Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Jesus divides Jews from Christians the same way he divides the bible in two. There’s the Old Testament and the New Testament with Christ as the hinge. Jews are still awaiting the Messiah, while Christians say Christ is the Messiah, God in the flesh.

At the very center of the debate are his teachings.

As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

So, what Old Testament promises does Christ fulfill and how?

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He fulfills the Law. In Mark’s Gospel, a scribe approaches Jesus and asks, “Which is the greatest of all the Commandments?” 

To which Christ responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, body, and soul.” The scribe affirms his response. Then the Lord adds, “And your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus puts these two commandments into full practice as he dies obediently on a cross, asking his Father to forgive his neighbors, “for they know not what they do.”

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Secondly, Jesus fulfills nearly three hundred prophecies from the Old Testament, including prophecies about where the Messiah will be born; the miracles he will perform; how he will suffer; even the mode in which he will die.

As the prophet Isaiah foretells, “He comes to save you. The eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf be opened. The lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute sing for joy.”

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Finally, the Lord fulfills God’s great promise that his people shall inherit the “land.” Pope Benedict said in so many words, “Wherever the will of God is done, God’s kingdom – thus his land – is present.”

As the Lord himself teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

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Whereas some may see a separation between the Old and New Testaments, Christians see Christ as the foundation – not only to make sense of either, but also the hinge on which both depend.

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Image credits: (1) Gutenberg Bible, Wikipedia (2) The BLB blog, Blue Letter Bible (3) Christ, Pantocrator, Sinai

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Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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What would have happened if Mary said “no?” 

Would the Lord have taken on flesh, died on a cross, or have been raised? Would we ever celebrate Easter? How might the world – and God’s own plans – have changed if Mary said, “no”? 

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Put yourself in her shoes.

She’s a teenager preparing to get married. Out of the blue, an angel appears to her, dropping the biggest bomb imaginable. 

“Hail, favored one! Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus… and of his kingdom, there will be no end!”

While that sounds nice – and quite impossible – consider some of Mary’s genuine concerns: What if she dies in childbirth? What if Joseph won’t accept her? What if her family excommunicates her? What if this isn’t real?

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There’s no way Mary could’ve reasoned her way to, “Yes.” 

This was a trial of the heart. 

Only a Jew who knew the Law – and lived it from the fullness of their heart – could ever get close to her words, “Let it be done unto me according to your word.”

As Christ later proclaims, “The first of all the Commandments is this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

If Mary loved either Joseph, her family, or even her own life, more than God, then she never could’ve said, “yes” to the angel Gabriel.

But she surrenders it all. Thus, this moment more than any other reveals Mary’s purity of heart and her fulfillment of all religion.

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This Feast of the Annunciation also begs the question, “What if we say, ‘no’?”

What good is it for Mary to do her part, to smuggle Christ into the world, if we do not do the same in our own time, way, and place?

Just as Christ drew on Mary’s flesh and bones to incarnate himself in our world, so the Lord makes himself present in every age, using our own heart, hands, and feet.

Ours are the lips through which he forgives; the hands by which he serves; the heart through which he loves. As Teresa of Avila once said, “Christ has no body now but yours.”

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How do you make Christ present for others?

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May Mary, Mother of God, pray for us that we would follow her way, loving the Lord our God more than anyone or anything, even ourselves.

In so doing, Christ will make himself present in our world in every generation, even in you and me.

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Image credits: (1) Fra Angelico, Annunciation (2) The Christ Child, Fra Angelico (3) Bible Hub

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Gospel: Luke 4:24-30

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel passage takes place in the synagogue of Christ’s hometown, where he has just begun his public ministry. In the preceding verses, Jesus opened the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and proclaimed, “Today this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Filled with awe and excitement, Saint Luke tells us, “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”

Yet, within a matter of sentences, the same crowd that wondered at Christ’s words are now trying to push him off a cliff! 

What a tragic, confusing turn of events.

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In many ways, this quickened experience of praise and rejection bookends Christ’s public life. 

The Lord will experience the same turn of tide from the people who lay branches at his feet on Palm Sunday, only to shout, “Crucify him!” on Good Friday.

Such is the fragility of public opinion – and by extension, the feebleness of human nature. 

The crowds remind us how quick human beings can be to judge; to draw false conclusions without having all of the facts; to turn on people we once loved, even God in the flesh.

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Have you ever felt like Christ in this moment, experiencing both praise and rejection from the same group of people?

Or, have you ever been part of the crowd – critical, quick to judge?

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As we continue our journey through Lent, perhaps we can slow things down. Listen before we speak. Think before we act. Pray before we judge.

As the Lord himself says, “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

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Image credits: (1) Brian Zahnd (2) Simply Catholic (3) Amazon.com