Mary, Mother of God/ January 1st

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God A B C

Readings: Numbers 6:22‑27  Galatians 4:4‑7  Luke 2:16‑21

            Today's feast celebrates the merciful God, whose name has been fully revealed in Jesus, and Mary, the mother of God, who is our model for pondering the mysteries of the Christmas season. As we wish for others the blessings of the Christmas season, let us pray today's psalm: "May God bless us in his mercy" (Ps 67:2a).

            In the Numbers reading the Lord instructs Aaron and his sons in the way they are to bless the children of Israel.  The actual words of the blessing are three parallel poetic lines petitioning the Lord's protection associated with his presence or "face." “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!” The first half of each line requests the Lord's attentive care, and the second half elaborates its consequence for the individual.  God's blessing culminates in shalom, "peace" or "well‑being," material and spiritual prosperity in all its fullness (see Deuteronomy 28:3‑6).      

            In the Galatians reading Paul is describing the consequences of belief in Christ through a contrast between the state of Jews and Gentiles before and after his coming.  Until Christ came, both groups were in a state of slavery, but now they have become free children and fully adopted heirs of God's kingdom.  In today's selection Paul is describing the Messiah's liberation of the Jews, like himself, who were living under the law; he therefore uses the first person plural. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.” The proof of this new status for both Jews and Gentiles is the new, intimate way that they may address God as "Abba, Father!”.  Paul then concludes by reiterating the new status of Christians as fully adopted children and heirs. “So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God.”                

            The Gospel reading completes Luke's nativity narrative with three scenes.  In the first, the shepherds, most unlikely candidates for God's revelation, become the first apostles of the Christian message.  After deciding to go to David's city to verify the message that the angels have given them, they find "Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger," just as the angels had announced.  They now understand "what had been told them concerning this child," namely that he is destined to be "a Savior . . . the Messiah and Lord."  Not content with keeping this news concealed, they report it to others, and "all who heard of it were astonished."  As the shepherds return, they glorify and praise God "for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them."

            In the second scene, Mary's reaction is distinguished from the others.  Luke notes that she "kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."  The verb is the same one used by Luke to describe Mary’s reaction to Gabriel's initial greeting in the annunciation (1:29) and later of her response in the story of Jesus' remaining behind in the Temple at Passover when he was age twelve (2:51).  It has the sense of intense thought which returns to the subject time and again.  In Luke's theology Mary is a model of discipleship.  She hears God's word, reflects deeply upon it, and then acts in accord with it. 

The concluding scene of today's Gospel narrates the circumcision and naming of the child, as "Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."  Luke deliberately harkens back to the annunciation where the name "Jesus" ("the Lord saves") was associated with the child's destiny to become the Messiah with his heavenly exaltation after his crucifixion and death (1:31‑33; see Acts 2:22‑36).  At the end of Luke's Gospel, Jesus will commission his disciples to preach forgiveness of sins in this sacred name. "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things" (Lk 24:46‑48).

The Masses of Christmas Day

Christmas Midnight A B C

Readings: Isaiah 9:1-6   Titus 2:11-14  Luke 2:1-14

            The readings for Christmas at midnight proclaim the joyous, yet humble, arrival of Jesus as the light of the world.  He comes to bring peace to all and calls Christians to live temperate and just lives as they await his return in glory.  Let us rejoice as we hear the angel’s proclamation to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”

Isaiah’s messianic oracle expresses the hope for a king in the Davidic line who will bring peace in the aftermath of an Assyrian invasion of Israel.  The prophet prefaces his description of the king’s just rule by praising the Lord for delivering the nation from the Assyrian yoke.  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;/ Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone./ You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing./ For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder,/ And the rod of their taskmaster

You have smashed, as on the day of Midian.”  Isaiah believes this liberation is only the initial act of a two part drama.  He expects that “the zeal of the Lord of hosts” will raise to the Davidic throne a king who will rule with wisdom, power, paternal care and peace.  Although Jesus did not assume a worldly throne, we Christians believe he is the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s oracle though his life, preaching, death and resurrection, and return in glory (see Peter’s sermon in Acts 2).  Jesus has begun the Kingdom of God that will ultimately triumph in the peace and justice Isaiah so urgently awaited.

The Titus reading presents us with the whole mystery of salvation: the appearance of God’s grace in Christ’s offering salvation to all, the challenge of the Christian life, and our hope for the final appearance of God’s glory and our savior Jesus Christ.  Even on the feast of Christmas, the Church does not lose sight of the demands of our renewed life and the urgent expectation of the second coming.  As the letter to Titus proclaims, all have been cleansed and redeemed in Christ, but we still wait in hope, as did Isaiah, for the appearance of the full glory of God’s kingdom.  In the interim, we are called to reject godless ways and to live temperately and justly.

Luke’s beautiful nativity story is best understood in relation to the major themes of his gospel, especially his insistence that Jesus is a universal savior, who was prophesied in the Scriptures and will overturn worldly expectations for greatness.  This universality is most explicit in the angel’s greeting to the shepherds which is the center piece of his entire narrative. “I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord.”

By dating Jesus’ birth in the reign of Caesar Augustus, Luke contrasts the powerful Roman emperor with the lowly Jesus who is born as an exile.  Luke’s initial readers were aware that Augustus had inaugurated the Pax Romana and that many entertained messianic expectations about his rule.  For Luke, however, Jesus’ humble birth is the joyous beginning of the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promises of salvation in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Salvation and peace will not come from the emperor who has the power to order a census of the whole world, but from Jesus whose parents must obey the emperor’s commands.

Luke’s special emphasis on the fact that Jesus has come for the lowly is evident in the role of the shepherds.  In Jewish tradition, they were considered disreputable and their testimony was invalid.  Yet in Luke’s account they receive the initial annunciation of Jesus’ birth and even function as evangelists.  When they proceed to Bethlehem, they witness the truth of the angel’s message and then make it known to others.  Likewise, when they return, they glorify and praise God “for all they have heard and seen.”

Other details of Luke’s story make symbolic allusion to Jesus as the unexpected fulfillment of the Scriptures.  The swaddling clothes recall a saying associated with King Solomon who says in the Book of Wisdom: “I was nurtured in swaddling clothes, with every care./  No king has known any other beginning of existence” (Wis 7:4-5).  Despite the lowly circumstances of Jesus’ birth, he is already a king like the great Solomon.  The manger (feeding trough) also has more that literal significance.  Isaiah had criticized his generation’s failure to understand the Lord in the following oracle: “An ox knows its owner,/ and an ass its master’s manger./  But Israel does not know, my people has not understood” (Is 1:2-3).  In contrast to the senseless people of Isaiah’s time, the humble shepherds, representative of a renewed people of God, go in haste to the infant lying in the manger who is food for the world.  Setting aside our pride, let us follow the shepherds to adore the Christ-child.

Christmas Mass at Dawn A B C

Readings: Isaiah 62:11-12      Titus 3:4-7       Luke 2:15-20

            The Christmas Mass at dawn has a special character.  It is meant to be celebrated only at or near dawn because its theme is Christ the Sun of Justice and the Light to the Nations.  The words of the responsorial psalm best express the uniqueness of this special liturgy. R. “A light will shine on this day:/ the Lord is born for us./  The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice;/ let the many isles be glad./ The heavens proclaim his justice,/ and all the peoples see his glory./ Light dawns for the just;/ and gladness, for the upright of heart./ Be glad in the Lord, you just,/

and give thanks to his holy name.” (Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12)

            The Isaiah reading is from the conclusion of a larger song (Is 62:1-12) which celebrates the restoration of Jerusalem, or Zion, after the Babylonian exile.  Combining images associated with Jewish wedding customs and the celebration of the grain and grape harvest at the joyous feast of Tabernacles, the prophet envisions daughter Zion being visited by her savior God who remarries his forsaken bride and repopulates the once abandoned city. “Say to daughter Zion, your savior comes!/ Here is his reward with him,/ his recompense before him./

They shall be called the holy people,/ the redeemed of the Lord,/ and you shall be called ‘Frequented,’/ a city that is not forsaken.”

            The short reading from Titus is a succinct summary of the central tenants of Paul’s gospel.  Like the reading from Titus for the Mass at Midnight, it is a joyful proclamation of the full Christian mystery. In the course of reminding Titus that Christians are to be responsible citizens, the Pauline author speaks of the change effected in them by the coming of Christ and their baptism.  Formerly, he says, “we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another” (3:5).  But now through “the kindness and generous love of God our savior” and without any merit on our part, we have been saved “through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” that was poured out on us “through Jesus Christ our savior.”  The next section insists that this transforming “bath of rebirth” should make Christians “devote themselves to good works.”

            The Gospel reading for the Mass at Dawn is the continuation of the Gospel for the Mass at Midnight.  The shepherds, most unlikely candidates for God’s revelation, become the first apostles of the Christian message.  They decide to go to David’s city to verify the message that the angels have given them.  “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”  When they find “Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger,” just as the angels had announced, they understand “what had been told them concerning this child,” namely that he is destined to be “a savior . . . the Messiah and Lord.”  Not content with keeping this news as a private revelation, the shepherds report it to others, and we are told “all who heard of it were amazed.”  As the shepherds return, they glorify and praise God “for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.”

            Mary’s reaction is singled out and distinguished from the others.  Luke notes that she “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”  The verb translated “reflected” is dielogizeto which is also used by Luke to describe Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s initial greeting in the annunciation scene (1:29) and later her response to Jesus’ saying that he must be in his Father’s house in the story of his remaining behind in the Temple at the Passover festival when he was age 12 (2:51).  It has the sense of intense deep thought which returns to the subject time and again.  In Luke’s theology Mary is a model of discipleship.  She hears God’s word, reflects deeply upon it, and then acts in accord with it.  This is most clear in her acceptance of Gabriel’s message at the annunciation where she responds by saying, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word” (1:38).  Later in the Gospel, Jesus also says, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (8:21).  Mary is our model for discipleship.

"In the beginning......"

Christmas Mass During the Day A B C

Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10  Hebrews 1:1-6  John 1:1-18

            The readings for Christmas Mass during the day have a note of unrestrained joy over God’s final act of salvation in the coming of Christ, the very word of God, who has come in the flesh to share and redeem our fallen humanity.  This mood is most evident in the lyrics of the responsorial psalm. R. “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God. (Ps 98:3c)/  Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds;/ his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm.” (Ps 98:1) 

            The Isaiah reading is a joyful poem addressed to the Jewish exiles living in Babylon whose situation appears to be hopeless.  Their homeland is in ruins; the Temple has been destroyed, and they have been living in bondage for several years.  Despite the bleakness of their situation, the prophet announces the joyous, good news of the restoration of Jerusalem.  The artful poem moves through three stages.  First, the prophet rejoices over the arrival of the messenger who brings “the glad tidings” of peace (shalom) for Zion as the God returns to the city in triumph as their “king.”  “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,/ announcing peace, bearing good news,/ announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,/ ‘Your God is king!’”  Secondly, he envisions Jerusalem’s watchmen raising a cry and shouting for joy as the Lord begins to restore Zion.  “Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry,/ together they shout for joy,/ for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion.”  Finally, he invites the “ruins of Jerusalem” to “break out together in song” because the Lord “comforts his people” and “redeems Jerusalem.”  The prophet’s vision is not limited to a narrow nationalism.  Jerusalem’s salvation is meant as a revelation to “all the nations.”  “The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations;/ all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.”

            The second reading from the beginning of Hebrews emphasizes the completeness and finality of God’s spoken word through the Son (Jesus), in contrast to the “partial and various ways” of revelation “in times past . . . to our ancestors through the prophets.”  Hebrews is more of a homily than a letter, and it asserts that with the coming of Jesus, “the final age” has arrived in which God’s saving acts have come to their completion.

            In this opening section, Hebrews insists on Jesus’ superiority to the angels, whom some were tempted to revere above Jesus because they had not been contaminated by descending into this material world of impermanence and change.  Using many of the same concepts as the evangelist John, the author of Hebrews stresses the Son’s unique greatness, power, and closeness to God.  Like Lady Wisdom in the Old Testament, the Son is the agent of creation (Prv 8:30; Wis 7:22), “the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being” (Wis 7:26), and the “mighty word” which sustains all things.  Although Jesus did descend into the world and “accomplished purification from sins,” he now has taken “his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high” where he has received the titles “Son” and “heir” which make him superior to the angels who are commanded to worship him.

            The Gospel reading is the prologue of John which is a hymn to Jesus as the incarnate Word (Logos) of God and the Light that has come into a darkened world.  It celebrates the whole sweep of salvation from creation to the coming of the Word in the flesh.  Periodically, it is punctuated with asides about the role of John the Baptist as witness to Jesus, the light (1:6, 7, 15).  The first two strophes speak of the Word’s relation to God (1:1-2) and to creation (1:3-5).  John uses several allusions to the first creation story in Genesis: the opening words, “In the beginning,” creation through a word of command, and the references to light and darkness (Gen 1:1-5).  Just as in the initial act of creation light entered a darkened world, so in the re-creation of the world darkened by sin, the Word as “the light shines in the darkness,/ and darkness has not overcome it.”  The third strophe (1:9-13) speaks of the Word’s relation to humans in the world.  It evokes rejection and acceptance, death and rebirth.  Although the Word is “the true light, which enlightens everyone,” and “all things came to be through him,” the world did not know him and “his own people did not accept him.”  But to those who do accept him, the Word gives the power “to become children of God.”  The final strophe (1:14, 16-18) concentrates on the Word’s relation to believers.  Like God’s presence through the Tabernacle and the Law in the Old Testament (Ex 25:8-9; Sir 24:4-8), the Word has “made his dwelling among us” and revealed “his glory.”  But this presence in the Word become flesh is superior to the law given through Moses.  It is a revelation of “grace (love) and truth.”  The law was inscribed on tablets of stone (Ex 31:18), and Moses was not allowed to see God (Ex 33:18-23), but now the Son, who has been with God from all eternity, has revealed him.  “From his fullness we have all received,/ grace in place of grace,/ because while the law was given through Moses,/ grace and truth came through Jesus Christ./ No one has ever seen God./  The only Son, God,/ who is at the Father’s side,/ has revealed him.”

            On this feast of the Incarnation, let us rejoice in God’s coming to us in our humanity with all its pain and suffering, joys and delights, sin and hatred.  And let us take hope in the continued presence of God with us through the incarnate Son.

ADVENT IV A

4^th Sunday of Advent A 

Readings: Isaiah 7:10‑14   Romans 1:1‑7   Matthew 1:18‑24

As our Christmas feast draws near, we are presented with the mystery of Emmanuel, "God‑with‑us," first in Isaiah's prophecy and most completely in Jesus who in the words of the angel to Joseph “will save his people from their sins.”  To prepare ourselves to celebrate the feast properly, let us identify with the obedient Joseph in the Gospel and pray for  the Lord's coming in the words of the refrain of the responsorial  psalm: "Let the Lord enter;/ he is the king of glory" (Ps 24:7c and 10b).

Isaiah's speaks his prophecy to Ahaz during a threatening invasion that has made "the heart of the king and the heart of the people tremble, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind" (Isa 7:1‑2).  Judah and Jerusalem are being attacked by an alliance of Aram (Syria) and Ephraim (Israel) who want to dethrone Ahaz and make "the son of Tabeel" king in order to force Judah into their alliance against the mighty Assyrian Empire.  Isaiah has already challenged Ahaz to trust the Lord's promises of protection for the Davidic kings and the city of Jerusalem (Isa 7:3‑9; see 2 Sam 7; Pss 46, 48), but the king has decided to put his trust in an alliance with Tiglath‑pileser III, the great king of Assyria (see 2 Kgs 16:5ff).  Now Isaiah challenges Ahaz to ask the Lord for a confirming sign that he will protect Jerusalem and the Davidic line, but the king, with feigned piety, refuses: "I will not ask!  I will not tempt the Lord!"   He has, of course, already determined to rely upon Assyria.

In exasperation Isaiah still gives Ahaz a sign confirming the truth of his prophecy. "Listen, O house of David!  Is it enough for you

to weary people, must you also weary my God?  Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel." The name "Emmanuel" means "God‑with‑us."  Despite Ahaz' lack of faith, the child will be a sign that God will be with Judah in this crisis.  Isaiah goes on to say of the Emmanuel child: “He shall be living on curds and honey by the time he learns to reject the bad and choose the good.  For before the child learns to reject the bad and choose the good, the land of those two kings whom you dread shall be deserted” (Isa 7:15‑16).

The second reading is the greeting of Paul's Letter to the Romans, introducing himself and his understanding of the Christian gospel.  Paul insists that the gospel is both rooted in the promises of the Jewish scriptures but also includes the Gentiles in God's plan for salvation in Christ.  He carefully notes that it fulfills what God "promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel about his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh . . ."   But he also proclaims that the Gentiles are now invited into God's kingdom because Jesus has been "made Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead . .  ."  God's plan is no longer limited to Israel; Paul and his co‑workers "have received the grace of apostleship" so that they might spread Jesus' name and “bring about the obedience of faith . . . among all the Gentiles."

Matthew's story of the annunciation of Jesus' birth to Joseph also fulfills the Scriptures in a way which transcends their original meaning.  Jesus, God's unique Son who “will save his people from their sins,” is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and will fulfill the name Emmanuel, "God‑with‑us," in a manner that surpasses all other actions of God in the past.

We cannot help but admire the way Joseph cooperates with this plan.  When he discovers that Mary is with child, he does not wish to expose her to the stoning prescribed for adultery (see Deuteronomy 22:20‑21), and so he has "decided to divorce her quietly."   But the angel of the Lord tells him in a dream: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.  For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.  She is bear a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”  In contrast to the disbelieving Ahaz in the first reading, "Joseph . . . did as the angel of the Lord had directed him and received her into his home as his wife."  May we imitate the obedient Joseph and allow Immanuel to enter the world in our own time.       

ADVENT III A

3^rd Sunday of Advent A

Readings: Isaiah 35:1‑6, 10   James 5:7‑10   Matthew 11:2‑11

            “Are you the one who is to come or do we look for another?”   This is John the Baptist's question, when he hears “of the works of the Christ."  As we wait with John to hear of and experience the saving works performed by Jesus in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Book of Isaiah, let us pray for the coming of the Lord's justice in the words of the responsorial psalm. “Lord, come and save us./ The Lord God keeps faith forever,/ secures justice for the oppressed,/gives bread to the hungry./ The Lord sets captives free” (Ps 146:6‑7).

            The first reading is a lyrical prophecy of the Lord's ransoming the Jewish exiles from Babylon and bringing them home to Zion "singing, crowned with everlasting joy."  This return will be accompanied by a transformation of "the desert and the parched land" of Judah into a verdant paradise. “They will bloom with abundant flowers,/ And rejoice with joyful song./ . . . They will see the glory of the Lord,/ The splendor of our God.” Prophetic voices in the community have the responsibility of preparing the discouraged exiles for God's wondrous saving deeds. They are to: “Strengthen the hands that are feeble,/ make firm the knees that are weak,/ say to those whose hearts are frightened:/ `Be strong, fear not!/ Here is your God,/ He comes with vindication.'. . .”  When the exiles are prepared for the Lord's action, they will be transformed into new life. “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 mute will sing” (Isa 35:5‑6).           

            The Letter of James exhorts us who are awaiting "the coming of the Lord" to "be patient."  It presents two models of waiting:  the hopeful patience of the farmer and the active preaching of the prophets.  During the winter and spring rains, the farmer patiently awaits the precious yield of the soil.  Likewise, James encourages Christians to "Make firm your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is at hand."  The prophets of old provide an example for those who are suffering for God's kingdom while awaiting God's judgment; they "spoke in the name of the Lord," and, as a result, suffered "hardships."                

            In the Gospel, John the Baptist is an example of such a prophet who suffered for preaching the coming of God's kingdom.   As we heard last week, he fearlessly called the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees to repentance (Matt 3:1‑12).  Now John has been imprisoned by Herod Antipas for criticizing his marriage to Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.  And she will soon demand that Herod have John beheaded (see Matt 14:3‑12).  After the Baptist's messengers depart, Jesus testifies to John's unique role in the history of salvation.  He is the prophetic messenger, spoken of in Malachi, who would precede the coming of God's kingdom (see Mal 3:1; Ex 23:20). "What did you go out to the wasteland to see? A reed swayed by the wind?  Then what did you go to out to see?  Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are found in royal palaces.  Then why did you go out?  To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.' Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptizer."

            Despite John's greatness as the precursor of the Kingdom, Jesus ends by saying: "Yet the least born into the kingdom of God is greater than he."  John belonged to the time of preparation; Jesus is bringing the fulfillment of the Kingdom, but not by being a powerful military Messiah, nor by ruthlessly condemning the unrighteous.  The signs of Jesus' kingdom are the liberating ones spoken of in Isaiah 35. "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to them. Blest is the one who finds no stumbling block in me."