Wednesday, January 7, 2026

 Christmas Weekday

 (I John 4:11-18; Mark 6:45-52)

The Renaissance political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli famously compared fear and love.  He said that for a leader it is good to be both loved and feared.  But, he added, if a leader has to choose one or the other, he should choose to be feared rather than loved.   Fear touches most people more deeply than any other emotion.  It more likely makes a person submit to authority.  Yet both readings today at least hint that God wants to be loved, not feared.

The first reading from I John says that perfect love casts out fear.  It means that when one really loves God, she has nothing to fear.  God will meet all her needs.  In the Gospel the disciples are terrified when they see what appears to them as a ghost.  Despite knowing Jesus, their love for God is still shallow.  They lack the Holy Spirit.  They cannot yet appreciate that God will meet their every need when they trust Him.

We have received the Holy Spirit through the sacraments.  Yet our love is still often meager and our fear substantial.  As a surgeon has to perform an operation dozens of times before he perfects his skill, we need to practice loving God continually.  By prayer, fasting, and study we will come to know God and to love Him.  Then we will fear minimally if at all. 

Monday, January 12, 2026

 

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 1:1-6; Mark 1:14-20)

The first words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark are telling.  He says them in in today’s gospel passage: “This is the time of fulfillment.” It is fair, even necessary, to ask, “fulfillment of what?” What are the desires and hopes that are now going to be fulfilled?

In an insightful article journalist David Brooks says that among Americans there has been a telling shift in hopes and desires.  No longer do they want love, at least as defined in a classical way of giving oneself completely to another, either one person, a group of people, or a cause.  Rather, he says, today most people want autonomy, a detachment from others so that one they might pursue personal interests without commitments standing in the way.

For Jesus fulfillment means the connecting of people to God.  This desire has been named “the holy longing.” Jesus is here to bring us much closer to the Lord and to one another.  He is present in the Church which gathers us as brothers and sisters and directs our corporate self to his loving Father.

 

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

 

Tuesday after Epiphany

(I John 4:7-10; Mark 6:34-44)

Among the bleakest words in English literature come from Shakespeare’s masterpiece King Lear. After being blinded by Lear’s cruel daughters, the Earl of Gloucester laments: "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport".  In today’s first reading John, the Presbyter, looks toward the biblical God in an entirely different way.

The God in whom we believe loves His subjects far and wide.  He gave us His Son so that in bearing hardships with patience, we might be relieved of all suffering.  The Gospel today demonstrates God’s love.  Jesus reveals himself as God by not sending his listeners home hungry.  Rather he feeds them so that they can return home completely satisfied.

Love in Scripture is not simply the well-wishing of the Scholastics.  It is doing something beneficial for others.  It is cleaning out the family dishwasher or visiting the imprisoned.  By such acts we show ourselves as true children of God and heirs of eternal life.

Monday, January 5, 2026

 

Memorial of St. John Neumann, Bishop

(I John3:22-4:6; Matthew 4:12-17.23-25)

The First Letter of John indicates that belief in the incarnation separates true and false believers.  Its writer accuses those who deny that God took on flesh of having a false spirit.  He doesn’t say whether they are more like Manicheans, who hold the human body in contempt, or sensualists, who use the body for pleasure.

In any case, the Gospel speaks of Christ as the light shining in darkness.  Among other issues he enlightens people about the value of the body.  He never denies its inherent goodness although he warns about its abuse, especially through lust.

The issue of the body has dimensions beyond sexual desire.  Currently there is great debate about whether the body is peripheral or integral to the person.  Some consider that it is like an old computer that may be discarded when it disfunctions.  Others, thinking in the way of Christ, say that even if its mental or physical capacities fail, the body remains intrinsic to the person.  This necessitates that the body should be cared for despite the burden involved.  Having responsibility for a person in a persistent vegetative state or with Alzheimer’s will challenge anyone.  Nevertheless, it is our Christian duty to care for loved ones in these conditions and to advocate for their dignity in society.

 

Sunday, January 4, 2026

 

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD, January 4, 2026
(Isaiah 60:1–6; Ephesians 3:2–3, 5–6; Matthew 2:1–12)

Today’s Gospel contains one of the most cherished stories in the entire Bible. It has been called “the Gospel in miniature” because it presents some of the most basic themes of the New Testament: 1) it reveals Jesus as king and savior; 2) it contrasts the eagerness of foreigners to find him with the resistance of the Jewish people; and 3) it hints at the painful destiny of Jesus at the end of the Gospel. Since the Church proclaims this Gospel today under the title of “the Epiphany,” let us consider these themes in the light of this strange word.

The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek epiphaneia, meaning “manifestation,” “appearance,” or “revelation.” The “Epiphany of the Lord” presents Jesus as the Son of God. There are several epiphanies in the Gospels, such as the Baptism in Matthew when the voice of God the Father declares Jesus his “beloved Son.” The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain is also an epiphany. Nevertheless, today’s Gospel account is the clearest instance of epiphany, for it shows how men from a faraway place come to adore the King of the Jews.

The story begins with the Magi observing a new star in the sky. Matthew certainly understands this star to represent Jesus. But the star also symbolizes the human capacity to know God through nature. The First Vatican Council taught that human reason can come to know the existence of God, but only with difficulty and with a mixture of error. For this reason, the Magi must stop in Jerusalem to consult the Scriptures. Only when the scribes discover that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem can they reach their destination.

This process of human coming to know God through nature is repeated even in our own day. It is often assumed that most contemporary scientists are atheists. Yet, according to reliable sources, a growing number of scientists acknowledge the existence of a Creator. Put simply, science cannot fully explain the convergence of factors that makes life on earth possible. If the earth’s temperatures were not moderate; if the mixture of gases in the atmosphere were not exactly 21 percent oxygen and 78 percent nitrogen; if there were not a large moon and the other planets, among many other factors, life on earth could not exist.

But all this knowledge tells us little about God’s compassion and about his will that human beings practice justice. To know God better, the Scriptures are necessary. And to know him as fully as possible, the Gospel is needed, because Jesus is the perfect revelation of God.

The second reading explains that the apostles brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. This also continues today. We may ask: what moves people to take an interest in God? Some are still drawn to Christ by science, which raises questions that are not fully explained. Many more come to know Christ through the lives of the saints, who sacrificed everything out of love for him. Some are deeply moved by the beauty of shrines, sacred music, and art, and they seek their source. Still others are so impressed by the good and ordered lives of ordinary Christians that they wish to imitate them.

In truth, it does not matter very much what brings us to Christ. What matters is that we embrace him and follow him. He is the way to God, because he is God. And being God, he will give us the happiness we seek in life.

 

Saturday, January 3, 2026

 

Christmas weekday

(I John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34)

Two children who just made their First Holy Communion were discussing their “Communion gifts.”  One child, after naming her gifts, asked the other, “What did you get for Communion?”  the other child responded, “Isn’t Jesus enough?”  Of course, he is more than enough.

Today’s first reading tells us of the “love the Father bestowed upon us.”  That love is Jesus.  He is, of course, the source of all Christmas gifts.  For this reason, I squirm when I attend a Christmas party which features a so-called “Chinese gift exchange.”  Not only does the name betray bigotry, the idea of taking someone’s gift to satisfy our hidden desire seems to betray the love of God given us in Jesus.

The magnificence of this gift is suggested in today’s Gospel.  John points to Jesus and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”   Have you ever done something so wrong that you wished with all your heart it might be undone?  Undoing our sin, at least where it matters most, is the reason that Jesus is enough.

Friday, January 2, 2026

 

Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

(I john 2:22-28; John 1:19-28)

Today’s patron saints were great theologians of the fourth century.  Both merited to be celebrated separately as they were until 1969.  However, now they are remembered together because they were the best of friends.  Moreover, their teachings on the Trinity set the new year on a sound theological basis.

St. Basil is called “the Great” because of his many accomplishments.  He wrote a rule for monastic life, reformed the liturgy, championed the poor, and demonstrated the correctness of considering the Holy Spirit “God.”  St. Gregory Nazianzen, a reluctant warrior, contended with false doctrines and their advocates when he would rather have retreated to his monastery.  Gregory showed that the Holy Spirit is not begotten of the Father like the Son but proceeds from Him.  He also laid the foundation for the Christological truth that Jesus is a single divine person with both human and divine natures.

The issues that Basil and Gregory Nazianzen dealt with are largely academic.  Yet they have critical applications in our lives. How are we to understand our redemption if not by one with both a human and a divine nature?  How are we to explain the healing effects of the sacraments if not by the working of the Holy Spirit?  These teachings, based on the Scriptures, make our faith both credible and coherent.