Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,  
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,  
they made known the message  
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed  
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,  
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,  
glorifying and praising God  
for all they had heard and seen,  
just as it had been told to them.  

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,  
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel  
before he was conceived in the womb.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Under the best of circumstances, a baby is the fruit of a love affair. A profoundly intimate encounter between two separate persons with passion so strong that new life emerges.

This is certainly true in the case of the Christ-child. This weak, warm, wrinkled infant lying in a manger is the fruit of God’s love affair with humanity. 

If this doesn’t baffle the mind and arouse the heart, then I wonder if we’ve ever truly understood. God is so in love with us that, in Jesus, he has become one of us – a vulnerable, defenseless child. 

This was no rash decision; it was the fruit of a long, storied history whereby God sought our love, but time and time again we turned away from him.

Taking on flesh was a last resort, a feet-first, all or nothing gamble for our love, which cost God everything, and us, nothing.

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God’s pursuit of our hearts began in the Garden of Eden. 

God gave Adam everything imaginable – a perfect garden, where he walked and talked with God, gave names to all of creation, and had dominion over all of it. Somehow, it was not enough. Adam was lonely; he needed an equal.

So, God created Eve, who became in Adam’s words, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Together, this new couple’s mission remained the same – to love God the way he loved them.

Yet they did the opposite, disobeying the only commandment asked of them – not to eat from the tree of knowledge. 

In spite of their infidelity, God did not divorce himself from his creation; he was too in love with us. Yes, he cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. 

But then he gifted us with the Ten Commandments, which were instructions on how to love him in return – first written on stone, later written upon our hearts. Still, humanity broke that covenant time and time again.

So, God decided to humble himself to the point of becoming a baby, placing himself in the arms of his tired, weeping, joyful mother, Mary, asking only that she – and eventually we – would love him in return.

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Today we celebrate the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, which centers on our belief that, that first Christmas night, God finally felt what he longed for since the Garden of Eden – the full devotion of at least one of his creatures. 

As Mary gazed upon the Christ-child, she, “kept all of these things in her heart,” as she burned with love, adoration, devotion, and wonder. We see that devotion play out over the next thirty-three years as she follows Jesus faithfully to the foot of the Cross and beyond.

Mary loved him, even when she didn’t understand him.

Shouldn’t we?

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This is all God will ever ask of us – to love him as Mary did, with all of our mind, heart, body, and soul. It’s, perhaps, the only New Year’s Resolution we need to make. 

To break with our shared human tendencies of growing away from God, of trying to take control, of pushing him to the passenger seat whether we’re eating in Eden, wandering in the desert, or inhabiting the ordinary suburbs of America.

Allow the Word to take flesh in our hearts, giving him all he desires in return: 

Love.

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Much like bringing a child into this world, religion is ultimately a love affair with God, the fruit of which inspires charity, builds belief, and welcomes redemption. 

May that love ever grow in us, in me.

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Catholic News Agency (2) Catholic Apostolate Center (3) Francis Asbury Society

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Gospel: John 1: 1-18

In the beginning was the Word,
    and the Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came to be through him,
    and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
    and this life was the light of the human race;
    the light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness has not overcome it.

A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, 
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world,
    and the world came to be through him,
    but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
    but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him
    he gave power to become children of God, 
    to those who believe in his name, 
    who were born not by natural generation 
    nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision 
    but of God.

And the Word became flesh
    and made his dwelling among us,
    and we saw his glory,
    the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son,
    full of grace and truth.

John testified to him and cried out, saying, 
“This was he of whom I said, 
‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me 
because he existed before me.’”
From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses, 
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
The only-begotten Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, 
has revealed him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The first thing I do when I start a puzzle is spread out all of the pieces across a large table. 

One piece turns into a cluster – and then several clusters – and finally a picture starts to emerge. 

Once the puzzle is completed, it’s helpful to look back, remembering how it all began.

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In today’s Gospel, John builds upon the Book of Genesis, describing the beginning of the world. It began as a dark formless waste, with mighty winds sweeping across the waters.

Slowly, God ordered the chaos. Day by day, piece by piece, he assembled the world into a suitable home for humanity. Billions of years passed until finally, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

These are things that only God can do: turn the darkness into light; chaos into order; take on flesh and dwell among us, ultimately turning death into life.

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We still need that divine, creative power at work in our world today.

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Looking back over the year, we can see the challenge. 

2024 looks like a thousand puzzle pieces strewn across a table. There was war, social unrest, a divisive election, and whatever struggles we dealt with personally – pieces that may make little sense to us now.

But God can bring them all together, producing a meaningful story of human resilience and divine intervention if we ask him. 

Perhaps that’s the best way to end this year and begin another one, to say with open hearts, “Welcome, Lord Jesus.”

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Image credits: (1) Dreamstime.com (2) Rontar, Instagram (3) Fraternized – WordPress

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Gospel: Luke 2: 36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. 
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. 
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. 
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth. 
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Anna is one of the few female prophets mentioned in the bible. But in just four short verses, Saint Luke paints a beautiful picture of her with three particular traits.

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First, Anna was a widow. 

Anyone who’s lost a loved one – particularly a spouse – has known the sorrow of Anna. But her sorrow didn’t make her bitter. As Luke tells us, she never left the temple; she worshipped God, day and night.

Anna reminds us that sorrow can do one of two things: it can dry up our faith. Or it can make us kinder, softer, more sympathetic people, who trust that God will never waste our tears.

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Secondly, Anna was eighty-four.

Age changes us. As our bodies weaken, we either become increasingly irritable, complaining about all of our health issues, or increasingly grateful for a long life well lived. 

In Anna’s case, though the strength of her body was slowly being taken away, the strength of her heart and character increased by the day. She was a joyful, holy – and elderly – woman.

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How did Anna come to be the person she was?

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She prayed. In spite of her age and sorrow, she praised the Lord, not only publicly in the Temple; she also prayed to him in private.

As the old saying goes, “They pray best together who first pray alone.” Prayer lifts the spirit; it keeps us joyful; it fills us with God’s peace, even into the final years of our lives. 

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As we look to yet another year, may we become like Anna – not only older in years, but also stronger in spirit.

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Image credits: (1) theendtime.org (2) Anna, Vic Laura (3) Amazon.com