us, to force our minds into submission or our hearts to subjection.  His chosen method is to provoke the attention, and then guide the development, of our minds which are made for the truth; to purify our emotions which were created good and which sin has not been able to totally corrupt; and to evoke our love: therefore this Child can so easily be portrayed holding out His arms to us, and can so readily be felt pulling gently, yet strongly, on our heart strings.  This is an essential part of the process of our total renewal, for it restores in us a right awareness – a right self-awareness -- that we alone in the whole of creation have been made in God’s own image and likeness, with an ultimate destiny and calling to become sharers in the divine drama of eternal love and communion: a calling and a destiny which can never be forfeited, only sadly ignored and tragically rejected.   

There is an undeniable joy about Christmas, it has an atmosphere that is quite unique.  This tells us something about ourselves and about God.  Because Christmas and the Infant Jesus are so deeply in tune with our human nature, they awake something so deep and fulfilling within us which we can only respond to and express by all sorts of joy-provoking activities: by family gatherings, eating and drinking together, parties and outings, receiving and giving gifts, sharing with each other and with the poor.  Notice all these things are primarily joy-provoking, not pleasure-producing, activities.  Of course, at Christmas there are many who seek pleasure-producing measures, such as drugs, drunkenness and orgies; but we all know these are not Christmas activities, they are part of the devil’s distortion of and hatred for Christmas.  Those other, authentically Christian, Christmastide activities, however, are signs that Christ is come to make us members of God’s family, and it is there, in His family, that we will find that fullness of joy and communion for which the human heart longs:

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

St. Augustine knew this when he wrote those wonderful words: “Lord, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Christmas is the time for beginnings, new and renewed beginnings, for all are called to share in the Christmas rejoicing which anticipates and prepares for eternal glory.  Christmas is a season of joy -- Mary’s joy as the angel Gabriel declared -- and this joy is meant to help us on to an ever deeper and more trustful commitment in the Faith to union with Christ until, as true children of God in the only-begotten Son, the Father receives into the heavenly home prepared for us. There, Christmas joy and fellowship will be transfigured beyond all imagining into the eternal fulfilment and peace of divinely adopted children who, in the Son, are glorified by the Spirit as members of the family of God, eternally rejoicing in the presence of the heavenly Father Who is in All in all.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.  And the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.

            The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

                                               

Second Sunday of Advent (A)

(Isaiah 11:1-10; St. Paul to the Romans 15:4-9;

St. Matthew's Gospel 3:1-12).

Advent is the season given us by Mother Church to prepare the way for Jesus' coming:  He wishes to heal our world’s suffering, and for that He needs entrance to the minds and welcome in the hearts and of men and women everywhere, even, and especially, the hearts and minds of every single Catholic and Christian; for no one is holy before the Lord, and pseudo-religiosity is among the world’s deepest and most painful sores.  Let each of us, therefore, try to open our minds and hearts to Him at this our Sunday gathering and pray that His Spirit may rule in us, our families, our society and our world.

In our first reading from the prophet Isaiah we heard some words which are frequently imitated today by people of all persuasions:

            They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.

Many, indeed, are those who, when speaking of themselves, use such expressions as, "I harm no one, I hurt nothing", thereby witnessing to and justifying their own life styles.  If we try to take their words in the kindest way and on the worldwide scale, we can see what our modern society is claiming, for there seems to be no doubt that our world is, as a whole, improving.  This would seem to be evidence of moral progress: with human beings, and even animals and the environment, beginning to be afforded more respect.

In the past, kings, emperors, and rulers have waged dreadful, slaughter-full, wars, often enough for merely personal pride and national advantage.  At other times, when floods came and crops failed, thousands, even millions died, and nothing was done by the rest of mankind.  You might say that was because others did not know what was happening, but that is far from the whole truth, because even in recent times the potato famine in Ireland, for example, was known and more or less politically ignored, while the world-wide slave trade was blatantly practiced and protected for profit and power.  Today, however, the nations of the world are regularly urged, and frequently consent, to join together in providing help where and when needed.  Children are no longer used for cheap labour with such impunity as was formerly the case, and the equality of women is more widely recognized and accepted.  In modern societies the poor are supported; the disabled are beginning to be integrated more, and the mentally incapable are subjects to be cared for, not nuisances to be buried in oblivion or otherwise disposed of.   In all such respects our world seems, indeed, to be much improved, and these advances are frequently considered to be the result of purely human endeavour by those who think that to do no hurt, no harm, or even better, to do good all around, is the panacea for our world's needs and the surest guide to human fulfilment.

However, there are other, disturbing, indications, which seem to contradict such a rosy picture.  Never in history have there been such murderously successful leaders as Hitler the racist, Lenin the ideologist, and Stalin the opportunist tyrant, to say nothing of the Far Eastern demagogue, Chairman Mao, and petty African tyrants.  Closer to home and in days of peace, politics and politicians are suspect, being openly mistrusted by large swathes of the population; terrorism is not only practiced but also openly justified, while money is worshipped and thuggery practiced by drug barons and their minions who ruin more lives world-wide than even Hitler or Stalin were able to kill.  Corruption and venality are everywhere to be found infecting iconic sporting events, while terrorism and rogue states such as North Korea, Burma, Iran and Somalia are constantly in media headlines.

Such considerations should lead us to think that perhaps our world’s apparent moral progress is not the same thing as real spiritual progress; and that is indeed the case, for morality is not holiness: mere morality can mask supreme pride, whereas holiness is not possible apart from fundamental humility.  The Scribes and Pharisees were most moral, despising the licentiousness and cruelty of both Roman and Hellenistic society; and yet you will remember from the Gospel reading that John the Baptist said some seemingly cruel words to the Scribes and Pharisees coming to him for baptism:

            Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

What was John targeting with such severity?  It was their racial pride, their presumed personal righteousness:

            Abraham is our father. (John 8:39)

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' (Luke 18:11-12)

What then is the Christian truth about our world's progress? 

It would seem that, to a large extent, the progress, which has been noted, is due to greater public awareness:

Then He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us.' "  (Ezek 8:12)

You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.   (Ps 90:8)

Harm and hurt are more readily done in the dark.  And so, while the light of day and the glare of public awareness can guide and promote human sympathy as they also expose and dissuade criminality, only the light of God’s grace discovers the pride and self-love which lie so often hidden in the depths of men's hearts, and which so frequently stain their most noble efforts and motivate their most abominable crimes.

Today we have instant publicity, world-wide awareness, and therein a primary reason for our apparent moral improvement; the counter indications, on the other hand, show that wide-spread within human society today there are latent forces capable of causing terrible harm and great hurt, forces which, far from being fundamentally changed by the threat of possible exposure, are -- being personal and private -- merely more cunningly disguised and more deviously promoted .

What did the prophet Isaiah say about not harming, not hurting, on God's holy mountain?  Listen:

They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Hurt and harm, destruction and death, he says, will only come to an end, as distinct from being ignored or brushed under the carpet, when mankind is filled with knowledge of the Lord, when men and women are willing to humble themselves before God and seek to direct all their intentions along the way of the Lord Jesus, for the glory of Father, and the good of their neighbour.

Our modern do-gooders, however, and those who so confidently proclaim that they do no hurt, no harm, to anyone, often enough have no intention of obeying or glorifying God in what they do: rather they believe that the good they do proclaims their own righteousness and humankind’s sufficiency without any dependence upon a God, a Faith, or a Church.

Until men and women of today come to recognize the true nature of the sin that is to be found not only in human actions but also in the human heart, there is no chance that any number of sincere endeavours will effect any real change to our world; and until it is recognized that salvation only comes with repentance, and as a gift -- from God alone, through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit -- no amount of self-justification will be able to bring peace to the heart of humankind.

We can all appreciate the peace pictured by the prophet Isaiah:

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.   The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.    They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,

But the prophet solemnly told those who heard him that One alone, the promised Messiah, could bring about that state of affairs on earth:

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.    His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.    Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.

People of God, let us recognize where we should look for salvation and fulfilment: it can only come to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Apart from Him, even in those who seem to be the best of human beings, sin is never absent, only not seen, not publicly appreciated as such; and the best works of merely human sincerity and concern have no power to promote that salvation which is human kind's supreme good and which can come only as a gracious gift from God our Father in the name of Jesus, His Son and our Saviour.   

       First Sunday of Advent (A)                

(Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:37-44)

Advent has come round once again and I would imagine that all of us here who are mature adults will be thinking how the time since last Christmas has flown.  I really should say the time from last Advent, but perhaps many of you would not remember the beginning of Advent last year, whereas you will certainly remember last Christmas: how the time has flown since then!!  People of God, I want you to think on that: how quickly the last year has passed by!   I ask you as disciples of Jesus to do this because it is so easy for people to live through their whole life and, when it comes to an end, find themselves not only surprised -- the years having passed like a dream, as the poet puts it – but also quite unprepared for what awaits them.  That is why, in God’s Providence, the Church’s liturgy has periods of preparation – Advent and Lent -- that recur annually and thereby remind us: “Look, another year has gone by!   How many more do you think you have?  You need to prepare yourself.”

Today’s readings fit wonderfully well into that purpose by reminding us of the ultimate significance of our life here on earth and how supremely important it is for us to make good use of the time at our disposal.  These readings have two main themes: first of all they evoke the joy of pilgrims going up to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifice and praise in the messianic times to come. 

Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.

We can almost feel the excitement and anticipation of those pilgrims journeying to meet Him Who, they believe, will guide them along the way of salvation.

They then tell us of the need to be truly prepared for that final, solemn, meeting with the Lord coming to judge the nations and reward His faithful servants:

Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, one will be left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.  Therefore, stay awake!  For you do not know (when) the Lord will come.

Surely such a belief, such a hope, should stir up in us -- who today are still living in a war-torn and terror-stricken world -- a like determination and confidence as that which filled the breasts of those ancient pilgrims, who walked along, exhorting each other, as we have heard, with the words:

            Come house of Jacob, (People of God), let us walk In the light of the LORD.

We are, as St. Peter said, a privileged People, for we have already, in a far truer sense than those pilgrims could ever have imagined, reached Jerusalem, the dwelling-place of the Most High, because we have the privilege of being children of Mother Church.  For, in her, the letter to the Hebrews (12:22-24) tells us:

You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.

Therefore, being so privileged, we should come -- each and every Sunday -- with even greater joy and expectation to the house of the Lord,

            (Who)  will teach us His ways, (that we may) walk in His paths.

The Jerusalem which Isaiah foresees is a figure of Mother Church since in her the faithful disciples of Jesus have already been given a share in heavenly life, and are being continually guided towards the fullness of Christian maturity.  That will enable them attain to the heavenly Jerusalem and to join the general assembly of the blessed gathered there, the Church of the righteous made perfect, as fully living members of the Body of Christ -- sons in the Son -- able to be presented to, and  stand in the presence of, the God and Father of us all.

Let us then pray that we may indeed learn the ways of the Lord and come to walk in His paths in accordance with the second theme of our readings today:

Stay awake!   For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

For, not only do we not know the day of the Lord’s coming, but we have even been warned, quite explicitly, that it will take place when we least expect it:

The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  

St. Paul, that most faithful apostle of the Lord Jesus, tells us what this means for us, and how we are to set about doing what Jesus requires of us in preparation for that meeting:

It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.

We human beings are creatures of habit: we can do something one way, and then, by repetition, allow it to become first of all a tendency for us, and then finally develop into a firmly fixed habit that we do almost instinctively.  Now, in God’s Providence, the liturgy of Mother Church each year invites, indeed, urges us, to observe Advent as preparation for the celebration of Christmas, the birth of Christ; just as she also gives us Lent to prepare for the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord.  And she does this because, without repeated observance of such seasons of preparation, we might easily drift into a habit of unthinking observance of feasts of great moment for the Spirit at work in our lives, instead of establishing a truly Christian habit of preparation that will enable us to appreciate, celebrate, and profit from, the enduring goodness of the Lord.

Consequently, People of God, I urge you to use this Advent well: try to form a habit of welcoming the Lord into your life.  We have a month in which to start a new habit, or in which to strengthen a habit we have already been trying to build up over several, perhaps many, years.  The whole point is that if we do not have a habit of recognizing, welcoming, and gratefully responding to Jesus, a habit diligently practised and firmly established over years of observing the Advent preparation for Christmas, then when He comes, unexpectedly, at the end of our days, we might find ourselves unable to welcome Him.  Be sure, People of God, one cannot live a forgetful life and then, when suddenly challenged, come out with the right response or show the right attitude.  His coming at the end will be quite unexpected, there will be no time to collect our thoughts and weigh up what should be our attitude; we will find ourselves responding instinctively, at that unprepared moment, either in accordance with the character we have carefully built up by faithful devotion over the years, or with that thoughtlessly allowed to develop over years of selfish, careless, and faithless living.  And that response will, for better or for worse, prove to be our final response and our last opportunity: a violent person, under pressure, will always react violently; a weak-willed person, under threat, will always be craven; a faithless disciple will always prove himself a hypocrite.   No wonder Jesus said:

            Blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing (right) when he comes.

Recognize yourselves, People of God: sudden trials, sudden and unexpected threats, leave us neither the time nor the ability to act in an unaccustomed manner: to be found doing the Master's will when He comes, we need to have seriously formed good habits and the right instinctive attitudes.  Advent is an opportunity given us by Mother Church to try to establish the supremely good habit of recognizing and welcoming the Lord into our lives this Christmas.  Therefore, the way we prepare during the course of this Advent could be the mirror image of our state of preparedness when He comes – suddenly -- to settle accounts with each of us personally at the end of our time of preparation and formation in Mother Church. 

In Psalm 53 we read:

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.

And, according to the Psalmist, He found none:

Every one of them has turned aside; there is none who does good, no, not one.  They do not call upon God.

That was the situation, even in Israel, before Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour, came to redeem us; and that is still the situation of many today who turn away from, reject, Jesus: they do not acknowledge God; they do not seek or call upon Him; they have not understood the probationary nature of their life experience on earth, where both the wonder of God’s creation – so beautiful with all its natural powers and sublime human potential -- and the depth of mankind’s needs seem to be so  irreconcilable for them.

So, dear People of God, use Advent to prepare to welcome Jesus fittingly: try to recognize all those occasions, both great and small, clear and only glimpsed at, where truth and beauty, goodness and love, sympathy and help, power and fragility, fear and wonder, impinge on your consciousness and invite you to respond to God somehow present there, and may your Advent character of awareness, gratitude, trust,  peace, and joy further Jesus’ Kingdom of faith, hope, and charity in your souls.