The Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
(I John 1:5-2:2; Matthew 2:13-18)
Gospel analysts easily show that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke have different sources for their accounts of Jesus’ birth. Where Matthew situates Joseph and Mary Bethlehem well before Jesus’ birth, Luke has them journeying from Nazareth. Where Matthew tells of the magi coming to adore the Lord, Luke pictures shepherds. Where Matthew writes of the Holy Family in flight to Egypt after the birth, Luke has them going up to the Temple in Jerusalem. However, these divergent details should not provoke doubt. In essential matters the two evangelists coincide.
First and very important, Jesus is born to Mary, who remains a virgin, and to Joseph, who gives him a name and a lineage. Secondly, Jesus is born in Bethlehem but comes to live in Nazareth. Finally and significantly, both narratives of his birth include a reference to the passion that Jesus will eventually endure. In today’s gospel the reference is more direct and ominous. Herod searches for the infant Jesus in order to kill him. The oblique reference to the passion in Luke comes in the midst of Simeon’s prophecy that Jesus will be the source of the rise and fall of many in Israel and because of this a sword shall pierce his mother’s heart.
The Church takes up this connection between the birth and death of Jesus by celebrating the Feast of the first martyr, St. Stephen, on the day following Christmas. In conformity to this revelation we should temper our jubilation with the realization that the mystery of the Incarnation is but the first step in Jesus’ complete sacrifice of himself to deliver us from sin and death. Also, the suffering of the innocent martyrs remembered today should remind us of the need to suffer with Jesus so that we might rise with him to glory.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist
(I John 1:1-4; John 20:1a.2-8)
In the first couple centuries after Christ, Christians had to contend with the heresy of Docetism. Evidently finding incredible the apostles’ testimony that the Son of God actually became human, Docetists believed that he only had the semblance of a man but remained a spirit. In the section from the Letter to John which we read today, the writer offers a striking rebuttal. “What we…touched with our hands,” the author says, “concerns the Word of life.”
Today we are challenged by the contrary heresy that Jesus was not God at all but only human. Proponents of this way of thinking acknowledge Jesus’ wisdom and goodness but do not think him worth of implicit following. According to these detractors, Jesus is just one in a series of many holy men and women including Buddha, Gandhi, and maybe Mary Baker Eddy.
Some of us may be attracted to the contemporary rejection of the Christian claim of Jesus’ divinity as freeing faith from mythical elements. It also dismisses, in effect, our fellowship with the Father and the Son and the promise of eternal life found in the Letter of John. We do not concur with the idea that Christian belief is mythical. It is not so much because such a stance takes away our hope but, more to the point, because it conflicts directly with what those who, like John, actually knew Jesus have told us about him.
(I John 1:1-4; John 20:1a.2-8)
In the first couple centuries after Christ, Christians had to contend with the heresy of Docetism. Evidently finding incredible the apostles’ testimony that the Son of God actually became human, Docetists believed that he only had the semblance of a man but remained a spirit. In the section from the Letter to John which we read today, the writer offers a striking rebuttal. “What we…touched with our hands,” the author says, “concerns the Word of life.”
Today we are challenged by the contrary heresy that Jesus was not God at all but only human. Proponents of this way of thinking acknowledge Jesus’ wisdom and goodness but do not think him worth of implicit following. According to these detractors, Jesus is just one in a series of many holy men and women including Buddha, Gandhi, and maybe Mary Baker Eddy.
Some of us may be attracted to the contemporary rejection of the Christian claim of Jesus’ divinity as freeing faith from mythical elements. It also dismisses, in effect, our fellowship with the Father and the Son and the promise of eternal life found in the Letter of John. We do not concur with the idea that Christian belief is mythical. It is not so much because such a stance takes away our hope but, more to the point, because it conflicts directly with what those who, like John, actually knew Jesus have told us about him.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent
(II Samuel 7:1-5.8b-12.14a.16; Luke 1:67-79)
The Church aids our reflection on the mystery of the Incarnation by presenting different titles for Jesus on the seven days before Christmas Eve. The titles comprise the kernel of what are commonly called the “O Antiphons” sung at Evening Prayer and echoed in the “alleluia” acclamation before the gospel reading at Mass. Someone has cleverly noticed that the first letters of the Latin titles given backwards, beginning with E for Emmanuel on December 23, form the acrostic ERO CRAS, which means “I will be tomorrow.” Tomorrow we will celebrate Christ’s being with us as a human being, a gift which might take our breath away.
The titles of the “O antiphons” in the order of the acrostic run as follows. E is for Emmanuel: Jesus is literally “God-with-us.” R is for Rex: he is the king who will care for our needs. O is for Oriens: Jesus comes as the dawn bringing the light of truth. C is for Clavis: he holds the key of David to heaven’s door. R is for Radix: Jesus comes from the root of Jesse, a royal pedigree assuring capability. A is for Adonai: he is the Lord God of Israel who loves the poor and oppressed. And S is for Sapientia: Jesus dispenses wisdom to assist us on the earthly sojourn.
We are encouraged to attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The reason for mass at midnight goes deeper than waiting for the clock to officially toll the beginning of a new day. Jesus promises to return “like a thief in the night” and asks his disciples to stay awake in vigilance waiting for him. Beyond dining and exchanging Christmas presents, we should pray and perhaps reflect again on the titles of the “O antiphons” as we await his presence at mass in the middle of the night.
(II Samuel 7:1-5.8b-12.14a.16; Luke 1:67-79)
The Church aids our reflection on the mystery of the Incarnation by presenting different titles for Jesus on the seven days before Christmas Eve. The titles comprise the kernel of what are commonly called the “O Antiphons” sung at Evening Prayer and echoed in the “alleluia” acclamation before the gospel reading at Mass. Someone has cleverly noticed that the first letters of the Latin titles given backwards, beginning with E for Emmanuel on December 23, form the acrostic ERO CRAS, which means “I will be tomorrow.” Tomorrow we will celebrate Christ’s being with us as a human being, a gift which might take our breath away.
The titles of the “O antiphons” in the order of the acrostic run as follows. E is for Emmanuel: Jesus is literally “God-with-us.” R is for Rex: he is the king who will care for our needs. O is for Oriens: Jesus comes as the dawn bringing the light of truth. C is for Clavis: he holds the key of David to heaven’s door. R is for Radix: Jesus comes from the root of Jesse, a royal pedigree assuring capability. A is for Adonai: he is the Lord God of Israel who loves the poor and oppressed. And S is for Sapientia: Jesus dispenses wisdom to assist us on the earthly sojourn.
We are encouraged to attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The reason for mass at midnight goes deeper than waiting for the clock to officially toll the beginning of a new day. Jesus promises to return “like a thief in the night” and asks his disciples to stay awake in vigilance waiting for him. Beyond dining and exchanging Christmas presents, we should pray and perhaps reflect again on the titles of the “O antiphons” as we await his presence at mass in the middle of the night.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
(Malachi 3:1-4.23-24; Luke 1:57-66)
In Luke’s gospel John the Baptist clearly takes the place of Elijah, the prophet of fire. John warns the people that unless they reform, they will be cut down like trees and burned. In this way John goes before the Lord, as his father Zechariah proclaims in his song of jubilation at his naming, “to prepare his ways.”
Jesus will not take up John’s message of the primacy of divine wrath. Rather, his preaching will center on God as the human’s benefactor. Although Jesus will not shrink from mentioning God’s power to cast sinners into hell, he will stress God’s love. God, he will say, has counted the number of hairs on each faithful person’s head to insure her or his total salvation.
Since love can be looked upon as a kind of fire, we might contrast John’s theme with Jesus’ using the same image. Fire can destroy dispassionately as well as purify with all compassion. John, following Elijah, will use the threat if not the force of a blazing fire to warn us of the danger that dissolute living incurs. In contrast God’s love, incarnate in Jesus, burns like a surgeon’s laser beam not harming but healing us and making us whole.
(Malachi 3:1-4.23-24; Luke 1:57-66)
In Luke’s gospel John the Baptist clearly takes the place of Elijah, the prophet of fire. John warns the people that unless they reform, they will be cut down like trees and burned. In this way John goes before the Lord, as his father Zechariah proclaims in his song of jubilation at his naming, “to prepare his ways.”
Jesus will not take up John’s message of the primacy of divine wrath. Rather, his preaching will center on God as the human’s benefactor. Although Jesus will not shrink from mentioning God’s power to cast sinners into hell, he will stress God’s love. God, he will say, has counted the number of hairs on each faithful person’s head to insure her or his total salvation.
Since love can be looked upon as a kind of fire, we might contrast John’s theme with Jesus’ using the same image. Fire can destroy dispassionately as well as purify with all compassion. John, following Elijah, will use the threat if not the force of a blazing fire to warn us of the danger that dissolute living incurs. In contrast God’s love, incarnate in Jesus, burns like a surgeon’s laser beam not harming but healing us and making us whole.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
(I Samuel 1:24-28; Luke 1:46-56)
Looking for a relationship between the reading from Samuel and the gospel today, we may be hard-pressed. “What does the account of Hannah’s delivering her son into the Lord’s service have in common with Mary’s praise of the Lord?” we might ask. The answer is hidden. If we refer to the first chapter of the First Book of Samuel we will find that Hannah next statement after dedicating her son to the Lord resembles Mary’s praise of God in the gospel. Like Mary, Hannah tells of the mighty being humbled, the well-fed searching for bread, and the poor being lifted up.
Nevertheless, Mary does more in her prayer of praise then paraphrase the Old Testament. More significantly, she interprets the preaching of her son which we have heard throughout this past year. In Luke’s gospel Jesus reiterates continually the message of the wealthy being humbled and the poor being elevated, oppressors being silenced while the suffering are relieved. Mary says something similar but pertinent to her situation. God has shown favor to her, His lowly servant, by making her the bearer of His son. Furthermore, he has rescued Israel by sending His Son as the nation’s savior.
Mary is doing the work of a preacher who brings to life God’s word in present circumstances. It is not enough for a homilist to retell the gospel; he or she must apply it to contemporary times if listeners are to find hope in meeting present challenges. Similarly we should share with others how we have found Christ’s message resonating in our lives. For example, Jesus’ warning of the cost of discipleship rings true when we realize that we must abandon certain acquaintances who tempt us to be accomplices in their sins.
(I Samuel 1:24-28; Luke 1:46-56)
Looking for a relationship between the reading from Samuel and the gospel today, we may be hard-pressed. “What does the account of Hannah’s delivering her son into the Lord’s service have in common with Mary’s praise of the Lord?” we might ask. The answer is hidden. If we refer to the first chapter of the First Book of Samuel we will find that Hannah next statement after dedicating her son to the Lord resembles Mary’s praise of God in the gospel. Like Mary, Hannah tells of the mighty being humbled, the well-fed searching for bread, and the poor being lifted up.
Nevertheless, Mary does more in her prayer of praise then paraphrase the Old Testament. More significantly, she interprets the preaching of her son which we have heard throughout this past year. In Luke’s gospel Jesus reiterates continually the message of the wealthy being humbled and the poor being elevated, oppressors being silenced while the suffering are relieved. Mary says something similar but pertinent to her situation. God has shown favor to her, His lowly servant, by making her the bearer of His son. Furthermore, he has rescued Israel by sending His Son as the nation’s savior.
Mary is doing the work of a preacher who brings to life God’s word in present circumstances. It is not enough for a homilist to retell the gospel; he or she must apply it to contemporary times if listeners are to find hope in meeting present challenges. Similarly we should share with others how we have found Christ’s message resonating in our lives. For example, Jesus’ warning of the cost of discipleship rings true when we realize that we must abandon certain acquaintances who tempt us to be accomplices in their sins.
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