God's Dwelling Among Us and His Covenant of Mercy

 In today's collect, we pray: "Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, that those who trust in your compassion may find solace and relief in your coming."   In the first reading, 2 Samuel 7: 1-5a, 8b-12, 14a, 16, the Lord says to us through the prophet Nathan:  "I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from your enemies."

God is a God who saves, who destroys evil. Wicked people shall perish, shall be cast down from their thrones.  In Mary's response to her cousin Elizabeth's greeting, Mary reminds us in her Magnificat that "[God] has mercy on those who fear [reverence] him in every generation.  [God] has shown the strength of his arm, [God] has scattered the proud in their conceit. [God] has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever."

As we ponder the baby Jesus in the crib, let us remember that this Infant is the Son of God, through whom the strength of God's arm will be shown, the proud will be scattered in their conceit, the mighty shall be cast down from their thrones, and the lowly lifted up!  It is through this Mighty Infant, Son of the Most High God, that the hungry will be filled with good things and the rich will be sent away empty. We celebrate this reality in every Catholic Mass, at Christmas time and every time,  when, at Mass, we memorialize the Paschal Mystery--Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection--and hear Jesus say to us, as he said to the disciples in the Last Supper: Take and eat; this is my Body given up for you. Take and drink; this is my Blood poured out for you."

May we have the humility and the faith to believe in Jesus' words and promises of mercy!

God: the Builder of Our "House" here on Earth and in Heaven

 In today's first reading, 2 Samuel 7: 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16, King David wants to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant, explaining to Nathan the prophet: "Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the art of God dwells in a tent!" And Nathan responds: "Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you."  But that night the Lord spoke to Nathan and says to him: "Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the Lord: Should you build me a house to dwell in? 'It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all  your enemies before you. And I will make you famous... I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance....I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you...."

It is no different for us than for King David!  God took each one of us from lowly places, insignificant places, and made us who we are today.  Wherever we have gone, God has gone with us and ahead of us to prepare the way for us to succeed. He's fixed a place for us where we would thrive in doing the good we  were sent to accomplish!  It is God who removes that which disturbs us, causes us trouble, many times that being negative attitudes, weaknesses within us: our pride, our envy, our jealousies, our deceitfulness, lustfulness, fears, lack of faith and trust in the Lord, patterns of unforgiveness and/or the holding of grudges, and our judgmental ways, and so on.  It is God who gives us "rest from all [our] enemies." It is the Lord who is establishing a house for us, an eternal house, in heaven above where, for sure, there will be no "further disturbances." That is the gift of Christmas: A Savior who destroys all of our enemies, those within and those without and leads us to our eternal home!

Surrendering to God's Will and Living Out His Salvific Plan

 In today's Gospel, Matthew 1: 18-25, Joseph learns that  Mary, to whom he is betrothed,  is pregnant and he knows that the child is not his! Joseph decides to divorce her quietly, as he is "unwilling to expose her to shame."   It is not just shame to which Mary would be exposed. Being pregnant before one's marriage meant, in the Jewish culture,  that she is likely to be stoned to death. And,  "...behold, the  angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and  you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"

What faith on Mary's part to have said 'yes' to the angel when she is asked to be the mother of the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her.  She is still left with the fact that her child was conceived out of wedlock. And what faith  on Joseph's part when he is asked to take Mary as his wife and, obviously, to become the foster father of a child that is not biologically his own. How do either one of them, humanly speaking, explain any of this to their families, their friends, fellow synagogue goers, or to anyone raising questions?

Saying "yes" to God's will, surrendering to God's plan for us, does not mean that suffering is not involved! And so it was with Mary, Joseph and Jesus: Herod's plan to kill the infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph's flight into Egypt to protect Jesus and living as foreigners for as long as needed, the loss of Jesus in the Temple, Joseph's death, Mary witnessing the fact that Jesus is rejected by the Scribes and the Pharisees and the rulers of the people, is betrayed by one of His apostles and denied by another, and ultimately is arrested and put to death by crucifixion!

Through all of the sufferings involved in surrendering to the will of God for us, as with Mary and Joseph and Jesus, God suffers and weeps with us!  It is God's presence, God's power, God's comfort, God's compassion, God's understanding that gives us the strength we need to cope in such a way  as to become strong in our faith, trust and love of God, self and others.

"I Am God; There Is No Other" (Isaiah 45: 6b)

 In today's first reading, Isaiah 45:6b-8, 18, 21c-25, the Lord affirms his identity and the sanctity of the earth itself:

"I am the Lord, there is no other; I form the light, and create the darkness, I make well-being and create woe....[Furthermore, God proclaims that He is the] creator of the heavens,...The designer and maker of the earth..."  Whatever God designs is sacred, is not to be exploited, abused, trampled upon.  In God's words, the earth is not "to be a waste, but...to be lived in"!   The earth, the universe in all its grandeur, is a gift to us and reveals the glory of God, as does each human being! God  says to us: "To me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear, saying, 'Only in the Lord are just deeds and power. Before him in shame shall come all who vent their anger against him (and such is done when we abuse the earth or anything in it and anyone who shares life with the universe).  In the Lord shall be the vindication and the glory of all the descendants of Israel.'"

In the Gospel of today, Luke 7: 18b-23,  Jesus models how we are to be responding to each other: "...the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, [and] the poor have the good news proclaimed to them."  May others have the good news proclaimed to them that every creature, the earth itself and all that is on it, is a creation of God whose purpose is to reveal God's glory. We are here to reveal God's presence and respect God's presence in all!  God forms the light and creates the darkness according to His will for His redemptive purposes. He also, I believe, does so through us, as God respects our free will to that decree, not that He wills us to "create darkness and make woe." But God uses whatever we create for us to learn what is right and good, what is evil and woeful and so turn to Him as our Savior, as God says to us in the responsorial psalm:  "Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, [your Savior]; there is no other."

To Whom Am I Listening?

 In today's first reading, Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17a,  Balaam was sent by the authorities of his nation to curse Israel.  As he approaches the Israelite camp, "the spirit of God came upon  him" and he blesses Israel. He does not curse them. He gave voice to the following oracle:  "the utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of a man whose eye is true, and knows that the Most High knows, of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:  How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel!  They are like gardens beside a stream, like the cedars planted by the Lord. His wells shall yield free-flowing waters; he shall have the sea within reach. His king shall rise in her, and his royalty shall be exalted....I see him, though not near: a star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel" --a prophesy of the coming Messiah!

Am I, are you, open to the Spirit of God? Do you, do I, see what God sees when we look upon other people, other nations, other races, other cultures?  Do you, do I, hear God's voice and speak God's words? Do we do what God expects of us or do we follow what we believe others want of us?  

In today's Gospel, Matthew 22: 23-27, the chief priests and the elders of the people are sent to Jesus and are expected to trap Him. Following other people's expectations, they interrogate  Jesus, questioning His authority to be doing what He is doing. Jesus knows that they are trying to trap Him and find something for which they can arrest Him and put Him to death--that is what their rulers have sent them to do.  Jesus responds to their questions with asking them His own questions. He sets a trap into which they themselves fall!

When you and I are following other people's expectations, doing what we believe others want of us, we easily fall into a trap and trip ourselves up! To whom am I listening ? The voice of Jesus, the whispering directives of the Holy Spirit, or the voices of others?

Clothed in a Robe of Salvation and Wrapped in a Mantle of Justice

In today's first reading.  Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11, Isaiah invites us to "rejoice heartily in the Lord, [for] in...God is the joy of [our] soul for [God] has clothed [us] with a robe of salvation and wrapped  [us] in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels."

Everyone, at his/her baptism,  has been "clothed...with a robe of salvation and wrapped...in a mantle of justice."  What a gift from our God!  A gift freely given to every human being: the rich and the poor alike, the criminal and those caring for them, the sick and the lame, the healthy and the unhealthy, the employed and the unemployed, those living in the country and those in the city, those in this country and in every other country,  those anyone of us has difficulty loving and those we love with ease!  May anyone involved in criminal activities--blatant and disguised--in corrupt and deceitful ways of living, in greed and narcissism, in violence of any kind turn from their evil ways and do good, turn from greediness and narcissism and be generous and caring of others, turn from corruption and live a life of integrity. May our  eyes be opened to truth and may our ears hear the voice of the Almighty calling us to repentance of whatever sins we have committed --those we are aware of and those that escape our attention.  

May each of us hear the Lord, in the words of the second reading, 1 Thes 5: 16-24,  in which St. Paul calls us to "retain what is good," to "refrain from every kind of evil."  "In all circumstances," Paul says to us, "give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit [and] "do not despise prophetic utterances."

Lord, help each of us heed the words of today's Scriptures in whatever way they apply to us!  

Hail, Full of Grace! The Lord Is With You!

 In today's Gospel, Luke 1: 26-38, the angel Gabriel visits Mary  a young teenager at the time and says to her:  "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."   Imagine being that young teenager!  Out of nowhere an angel stands in front of you and greets you: "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!"  Luke tells us that Mary was greatly troubled and pondered the angel's words!    I would also have been frightened, I think. Memories of times past  entered my mind, times when I was told that someone in authority wanted to see me. The first thought was: What have I done wrong!  In Mary's case, the angel gently says to Mary: "Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."  Imagine your child coming to you at your bidding and you can see that the little one is scared. So you say to him/her: "Don't be afraid. I love you and am very pleased with you."  That is your God!  God delights in you always! And, as with Mary, says to you: "Hail, full of grace! the Lord is with you!"

We do not physically conceive the Lord. However, throughout the day we give "birth" to good deeds, kind words, forgiving messages,  acts of justice and truth, even in the face of odds that seem unsurmountable. How do we do it? Through the Holy Spirt, who, as with Mary, overshadows us throughout the day and night!   I am sure that you have, at times, looked at your past and said: "I don't know how I did that!" And, of course, you did what you did through the Spirit. Nothing is impossible for God, Mary says,  and nothing is impossible for those who rely upon God to assist! And so we say with Mary, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."