Epiphany

 

Epiphany A B C

 

Readings: Isaiah 60:1‑6   Ephesians 3:2‑3,5‑6  Matthew 2:1‑12

 

Beginning with the call of Abraham, God's plan for salvation history extends his blessing from Israel to all the nations (Gen 12:1‑3).  Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of God's salvation to all peoples.  In the words of the responsorial psalm, we pray: "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you" (Ps 72:11).

The Isaiah reading looks forward to the time when nations will walk by the light of God's blessing shed upon Jerusalem.   Speaking to exiles recently returned from Babylon, the prophet  commands them to see their efforts to rebuild Jerusalem's walls and Temple as the beginnings of the epiphany of the Lord's light and glory piercing through the darkness of the whole earth. “Nations shall walk by your light,/ and kings by your shining radiance/. . . . For the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,/ the wealth of nations shall be brought to you/ . . . All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense,/ and proclaiming the praises of the Lord”  (Is 60:3,5‑6).

Ephesians announces the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy by proclaiming “that the Gentiles are now coheirs with the Jews, members of the same body and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the preaching of the gospel."  Paul had to fight for the Gentiles’ right to be part of the new Messianic community without the duty of becoming observant Jews.  According to Paul, Jesus' death and resurrection is the saving event, long anticipated by the prophets, which has opened the way for the Gentiles to become members of the people of God.  This good news also calls Christians to a new way of living together in a love, rooted in Christ's own love for us.  Our epiphany prayer for one another should be Paul's. “I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner-self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you may be rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:14‑19). 

Matthew's story of the adoration of the magi foreshadows that the Gentiles will receive the gospel .  Many of the details of the Epiphany story‑‑ the character of Herod, the mysterious star, the magi‑‑ have their background in the traditions of the Old Testament.  

Herod's character is modeled on previous wicked kings who attempt to thwart God's promises, only to bring them to fulfillment.  Like the Pharaoh in versions of the Exodus story, Herod becomes "greatly troubled" by the birth of "the newborn king of the Jews" and attempts to kill the child by ordering the massacre of the infant boys in Bethlehem.  As a result Jesus, as God's son, must descend into Egypt, like his ancestors, and then be called out in fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy: "Out of Egypt I have called my son" (Hos 11:1; Mt 2:13‑23).

The star that the magi follow is also associated with an Old Testament story about another king who tried unsuccessfully to frustrate God's plan.  When the Moabite king Balak confronts the Israelites in their march through the wilderness, he summons Balaam, a pagan seer (a magus), to curse them, but he can only pronounce blessing on God's people (see Numbers 22‑24).   Among the blessings is the foreshadowing of a Messiah arising like "a star" out of Jacob. “There shall come a man out of Israel's seed,/ and he shall rule many nations/. . . . I see him, but not now;/ I behold him, but not close;/ a star shall rise from Jacob,/ and a man (scepter) shall come forth from Israel” (Num 24:7,17‑‑partially from Greek Septuagint).      

In contrast to Herod, the magi are sincere Gentiles who cooperate with God's plan and, in fulfillment of the Isaiah text, come to "walk by (Israel's) light."  Although they only have the astrological revelation provided by nature, the magi humbly come to Israel seeking fuller knowledge of where the child is to be born so that they may do him homage.  When they learn from the Scriptures that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, they continue their journey, again guided by the star.  And when they see the child with Mary his mother, they respond with joy and in homage offer their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

January 1st - Mary, Mother of God

 

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 Deut 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).

Holy FamilyC , December 26

 

Holy Family C

 

The Feast of the Holy Family C

 

Readings: Sirach 3:2‑6,12‑14  Colossians 3:12‑21  Luke 2:41‑52

 

            During the Christmas season the Church celebrates the Incarnation by dwelling on various aspects of this mystery.  Holy Family Sunday reminds us that Jesus, although called to a unique mission by his Father, fully shared our experience of living in family with all its confusion, pain and mystery.  As we struggle with the obligations of our commitments to God and family, let us pray in faith the words of the responsorial psalm: "Happy those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways" (Ps 128). 

            The Sirach reading is a wisdom instruction based on the commandment to honor father and mother (Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16).   This obligation is concerned with caring for elderly parents when their health and minds fail and has much to say to our own culture where aged parents are often neglected by their children. “My son, take care of your father when he is old/ . . . Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;/ revile him not in the fullness of your strength” (3:12‑13). According to Sirach, care for elderly parents will be reciprocated by God.  "He who honors his father atones for sins;/  he stores up riches who reveres his mother"(3:3).

            Paul's instructions to the Colossians put family obligations in a Christian context.  Christians are to divest themselves of their old lives of sin (see Col 3:5‑9) and clothe themselves with Christian virtues: heartfelt mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and especially love "which binds the rest together and makes them perfect" (3:12‑14).  Paul's instruction to husbands and fathers is animated by a spirit of Christian charity.  “Husbands, love your wives.  Avoid any bitterness  toward them. . . . And fathers, do not nag your children lest they lose heart.”

            Luke's story of the boy Jesus in the Temple takes us from the general realm of ethical instruction about familial obligations to the often painful and confusing mystery of real family living.   He narrates the event from the perspective of Jesus' parents, especially Mary, his mother.  Although Mary and Joseph dutifully do all the right things, they are plunged into the nightmare all parents dread ‑‑ the loss of their child.  Having fulfilled the obligations of going to Jerusalem for Passover, the parents assume Jesus is in the party of returning pilgrims, as they continue to "look for him among their relatives and acquaintances."  When after three days of searching they discover Jesus in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, Mary expresses the pain and exasperation felt by every parent who has lost and found a child: “Son, why have you done this to us?  You see that your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow.”  Jesus' enigmatic words about the necessity of being in his “Father's house” do not relieve the pain; as Luke tells us: "They did not grasp what he said to them."  His mother, the model of the suffering and obedient believer in Luke, can only keep "all these things in her heart" (see Lk 1:26‑38; 2:19; 2:34‑35; 8:19‑21; 11:27‑29; Acts 1:14). 

            Although Luke attempts to depict the twelve year old Jesus as both committed to the destiny given by his Father and, at the same time, dutifully obedient to his parents, he is aware that the two may come into painful tension and that ultimately Jesus must be faithful to his Father's mission.  Without any explanation, Jesus remains behind in the Temple where he will journey as an adult to issue his final challenge to his people (see Lk 9:51‑20:19).  His discussion with the teachers in the Temple is a foreshadowing of his final harsh confrontation of the Temple leaders that will culminate in his death (see Luke 20‑23).   When his mother questions him, Jesus' first spoken words in the gospel speak of his unwavering commitment to his destiny: “Why did you search for me?  Did you not know I had to be in my Father's house?”  Having foreshadowed his future work, Jesus is now free to return in obedience with his parents to Nazareth where, Luke tells us, he "progressed steadily in wisdom and age and grace before God and men."

Christmas Mass at Midnight

 

 

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 moving 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: “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.

ADVENT IV C

 

4^th Sunday of Advent C

 

Readings: Micah 5:1‑4  Hebrews 10:5‑10  Luke 1:39‑45

 

In this Sunday's Gospel, Luke's Visitation scene present us  with the two expectant mothers who have indispensable roles in  the history of salvation: Mary, "who trusted that the Lord's words  to her would be fulfilled," and Elizabeth, who is moved by the  Holy Spirit to praise both Mary and her “Lord” (Jesus) who will be the fruit of Mary's womb.  Let us share these women's joyful expectation as we sing today's responsorial psalm: "Lord, make us turn to you,/let us see your face and we shall be saved" (Ps 80). 

Micah's prophecy of the Messiah's birth in Bethlehem‑Ephrathah emphasizes both the unlikely birthplace and its continuity with the ancient promises connected with David's line.  Although Bethlehem‑Ephrathah is "too small to be among the clans of Judah," it is the ancient home of David, the shepherd boy whom God raised up to be "king after his own heart" (1 Samuel 16).  In a time when the mighty Assyrian Empire had already destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and was in the process of devastating the southern kingdom of Judah, Micah announces in the Lord's name that again from little Bethlehem "shall come forth for me/ one who is to be ruler in Israel."  Unlike David and the subsequent kings of Judah who often fell into sin, the Messiah will be the ideal shepherd who will act with the Lord's own strength. “He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock/ by the strength of the Lord,/ in the majestic name of the Lord, his God/. . . . His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth;/ he shall be peace.” 

In the midst of the joy of Advent, the second reading is a sober reminder that Jesus' coming into the world involved his obedient submission to God's will, even to offering his "body" for our sanctification.  According to Hebrews, Jesus' life exemplifies the words of Psalm 40:7‑9. “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,/ but a body you have prepared for me./ Holocausts and sin offering you took no delight in./ Then I have said, ‘as is written of me in the book,/ I have come to do your will, O God.’”  In contrast to the various animal and grain sacrifices of the first covenant, Jesus' doing of God's will by offering his body has established the new covenant by which we are now sanctified.

            Mary's obedience to God's plan in Luke's Visitation scene mirrors Jesus' in the reading from Hebrews.  In Luke's  Annunciation scene (Lk 1:26‑38), a doubtful Mary receives word  from the angel Gabriel of Elizabeth's conception in her old age  to confirm that “nothing is impossible for God” (Lk 1:37).  This sign led Mary to accept Gabriel's announcement that she would bear “the Son of God” by the power of the Holy Spirit.  After hearing of Elizabeth's conception, Mary proclaims: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord;/ may it be done to me according to your  word” (Lk 1:38).

            Now in the Visitation Luke brings together the two expectant mothers so that they may praise the God who is acting through them to bring salvation to the world.  When Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, the Holy Spirit moves her to praise Mary as “blessed . . . among women” because she is bearing the Messiah.   John, the precursor of the Messiah, leaps in her womb and thereby indicates that he recognizes Jesus as his Lord.  Elizabeth then goes on to praise Mary, like Jael and Judith, two other Jewish heroines who were God's agents for saving their people (see Judg 5:24 and Jdt 13:18).  “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45).

            As we await the feast of Jesus' birth, may Mary's trustful obedience and Elizabeth's responsive joy be our guides.

Immaculate Conception/December 8

 

Immaculate Conception (December 8)

 

Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20   Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12  Luke 1:26-38

 

            The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary celebrates the mystery that God the Father prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of his Son by letting her “share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by his death and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception” (Opening Prayer).  This mystery is not directly attested in Scripture but gradually came to be believed in the course of the Church’s traditional understanding of Mary’s special place in salvation history.  It was finally defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854 in the decree Ineffabilis Deus.  The readings for the feast celebrate God’s saving love which triumphs over the power of sin and evil through Christ’s death and resurrection and the obedience of Mary in cooperating with God’s saving plan.  Let us rejoice in God’s saving deeds in the words of the refrain for the responsorial psalm: “Sing to the Lord a new son, for he has done marvelous deeds” (Ps 98).

            The Genesis reading recounts the Lord God’s searching out Adam and Eve after they have sinned by eating of the forbidden tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.  Rather than abandon them in their sin, shame and hiding, the Lord God asks Adam, “Where are you?”  This is not simply a question concerning his physical location but one about his existential condition now that he has sinned.  It is addressed to all of us in our choice of selfishness and sin.  Adam’s answer reflects the telltale signs of the alienation brought on by sin: “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”  Adam and Eve’s attempt to become “like the gods knowing good and evil” (3:5) has only brought them fear and shame and caused them to hid from the Lord God.  In an attempt to get Adam to accept responsibility for his sin, the Lord asks, “Who told you that you were naked?  You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I have forbidden you to eat!”  Rather than taking full responsibility for his deed, Adam feebly blames the woman and even the Lord God for his sin.  “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”  Likewise when she is asked by the Lord God, “Why did you do such a thing?” the woman blames the serpent: “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

            Our reading concludes with the first of three punishments the Lord pronounces on the serpent, the woman and the man (3:14-19).  The serpent as “the most cunning of all the animals the Lord God had made” (3:1) had earlier tempted the woman into sin by suggesting that God had forbidden the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil out of divine jealousy: “You certainly will not die!  No, God knows that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”  Now the Lord God punishes the serpent to “be banned from all the animals” and crawl on his belly and eat dirt “all the days of (his) life.”  The conclusion of the serpent’s sentence speaks of the ongoing enmity between his offspring and that of the woman.  Christian tradition has called this the Proto-evangelium, the first good news of the victory of Christ over Satan who will undo the sin of Adam by his obedience to the Father’s will. “I will put enmity between you and the woman,/ and between your offspring and hers;/ he will strike at your head,/ while you strike at his heel.”   Adam’s naming of his wife Eve, “mother of the living,” ends the episode on a hopeful note.  Despite the harsh realities of sin and suffering, life will go on in the hope of a victory over sin.  This hope begins to be realized when Mary, in contrast to the selfish Eve, consents to her role in God’s plan.

The reading from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is taken from the opening doxology which praises God for the choice of the early Christian communities to share in God’s plan of salvation to unite all things, including the once antagonistic Jews and Gentiles, through redemption in Christ.  Ephesians is a theological tract written for Gentile Christians who are now called to share with Jewish Christians the privilege of membership in the community of the saints (cf. Eph 2:11-22).  A major theme which runs throughout Ephesians is “the mystery” of God’s plan which calls both Jews and Gentiles into a single body, the Church, destined to be the cosmic presence of Christ, its head, who will eventually integrate “all things in the heavens and on the earth.”  This opening hymn highlights the gratuity of God’s favor to both groups.  The Jews were chosen “before the world began, to be holy and blameless in his (God’s) sight,” and now they have been favored with redemption from their sins and insight into the mystery of God’s plan to unite all things in the universe in Christ.  The Gentiles have also now been chosen to hear “the glad tidings of salvation,” to believe in the good news, and be sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Mary in her Immaculate Conception is the prime example of the chosen who “were predestined to praise his glory by being the first to hope in Christ.”

The Gospel for the feast is Luke’s story of the Annunciation.  With an aura of solemn wonder and joy, Luke’s narrative describes the beginning of the fulfillment of the long-awaited time of salvation.  In the style of birth stories in the Old Testament, the angel Gabriel announces Jesus’ birth and destiny to Mary, as he had previously done for John the Baptist to the doubting Zechariah (see Lk 1:5-23).  The scene is filled with improbabilities.  The site is Nazareth in Galilee; there has been no Davidic court in Jerusalem for almost 600 years.  The recipient is a virgin, who is “deeply troubled” by the angel’s greeting and later has to ask, “How can this be since I do not know man?”  Rather than normal human conception, the child will be conceived by the power of the Most High, and the confirming sign that Mary’s baby is indeed to be called Son of God is that her kinswoman Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age.  In language reminiscent of the annunciation of Isaac’s birth to Abraham and Sarah (see Genesis 18), Gabriel ends by affirming “nothing is impossible to God.”  In contrast to the incredulous Zechariah and her laughing ancestress Sarah, Mary acquiesces to the mysterious divine plan. “I am the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be done to me according to your word.”  Mary’s obedient and humble participation in God’s mysterious plan of salvation stands in stark contrast to the selfish attempt of Adam and Eve to “become like one of the gods, knowing good and evil.”

Advent III C

 

3^rd Sunday of Advent C

 

Readings: Zephaniah 3:14‑18  Philippians 4:4‑7  Luke 3:10‑18

 

            "Cry out with joy and gladness;/ for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel."  This Sunday's responsorial (Isaiah 12) calls us to confidently rejoice in the approach of the "mighty savior" (Zeph 3:17).  Those who are willing to do the practical acts of repentance demanded by John the Baptist in today's Gospel selection can await the arrival of the Messiah in joyful peace and without frantic anxiety.

            Zephaniah was a prophet during a time of idolatry and apostasy from the covenant in seventh century B.C. Judah.  Most of his short book is filled with oracles of judgment describing the Lord's Day of doom and judgment against Judah and the nations.  But his prophecy ends on a note of hope and a promise of joy for the purified remnant left in Jerusalem/Zion (3:10‑11).  Once the judgment is over, Zion is commanded to "Shout for joy!", because the presence of "The King of Israel, the Lord" will guarantee her safety.  Jerusalem is even promised that "The Lord, your God" will himself "sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals." “On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:/ fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!/ The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior;/ he will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love./ He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.”

            The second reading from Philippians continues the tone of confident joy as Paul exhorts his beloved community: "Rejoice in the Lord always!  I say it again.  Rejoice!"  Their perpetual gratitude to the Lord should lead to acts of kindness.  "Everyone should see how unselfish you are."  Despite the sufferings both he and they are enduring, Paul is convinced that "The Lord himself is near." Therefore, they can "dismiss all anxiety from (their) minds."  Paul ends his exhortation by encouraging the Philippians to present their "needs to God in every form of prayer and petitions full of gratitude."  He then assures them that "God's own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over (their) hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus."          

            In the Gospel from Luke, John the Baptist presents concrete ways of properly preparing in repentance for the arrival of the Messiah.  In the previous section of Luke, John warns the crowds who have come to be baptized: “produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance” (Lk 3:8).  Now various groups ask him, “What shall we do?”  John's advice is specific and within the means of each group.  He commands those who have extra goods to “share with the person who has none.”  He orders the tax collectors, who were notorious cheats, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”  Finally, he charges the soldiers, who were tempted to use their military might for their own advantage, “Do not bully anyone.  Denounce no one falsely.  Be content with your pay.” 

            John's duties also include pointing to the arrival of the Messiah.  His father Zechariah had sung of him at his birth: "And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,/ for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways./ to give his people knowledge of salvation/ through the forgiveness of their sins . . .” (Lk 1:76).  So when the people, "full of anticipation," want to know if he "might be the Messiah," John fulfills his mission by saying: “I am baptizing you in water, but there is one to come who is mightier than I.  I am not fit to loosen his sandal strap.  He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16).

John's last warning announces the Messiah's coming as a harvester with “His winnowing‑fan . . . in his hand” about to  clear the threshing floor by gathering the wheat into his granary  and burning the chaff in unquenchable fire.  For those prepared to follow John's preaching this is not a threat but the "good news" of the arrival of God's long awaited justice.

Advent II C

 

 

2^nd Sunday of Advent C

 

Readings: Baruch 5:1‑9 ,Philippians 1:4‑6,8‑11, Luke 3:1‑6

 

The second and third Sundays of Advent always feature the ministry of John the Baptist, the herald who announces the coming of the Messiah.  Today's readings are filled with joyful confidence because the time of salvation is dawning as "the word of God (is) spoken to John son of Zechariah in the desert."  Let us pray, in the words of the responsorial psalm:  "The Lord has done great things for us;/ we are filled with joy" (Ps 126).

In the first reading from Baruch, the desolate city of Jerusalem is commanded to cease its mourning and "put on the splendor of glory from God forever" because he is bringing her dispersed children back from the Diaspora.  Like the high priest, Jerusalem is to wrap herself  "in the cloak of justice," bear on her head "the mitre that displays the glory of the eternal name." This gathering of Jerusalem’s exiles is meant to be a revelation of God’s kingdom to the whole world. “For God will show all the earth your splendor:/ You will be named by God forever/ the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.” Jerusalem is commanded to “stand upon the heights” and witness the solemn procession of her scattered children returning to their homeland. “Up, Jerusalem! Stand upon the heights;/ look to the east and see your children/ gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One,/ rejoicing that they are remembered by God./  Led away on foot by their enemies they left you/ but God will bring them back to you/ borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.” In a second Exodus God has prepared a path for his people by commanding “that every mountain be made low,/ and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground,/ that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God” (see Isa 40:3‑5).  He even orders “the forests and every fragrant kind of tree to overshadow Israel,” as he leads his people in joy “with his mercy and justice for company.”

Paul's prayer for the Philippians, in the second reading, continues the theme of waiting in joyful expectation.  Despite his own imprisonment (see Phil 1:7,12‑26; 4:10‑20), Paul is  filled with joy and gratitude because of the way the Philippians  have "continually helped promote the Gospel from the very first  day."  He assures them that God "who has begun the good work in you will carry it through to completion, right up to the day of Christ Jesus."  As they await the "harvest of justice," Paul prays that their "love" and "understanding" of "what really matters" will continue to grow "up to the very day of Christ." 

Luke's account of the beginning of John the Baptist's preaching has a tone of joyful solemnity.  Because of the universal significance of these events, the evangelist carefully dates them by specifying the Roman and Jewish rulers of the time.  The day of salvation dawns at a very particular and portentous moment in history.  Roman imperialism has absorbed the whole of the  Mediterranean world, including Judea and Galilee, but only to serve God's purposes so that "all mankind shall see the salvation of God" (Lk 3:6; Isa 40:3‑5).  Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate,  Herod the tetrarch of Galilee and Annas and Caiaphas are all  destined to play roles in God's plan for salvation through Jesus. 

John's proclamation of   "a baptism of repentance which led to the forgiveness of sins" is also carefully linked to prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Book of Isaiah spoke of "a herald's voice in the desert" which would announce the return of Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem through the forbidding Arabian desert (see Isa 40:3‑5 and our reading from Baruch).  Luke relates this passage to John's call for repentance in the desert region near the Jordan.  In this context, Isaiah and Baruch’s imagery takes on the tone of a moral preparation which will culminate in God's salvation through Jesus. "A herald's voice in the desert, crying,/ `Make ready the way of the Lord,/ clear him a straight path./ Every valley shall be filled/ and every mountain and hill shall be leveled,/ the windings shall be made straight/ and the rough ways smooth,/ and all humankind shall see the salvation of God.’” In next week’s gospel we will hear John’s very concrete ethical teaching specifying how we may “make ready the way of the Lord.”

ADVENT I C

 

1^st Sunday of Advent C

Readings: Jeremiah 33:14‑16  1 Thessalonians 3:12‑4:2  

Luke 21:25‑28,34‑35

           

 In our activist culture waiting is something we grudgingly endure, but rarely do well.  Yet during Advent, we are asked to wait, not in meaningless boredom, but with active hope.  Today's readings proclaim the promises of the Messiah's coming to complete God's kingdom.  Let us pray in the words of the responsorial psalm: “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul/. . . .  Guide me in your truth and teach me,/ for you are God my savior,/ and for you I wait all day.”  (Ps 25:4‑5)

            In the Old Testament reading, Jeremiah's oracle promises a Messiah, a just shoot from the royal line of David who will do what is right and just in the land.  His rule will bring safety and security for Judah and Jerusalem.  The land will be renamed: "The Lord our justice." “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.  In those days, . . . I will raise up for David a just shoot;he shall do what is right and just in the land. In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her:  ‘The Lord our justice.’”  Jeremiah spoke this prophecy in the darkest hours of Judah's history.  Its recent kings had been corrupt and ineffectual, and now Jerusalem is under siege from Babylonian armies and is about to be destroyed, along with the Temple.  The prophet himself is imprisoned for warning of these disasters (see Jeremiah 32‑33).   Despite the bleakness of Judah's hopes, he boldly proclaims the nation will be reborn after its destruction and exile.  He even enacts this hope in symbol by buying a plot  of land that he had the right to purchase in the tribal system of  family land inheritance in order to say to discouraged in Judah: "homes and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this  land" (Jer 32:15).

            In the reading from Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle prays that this struggling young Christian community will endure in faith by living a life of love for one another, as it awaits "the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones."  Paul is trying to correct two extremes in the Thessalonian community.  Some are living morally irresponsible lives by indulging "lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God" (1 Thess 4:4).  Others have neglected the needs of the poor and their daily duties of supporting themselves, because they believe that Jesus' triumphant return in glory is near (see 1 Thess 4:9‑12).  Paul exhorts both groups to conduct themselves "in a way pleasing to God" (1 Thess 4:1).

            The Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Advent always picks up the themes of the last Sundays of the previous church year by speaking of Jesus' second coming to complete God's  kingdom.  During this year's C cycle of readings, we will be reading Luke's Gospel, and so this Sunday presents us with Jesus' apocalyptic discourse from the end of Luke.

            Luke's version of Jesus' warnings about the apparent terrors of the apocalypse is consoling, rather than frightening.  He assures the disciples: “When these things (the signs of the end time) begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your heads, for your ransom is near at hand.”  Only if the community lapses into a life of indulgence, drunkenness and worldly cares will the day come upon it “like a trap.”  If the disciples live watchful and prayerful lives, they will have the strength ‘to stand secure before the Son of Man’ (Lk 21:36). “Be on guard lest your spirits become bloated with indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares.  The great day will suddenly close in on you like a trap. . . . Pray constantly for the strength to escape whatever is in prospect, and to stand secure before the Son of Man.”

Christ, The King B

 

Solemnity of Christ the King B

 

Readings: Daniel 7:13-14  Revelation 1:5-8  John 18:33-37

 

On the last Sunday of the Church year, the feast of Christ the King, we are reminded of the ultimate triumph of God’s kingdom through Jesus, “the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev 1:5).  Although the readings may seem to have an almost triumphal tone, each hints at the conflict between God’s kingdom and the powers of evil in the world.  In the midst of our secular culture, we must take a leap of faith to pray today’s responsorial psalm: “The Lord is king/ He is robed in majesty” (Ps 93).

Daniel’s account of his apocalyptic vision in the first reading was originally meant to offer hope to the Jewish community experiencing a terrible pogrom from the wicked Seleucid king Antiochus IV in the years 168 through 163 B.C. (see 1 Maccabees).  In the first part of his vision Daniel sees four terrifying beasts coming out of the chaotic sea (7:1-8).  More detail is given to the fourth beast, especially to a boastful “little horn” (a symbol for Antiochus; see 7:19-27).  Daniel next sees the heavenly throne room of “the Ancient of Days,” God, and witnesses the destruction of the fourth beast and the removal of the dominion of the others (7:9-12).  This is followed by our reading in which a human figure, “one like a son of man,” ascends “with the clouds of heaven” into the heavenly court and receives from the Ancient of Days “everlasting dominion and glory and kingdom” (7:13-14).  At this point an anxious Daniel asks a figure in the heavenly court (the interpreting angel of apocalyptic visions) to explain the vision to him.  He learns that the four beasts are four kingdoms which shall arise out of the earth (7:17).  These represent the nations who have dominated the Near East from 600-168 B.C., but have ultimately lost their great empires (Babylon, Media, Persia, and the Greeks under Alexander).  Daniel then learns that the human figure is a symbol of “the saints of the Most High,” who will receive God’s kingdom and possess it forever.  The angel also informs him that the arrogant little horn will “speak against the Most High/ and oppress the holy ones of the Most High” but will ultimately lose his power when kingship shall be given to the “holy people of the Most High.”  Despite the apparent triumph of the world’s evil powers, God’s faithful (the Jews dying for their faith) will be vindicated in the end.

The second reading from Revelation is also part of an apocalyptic vision offering hope for persecuted peoples: seven Christian churches in Asia Minor (Revelation 2-3) in the midst of trials to their faith and persecutions from the Roman government for failure to either recognize the Roman state-gods or to participate in the emperor cult.  Their hope rests in the triumph of the risen Jesus who has himself endured martyrdom but now reigns in heaven. Our reading is taken from the opening salutation to the seven churches, greeting them with grace and peace from the seven protective spirits before God’s throne and especially the triumphant Jesus, who was himself a faithful witness (martyr) and is now “the first born from the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.”  The salutation continues with two doxologies consoling the churches with their status as a kingdom of priests, freed from their sins and awaiting the coming of Christ with the clouds (recall Daniel’s vision).  The final words are from God himself, who assures them that he is in control of all history.  “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

In the Gospel reading from John’s account of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, Jesus challenges the Roman procurator, and us, to accept “the truth of his kingdom that does not belong to this world.”  Throughout John, characters in dialogue with Jesus are asked to move from an earthly to a spiritual understanding of Jesus (see chs. 3, 4, 6, 9, 11).  This gives an ironic tone to the whole Gospel.  Pilate thinks he is putting Jesus on trial and begins his interrogation by asking, “Are you king of the Jews?”  In reality, Jesus is inviting Pilate to move from his earthly and political understanding of kingship to a spiritual one rooted in his act of love in laying down his life (see 10:14-18).  He tells Pilate: “My kingdom does not belong to this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would be fighting to save me from being handed over to the Jews.  As it is my kingdom is not here.”  At this point Pilate shows some interest in Jesus’ kingship, asking, “So, then, you are a king?”  But Jesus brushes aside the implication that he is an earthly king and invites Pilate to believe in the truth of his heavenly kingship: “Anyone committed to the truth hears my voice.”  In John’s Gospel, “the truth” always refers to Jesus identity as the One who has come from the Father to reveal his love for the world by laying down his life (see 5:33; 8:40,45-46; 14:6; 17:17,19).  In the remainder of the trial, Pilate chooses the earthly kingship of Caesar and gives in to the demands for Jesus’ death (see 18:37-19:16).  We might ask ourselves if we are the subjects of the powerful earthly Caesars of worldly expediency or of Jesus, who says, “I am the good shepherd.  A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

33rd Sunday B

 

 

33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

 

Readings: Daniel 12:1-3  Hebrews 10:11-14,18  Mark 13:24-32

 

On this next to last Sunday of the Church year the readings proclaim the ultimate triumph of God’s kingdom and the vindication of the faithful who serve God in the midst of evil and persecution.  As we dedicate ourselves to this fearless service, let each of us pray the refrain of the responsorial psalm: “You are my inheritance, O God” (Ps 16).

The first reading is from Daniel, an apocalyptic book written during the violent persecutions of the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 174-163 B.C.), who was determined to destroy the Jewish faith and enforce Hellenistic culture and the worship of Zeus upon his Jewish subjects (see 1 Maccabees 1).  During this time of terrible suffering many Jews chose to die rather than abandon fidelity to God and the Torah (see 1 Maccabees 1-2 and the stories of the Jewish martyrs in 2 Maccabees 6-7).

Dan 12:1-3 is an apocalyptic vision announcing the future deliverance of the faithful.  It is the only unequivocal statement of a belief in the resurrection of the dead in the Hebrew Scriptures. (See also the belief in the immortality of the soul in the Greek Book of Wisdom, written slightly later).  For the author of Daniel the persecutions of Antiochus evoke thoughts about the sufferings at the end time, and he expects that those Jews who had died for their faith will be vindicated by a bodily resurrection as a part of the triumph of God’s kingdom.  In the vision, Daniel is assured that Michael, the protecting angel of the Jewish people, will arise to deliver the faithful “whose names shall be found written in the book.”  The faithful/wise “who turn many to righteousness” will awake to everlasting life and will shine like stars in the firmament.  But those who have been unfaithful will awake to shame and everlasting contempt.

The second reading from Hebrews continues the contrast between the permanently effective one sacrifice of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary which has achieved forgiveness of sin and the ineffectual sin sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood in the temple.  Using language drawn from the royal and priestly Psalm 110, the author describes the completion of Jesus’ work as being exalted to God’s right hand in the heavenly sanctuary where he awaits the defeat of his enemies.  This exaltation and battle language fits the situation of a community that has also known persecution (see 10:32ff) and now is in need of endurance in a time of testing (see 10:35-39; 11).

The Gospel is taken from the conclusion of Jesus’ apocalyptic sermon announcing to his disciples the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.  Mark is the most apocalyptic of the four Gospels, and it may have been written for a persecuted Christian community in the midst of a crisis, possibly precipitated by the fall of Jerusalem and its Temple to the Roman armies in 70 A.D. (see especially Mk 8:34-38; Mk 13:3-23).  Many false messiahs and prophets apparently expected that the fall of Jerusalem and its temple would be the sign of the end, but according to Mk 13:3-23, the Roman Jewish War of 66-70 A.D. and the concomitant persecution of Mark’s community are only “the beginning of the birth-pangs.”  In this time of crisis, Mark’s community is called to endure in giving heroic witness to its faith and is assured that this is a time for the Gospel to be proclaimed to the gentiles (Mk 13:9-13).

Our selection is meant to console this community by assuring it that Jesus, as the suffering Son of Man was also delivered up to death (15), but has now triumphed over death in his resurrection (16:1-8; see 8:31-38; 9:30-32; 10:32-34) and will return as the glorious Son of Man to gather his elect.  Mark’s picture of this event is similar to other apocalypses, including Daniel (see Daniel 7).  After the period of trials, the cosmos will be reordered and the Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory to dispatch his angels to gather the faithful from the four corners of the earth.  Using the lesson of the fig tree whose branches run high with sap just before summer, Jesus says, “In the same way, when you see these things happening (the cosmic signs), you will know that he is near, even at the door.”  Although Jesus assures his disciples that the generation that witnesses these signs “will not pass away until all these things take place,” he ends by prudently reminding the disciples that the exact time of these events is known only to the Father. “As to the exact day or hour, no one knows it, neither the angels in heaven nor even the Son, but only the Father.”  Because the ‘day or hour’ is unknown, Jesus concludes by commanding his disciples to be alert and watchful, like faithful and dutiful servants awaiting the return of their master. “Be watchful!  Be alert!  You do not know when the time will come.  It is like a man traveling abroad.  He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on watch. Watch, therefore, you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.  May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”