Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year C) 2012

^Fourth 

 Sunday of Advent (C)

(Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-44)

It has been noted from very early times in the Church that whereas the child John the Baptist -- still in the womb of his mother Elizabeth -- ‘leapt for joy’ at the  proximity of Jesus, Elizabeth responded to the presence of Mary:

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.   And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?   For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” 

There is no question that Elizabeth appreciated that the Infant being carried by Mary (the mother of my Lord) was indeed the Lord God of Israel:

And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord -- who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled -- should come to me? 

Why then did not Elizabeth, together with her as yet unborn son, rejoice at the proximity of ‘her Lord’ rather than at the presence of Mary?

As of old, some Protestants may, still today, feel their ‘traditional’ jealousy for the honour of Jesus which had been foreshadowed by Joshua’s passionate reaction to what he feared was the demeaning of his master Moses (Numbers 11:27-29): 

When a young man told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp,” Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, “Moses, my lord, stop them.” But Moses answered him, “Are you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!   Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!”   

Such a reaction by Joshua and such rigidly protestant sentiments, however, were and are far too narrow for the whole-hearted love of God, and far too shallow for the depth of His wisdom; since we should recognize immediately that it was under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit of Jesus that Elisabeth addressed herself to Mary, so that together with her son, the proclaimer and precursor of Jesus, they  might show Catholics and Christians of all times how, fittingly and without fear, to welcome God’s good news of great joy for all people(s).  

Mary was and is immaculate; the handmaid of the Lord Who had done great things for her.  All that she has is of His great goodness and mercy; so that those well-known words of Jesus:

            What God has joined together, let no man separate

are supremely significant in her regard.  God the Father Himself, by His Spirit, joined Mary to Jesus through her physicality and by her faith; thus, she is, always and irrevocably, one with, and totally committed to, her Son.   And that no jealousy should ever, or in any way, try to separate them is the most important truth Elizabeth and her unborn son would proclaim and teach to all willing to listen and learn for love of Jesus.

St. Augustine puts it most succinctly when he writes that Mary conceived Jesus in her heart by faith before she conceived Him physically in her womb; words which are an echo of the teaching of Jesus Himself (Luke 11:27-28):

A woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”   He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” 

In our account of the Visitation, Mary is shown as a figure, a foreshadowing, of the Church.  She is, by Jesus’ gift, our heavenly mother; the Church is our mother on earth.  For, as Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Church herself gives birth to disciples of Jesus, born from her womb -- the baptismal font -- by the power of the Holy Spirit bestowed on her by Jesus. Mary is praised in Scripture as she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled, while Mother Church ‘unfailingly adheres to the faith … delivered once for all to the saints’.  We should recognize this mystery of oneness between Jesus, Mary, and the Church, and learn from Elizabeth and John’s individually distinct reactions to Mary’s Visitation how best to welcome and appreciate God’s Good News: by reverencing Mary and the Church she foreshadowed and by devoting oneself to Jesus, carried on the bosom and in the heart of the Church, commissioned by Him uniquely to proclaim the fullness of His truth and dispense His saving grace.

So vitally important is this oneness of Jesus, Mary, and the Church, that the conflict over its validity is most crucial; on the one hand, it is the devil himself who is most deeply committed to the separation of what God has thus joined, while,  on the other, Jesus explicitly promised that to the end of time He would be with His Church to defend her against all the Devil’s attempts to destroy her.  And to associate her with Himself in this most vital combat He has given His own most Holy Spirit in fullness to His Church, to guide her into all truth, and with His own most precious Body and Blood does He continuously nourish her growth and deepen her love.  When His disciples gather together as Church, Jesus is infallibly in their midst leading their worship of the Father; and, in their individual lives, He has promised, that by the Spirit He will abide with His Father in the souls of all who love Him and will to obey Him,

Just as we heard in the second reading that:

When Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.  Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God’”

so now, in heaven at the right hand of the Father, He still uses a body to continue His Father’s work on earth, not a fleshly one (which is in heavenly glory) but a mystical body: His Church on earth, of which He is the Head and which He continually nourishes and feeds by His sacramental body, the Holy Eucharist.

No errant thinking resulting from human ignorance or devilish pride, no burrowing, nagging, human fears so prevalent these days, must ever separate what God has joined together.  Human beings, even those most highly placed in the Church, are ever weak, and, each in their own degree, personal sinners.   Indeed, even those recognized as saintly or acclaimed as Saints may at times manifest such human weaknesses, such personal failings and occasional sins.  But the Church is greater, far greater, than any of her individual members; even Mary is in the Church, as a uniquely glorious member indeed, yet not above her;  how much more, then, is the Church greater than any other individual or groups of individuals.  At times she suffers from, but is never to be condemned by, the lucubrations of proud scholars; nor can she be judged by the sinful behaviour of some -- always too many -- supposedly holy priests or religious.  Even when there are circumstances in which we must necessarily grieve with and for her, still must we ever reverence Mother Church, given to us for our salvation by the Lord Who is and ever abides her Master and ours: He uses her uniquely to guide us and bless us; He even uses her inherent weaknesses and human sinfulness for our warning and salutary punishment.   However, He never allows her to be led herself, or to lead us her God-given children, away from His divine Truth; and He always bestows His gifts of grace through her sacraments and in answer to her prayers.

People of God learn from Elizabeth; she was, as the Gospel tells us, ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’, and that Holy Spirit led her to cry out:

How does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  

With Elizabeth therefore, reverence, love, serve, honour, trust, stand up for, pray for, and delight in, Mother Church; do all these things not because of her earthly pomp or worldly successes, her prestige or influence, but because she is one with Christ, she is His Body, He is her Head, and His Spirit is her very life.

We should also learn from the overpowering and irrepressible joy shown by the unborn John: joy that One, as yet Himself unborn, has come; One Who would, by His own Spirit of Holiness, purge Israel of her sin, just as He was at that very moment sanctifying John himself, though still in his mother’s womb, by the same Spirit of holiness. This Child – mightier than John – was the One Whose way he, John, would prepare by his life of penance and preaching of repentance:

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Luke 3:3)

This was the joy of Simeon too, who, on receiving the Infant in his arms from Mary declared:

Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word.   For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32)

Finally, this heavenly glory, this spiritual joy, is Mary’s very own, celebrated most sublimely in her great canticle of humility and gratitude:

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.  For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.   For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. (Luke 1:46-49)

Therefore, dear People of God, you who have been chosen in Christ, look forward to Christmas with spiritual joy; look forward, that is, to what the God of all faithfulness and truth, beauty and goodness, promises He will give, not what human desires solicit.  In this holy season our joy should be -- first and foremost -- like that of John, simple and sincere; a joy which encourages and enables us to open our minds and hearts, to offer our very lives, to the One who comes to do His Father's will; a joy that compels us with Elizabeth, to lovingly reverence and acknowledge His Church, asking  that through her, our mother, He might continue to teach us His ways and bless us with His empowering Spirit, so that we too -- as true disciples -- may seek with Him in all things to  promote the Father’s glory.  

3rd Sunday of Advent (Year C) 2012

 3^rd. Sunday of Advent (C)

(Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18)

7

2nd Sunday of Advent 2012

             2^nd. Sunday of Advent (C)

(Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6)

John the Baptist called upon the Jews to prepare for the first coming of the Lord, and Mother Church recommends that we carefully consider his proclamation because it is of great significance for us her children, who, by our Advent discipline and devotion, are preparing to welcome the Lord into our hearts and minds anew this Christmas, both in anticipation of the welcome we would want to give Him at His second coming in glory, and also that we might be enabled here and now to better prepare ourselves and our world for that coming.

Isaiah – whose message the prophet Baruch echoed in our first reading -- had said of the times immediately before the coming of the Messiah:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.   Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.

For St. Luke, John’s was that voice crying in the wilderness who, taking up the prophecy of Isaiah, had insisted that each and every one of us has something positive and, for ourselves essential, for the fulfilment of that prophecy; something that we can and should do.  We are not to be passive, waiting for, expecting, God to do everything; on the contrary, we must work for the remission of our sins before the Lord, by sincerely repenting of them and by bringing forth fruits worthy of such repentance, fruits giving right expression to our hopes thus firmly set on the Coming One.

John the Baptist is still relevant for us today, his message is still valid and of the utmost importance if we would prepare well this Advent; therefore it behoves us to recall to our minds and take to our hearts these words of him sent by God for the ultimate preparation of His people for the coming of their Saviour and Lord.

It is common among practicing Catholics to more or less forget about the obligation to prepare the way for the Lord in their own hearts and minds as they tend to become settled in their ways and perhaps a little stagnant in their aspirations over the years.  Many are content to limit themselves to taking care, being supremely concerned, that they ‘keep the Faith’, that they do not fall away from the truth they have long acknowledged and appreciated.  However, since Jesus the Prince of Peace and Light of the World, intends to come anew into our lives this, and every, Christmas, they should be prepared and indeed, most earnestly desire, in their loving welcome for Him, to grow in their Catholic Faith by responding to the purpose of His Coming.  These disciples of Jesus are regular in their observance of Sundays and holydays, and they take care to receive the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, frequently.  However, though they do these things regularly, which is good, the danger is for them to do them routinely, which is not so good; for, having done these practices, which they often call duties -- duties which can be counted and ticked off as having been done for this week or for this month -- they then attend to the world rather than watch and wait for the Lord.  They do not often think to undertake other, perhaps more interior -- even ‘one to One’ -- practices which are, most certainly, not such that can be called duties, since they are endeavours to respond to God’s secret invitation, to answer God’s Own loving call, made to them personally and indeed uniquely.

In the realm of nature think of the words of Scripture:

          How I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. (Exodus 19:4)

Previous to such ‘salvation’, the eaglet -- clinging to some ledge on a high cliff -- had to hear, recognize, and totally trust its mother’s call before throwing itself off the ledge into the void, so that its mother could then swoop down and catch it on her shoulders and take it with her back on high for further practice and ultimate perfection.  Think also of the chicks of the ancient murrelet, scarce two days old, drawn out from their shelter (at night for safety!), even just out of their egg shells, by an unseen voice, to scramble over rocks and -- avoiding predators --- rush into the shallows of hitherto unknown waters, waters getting deeper and deeper until they find themselves on the mighty sea itself, still following a voice only, before they suddenly meet their mother for the first time, as she comes toward them still calling but now offering welcome and love, safety and fulfilment.

So many Catholics hear the Church calling them from without themselves, but do not seem able to recognize, hear, and understand, God whispering within themselves, speaking to them in that secret place which is their soul.  In that way they confine themselves to relative mediocrity: because they are, in fact, grinding to a halt on that divinely planned journey which can only reach its ultimate target and attain fulfilment by their perseverance in following God’s call to advance ever further.  Coming to a halt after ‘duties done’, is mediocrity for one called by the Holy Spirit to become more and more like Jesus, ever more one with Him; and in Him, ever more truly, a child of God.  Observers might think highly and speak well of such persons, because they have maintained, apparently remained at, a relatively high level in comparison with others.  But that’s just it, God doesn’t compare one with another; if you stop, at whatever level, you will begin to stagnate, and that is, for you -- in the eyes of God the Father Who is calling you and the Holy Spirit Who wants to lead further along the way in answer to that call -- settling for mediocrity, settling for something much less than God wants of you, for you.

We are called, invited, urged, by the Father, to continually prepare the way for His Beloved Son to come into our lives more and more as the years go by, but certain good people would wish to excuse themselves from answering such an invitation because such holiness, saintly holiness so to speak, involves a degree of selflessness which they find frightening; they insist it is not for them, they can’t do it.

In one sense they are perfectly correct, because no one can do it!  Human beings cannot make themselves holy by doing some special practices, this penance, or that devotion. Some will try, but, being motivated by the desire not only to become holy but also to be seen by themselves and perhaps appreciated by others as holy, they achieve merely a sham holiness, something which, if backed up with pride and ambition, is indeed an abomination before God.

Real, true, holiness, however, is God’s gift, not a human acquisition.  We have to want, hope and pray to be, to become, what God wants for us, and in that way we help to prepare ourselves to receive God’s gift.  But you know, it is not really good to want to be holy in the sense of wanting something for yourself, for that can so easily deteriorate into selfishness.  It is far, far better to be centred on God, wanting to love the Father to the utmost of your being, with your whole mind, heart, soul, and strength, in Jesus.  Only the Holy Spirit can bring this about and that is why such holiness, such love of God, is God’s most gracious gift: and it is a gift given only to those who prepare the way for the Lord; who patiently open themselves up to His secret working within them, by attending (a spiritual watching and waiting), desiring, and praying, for this supreme blessing, which is the gift of love, ultimately total love, of God.

Paul was very proud of his converts in Philippi and he acknowledged that not only were they indebted to him, but that he too was indebted to them for the assistance they had given him in his many needs.  He prayed for them as special friends:

And this I pray: that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.

Now, that should be the programme for all of us: our love can abound more and more in knowledge and depth of discernment and insight.  Don’t think that is not for you, that you can’t do that.  Of course you can’t!!  But God can and He does want to do it for you according to your measure, to bring it about in you, the real and truest you.  You might not, indeed, be the reading, the studious, type, you might not be a deep thinker, but that does not exclude you from taking up God’s open invitation: it is indeed an open invitation to all His children, but to you, it is a special invitation, a unique invitation to lead you to the fullness of your vocation, to give Jesus all your love, in your uniquely personal way.  If you are not a reader, not a deep thinker, O.K., don’t feel the need to force yourself into long periods of tedious and fruitless study or reading.  Do what you do best.  Perhaps you like to be with people rather than with books: try, then, to do your best to be with Jesus more.  I don’t necessarily mean kneeling in Church, you might have too many duties and tasks for that: then, just try to be more with Him in your mind and heart: just as you are so often with your children or your grandchildren in your mind and heart; if your life seems burdened with other people’s troubles, then mention those troubles to Jesus, ask His help, ask Him to bless those in need.  Some find they can’t keep their attention on prayers which tend to become just empty words, and among them, some might indeed find great peace in just being in Jesus’ presence in the Church without saying anything: just content and happy to know that He is there and they are in His presence.  I can’t go through all the ways of deepening love for Jesus here, but be quite sure of this, you are invited, called, urged by God the Father, to help in the development of your love for Jesus, His Son; to abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight: not knowledge of facts or insight into problems, but personal knowledge of Jesus, that is, understanding of, and empathy with, Jesus.  Knowledge and insight of this sort will enable you to grow just as St. Paul wanted his beloved Philippians to grow:

That you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.

At times, even some good Catholics, try to set good works for others at variance with, or as a substitute for, deep personal holiness, oneness with Jesus.   They tend to think that they ought to be doing something for Jesus, some good work, some public, tangible, work that helps to free at least one corner of the world from its overwhelming burden of suffering and sin: work of that nature, they feel, is much better than just ‘becoming holy’.  Of course, when they put it in that way to themselves they are loading the dice for their own purposes, because, comparing works for others with the implied selfishness of trying to become holy is totally wrong.  God can find many people to do things for Him; for many there are who will do good things for motives that are not quite so good: such as self-approval or public appreciation; and frequently indeed, the very joy of working at something that occupies the mind and distracts the heart is more than enough for those easily oppressed by the hum-drum and uncertainty of daily life.

True holiness, on the other hand, is the most unselfish state possible -- which is why, as I mentioned earlier, the prospect of it frightens some -- being entirely God-centred.  True holiness is love of God that leads to total forgetfulness of self; and such self-sacrifice in the footsteps of Jesus is only authentic and true when it is a spontaneously free gift, brought about indeed by the Holy Spirit, but allowed, accepted, embraced, and whole-heartedly followed, by the recipient. Such holiness is not common or easy.  True holiness, it was, that sustained the early martyrs suffering persecution under the Roman Empire; and still today continues to manifest itself in the lives of those enduring and dying for Jesus under modern fanatical or totalitarian regimes.

Therefore, let us turn back to our second reading wherein St. Paul spoke to the Philippians of their:

fellowship (with him) in the gospel from the first day until now.

That work of letting:

love abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.

which St. Paul urged them so strongly to undertake, is precisely our fellowship with him in propagation of the Gospel, our part in the eternal missionary work of the Church; and ultimately, it is only such a partnership of the whole Christian people in the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel will lead to the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy that:

All flesh shall see the salvation of God.

                                              

1st Sunday of Advent (C) 2012

1^st. Sunday of Advent (C)

(Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1Thessalonians 3:12 - 4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36)

Our readings today are all concerned with the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ in time and at the end of time, to do away with sin and subject all things to Himself for the glory of His Father. 

Now, it is not possible to speak of the events of those latter days using ordinary language, for they will be events the like of which have never before seen and are totally unheard of, and that is why, in the Sacred Scriptures, even when Jesus Himself is speaking, the language used is of a special character, it is called apocalyptic language: a language full of strange and extreme events, cosmic at times in their dimension and impact, always awesome, and usually terrifying for mere human beings.  Because those times will be divine times, so to speak, when the divinity of Jesus and the supernatural majesty and power of the all Holy God are revealed, they will – inevitably -- be times of darkness, as when foolish eyes look directly on the sun; and also times of great distress such as only the dethroning of nature’s primeval powers could inspire:

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars; on the earth nations will be in dismay perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.   People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

In the first reading, we heard:

In those days Judah shall be safe, and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: ‘The Lord our justice.'

Jerusalem will be safe because its inhabitants will be clothed with justice, the supernatural God-given gift of righteousness, says Jeremiah; and that is what St. Paul had in mind in our second reading:

Finally, brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God – and as you are conducting yourselves – you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

Human kind, being subject to sin, will not be able to survive the manifestation of divine holiness unless they become clothed with the righteousness of the Lord, and learn to live in such a way as to please God ... not by mere chance, as if He were to just come cross them in their garden of delights and be pleased with their life style; but by direct and humble design to deliberately please Him by sincere endeavours and loving aspirations in accordance with His will for their salvation.  Good eyes or weak eyes, it makes no difference, all are blinded by the direct glare of the noon-day sun; likewise, brash self-confidence, instinctive courage, or natural ability, will offer no comfort when primeval, instinctive, terror strikes the human heart at the sight of tumultuous seas, mountainous waves, or rivers of flaming volcanic lava in full spate presaging the advent of the Almighty and All-Holy God to save or to judge.

Only those found to be suitably prepared -- by sincere conversion of heart, suitable training in the spiritual combat, and divine encouragement and endowment -- will be able to survive what Jesus had in mind when He told us:

Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Indeed, only by grace and vigilance, only by prayer and personal love of God, will anyone be enabled:

            to stand before the Son of Man.

Since this will be the situation when God comes to bring time to a close and destroy sin from the face of the earth; and more especially, when you think that we only have one life -- that is one chance, and whoever gets it wrong cannot come back and try again -- it is surely amazing that many are willing to put their trust in merely human, self-appointed and self-opinionated, teachers, gurus, prophets, and guides!  Divine holiness, majesty and power will be manifested; all-seeing knowledge and inscrutable wisdom will be deployed; and yet, you will find some devilishly proud and presumptuous people calling on others amazingly foolish enough to listen to them peddling their own ‘special powers’ and saying, “Follow me, walk along my path, do what I am doing”, or playing upon their hearers’ indolence, indifference, and vices, with such words as: “See how I am enjoying myself!  It won’t be hard at the end at all … you just go to sleep, there’s nothing after that!”  Thus, considerations that have exercised human minds and involved human hearts and consciences from the beginning, issues which have long provoked a morally universal appreciation and response from the beginnings of humankind, are at times challenged and called into question by some individuals or certain groups whose life is but a passing shadow and whose wisdom and experience are mere pathetic testimonies to human conceit and pride, being ludicrously incomprehensive and, potentially indeed, tragically inept.  They come out with teachings which -- though seemingly humane -- are deceitful, destructive, and ultimately, devilish: such as, homosexuality can be an equal option for life alongside marriage between man and woman; or again, there is no right and wrong; there is no truth, it is only a matter of social or political correctness and human upbringing; the sense of sin is but the result of genetic disturbance; and human life has no other dignity than what we accord it.

Dear People of God, the potential of human life is shrouded in mystery: what is its meaning, has it an overall and over-riding purpose?  Mysterious too are the essential elements of life as we experience them:  what is love; how can one find happiness and peace of heart; why is life so tasteless without hope; what is justice, where is truth?  Again, why do we feel, inside, that some things are wrong; and why – having done such things, even though in secret -- do we feel disturbed, ill at ease, indeed, under threat?  A right awareness of and response to such mysterious questions as these are of vital importance, because both natural reason and every-day experience teach us that no amount of money can buy happiness, that worldly success or renown cannot guarantee peace of heart, nor can pleasure bring hope.

Here then, as we begin the season of Advent, we are urged by Mother Church to do some serious thinking.  We are urged to look into our hearts, to sound those hidden depths that we so rarely penetrate in our everyday life and activity; for only there will we find some appreciation and understanding of the mystery of our make-up as individuals and as persons who have been made divinely special.  For all of us do accept that we are special: none of us can tolerate injustice done against us, and we all hate lies and love truth as they affect our lives.  Who is there that does not know that life inspires hope, while death, on the other hand, provokes despair;  inexplicably, we feel ourselves made for life, even though all things else are made to die.

People of God, we Catholics are Christians -- the original and authentic Christians -- called to bring the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, to the whole world, throughout all time.  And the message we are commissioned to proclaim is that Jesus is the Christ, the only answer to the mystery of human existence and human destiny: He alone can bring peace and hope into our hearts and minds, together with the strength to live and love aright both in society and as individuals.  Above all, we are to proclaim Jesus Christ as the only One Who can raise us up to secure a heavenly destiny; one that will be truly ours -- in and with Jesus, by the Spirit -- a destiny before God the Father which will be the glorious and eternal fulfilment of all our possibilities, powers, and longings.  Our teaching is certain and clear:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  I and My Father are one. (John 14:6; 10:30)

How those who say, “Follow me; do what I am doing; listen to me, I know”, how such people despise their brethren!  Despise?  Because they dare to imagine that the miserable prospects they offer can possibly fulfil a human being: pleasure, usually basic or even animal; success, even at best, only for a pitifully short time; popularity, which, however shallow, can only be sustained by craven conformity.

Jesus, on the other hand, alone fully loves and appreciates us: He raises us to life that is eternal and love that is divine; He offers us a fulfilment that penetrates to the most mysterious depths of our human and personal make-up and character.  That is why we offer our whole selves to Jesus: for example, when we marry, we offer our marriage to Jesus, that through Him our married life might serve our eternal destiny and God’s plan for the world:

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.  No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him. (Luke 10:22)

Because the Father Who calls us to Jesus has committed all things to Him, so we too, in answer to the Father’s call, draw to Jesus committing our all to Him: there is nothing secret in our lives where He cannot enter, where He does not rule.  All is for Jesus, so that in Him all might be for the Father, and so that we may attain our eternal fulfilment in the glory and joy of His kingdom of truth and love. To that end we live in accordance with the teachings of Jesus brought to our remembrance by His Spirit in Mother Church, whose proclamation comes down to us through the ages in all the original fullness of its integrity and purity, and by whose sacraments, the Spirit of Jesus is sprinkled in blessing on all we do and are.

Thus will we be enabled to embrace that which is sure to come:

(You) will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.