3rd Sunday of Advent Year A 2019

Third Sunday of Advent (A)

(Isaiah 35:1-6, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Advent prepares us for the celebration of our Lord’s coming on earth: as an Infant, like one of us, yet destined to reveal, and indeed make manifest, something of the most intimate Personal glory of God; and as Redeemer sent by God, come to save His chosen ones and all who learn to invoke His most holy Name.  Moreover, our celebration is not meant to be a mere fond reminiscence from the past, for it offers us an eye-piece for the future, as it were, whereby we might be able to understand, look forward to, and in some God-graced measure prepare for what is otherwise totally unprecedented in sublime majesty and solemn decisiveness for us:  His future coming as the glorious Lord and Judge of mankind.

In today’s Gospel reading John the Baptist was about to die alone in the lowest dungeon of Herod’s prison for the Truth of the God Whose only-begotten Son-made-Man would Himself also die soon, alone but lifted high on Rome’s Cross of crucifixion. 

John was in prison awaiting his executioner and he was not absolutely sure about Jesus.  The prophets, as we have just heard in our reading from the book of Isaiah, had foretold the coming of God:

Say to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He comes to save you.  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe.

John was the one chosen not only to announce the Messiah but actually to introduce Him to the people, and John was well aware of this:

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is mightier than I.   I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John had been greatly impressed by what the prophets had foretold about God’s vengeance and retribution, and he duly forewarned the people, expectantly listening to his words, that the Messiah would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire, and:

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism

he addressed them directly with words of divine truth indeed, but spoken with a vehemence that was his own, saying (Matthew 3:7-12):

You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  The One Who is coming after me is mightier than I; I am not worthy to carry His sandals.  He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. 

Such words showed something of John’s prophetic fire and fragility: for though the prophets as a whole foretold the truth of God, they never knew precisely the ‘when’, the ‘where’, or the ‘how’ their words would be fulfilled; and in that respect, even the immediate forerunner of the Lord Himself, not seeing clearly the whole plan of God, was obliged at times -- as on this occasion -- to use the veiled language of metaphors in order to express what he experienced most surely within himself and what he needed -- most urgently -- to proclaim in God’s Name to God’s People.    When therefore John -- remembering the proud and arrogant Pharisees and Sadducees sent from Jerusalem to observe, report on, and decry all the crowds of penitents that used to come to him for baptism, and more particularly to decry John himself and his work of baptising in preparation for One to Come -- his present enforced inactivity and silence did not ‘sit well’ with him at all, and, hearing nothing else but the fact that Jesus was calmly baptising by the Jordan, but, it would seem, uttering no words threatening punishment or  awesome ‘retribution’ for sinners,  let alone hearing no news of Jesus actually beginning to fulfil any such heavenly punishment, John was puzzled.  And above all now, when, as both prophet and precursor, he was actually incarcerated, being ill-used and threatened in Herod’s lowest dungeon, his human fragility showed itself, under such psychological and physical pressure, as a measure of prophetic anxiety and he needed to send disciples to urgently ask Jesus:

            Are You the One Who is to come or should we look for another?

Jesus, however, sent his disciples back with a message telling John to accept, and indeed embrace, the light which had already been afforded him:

Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.

In other words, Jesus was saying, ‘What has been given you is enough for you, for now.  God’s retribution will come in God’s good time; accept what fulfilment has already been given you and realize:

Blessed is the one who takes no offense at Me.

Great things were being asked of John, People of God.  Jesus did not declare John to be the greatest of all the children born of women without good reason: John would prove the truth of those words by persevering in faith, and dying in the peace of complete trust in God, and for so great an end and glorious fulfilment he had to be supported and encouraged by Jesus, not indulged.  Even though he could not see or understand all that he would have liked to have seen and understood, nevertheless, he knew full well that God is beyond all human comprehension, giving light enough to guide our footsteps surely and bestowing grace sufficient to keep us safe along His ways so that we can be free from all solicitude about self and thus able to open up our hearts and minds in total commitment to Him in return.  Now, there can  be no such gift of self-dedication where comprehensive foreknowledge of the outcome is wanted, expected, or required.  John was offered sufficient light; and, when asked to back it up with all his love, he did not turn back, but was willing and able to enter into the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil.  Trusting in the word of the Lord and in the faithfulness of the God of his fathers, he was allowed to foreshadow with sublime fidelity Our Blessed Lord’s own end:

“Father, into your hands I commend My spirit”; and when He had said this, He breathed His last.  (Luke 23:46)

Jesus admired and loved John:

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?    Someone dressed in fine clothing?  Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

Note carefully here, People of God, that Our Lord’s words about John concern Mother Church also, and as such are addressed to all who, along with us today, will and do take the trouble to go out and seek for God’s truth: who are prepared to set aside worldly pre-occupations at times in order to look more closely for the God and Saviour Who promises eternal life to all who will open when He knocks on the door of their spiritual awareness.

Yes, John was indeed a prophet, he was the greatest, and in that respect he is so intimately one with, like to, our Mother Church, which is the consummation, not only of all the prophets, but of all the teaching, laws, and worship of the Old Testament Revelation.

What did you go out – out of your warm and comfy homes – for; why did you disturb your pleasant rest, leave your happy gatherings, interrupt your holidays, and the like?  Why did you go to Church?  To find a reed swaying in the breeze?  That is, a Church whose teaching changes in accordance with every contemporary doctrine of supposed science, with every whim of popular conceit, and with every plaint of human self-love and solicitude?   A nice Church, perhaps even a very nice Church, which says you can believe and do what you want so long as you have a sizeable number of people thinking along the same lines as you?

NO?  Then what have you gone out and come to Church for today?  To find someone wearing fine clothes?  That is, a Church providing a splendid liturgy, with all due pomp and pride, but not teaching, proclaiming, any troublesome doctrine.

NO?  Then what do you go out of your homes each Sunday and come to Church for?  To see a prophet?  Yes, and much more than a prophet.   You have come to the Church which is our true Mother and which dares to proclaim to us the saving truth of God whether it meets with popular approval or not.   Indeed, you have come to Jesus Christ Himself, Who promised to be with His Church to the end of time; and this Church, the Catholic and universal Church, by His gift our Mother, is the only place where He has promised so to be.

This theme of ‘going out’, looking for a prophet who proclaims divine truth, this awaiting, searching, longing, for the Messiah to bestow on us personally the Salvation He brings for all, is the whole theme of Advent.  Blessed are you who have allowed yourselves to be moved by such a desire today. 

Our Christmas celebration of Jesus’ coming to us as Saviour has always held a unique attraction for us!  What humble peace, simple joy, and deep human fulfilment, have always emanated from that Holy Family bound together by unbreakable bonds of mutual love and reverence, and cherishing in its embrace the Child of divine promise and most sublime expectations!  All that now serves, as I said, as our eye-glass for appreciating and preparing for what we can hope to find when He comes again, this time in divine glory and as Judge to reward the faithful and condemn the sin of the world.  It will be most awesome and far in excess of our imaginings, expectations, or anticipations, and that is why we were given the experience and example of John the Baptist today: for, though our weakness will be tested, our faith must not be shaken, for our hopes will not be disappointed, as Isaiah said:

(You) will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.  Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He come to save you!

Dear People of God, as we look around us today, Christmas has become what has been long threatening, Xmas.   I pods and tablets, televisions and computers, technology of all sorts, are being constantly produced and promoted, sold and sought after … and all are worthy of praise for their testimony to mankind’s ability to overcome, master, use and administer the world in all its complexity and wonder.  But, without the gifts that only Jesus Himself brings, they make up what is but a soulless celebration of human wit without wisdom, fullness without fulfilment.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day, the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw.  But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.  (Malachi 4:1–2 NLT)

Both aspects of Christmas are there; John the Baptist is there and Jesus is there. Indeed, all aspects of Christmas are there, for I love to see what I regard as a delightful reference (metaphoric, of course) to our own, very human, spirit of Christmas rejoicing, in those final words:

 And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture!!

2nd Sunday of Advent A 2019

2^nd Sunday of Advent (A)

(Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12)

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.

Those words from the prophet Isaiah are very moving because they promise what is idyllic.  But what is that promise based on?  Let us listen to him again:

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.  

That idyllic prospect was opened up for mankind because Isaiah foretold of a Saviour to come among us, One from and among us.  And yet, He Jesus, the Son of God made Man, was not acknowledged by the Chosen People of God, and so His coming could not possibly work any change for those who, in fact, rejected Him; He could only work a change for people if He was allowed, first of all, to make a change in them.  That is why we heard the prophet go on to say in the name of the Lord:

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, for the Gentiles shall seek the Root of Jesse.

God’s Kingdom of glorious peace will come when the earth, that is, all mankind on earth, is full of the knowledge of the Lord: not knowledge about the Lord, but knowledge of the Lord, the Root of Jesse.  Such knowledge is given only to those who seek and persevere in seeking not only for what might be called ‘a working relationship’ of acknowledgement and obedience but also an intimately P/personal relationship of total commitment based on our faith-desire – knowing Him proclaimed to us by Mother Church we desire to love Him whole-heartedly -- and on His infinite goodness and mercy, because all such P/personal knowledge is the result of God’s gracious G/gift (sic), not the result of human endeavour or skill.

In that way knowledge and fear (awesome reverence, respect) of the Lord work in man the changes that enables the promised Lord and Saviour to bring to fulfilment for man the idyllic promise foretold by Isaiah.

In our present-day, post Christian and proudly anti-Christian world, those words of Isaiah they shall not hurt nor destroy are not understood to be the fruit of faith commitment as intended by the Prophet but exclusively as part of an earthly work to be taken in hand by the state-controlled social services, and there are many individuals who want to share in that ‘doing good’.  But the promised Saviour could only serve men who had recognized and accepted Him; as I have said, He could only work a change for people if He was allowed, first of all, to make a change in them.  And there we have the tragedy of modern God-less, pseudo, holiness: modern ‘spirituality’ rejects all supposedly divisive and discriminatory attitudes in its exclusively earth-bound views, even Creations’ distinction between man and woman is denied as far as is actually, physically and psychologically, possible; good and evil are now understood only as legalistic terminology, ‘good’ being what is socially acceptable and legally approved, ‘evil’ is not indeed admissible as a word, and its alternatives ‘bad, wrong’ are considered to be such only on the basis of man’s legal, decree.  There is nothing of a supposed ‘God’ that is active above and beyond mere man.

Jesus Himself had opponents who thought themselves, and were regarded by the Jewish People of God, as ‘holy’ in the God-accepting and God-worshipping sense, but in their human pride they had become skilled at deceiving the people and putting God’s decrees aside for the sake of their own particular traditions, and it was when speaking to those proud Pharisees of His time, men who were jealous of His manifest teaching authority and miraculous powers, that Jesus said with the utmost clarity and decisiveness:

            You who are evil know how to give good things to your children ... (Luke 11:13)

In other words, mankind – whether rejecting God’s authority or denying His very being -- is thereby, despite the ‘good works’ they may seem to do, rendered evil, ontologically evil as being cut off from God’s life which is the only authentic life of HOLINESS.  Put more simply, dirty water though poured out both generously and abundantly is still dirty water.  Our God-rejecting, supposedly good men and women on this earth are only good in human estimation; for, in so far as they reject God’s rule in their lives, they are left subject to the supernatural power of the devil, whose deceits lead them to doing whatever -- under his guidance and impulse -- they may ‘fancy’ in their private lives: abortions (for very good reasons, of course), corruption (riches made easy), revenge, hatred (socially acceptable, even obligatory, at the top level of many cultures), sexual extravaganzas of all sorts, and subject above all to the Devil’s supreme weapon, spiritual Pride, in their publicly apparent and much-appreciated  ‘good’ works.

Bearing these things in mind we should, therefore, not be too surprised when -- on turning to the Gospel passage from St. Matthew -- we heard John the Baptist say to certain Pharisees and Sadducees coming to observe his ministering of baptism to very numerous penitents coming to him on Jordan’s banks:

            Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

What could have brought the Pharisees and Sadducees together?  Little that promised good for John the Baptist, certainly.  The Pharisees, the ‘separate ones’ as their name proclaims, lived their lives according to rules derived from their own reading of the Jewish Scriptures, understood and made regulatory in accordance with their own Pharisaic oral traditions.  They prided themselves on the minute accuracy of their rules and were much admired by the ordinary people for their rigorous application of those rules.   The Sadducees, on the other hand, were traditional priests of the Temple; they were social aristocrats who did not accept the ‘modern’ scriptural understanding nor the unscriptural oral traditions of the Pharisees, neither did they like the fact that the common people were much impressed by the obvious – often begging-to-be-noticed – Pharisaic ‘holiness’ of their ascetic practices.  What therefore enabled such naturally opposed factions to unite on this occasion?   Surely, only the fact that both regarded John the Baptist with common antipathy!

“Brood of vipers”, indeed, because both were fixed in their ways, and intensely proud and protective of their own chosen positions of power and privilege.

John was not totally dismissive of them but warning them against their Abrahamic, human, pride – ‘We have Abraham as our father’ – and pointing to those coming in crowds for his baptism of repentance he said:

            God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Nevertheless, being mindful of both God’s goodness as well as His power, he urged them to prove themselves true sons of Abraham by:

            Bearing fruits worthy of repentance.

As St. Luke tells us, he gave examples of what he meant by those words:

“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”  To the tax collectors he said, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”  Likewise, to the soldiers he said, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Such were the works immediately accessible to anyone truly wanting and willing to ‘repent’ as St. Matthew tells us John’s initial proclamation required:

John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  For this is He who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”

However, the coming of God’s Kingdom as long foretold by the prophet Isaiah, and then witnessed to by one greater than all  those born of woman, the Saviour’s immediate forerunner John the Baptist -- -- and brought into being by the life, death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Himself, is not something that can be furthered by merely human endeavour, learning, or skill, for it cannot be acquired, neither can it be won, or deserved; it can only be gratefully received, after having been freely given by God Himself to and through those filled with knowledge of the Personal goodness of the Giver, the Lord Whom they have long lovingly, diligently, and humbly sought at all times, under all circumstances, and above all else.

Today’s reading from the Book of Psalms makes perfectly clear that God is the First and the Last, and will ultimately be shown and known to be All in all, when it tells us:

He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper.   He will spare the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy.

His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun.  And men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.

Dear People of God, the Advent proclamation of Mother Church is one of indescribable Beauty and most solemn and saving Truth; our modern, tawdry social Yuletide celebrations will have little that is authentic in them, for Christmas speaks only to those who are expecting and hoping for Jesus to come for them and make a change in them; a Jesus rewarding their faith-desire with an ever-deeper awareness and knowledge of Himself, inflaming their personal and total commitment to His love and to the ever- greater glory of His most holy Name.  Jesus alone is our Light of Truth, our Food of Life; He alone is our most-glorious and long-promised, long-awaited, and most ardently prayed-for Saviour; without -- apart from -- Him ‘good works’ are not truly good, and the authentic Christmas celebration of life both earthly and heavenly is non-existent.

                                                                                  

1st Sunday of Advent Year A 2019

1st. Sunday of Advent (A)

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

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our Gospel reading is indeed suited to the Advent season of anticipation and expectation, but there Jesus is anticipating something much more solemn than the subject of our traditional Christmas celebration: preparations for which are usually centred on choosing gifts, arranging festive gatherings of family and friends, and planning meals of more pleasing, ample, and diverse character than those for normal daily sustenance.

Note this, dear People of God, that our three readings today – from the prophet Isaiah, St. Paul, and the Gospel of St. Matthew, are comprehensive in the fulness of their Christian anticipation:

Isaiah spoke of the initial awareness of Christ’s coming, and the desirability, the need, to seek out and learn from, His saving teaching:

Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may instruct us in His ways, for from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;

then we heard St. Paul in his letter to the Romans telling the Christians of Rome -- the capital of the Empire and the world’s sin -- to bear adult witness to, to ‘put on’, Christ:

Salvation is nearer than when we first believed, let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ;    

and finally, Our Blessed Lord Himself in our Gospel reading went yet further exhorting His disciples to persevere to the very end, to the ultimate climax of human life and Christian hope and expectation:

Stand erect and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man coming with power and great glory.

Dear People of God, let us, as children, always be ready and eager to learn about Jesus our Friend; let us, as committed disciples witness to and fight with Christ Jesus, our  Guide and Protector, against sin in us and in our world; and let us pray that, at the end, we – as those who have long loved Him -- may have unshakeable confidence and trust in Jesus the Lord and Judge of all mankind and the Saviour of all His true disciples.

During Advent, traditional Catholics preparing to celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus in Bethlehem, commonly try to cast their thoughts back nearly 2000 years while rejoicing whole-heartedly in their present-day awareness and experience of the joys and blessings 2000 years of Christian faith and fulfilment have brought to the world and their own personal and family lives.  As modern Christians however, up to date indeed as regards worldly things demanding their attention, they are not necessarily up to standard for the appropriate expression of the fullness of authentic Catholic appreciation, worship, and love of God.  They do rightly want to teach their children about Jesus and to give God heartfelt thanks for the coming among us of His Son, born of the Immaculate Virgin Mary of Nazareth for our salvation; however, they tend to think only of going back to the shepherds, the angels, the crib, and the Magi, all long cherished and well remembered.

A closely related and like fault can to be seen frequently with indulgent grand-parents: they love their grandchildren and want to make and to see them happy, and so they often lower themselves down to a childish level of behaviour for immediate companionship and joy; too rarely do they seek to raise the children up -- even very gently -- towards more adult appreciations.  To try to lift up the mind of a child can be a risky business many prefer not to take; they find it so much easier for themselves to behave as a child with the children, winning immediate and joyful laughter all round and -- as a very acceptable bonus -- they get praise from all who are watching and admiring their easy rapport with their grandchildren!

Now that is what happens not only at home and in the family but also with the overall Catholic and Christian use of the Advent preparation: ‘just delight in the Infant Child, with spontaneous childish delight which delights parents as well; don’t spoil it by trying to somehow include a thought about something more serious and demanding, least of all any thoughts of Second and final Coming.  After all, Advent is not Lent!

That of course is very true, Advent is not Lent.  Nevertheless, Advent does bear a marked likeness to Lent in so far as both are times of expectation, preparing for an ever-more intimate sharing with Jesus in our appreciation of and co-operation with His work of salvation; and Advent, preparing to celebrate the very beginning of Christianity, also looks forward to all that is Christian, which means that it is the most comprehensively anticipatory, expectant, of all the liturgical seasons, as Mother Church’s choice of readings for today shows.   Indeed, Advent would tell us most insistently that Christianity is, essentially, a faith that is ever looking-forward in anticipation, and with humble, joyful expectation, to all the ever-greater blessings and glory Jesus has promised that God, His Father, is preparing for us as His prospective adopted sons and daughters.

ADVENT EXPECTATION calls for adults to encourage and teach their children how to find and express joy in the first coming of Jesus as a child of Mary and as their special Friend and also to help them begin to learn and express love for Jesus, come to be with them as their constant Guide and sure Protector.   And that initial, glowing, love for Jesus should itself then be gently sign-posted – yes, by parents and grand-parents! -- for later awareness of Him as Lord and Saviour over the years of deepening human maturity leading to full-blown Catholic commitment and Christian witness to Jesus Christ, Son of God made Son of Man for our salvation.

And those adult years of Christian maturity ---  years of loving service through suffering and joy, years of witness to well-known and understood faith and to truths of faith known only partially though promised a most glorious fulfilment --- those years of full discipleship,  enable the Spirit of God to bring to the mind for such disciples thoughts,  considerations, and even a measure of EXPECTATION of the Second, most public and indeed Universal, Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  When?  We do not know, but we do know with certitude that we ourselves will experience an authentic foretaste of that Cosmic Coming at the moment of our own death to the world and all that passes:  a moment, the occasion, of our entry into the eternity of God’s infinite mercy, Jesus’ saving sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit’s life-giving embrace of love, or else of the dread doom of reckoning and retribution for those who deliberately rejected or ignored the Father’s will to save, and so crucified the Saviour He actually sent to live with and die for us.

As it was in the days of Noah so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken and 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 on which day your Lord will come.  Be sure of this: you must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

Jesus used ‘Son of Man’ when speaking of Himself as endowed with a most solemn and sublime mission, whereas ‘your Lord’ is much more personal and intimate, and I think we can legitimately see there the motive for Catholic adults’ adult celebration of Christmas harmonizing so well with the celebrations they share with their children.  The children’s joyful welcoming of Jesus is, as it were, the first flowering of their family’s Catholic faith; the parents’ own humble awareness and hopeful expectation of Jesus’ constantly renewed coming into their own hearts and minds are more mature and more beautiful blossoms of the same Catholic and Christmas faith. However, the Second and universally public Coming-of-the-Son-of-Man, will herald the ultimate fulfilment of all their hopes and aspirations, which, having arisen from Jesus’ saving Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, now evoke the utmost love and glory for His Most Holy Name that saved mankind can offer.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Advent is meant to help both parents and children prepare more fully for truly Catholic-and-Christian Christmas joy!  Advent invites and urges us all to become more truly children of God; let us, therefore, close our present considerations by recalling today’s Alleluia antiphon:

                Show us Lord Your love; and grant us Your salvation!

               

Christ the King Year C 2019

CHRIST THE KING (C)

(2 Sam 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43)

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There was a time when Jesus asked His disciples what people were thinking about Him:

Who do men say that I am?

They answered Him saying that people thought Him to be one of the former prophets back on earth.  Shortly afterwards, however, at His crucifixion, there was, as we heard in the Gospel reading, a public proclamation, made by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, representative of the Roman Emperor and sole custodian of  executive political and military power in the land, a statement intended to ‘hit back’ at the Jewish Sanhedrin leaders and Temple authorities – such experts at political chicanery and religious hypocrisy – a  declaration for all ordinary Jews and visiting pilgrims  to read, concerning the identity of Jesus:

An inscription was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

The distinguishing mark for membership of the Jewish nation was, of course, circumcision, or so the Jews of Jesus’ time thought; St. Paul, however, most insistently tells us (Philippians 3:3) that circumcision of the flesh is not the true circumcision:

We (Christians) are the (true) circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Traditional Jewry, showed the failure of their fleshly, racial, circumcision by their rejection of Jesus, their God-sent Messiah and religious King.   Do modern-day Christians then, who are of the true circumcision as St. Paul assures us, recognize Jesus as their King?

Jesus knew Himself to be a King, of that there is no doubt:

Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" So, Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." (Matthew 27:11)

But there is some doubt today – among ever-so-modern and worldly-sensitive believers -- about whether or not He is really their King; indeed, do all of us practicing Catholics and sincere Christians fully accept Him as our King?

What does that word “King” mean for people these days?  Catholics and Christians have traditionally used the same word as was used in Jesus’ times, but have those who like to consider themselves as sensible, up to date, believers got the meaning of that word right?  Are they aware of, and even more important, are they willing to accept in their lives, the full meaning of “King” when, in today’s celebration and Creed we say “Jesus is our King”?

Well, we are all aware, of the splendour and power of kings, and Jesus yields to no one in that regard; listen to St. Paul telling us of Jesus’ power and splendour (Colossians 1:15-17):

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him; He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

We traditional Catholics can indeed be proud of, can glory in, Jesus our King; no earthly king could ever compare with Him.  On that account, we certainly are proud to claim that “Jesus is OUR King”.

Continuing with this examination of the meaning of the word “King” we recognize in it not only power and majesty, but also authority … for there is no doubt that a king has always been thought to have authority over his subjects.  Do we now want to proclaim so loudly that Jesus is King over us individually?  Do we -- who so readily and enthusiastically recognize His splendour and glory, His wisdom and might – accept, with similar enthusiasm, that He has authority over us and over the way we live our lives?  Many claim to be believers -- thereby acclaiming Christ as their King -- but do they, in fact, want to bask only in His reflected glory, without considering themselves in any significant way subject to His authority?  Many so-called believers seem rather to be prepared to accept Jesus as king in the style of our own democratic monarchy: with plenty of most admirable pomp and circumstance and, indeed, not without popular support and respect, but without any real, autonomous power, or spiritual authority.  

However, that is not the style of kingship recognized in the Bible, such was not the leader that the people of Israel wanted; their king had to have authority:

The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

And in the very beginning, at the birth of the People of God, the leaders, Moses and Joshua were not called kings, but their authority was, nevertheless, very real:

All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death.

The people of Israel said: “Wherever you send us we will go.”  ‘Wherever’ meant ‘wherever on the way to the Promised Land’, for that was what had been promised them, the Promised Land, their true homeland and ultimate resting place: wherever you command us to go as we journey towards that Promised Land we will go.

Today, however, there are so-called Christians who have no desire, let alone hunger, for the heavenly destiny offered to all who commit themselves, through faith in Jesus Christ, to the Father’s plan of salvation; they seem to have lost their longing for a promised land because passing pleasures in the desert of this present world have distracted their minds and seduced their hearts.

In ancient Israel some tribes had entered the land Promised to their forebears and into their own personal inheritance before crossing the Jordan, but they were not allowed to rest on their territory, with their families, cultivating their land and gathering their crops … no, they must cross over with all their brethren and fight with them until they too could enter into their inheritance promised by the Lord, the God of Israel.

Today, far too many Christians want to settle for what they have got now, they want to taste to the full the seemingly endless pleasures this world seems to offer them, or else they have weighed themselves down with cares that blind them and leave them without hope in their lives.  Such disciples are not necessarily against the glory and the splendour of a King they can understand and rejoice in: one appreciated and praised by all for his goodness and wisdom, his humility and sympathy in His dealings with the underprivileged of his time; indeed, many of them would accept a King who, as heavenly Lord, is able to give them spiritual comfort and joy as they participate in the holy atmosphere and liturgical splendour of His Church.  What they cannot accept, however, is One Who has everyday and immediate authority whereby He might refuse to let them rest in, or even just ‘try-out’ at times, the pleasures and plenty of earthly possessions and passions, just as the Israelites of old were not allowed to rest on the wrong side of the Jordan.  But most of all it would seem, they cannot, will not, accept as King Him Who has us pray:

            Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us!

Joshua (another form of the name Jesus) had been told by the people, ‘may the Lord be with you; only be strong and courageous’; that is, given that the Lord our God is with you, and you show yourself strong and courageous, we will follow you through whatever trials which lead into the Promised Land.  Was Jesus strong and courageous in His life and in His death?  Was the Lord, His Father, with Him in His Resurrection?  Indeed, Jesus was all that could be wanted of a leader of God’s People; and yet, despite all that, for so many modern ‘religious-minded believers’ the obedience due to the authority of Christ the King is withheld and has become the litmus test for true discipleship.

            And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. (John 12:32)

When lifted up on the Cross Jesus will draw all those whom the Father gives to Himself.  The obedience of the Cross is indeed the criterion for distinguishing true disciples, those whom the Father has called, from those who have come to Jesus, not in obedience to the Father’s call, but out of other motives -- apparently so admirable at times – but, for all that, diabolically unwilling to yield obedience to Christ as King.

People of God, Jesus is our King, and we are most proud to give true and total obedience to His kingly authority in our lives because we want to share in the splendour and beauty, power and glory, of His Kingdom.  The opportunity is there for us; the promise has been made to us; we are already equipped for the journey and indeed, we already have a beginning of its fulfilment: for today’s rejoicing in our King should give us some faint inkling of the blessed glory and glorious bliss that is to come. 

            Thy will be done that Thy Kingdom may come, Lord Jesus.

33rd Sunday Year C 2019

33^rd. Sunday of Year (C)

(Malachi 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Saint Luke’s Gospel 21:5-19)

After forewarning His disciples of the trials and persecutions which lay ahead of them and would bring them to the same end as He Himself was soon to suffer, Jesus said:

            That will be your opportunity to bear witness.

That is, the whole wretched process of misunderstanding, rejection, betrayal, persecution, arrest and trial, would not be simply the result of blind chance, nor even, ultimately, the outcome of human perverseness or hatred.  No, threatening clouds would assemble over the heads of the disciples with God’s permission, indeed, as part of His plan for them, that will be your opportunity to bear witness.

The word ‘opportunity’ has special connotations which are most important for our thoughts on Our Lord’s meaning, because an ‘opportunity’ has to be grasped surely, must not to be missed, let slip; an opportunity is something to be welcomed and indeed be most grateful for.

Corresponding to the severity of the threat in which the disciples might find themselves would be the measure of God’s grace available to them: as the swelling waters of violence and hatred appear on every hand and mount up against them, that is when their opportunity will also be at hand, an opportunity to bear witness lifted up on the wings of God’s own wisdom, for they will not only be helped to defend the Good News of their proclamation, but Jesus Himself will, through their words, demonstrate the Gospel’s truth and power:

I Myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.

That this glorious outcome might take place the disciples must learn to forget themselves and trust completely in the Lord:

            Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence.

They must commit themselves entirely to the Spirit of God in the Church Who will give them – in a manner of His own choosing and perhaps imperceptible to themselves at the time – the necessary eloquence to utter His wisdom, despite their personal inadequacy or feelings of natural anxiety.

This belief and appreciation, that Christ is ever with His Church and, through His Spirit given to and through her, seeks to guide all her children -- living members  of His Body -- in their and her need, as indeed He is seeking to guide us personally here and now, for God’s purposes – that is an essential part of Christian self-awareness and Catholic strength, BUT it is also something not to be presumed, imitated, ‘put-on’ like show people; rather is it something to be most humbly desired, and lovingly prayed for.

In the world of classical music, it is supremely desirable for a singer to be able to sing the words and music he or she is performing ‘from the heart’, that is, without the direct supervision of mental scrutiny.

Of course, that ready, disciplined, ‘heart’ needs to have been previously formed with careful attention to the vocal techniques required, to a deeply sensitive understanding and expression of the emotions evoked by the words and music, and indeed it needs to  have an appropriate observance of current life in society and even a sharp awareness of the concert-hall atmosphere itself.  All that however, once the performance is about to begin, must be put aside, ‘forgotten’, in order that the performance might be a ‘living and heart-felt experience’ thanks to the unmistakable beauty and truth of ‘artless’ (!) spontaneity.

Now, the witness of Christians and Catholics to Christ is something of that nature.  It is not, ultimately, a matter of expressing a merely human appreciation of and response to, Jesus the Christ, and to His Church’s proclamation of His Gospel.  It is rather a matter of baring (sic) a loving and obedient relationship between disciple and Lord, between (our) God and (my) Saviour.  And the bearing (sic) of such witness is not for anybody to presume for themselves, it is promised in our Gospel reading only to those disciples who had been with Jesus throughout His public ministry and who were prepared to suffer, with Him and for Him.  That means for us today, that one can only hope to fully trust in, rely on, the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, on the basis of a whole-hearted conversion to Christ, a life of faith not to be measured in years necessarily, but in sincerity and commitment lived with Him according to His discipline in joy and peace.

In the Old Testament we are told that the Lord had wanted Moses to go and speak not only to the People of Israel enslaved in Egypt but even to Pharaoh, the autocratic King of Egypt himself, with a message from the Lord:

But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent.  I am slow of speech and of tongue’.

Moses was painfully aware – from previous experience it would seem – of his inability to express himself with ease and fluency, and he was afraid that he might make a fool of himself before the mighty ruler of Egypt and prove to be an embarrassment for the People of Israel, and above all, that he might fail the Lord Himself most miserably.  Nevertheless, the Lord said to him:

Who has made man’s mouth?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now, therefore, go, and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.   (Exodus 4:10ff.)

Moses’ ‘opportunity’ was to be given him despite his fears, and the Holy Spirit did enable him to do what was above him for the glory of Israel’s God and the saving of His people.

Our Blessed Lord Himself, soon after having spoken to His disciples about their coming opportunity to bear witness, Himself had such an ‘opportunity’, something which, despite the accompanying circumstances of betrayal and hateful hypocrisy, He did indeed embrace whole-heartedly from His Father:

If you loved Me you would rejoice that I am going to the Father ... The ruler of the world is coming.  He has no power over Me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded Me.  Get up, let us go!  (John 14: 28-31)

Thus, He left the warmth of the Last Supper to go to Gethsemane with His faithful disciples in order to grasp His own ‘opportunity’, to meet up with and face down His enemies, Judas Iscariot and the Temple police.

People of God, opportunities will come our way  and only when we have experienced and humbly accepted our own measure of helplessness and personal nothingness, only when we are dead to self-glory and truly seeking God’s will, can we and should we most confidently hope for and trust in God’s supplying grace to grasp such moments of special grace. 

Throughout the Christian life there is a most delicate balance between a God-graced mistrust of personal pride, and a like confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, and the true, exemplary, source of a life-sustaining and life-promoting balance is to be seen in Our Lord and Saviour and He assumed our lowliness in order that He might bestow on us a share in His Own divine prerogatives.

Dear People of God, we are now living in persecution times when Christians are suffering all over our world from radical fanatics, mocking unbelievers, and those whose lives are dedicated to seeking pleasure and power ‘a plenty’ or, at least, wherever they can be found.  In such times ‘opportunities’ – which can appear unexpectedly and are gone if not seized -- abound for all Christians.  We may miss some, but let us remember with holy fear that among those whom Jesus said He will deny before His Father and the angels are those who ‘are ashamed of My words before men’, those that is who never see any opportunities for them to personally witness to the Faith and Our Lord.

For all of us,  however, there is one ultimate and supreme ‘opportunity’, the moment of our death.  May we all make good use of that opportunity to give thanks to God the Father, bear loving witness to Jesus, the Son of Man and our dear Lord and Saviour, and invoke the Holy Spirit of love and truth for sincerity and peace in our final moments.

As we proceed in this Mass, therefore, let us beseech Our Lord that in Him we might share His death to the flesh and participate in His Risen Life by the Spirit. Let us receive the pledge of eternal life which He has left to us, His own must precious Body and Blood, with hearts truly humbled and contrite in the acknowledgement of our own sinfulness and poverty, and thereby sincerely opened up to, and ever more desirous of, the infusion of His most Holy Spirit into our lives, for His greater glory and our ever-greater proximity to, understanding of, and love for, the Father in Christ Jesus Our Lord.