Monday, December 16, 2019

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

(Numbers 24:2-17.15-17a; Matthew 21:23-27)

Christians have adopted Balaam’s prophecy in today’s first reading as referring to Jesus.  The king rising “higher” is Christ.  The one who is to come but “but not now” is the same.  Jews interpret the vision differently.  They understand the one who will have an “exalted” royalty as King David.  He is “not near” since he was born several hundred years after the prophecy. 

So why do Christians insist that they have the correct interpretation?  It is because Jesus has shown that he is the great king who has finally arrived.  By all he says and does in his ministry and most of all by his resurrection from the dead, they know that Jesus reigns forever.  As their sovereign, he will protect them from ultimate harm.

Today’s gospel shows the Jewish leaders trying to trap Jesus in his words.  They refuse to accept his kingly authority and try to prevent others from following him.  We also can withhold belief in Jesus by quibbling over the proper referent of Balaam’s prophecy or some such discrepancy in Scripture.  But surely the better alternative is to be like Matthew, the gospel writer, and the Christian community.  Accepting Jesus as Lord, we will put ourselves on a firm foundation of love and justice.  We will know the joy of being saved and of having eternal life as our destiny. 

Friday, December 13, 2019

Memorial of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr

(Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19)

In Matthew’s gospel John the Baptist and Jesus preach using the very same words.  They both tell the people, “’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Nevertheless, they are different kinds of people.  As today’s gospel states, John has a very ascetic life.  He lives in the desert and eats locusts.  Meanwhile, Jesus stays around people.  He enjoys a full meal and a cup of wine in the company of others.

Rather than heed their common message, the people reject it outright.  They say that they do so because John is possessed (i.e., crazy) and Jesus is a drunkard.  But these are just excuses.  The people do not want to repent.  They are comfortable enough living as they do.  Unfortunately, they do not realize what they will be are missing with the loss of the kingdom.

We must not make the same mistake.  Even if we go to church every day, there are still plenty reforms to make.  We may have a temper that can go out of control or a tendency to understate the truth.  We may be given to gossip or even to pornography.  We need to take to heart that something wonderful is coming our way.  Let’s make the reforms necessary to take full advantage of it.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

(Zechariah 1:14-17; Luke 1:39-47)

What were Juan Diego’s hopes as he set out the morning of December 9, 1531, for the Franciscan mission?  Perhaps he only hoped to learn more about Christ.  But probably deep down he harbored other, greater hopes.  He might have hoped for the Europeans to leave his land.  They were foreigners telling the native people where they could go and what they could do.  It may be that Juan Diego harbored another hope that morning.  He was a devout man and already a Christian.  Perhaps he hoped to see all the native peoples embrace Jesus.  As the Spaniards occupied more of the land, fewer natives were accepting the faith.  Juan Diego may have regretted that his people were missing the one who could have improved their lives immeasurably.

Hope is more than wishful thinking.  It pervades one’s consciousness causing the person to search for opportunities to realize what is hoped for. Hope overcomes the fear of taking risks.  People today cross seas in small boats and deserts at night in hope of a better future.  Juan Diego’s hope moved him to enter the city as the lovely lady, the Virgin of Guadalupe, told him.  It made him insist that the bishop there hear what the lady wanted.  Hope finally caused Juan Diego to work for the conversion of his people to Christianity.

During Advent Christians become aware of a great hope in our hearts.  We long to see the good prosper and the evil reform.  We try to reform ourselves and pray for others to do so.  Because we know that the mother of God is an especially powerful advocate, we ask her to pray for us.  Today we especially pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe.  We ask her to intercede for us that our hope that our children keep the faith, our elders receive all deserved gratitude, and we may become more just people.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

(Isaiah 4025-31; Matthew 11:28-30)

Spiritual theologian Fr. Ronald Rolheiser recently offered a short reflection on the “hiddenness of God.”  He wrote that the more a person enters into a relationship with God, the greater God’s mystery seems to him or her.  In other words, an intimate relationship with God envelops the believer in a “cloud of unknowing.’” This is “a knowing so deep that it can no longer be conceptualized.”  In today’s first reading, the prophet comments on God’s hiddenness to a similarly positive effect.

The reading comes from the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.  God is in the process of delivering His (the Jewish) people from exile.  The people, however, are saying that God does not recognize their plight.  They believe that God has forgotten them.  God responds to their fear by stating that He has strengthened them.  Renewed in heart, the people will see their way back to their homes in Israel.

Sometimes we are tempted to give up pursuing a relationship with God.  Some might resign themselves to whatever benefits they might squeeze from the earth.  With such a strategy, however, they will miss the glory God has in store for them.  It is far better to enter a closer relationship with the Lord by submitting ourselves to Him in prayer and in action.  This is the “yoke” that Jesus exhorts us to shoulder in today’s gospel.  We will find it not only bearable but a joy because Jesus shares it with us.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

(Isaiah 40:1-11; Matthew 18:12-14)

People who go to college are generally smart.  They use big words when they talk.  They read books which fill their heads with grand ideas.  But other people have difficulty with studies.  Their reading is limited to the sports page or the comics in the newspaper.  They struggle to find work that they can do.  This second group may not seem like people most would enjoy knowing.  However, in both the first reading and the gospel today God shows particular care for them.

In the first reading God makes it known that the exiles in Babylonia have suffered enough.  Although some Jews prospered there, most of the deportees suffered.  They are tired and depressed.  They want to return to their native land but lack the resources.   In the reading God promises His help.  The gospel pictures a simple man who was led astray.  Perhaps he started drinking heavily or believing in money and not the Lord as his savior.  Jesus tells of the need for someone to fetch the simple man and return him to a life of faith.

It can be said that Advent is the time when we concern ourselves with others.  In contrast, during Lent we are concerned about reforming ourselves.  In the current season we multiply our works and prayers on behalf of others as a way to prepare for Christ.  Like a light in the window, our works are seen by Jesus who will come to call us home.