Tuesday, December 25, 2018

The Nativity of the Lord (Mass at Midnight)

(Isaiah 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14)

Historians do more than record the events of the past.  More importantly, they tell the significance of those events.  They put the events in context by relating them to other occurrences of the time.  They also give the meaning of the events to both the people of their time and the historians’ own times.  Of the four evangelists no one is more self-consciously an historian than Luke.  His historical consciousness is readily seen as he narrates the event of Jesus’ birth.

Luke begins his story by contextualizing Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in their time.  Caesar Augustus was ruling what seemed to be the whole world.  He had brought peace to the empire after almost a hundred years of civil strife. The great poet Virgil considered Augustus the epitome of the virtuous ruler.  Luke hints that Jesus will become an ever more glorious ruler.  He relates how the angels are singing in the heavens when Jesus is born.  "’Glory to God in the highest,’” they proclaim, “’and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’"

We live in a world of continued conflict and often enough war.  The great powers – Russia, China, and the United States – show off their military might.  Civil wars in smaller nations like Yemen, Sudan, and Syria ravage populations.  Some ask: if Jesus is the great peace-maker, why does the world still experience such turmoil?  Our response will not satisfy every troubled heart, but it does fit our experience.   Jesus has brought a modicum of peace to the world.  He healed the enmity between Jews and Gentiles in antiquity, and his teachings continue to give pause to warring hearts.  He also moves us interiorly to reconcile with our enemies, our neighbors, and God.  His birth, which we celebrate with joy today, represents the beginning of eternal peace.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent

(II Samuel 7:1-5.8b-12.14a.16; Luke 1:67-79)

Today’s gospel is comprised entirely of the song or canticle of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.  It is commonly called the Benedictus, the Latin for its first word “’Blessed.’”  Zechariah is singing praise to God on the occasion of His new-born son John’s circumcision.  The song, however, keeps the Messiah, Jesus Christ, front and center.  He is the “mighty Savior” who will have come to free Israel from its oppressors.  John serves as the Messiah’s forerunner, the one who “’go(es) before the Lord to prepare his way.’”

Something akin to Matthew’s genealogy, Zechariah’s canticle underscores a relationship of the Messiah to two essential figures of the Old Testament.  First in the order of the canticle, Jesus comes from the David’s lineage.  As the first reading promises, he will establish an eternal dynasty bearing David’s name.  Just as important, Jesus fulfills the oath God made to Abraham.  The patriarch’s descendants are to be as countless as the stars in the sky.  St. Paul will note how this prophecy is fulfilled with the Gentiles coming to practice the faith of Abraham.

The time is at hand.  Jesus is to be born.  He will both fulfill Old Testament prophecies and provide the New Testament hope of eternal life.  We must open our hearts and minds to him.  Our response begins easily enough tonight.  It continues as we carry our individual crosses in life.  It ends with our taking a place among God’s glorified.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Friday of the Third Week of Advent

(Song of Songs 2:8-14; Luke 1:39-45)

Faith may be defined as the jumping to a conclusion under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  The faithful person has inconclusive evidence from the senses of God’s presence.  She may attribute the good that is before her as an illusion summoned by her desire to know the depth of reality.  But the Holy Spirit moves her to an acceptance of the divine love undergirding creation.  We see faith at work two and a half times in today’s gospel.

“Filled with the Holy Spirit” Elizabeth recognizes Mary as “blessed among women” and “mother of my Lord.”  The same Spirit has already prompted the baby in Elizabeth’s womb to leap in recognition of the Messiah in Mary’s womb.  The “half” exhibition of faith comes from Elizabeth’s allusion to Mary’s response to the angel of God.  The latter said in faith, “’…Be it done to me according to your word.’”

Even with the Spirit faith challenges us at times.  God’s will may seem opposed to what we deem as desirable.  Perhaps a loved one has become terminally sick.  Or perhaps we want something we know is wrong for us.  We must hold on to faith.  That is, we must continue believing in divine love undergirding our very existence.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

(Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38)

Jerome Miller, a Catholic theologian, wrote a reflection on the Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli’s depiction of the Annunciation.  According to Miller, the artist, like any exegete, has much to teach us about this critical moment in the history of salvation.   

Miller begins his study by noting how the action of the painting takes places on a floor of perfectly arranged rectangles.  He says these figures represent lives that are dominated by order which brings meaning and gives a platform for action.  Then Miller notes how the angel appears as an eruption of grace into Mary’s well-ordered life.  In the painting the angel’s hand makes a gesture of command: she is to give birth to the Son of God who will bring peace to earth.  The hand is open and not pointing directly to Mary but giving her permission to refuse the mandate.  Mary, however, is pictured as all receptivity.  Her body curves in what can be seen as a bow of compliance.  Her hands are open like Jesus’ on the cross.  Their positioning indicates awareness that her decision will cause her suffering.

All of us are so approached in life with a proposition of divine grace.  We are called out of the ordinariness of making a living to sacrifice ourselves for others.  Of course, our consent to grace will make us vulnerable to suffering.  But we should not shrink from the mission.  We like Mary are nothing greater, but nothing less either, than servants of the Lord.

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent

(Judges 13:2-7.24-25a; Luke 1:5-25)

The other day the reading from the gospel of Matthew gave the genealogy of Jesus beginning with Abraham.  The starting point is significant.  Abraham represents a break with the past.  Humanity reached a nadir in its attempt to storm heaven with the Tower of Babel.  There is no indication that the situation improved in the stretch between the confusion of languages and mention of Abram.  Then God initiates the human race’s long trek back to virtue.  Abram proved to be a man of faith, and God marvelously rewarded him and his barren wife with a son.  Through one of their descendants humans have both an exemplar of virtue and a redeemer from sin.  Jesus’ death on the cross not only revealed God’s love but also provided humans the grace to imitate it.  In today’s gospel Luke pays a similar tribute as Matthew to Abraham.

The first reading is intended to compare Zachariah and Elizabeth of the gospel to the parents of Samson.  Nevertheless, the gospel also conveys a profound similarity to the story of Abraham and Sarah.  Both Abraham and Zachariah are very old when they receive a divine revelation that they will father a child.  Both respond with the same question, “’How shall I know this?’”  And in both cases the prophecy is fulfilled.  Both fathers will take delight in their sons.

As God works out human salvation in and through Abraham and Zachariah, He is acting in us.  He has sent His Son to assure us of His care.  Boosted by Jesus’ support we befriend the lonely, the needy, and the poor.  In the process we both become virtuous and lead others to virtue.