Christmas weekday
(I John 4:7-10; Mark 6:34-44)
It has been suggested that St. Luke portrays the infant Jesus as lying in a manger because he will one day give himself as food. As the manger serves as a feeder for farm animals, so it holds he who becomes the "Bread of Life" for his followers. The evangelist likely had more in mind than the Eucharist in relating the incident of the manger, but the observation does provide ample food for thought.
In any case, today’s Christmas season gospel relates Jesus feeding the mass of people with the meager offering of five loaves and two fish. The scene, narrated by each of the four evangelists, anticipates Jesus’ feeding his disciples with his body and blood at their farewell meal. The Father sent him precisely to demonstrate His immense love. Could any action be more significant than allowing oneself to be chewed up so that he may nourish his partakers?
We, of course, participate in the same agape feast. Through the Church Jesus’ offering is extended to us so that we might have the strength to follow in his ways.
Showing posts with label manger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manger. Show all posts
Homilette for Thursday, January 1, 2009
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
(Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21)
We call the first month of the year “January” after Janus, the pagan god of gates and doors. Statues of Janus have two heads like a door has two sides -- one looking backward and the other forward. Certainly in January we look in these two directions. We repeatedly refer to the old year, sometimes mistakenly writing its number on checks. But as the month moves along, we think more of the possibilities lying in the year just begun.
The Nativity scene with Jesus lying in a manger also calls us to look both backward and forward. The manger is not meant to indicate Joseph and Mary’s poverty, but to recall what the prophet Isaiah said of Israel. “An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger,” Isaiah observed, “but Israel does not know, my people has not understood (me)” (Is 1:3). Now, the evangelist Luke shows, the shepherds of Israel see and know their Lord. The Lordship of Jesus, however, will only be revealed to all lands in the future. After Jesus is crucified, rises from the dead, and send his Spirit upon them, his apostles will preach his name throughout the world.
New Year’s Day is generally reserved for rest and visiting (and, for some, football). But the Church calls us to mass to reflect on the significance of what has taken place during the past week. We have heard the story of Christmas retold. We have celebrated Christ’s coming by acts of kindness and generosity. And we have found ourselves immersed in an atmosphere of peace and goodwill. Like Mary in the gospel we are to reflect on these things in our hearts in order to distill their meaning for the year ahead.
(Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21)
We call the first month of the year “January” after Janus, the pagan god of gates and doors. Statues of Janus have two heads like a door has two sides -- one looking backward and the other forward. Certainly in January we look in these two directions. We repeatedly refer to the old year, sometimes mistakenly writing its number on checks. But as the month moves along, we think more of the possibilities lying in the year just begun.
The Nativity scene with Jesus lying in a manger also calls us to look both backward and forward. The manger is not meant to indicate Joseph and Mary’s poverty, but to recall what the prophet Isaiah said of Israel. “An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger,” Isaiah observed, “but Israel does not know, my people has not understood (me)” (Is 1:3). Now, the evangelist Luke shows, the shepherds of Israel see and know their Lord. The Lordship of Jesus, however, will only be revealed to all lands in the future. After Jesus is crucified, rises from the dead, and send his Spirit upon them, his apostles will preach his name throughout the world.
New Year’s Day is generally reserved for rest and visiting (and, for some, football). But the Church calls us to mass to reflect on the significance of what has taken place during the past week. We have heard the story of Christmas retold. We have celebrated Christ’s coming by acts of kindness and generosity. And we have found ourselves immersed in an atmosphere of peace and goodwill. Like Mary in the gospel we are to reflect on these things in our hearts in order to distill their meaning for the year ahead.
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