Tuesday, December 21, 2021

 

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent

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

The Song of Songs has always held a special status.  It was written as a love poem.  Two young persons seek to be with one another.  Their love transcends sexual attraction, however.  They desire to be only with each other, presumably for life.  Being allegorized, the poem has been accepted into the Canon of Scripture.  Jews see it demonstrating God’s love for His people.  Similarly, Christians understand it as Christ’s love for the Church.  

Today’s reading from the Song of Songs pictures the lover crossing mountains to find his beloved.  It parallels the gospel where Mary, pregnant with Jesus, crosses into the hill country.  She goes ostensibly to support her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth, who is also with child.  Loves converge in various ways.  Mary shows love for Elizabeth.  God has shown love for His people by sending a Savior.  John, Elizabeth’s child, shows love for Jesus with a leap for joy.  Elizabeth expresses love for Mary by calling her “blessed.”

Love knows various levels.  On a basic level we choose to be with people whom we find interesting.  On a higher plane we collaborate with people to meet our objectives in life.  On the highest level we love people for who they are in themselves.  These include our relatives, who share common traits, and our friends, who deepen our lives with meaning.  Christmas shows God great love for us.  It also allows us to express our love for others.

Monday, December 20, 2021

 Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent (December 20)

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

 We have all heard of contemporary “headhunters.”  These people are personnel specialists who seek the right person for an important job.  They may want someone with a Ph.D. in chemistry and skills as a scuba diver to do critical marine scientific research.  The angel Gabriel plays the role of a headhunter in today’s gospel.

Gabriel is looking for the right person to be the mother of the Messiah.  He goes to Mary who is “full of grace.”  She has been uniquely gifted to do God’s will.  Further, she has shown herself cooperative with that grace.  As the angel says, she has “found favor with God.”  She again shows worthiness to be mother of Jesus when she responds to Gabriel.  She tells him unequivocally, “May it be done to me according to your word.” She will always do God’s will, not her own.

We can be like Mary.  We have been given the necessary grace at Baptism.  We have also cooperated with that grace by helping a neighbor and coming to church.  It’s difficult in today’s narcissistic world to allow God’s will to take precedence over our own.  But we can do it with God’s assistance. 

Sunday, December 19, 2021

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, December 19, 2021

(Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45)

They will soon begin to do so. At the end of December the media always report the most impactful events of the year. They will give first place to the riot in Washington last January. They should mention that the number of deaths attributed to the pandemic in 2021 exceeded that in 2020. Possibly they will include in the report that the swimmer, Caeleb Dressel, won five gold medals in the Summer Olympics. If we were to name the most impactful events in all of history, what would come first?

At least for people of the Western Hemisphere, it has to be the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus has been the star by which many people have navigated their lives for two millennia. In today's Gospel Saint Luke gives us a part of the story of the birth of Jesus. As a good storyteller, Saint Luke reveals his story gradually. He explains step by step the events leading us to Bethlehem. He begins with the announcement to Zacharias of the birth of his son even though he and his wife Elizabeth are old. He then tells of the annunciation to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus even though she is a virgin. Then he deals with the episode we read today: Mary's visit to Elizabeth. This incident is highlighted by the leap that John makes before Jesus while the two are occupying their mothers' wombs. John is acknowledging Jesus as greater than he is. John will only preach repentance while Jesus will become the source of forgiveness.

In the first reading Micah prophesies the place and the result of the birth of Jesus Christ. He says that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. It continues saying that his leadership will lead his people to peace. By saying "peace" here, we do not mean only the absence of war. No, peace is better considered as a sense of inner and outer well-being. The second reading of the Letter to the Hebrews indicates what peace consists of and how Jesus achieves it. Peace is the removal of sins so that the person does not worry about his ultimate destiny. Jesus won for humans eternal life by sacrificing himself on the cross. Because Jesus never sinned, he did not have to offer a sacrifice for himself. The benefit of his sacrifice was transferred to his brothers and sisters in faith, which include us. We are freed from all guilt when we unite with him in Baptism or Penance.

Yes, it is difficult for our swollen pride to ask for forgiveness of our sins. However, there are golden examples throughout history. A few years ago, a woman turned from being an abortion provider to being a pro-life leader. Mrs. Abby Johnson had received two abortions when she took charge of an abortion clinic. Then one day while she was viewing an abortion with the ultrasound, she experienced revulsion. In short order she left the directorship of the clinic to join with people opposing this abomination. Mrs. Johnson says that she frequently prays Psalm 30. This psalm tells of being delivered from the jaws of death. She adds that the psalm illustrates how Christ has become an example for her.  She says, “When I felt that I had no hope left, he was waiting for me, waiting to give me joy. "

Maybe we haven't sinned like Abby Johnson. However, it is true that we are all sinners. All of us have put our will before God's will. Christ has saved us from swollen pride and from every other sin. We only have to acknowledge our guilt and ask his forgiveness. It may not be easy, but it is worth it. Once we do, we are going to experience true Christmas peace. 

Friday, December 17, 2021

 Friday of the Third Week of Advent

(Genesis 49:2.8-10; Matthew 1:1-17)

Today the “O” antiphons launch the Church’s proximate preparation for Christmas.  These verses make up the traditional carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”  They express the yearning of all good people for a savior.  Today’s verse pictures the savior as wisdom.  This gift from God distinguishes what expands one’s soul from what builds up one’s ego.

The gospel reading traces Jesus’ lineage through David and Judah to Abraham.  It goes through Solomon, the Jewish father of wisdom.  More importantly, it exemplifies the order that wisdom creates.  There are forty-two generations from Abraham to Jesus.  They are divided into three groups of fourteen.  This is twice the so-called perfect number.

 For Christmas we should ask God for wisdom.  It by far eclipses any material gift.  We might see Jesus himself as its embodiment.  In the gospel and through the Eucharist he guides us to love God above all and neighbors as ourselves.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

 Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

(Isaiah 54:1-10; Luke 7:24-30)

It took a Lincoln to call a “day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer.”  Statespersons today will not recognize a national sin nor see a purpose in asking God’s forgiveness.  Yet liberals berate the country for racism and conservatives for abortion.  Perhaps it is a waning belief in God that causes the reluctance to repent.  Christians should not be so recalcitrant.

Today’s first reading from Isaiah expresses God’s mercy to Israel.  It has spent scores of years in exile where it acknowledged its sins.  God seems anxious to take back the nation as His beloved.  In today’s gospel Jesus recognizes the Baptist’s role in calling for a similar change of heart.  He describes John as “more than a prophet” because John announces the Messiah’s coming.  Of course, Jesus fills this role by showing God’s prodigious love for all.  

In a sense Advent is a time of repentance.  We may not delineate personal sins as in Lent although any time is right for this practice.  But it is the apt time to recognize social sins like the vestiges of racism and licensing abortion.  After a common penance, we will have more reason to celebrate Christ’s coming.