Mary, the Holy Mother of God, solemnity
(Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21)
Scientists have reported significant medical benefits of infant circumcision. The procedure is said to reduce the risk of a large range of pathologies from the HIV virus to cervical cancer in sexual partners. These findings corroborate what was considered at the root of the practice in ancient Israel: the male foreskin is a center of impurity. The gospel today shows Jesus undergoing circumcision, but its emphasis is quite different than preventing disease.
Mary and Joseph have Jesus circumcised because they are pious Jews intent on obeying the prescriptions of Jewish law. The gospel of Luke portrays Mary as particularly intent on fulfilling the word of God. The angel Gabriel told her that the name of the child was to be named “Jesus” – a mandate that is duly carried out here. Mary also keeps all the happenings of Jesus birth in her heart because she knows that they are ordered by God’s command.
In Mary we have a grand intercessor and model. Everyone should feel free to bring his or her needs to this gentle woman. More than that, we should imitate throughout the new year both her contemplative spirit for all that occurs in life and her obedience to God’s commands.
The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
(I John 2:18-21; John 1:1-18)
For some Catholics the ponderous words of today’s gospel are quite familiar. These people were raised before the Second Vatican Council when the first fourteen verses of the passage were recited at the end of every mass. For this reason they are sometimes referred to as “The Last Gospel.”
The passage’s opening verses address the ancient controversy of whether Christ was really God. Some postulate that belief in Christ’s divinity contradicts God’s unity. The verses show how Christ, the Word, can be the one God yet exist in distinction from the Father: he comes from the Father yet not after the Father since he and the Father with the Spirit existed before time began when there was no before and after. The passage further relates that the Word actually took on human flesh to ground Christian belief not in hypothesis but in the deeds of an historical persona, Jesus of Nazareth.
Used as the gospel we read at the final mass of the year, the passage allows us to peak beyond the end of time while it reinforces the purpose of the Word becoming flesh. As Christ existed with the Father before time began, his work as human makes us God’s children so that we might exist with him, the Father, and the Spirit when time ends.
(I John 2:18-21; John 1:1-18)
For some Catholics the ponderous words of today’s gospel are quite familiar. These people were raised before the Second Vatican Council when the first fourteen verses of the passage were recited at the end of every mass. For this reason they are sometimes referred to as “The Last Gospel.”
The passage’s opening verses address the ancient controversy of whether Christ was really God. Some postulate that belief in Christ’s divinity contradicts God’s unity. The verses show how Christ, the Word, can be the one God yet exist in distinction from the Father: he comes from the Father yet not after the Father since he and the Father with the Spirit existed before time began when there was no before and after. The passage further relates that the Word actually took on human flesh to ground Christian belief not in hypothesis but in the deeds of an historical persona, Jesus of Nazareth.
Used as the gospel we read at the final mass of the year, the passage allows us to peak beyond the end of time while it reinforces the purpose of the Word becoming flesh. As Christ existed with the Father before time began, his work as human makes us God’s children so that we might exist with him, the Father, and the Spirit when time ends.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
(I John 1:5-2:2; Matthew 2:13-18)
The word “Holy Innocents” this year will be mostly associated with the child victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The hearts of people the world over go out to their parents who like “Rachel weeping for her children” cannot be consoled “since they (are) no more.”
But because its carnage of innocent babes continues to mount, something must also be whispered about the depenalization of abortion whose anniversary will be commemorated shortly. In forty years the Supreme Court decision has led to the slaughter of around fifty million human lives in their initial formation in America. In many of these cases the parents weep in silence since they ultimately caused their own heartache.
Jesus is born to take away our tears. His law, written in the gentlest manner on our hearts, frees us from enslavement to the passion at the root of unwanted pregnancy. It is the rule of true love which undergoes sacrifice for the real good of all.
(I John 1:5-2:2; Matthew 2:13-18)
The word “Holy Innocents” this year will be mostly associated with the child victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The hearts of people the world over go out to their parents who like “Rachel weeping for her children” cannot be consoled “since they (are) no more.”
But because its carnage of innocent babes continues to mount, something must also be whispered about the depenalization of abortion whose anniversary will be commemorated shortly. In forty years the Supreme Court decision has led to the slaughter of around fifty million human lives in their initial formation in America. In many of these cases the parents weep in silence since they ultimately caused their own heartache.
Jesus is born to take away our tears. His law, written in the gentlest manner on our hearts, frees us from enslavement to the passion at the root of unwanted pregnancy. It is the rule of true love which undergoes sacrifice for the real good of all.
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. Finding incredible the apostles’ testimony that the Son of God became human, Docetists believed that he only had the appearance of a man but in reality remained a pure 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 one’s allegiance to death if necessary. According to these detractors, Jesus is just one in a series of many holy men and women including Buddha, Gandhi, and perhaps Mary Baker Eddy.
Some may be attracted to the contemporary rejection of the Christian claim of Jesus’ divinity as freeing faith from mythical elements. But we best not forget that holding it dismisses, in effect, our fellowship with the Father and the Son and, therefore, the promise of eternal life found in the Letter of John. Faithful Catholics will likewise not concur with the idea that Christian belief is mythical. Our reason is not only that such a stance takes away hope for eternal life but, more to the point, because it conflicts directly with the testimony of those, like John, who actually knew Jesus and 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. Finding incredible the apostles’ testimony that the Son of God became human, Docetists believed that he only had the appearance of a man but in reality remained a pure 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 one’s allegiance to death if necessary. According to these detractors, Jesus is just one in a series of many holy men and women including Buddha, Gandhi, and perhaps Mary Baker Eddy.
Some may be attracted to the contemporary rejection of the Christian claim of Jesus’ divinity as freeing faith from mythical elements. But we best not forget that holding it dismisses, in effect, our fellowship with the Father and the Son and, therefore, the promise of eternal life found in the Letter of John. Faithful Catholics will likewise not concur with the idea that Christian belief is mythical. Our reason is not only that such a stance takes away hope for eternal life but, more to the point, because it conflicts directly with the testimony of those, like John, who actually knew Jesus and have told us about him.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Feast of St. Stephen, proto-martyr
(Acts 6:8-10.7:54-59; Matthew 10:17-22)
“Is it an accident…,” St. Thomas Becket asks in his Christmas sermon according to playwright T.S. Eliot, “that the day of the first martyr follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ?” Not at all, he goes on to say. Martyrdom is the design of God to draw humans back to the love which the birth of Christ reveals. In other words, the Church proposes today’s Feast of St. Stephen as a reminder that Christ was born to die out of love for the world.
Although many households take down their Christmas lights today and stores haul out Valentine decorations, the Church does not intend that people go back to life as usual. Rather, she wants to make them realize that they are being called deeper into the mystery of holiness which does not shun the world but seeks to sanctify it. Celebration at what is good and sorrow when good is thwarted by evil are two ways Christians show others God’s care for them. Christmas festivities will continue until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, but they will always be tempered by the understanding that material substances are readily corruptible while virtue lasts forever.
(Acts 6:8-10.7:54-59; Matthew 10:17-22)
“Is it an accident…,” St. Thomas Becket asks in his Christmas sermon according to playwright T.S. Eliot, “that the day of the first martyr follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ?” Not at all, he goes on to say. Martyrdom is the design of God to draw humans back to the love which the birth of Christ reveals. In other words, the Church proposes today’s Feast of St. Stephen as a reminder that Christ was born to die out of love for the world.
Although many households take down their Christmas lights today and stores haul out Valentine decorations, the Church does not intend that people go back to life as usual. Rather, she wants to make them realize that they are being called deeper into the mystery of holiness which does not shun the world but seeks to sanctify it. Celebration at what is good and sorrow when good is thwarted by evil are two ways Christians show others God’s care for them. Christmas festivities will continue until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, but they will always be tempered by the understanding that material substances are readily corruptible while virtue lasts forever.
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