5th Sunday A

5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Isaiah 58:7‑10   1 Corinthians 2:1‑5   Matthew 5:13‑20

"You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world."  Jesus' challenge to his disciples in today's Gospel is also addressed to us who live in a culture that is as "flat" and "blind" as was the world of Jesus' own day.  As we struggle to be faithful to Jesus' commission, let us pray with confidence the refrain of this Sunday's responsorial psalm: "The just man is a light in darkness to the upright" (Ps 112:4a).

The Isaiah reading was spoken in the dark days immediately after the return of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem when they found their city and temple in ruins.  Instead of caring for the poor and homeless, many selfishly pursued their own business, while conducting meaningless fasts which the prophet describes in the lines preceding our reading.  “Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers,/ yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw” (Isa 58:3‑4). In God's name, the prophet demands: “This, rather, is the fasting that I wish./ Release those bound unjustly,/ untie the thongs of the yoke,/ set free the oppressed,/ break every yoke./ Share your bread with the hungry,/ shelter the oppressed and the homeless;/ clothe the naked when you see them,/ and do not turn your back on your own” (Isa 58:6‑7). Only after Israel rectifies the injustices in its midst will it be healed and become a light for a darkened world (58:8).

The second reading continues Paul's attack on the worldly factionalism among the Corinthians.  He reminds them that his initial preaching of the gospel was not done "with sublimity of words or wisdom."  Rather, he spoke only of "Jesus Christ, and him crucified."  As befits a message about a crucified Messiah, he came to them "in weakness and fear, and much trembling."  For Paul, the success of the Christian gospel does not depend upon the preacher's gift for "persuasive words of wisdom," like some worldly sophist, but on "a demonstration of Spirit and power" working through weak human instruments who reflect the message of the cross in their own lives.  The cross is God's "mysterious" and "hidden" wisdom which "the rulers of this age" cannot understand, as is proven by their crucifying "the Lord of glory." 

The Gospel continues last Sunday's reading which ended with the beatitude for those persecuted for the sake of the gospel (Matt 5:11‑12).  Now Jesus uses two striking metaphors to alert his disciples to the importance of their role in the world.  They are to be "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world."   Salt was important in Jesus' world as both a spice and a preservative.  Both qualities apply to the disciples' task.  They must both challenge the world with Jesus' teachings and preserve the deepest meaning of God's Torah (see Matthew 10, 18, 28).  But Jesus ends with a threat of judgment. “But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?  It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Strictly speaking, salt cannot lose its taste, but in Judaism it can become unclean when tainted with too many impurities, and then it has to be thrown out.  The disciples are warned that, despite their call, they may lose all if they are unfaithful in time of persecution. 

The light image is based on the tradition in the first reading from Isaiah.  A traditional Jewish hope was that Israel and the city of Jerusalem would become "a light for the nations" by manifesting God's justice (see Isa 2:1‑5; 42:1‑9).  Notice that although the disciples' "good deeds" are to be like "a city set on a mountain top" and a light “set on a lamp stand where it gives light to all in the house," they are not to draw attention to themselves, but to bring the nations to God. “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matt 5:16).

4TH Sunday A

4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Zephaniah 2:3;3:12‑13    1 Corinthians 1:26‑31      Matthew 5:1‑12

"Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!" (Matt 5:3)   This acclamation is both the refrain for this Sunday's responsorial psalm and the opening line of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel reading.  For those of us who may be desperately aware of our spiritual and economic poverty and the need for God's justice, Jesus' words are "good news."  We are assured of God's special care and blessing.  For those of us who are smugly comfortable with the worldly status quo, Jesus' words are a stern rebuke.  We are challenged to hear again the revolutionary message of the kingdom Jesus preaches.

Zephaniah's prophecy was spoken in the early years of King Josiah's reign (640‑609 B.C.) when the king was attempting to purify Judah from deep seated idolatry and the neglect of the social justice demanded by the Torah.  The prophet was convinced that the nation of Judah and its surrounding neighbors were about to be annihilated "on the day of the Lord's anger."  According to Zephaniah, only a remnant "who have observed his (the Lord's) law" will be sheltered on judgment day.  This faithful remnant are instructed to "seek the Lord" by living justly and humbly in a time of injustice and pride.  The reading concludes with an assurance that the Lord will bless the humble remnant who takes refuge in him by doing and speaking no wrong.  "They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them."      

The reading from 1 Corinthians continues Paul's argument that the existence of rival groups in the Corinthian community is contrary to the nature of the Christian gospel.   Last week, we heard Paul assert that the gospel is foolishness by worldly standards.  God's saving power has been revealed in worldly weakness: the cross on which Jesus, the Messiah, was crucified.  For Paul, the mystery of this paradox extends into the life of the Christian community. Those who have responded to the good news of salvation through Jesus' cross are not the philosophically wise, nor the powerful.  “Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  Rather, God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong . . .”  Because God has saved us through Christ despite our weakness, Paul concludes that there is no place for worldly boasting in the Christian community.  The only proper response to God's grace is to offer him grateful praise, or in Paul's words, to "boast in the Lord." “It is due to him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus,who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written,’Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.’”

Jesus' proclamation of the beatitudes (exclamations of congratulation) in today’s Gospel completes today's theme of God's concern for the lowly who pursue justice.  The beatitudes are the beginning of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount which we will be reading for the next six weeks of Ordinary Time.  Jesus announces the prophetic fulfillment of the law and prophets (Matthew 5‑7).  The setting and tone are solemn and apocalyptic.  Jesus goes up a mountainside, a place of revelation like Sinai in Exodus where Moses and Israel first received the Law.  Seating himself in the traditional position of a teacher, he majestically proclaims the fulfillment of the law. 

Jesus begins with the joyful announcement of God's present and future blessing upon the ’anawim, "the meek, humble" who acknowledge their total dependence upon God for their justice and vindication.  The "poor in spirit," the "mourning," and those "who hunger and thirst for justice" refer to the same people: the weak who suffer from injustice.  They are blessed because of God's special care for them.  Three of the beatitudes are more active: showing mercy, being single‑hearted and making peace.   Their meaning will be fleshed out in Jesus' teachings on forgiveness, fulfillment of the law's commandments, and love of the enemy (see Matt 5:17‑46).  The twofold blessing on the persecuted reflects the experience of martyrdom in the early Church.  All of the beatitudes mirror the Matthean Jesus, the  truly blessed one, who both embodies the joy the kingdom brings and also obediently trusts his Father to the point of suffering  death for the sake of the kingdom (see Matt 10:24‑42; 11:25‑30).

3rd Sunday A

3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Isaiah 8:23‑9:3  1 Corinthians 1:10‑13,17  Matthew 4:12‑23

In today's Gospel Matthew presents the beginning of Jesus' public proclamation of the kingdom of heaven as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of "a great light" arising for "a people living in darkness."   As we hear the beginning of Jesus' preaching in Galilee, let us identify with the first apostles‑‑ Peter, Andrew, James, and John‑‑ by responding whole‑heartedly to the demands of God's kingdom with the refrain of the responsorial psalm: "The Lord is my light and my salvation" (Ps 27:1a).

The Isaiah reading is the opening section of a messianic oracle which describes the Lord's deliverance of Israel from the Assyrian armies.  At first, the Lord had "degraded the land of  Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" by allowing Assyria under  Tiglath‑pileser III to take captives and territory from those  tribes, but now "he has glorified the seaward road, the land west  of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles" through a mighty deliverance of his people from the Assyria imperialists.  The prophet goes on to praise the Lord for his victory. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;/ Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”

The people of Israel rejoice "as at the harvest" or “when dividing spoils," because the Lord has smashed "the yoke that burdened them,/ the pole on their shoulder,/ and the rod of  their taskmaster . . . as on the day of Midian" (cf. Judges 6-7).

In the second reading from the beginning of 1 Corinthians, Paul is combating the problem of factionalism.  The Corinthian community has divided into groups claiming allegiance to Paul, Apollos (another apostle from Alexandria in Egypt), Cephas (Peter), and Christ.   For Paul such division is rooted in a misunderstanding of the gospel message.  The Christian gospel is not the "wisdom" of a particular Christian preacher.  In fact, by the standards of philosophical wisdom, the gospel is “folly” because its content is the cross, i.e., the message about Jesus, a crucified Messiah.   Paul asks the Corinthians, who seem to be allied to the apostle who had baptized them, "Is Christ divided?  Was it Paul who was crucified for you?  Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”   He then reminds them of the difference between the worldly wisdom of philosophy and the power of the cross. “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the

gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.”

Matthew's account of the beginning of Jesus' preaching proclaims that a new age has dawned when the light of salvation is manifest to the whole world.  John's arrest serves as a kind of signal for Jesus to begin his mission.  After first withdrawing from the desert of Judea to Galilee, Jesus leaves his home town of Nazareth and takes up residence in Capernaum, a small fishing village on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee.  Despite the apparent obscurity of this place in contrast to the capital and temple city of Jerusalem, Matthew understands Jesus' Galilean ministry as the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah's ancient prophecy. "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali/ the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, heathen Galilee:/ a people living in darkness has seen a great light./ On those who inhabit a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen."

Jesus' initial preaching is exactly the same as John's:  “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (cf. Matt 3:2).  The term “kingdom of heaven” is Matthew's reverent paraphrase for "kingdom of God."  It does not mean heaven in the sense of a disembodied afterlife with God, but rather it refers to the arrival of God's kingdom of justice and peace within this world, as will be evident in Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5‑7).

In contrast to John whose mission was limited to preaching repentance and baptizing in the desert of Judea (Matthew 3), Jesus begins a more public and universal mission by calling common fisherman to leave their nets and become “fishers of men” (see Jer 16:11).  Eventually their mission will extend to all the nations (see Matt 28:16‑20).  This universality is anticipated in Jesus' initial tour through the whole of Galilee which Matthew summarizes in the following way. “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.”  Our lives as Christian are to be a joful extension of that universal healing mission.

2nd Sunday A

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Isaiah 49:3,5‑6  1 Corinthians 1:1‑3  John 1:29‑34

In these Sundays of Ordinary Time between the Christmas season and Lent, the Church presents us with the demands of our Christian vocation.  We are called to be a holy people who, like John the Baptist in the Gospel, give testimony to the presence of Jesus in our midst.  Let us open ourselves to the rigors of that call as we sing the refrain of this Sunday's responsorial psalm: "Here am I, Lord;/ I come to do your will" (Ps 40:8a and 9a).

            In the first reading the prophet Second Isaiah speaks of Israel's vocation in the language of a prophetic call.  Influenced by the humiliation of the nation's exile in Babylon, Second Isaiah envisions a new task for Israel; it is to be God's "servant" (`ebed).  Speaking as if he is servant, Israel, the prophet gives a first person report of Israel's coming to a new understanding of its vocation.  Not only is Israel called to repent of its sins in exile and be gathered to the Lord, but now it is to be "a light to the nations" by witnessing to the Lord's powerful action in bringing the nation home from exile. “The Lord said to me: you are my servant,/ Israel, through whom I show my glory./ Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb,/ that Jacob may be brought back to him/ and Israel gathered to him;/ . . . It is too little . . . for you to be my servant,/ to raise up the tribes of Jacob,/ . . . I will make you a light to the nations,/ that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Paul's greeting at the beginning of First Corinthians continues the theme of God's call.  In his salutation Paul stresses both his own call and that of the community at Corinth.   As he often does in his letters, Paul identifies himself by giving his apostolic credentials: "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God".  His message is never simply his own; it is always related to his mission to be an apostle of the crucified and risen Christ.   "The Church of God that is in Corinth" also has a call based on what Christ has done for it.  Paul addresses the Corinthian Christians with the words:  "you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."  This is language taken from the Hebrew Scriptures where Israel is called to be "kingdom of priests, a holy nation" (Exod 19:6; see also Lev 19).  As Paul will elaborate in the body of the letter, the Corinthians have been consecrated at a great price, the very blood of the crucified  Christ, which has made the whole community and the individuals who make it up, "the temple of God" and "the  body  of Christ" (see 1 Cor 3:16‑17; 5:12‑20; 11:17‑34; 12:12‑26). As such, they are called to live holy lives of loving consideration for one another (see 1 Corinthians 13).

This Sunday's Gospel is John the Baptist's testimony to Jesus from John's gospel.  The Baptist has the role of the first witness to Jesus' identity as the saving light who has come from God (see John 1:6‑9).  Therefore, when Jesus appears in Bethany across the Jordan, John immediately identifies him with the words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the one of whom I said, ‘a man is coming who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'"

John goes on to speak of his own task “in baptizing with water” in order to make Jesus “known to Israel.”  He admits that at first he did not recognize Jesus, but he testifies that “the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”  When John sees the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus, he performs his task: “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

As we meditate on our own Christian vocations, we might humbly take John the Baptist as our model.  He does not proclaim himself or claim any title for himself (see John 1:19‑21).  He is content with the role of pointing to “the one among you whom you do not recognize” (John 1:26).  When the priests and Levites from Jerusalem ask John to identify himself, he simply says: "I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, "Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah   the prophet said" (John 1:23).  May our lives as Christians, like John the Baptist, point to the presence of Christ who is taking away the sins of the world in order to bring about his kingdom on earth. 

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 copartners 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 but also recounts how Herod by attempting to kill the new born king paradoxically fulfills the promises.  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. 

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.