Giving birth to Jesus!

 Today's Gospel, Luke 1: 26-38, presents the Annunciation: The Angel Gabriel was sent  by God to visit Mary.  He greets her, saying: "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."  She is greatly troubled and the angel says 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."  How, Mary asks. I have not had a sexual relationship with a man!  And the angel responds:  "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."

WOW!  Imagine going about your morning's work and you are interrupted by an angel greeting you as he did Mary.  No doubt, like  Mary, you would be very troubled by such a visitation, in the first place, and, secondly, by the angel's greeting.  But do you realize that, by virtue of your baptism, first Communion, and subsequent Communions, and your service of sacrificial love for your spouse, your children, your grandchildren and others you encounter and serve, the Lord is truly with you, that you are full of grace, as  Mary was, and that by your life you, too, give birth to Jesus, make Jesus real for others!  And, in turn, others bring Jesus to you, give birth to Jesus in you, by their love, forgiveness, compassion, understanding and support.  "Angels" clothed in humanity visit you and communicate with you every day!

May your eyes be opened to the presence of "angels" in our midst and of God at work around us and through us every day!

A Caring God Who Walks with Us and Shares Our Pain

 In today's responsorial psalm, we pray as follows: "I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever.  The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works." As you pray these words, who comes to your mind who needs to experience God's compassion because the compassion of one's spouse, child, parent, grandparent or any other relative has,  at this point in time, been denied them: their spouse threatens divorce,  a spouse has left them for what looks "like greener pastures" outside the marriage, a terminally ill child dies or one of their child has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, the breadwinner of the family has lost his/her job because of the pandemic and on and on and on! To top off one's misery, the person who means the most to oneself commits suicide!

How can this possibly be, we exclaim! In all of those scenarios, Jesus, who is one with us, suffers with  us, is crushed with us, is crucified with us, scourged with us, bullied with us, crowned with the thorns of mockery with us! And, yes, it is Jesus who, in the words of the psalmist, "is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness."  

In the opening words of today's first reading, Isaiah 41: 13-30, God reminds us, through the prophet, of who He is, saying:  "I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand."  God does not abandon us or let us walk through this valley of tears alone. He has our back and grasps our hand to keep us safe and protect us from that which could seriously harm us. God reinforces this message by further saying: "It is I who say to you, 'Fear not'...I will help you....your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, a sharp, new, and doubled-edged. To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel."  What a promise! And what God promises, God delivers!

"Nothing is Impossible for God!" (Luke 1: 37)

 Today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In today's Gospel, Luke 1: 26-38, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel.  he greets  her with the following words: "Hail, full of grace!"  Mary is taken aback. She was "greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be."  Noticing her fright, the angel says to her: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."

Recall that Mary is a teenager, perhaps 14, 15 or 16 years of age!  Put yourself in Mary's place. Imagine yourself going about your morning chores and all of a sudden, in front of you stands a heavenly visitor such as the angel Gabriel, who says to you: "Hail, full of grace!"  "What?  Who are you? And what does this greeting mean," you wonder out loud! And Gabriel responds: "Do not be afraid, insert your name, for you have found favor with God.  Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. 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." And Mary responds: "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"

Blustered! Confused! Scared!  Any one of these emotions would be an appropriate response to that experience!  We have all been there! God suddenly allows our lives to be turned upside down, so to speak. Our response: "How can this be?" "This can't be happening to us!  This can't be real!"  And, however or in whatever way God entered our lives, we know when it is about God, not about us!  No other explanation is possible! What is happening is happening through God' design! Period!  Because, as the angel Gabriel said to Mary when he told her that her elderly cousin was six month's pregnant: "Nothing is impossible for God."

Wait upon the Lord

 Today's psalm, Psalm 27,  encourages us to seek one thing: to "dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. I am asked to pray "that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple."  Believe that you "shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord."

Obviously we are given several choices by the psalmist! First, to "gaze upon the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple."  In all of the circumstances of our lives, we have the choice to gave on God's loveliness and upon  God's temple and the one who dwells there, the Holy Spirit. Our eyes are veiled, however, from that loveliness when we choose to dwell on the difficulties or problems we are facing or have faced:  the pandemic, being quarantined, harsh words by another person, the crimes being committed in our world and so on! 

Second choice: to look for "the bounty of the Lord."  In one of the meal prayers, we pray: Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts which we receive from your bounty..."  The question is: am I looking for God's bountiful gifts or am I focused on losses or on my poverty and the poverty of those around me?

Third choice: to "wait upon the Lord with courage; [to] be stouthearted and wait for the Lord."  How easy it is to fall into the trap of doing it ourselves and forgetting to wait upon the Lord. And we know when we do that! When we wait upon the Lord, He is then there with us, guiding us, strengthening us and enlightening us to do what is right, to say what others need to hear and are able to hear, or we are wise enough to remain silent period!  When we wait jupon the Lord, the outcome is then positive; we walk away feeling blessed and at peace with ourselves.

With the psalmist, I pray: "Lord, you are my light and my salvation!"  Thank you!

Making rightful choices!

 Frequently, a person will say: "God is in charge."  As I reflect upon today's first reading, Isaiah 26: 1-6, that phrase comes to my mind. It is strong because, as  Isaiah reminds us, Yahweh that a "strong city have we; he (Yahweh) sets up walls and ramparts to protect us." The prophets asks us to "[o]pen up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith," faith in the Just One, faith in God, a warrior God, a God who saves.  God, Isaiah continues, sustains peace for a "nation of firm purpose," a nation that puts "its trust" in God.  "Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock,"  says the psalmist.  In whom do I put my trust? To whom do I open myself?  Who/what do I let in?

In the Gospel of today, Mt 7: 21, 24-27, Jesus tells us that a person who listen to His words, "will be like a wise [person] who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse."  The media, if we allow it, will flood our minds with false information, will fill us with despairing thoughts, negative thinking, thoughts of anger, resentments and revenge.  I can protect myself by prayer, holy reading, and solitude, resting in the Lord!