The Soul of Mary

In Luke’s gospel, you live when you believe and faith always sends you on a mission.

After the angel announces the coming of Jesus in Nazareth and then leaves her, Mary’s not alone. The Spirit who comes upon her remains with her, and the Word of God dwells in her womb.

She sets out “in haste” for the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah, who also was with child. It’s not an ordinary visit. She hurries on because she’s filled with a sense of her mission. She hurries to Judea, where her relatives serve in the temple of God.

“Blessed are you who believed,” Elizabeth says to Mary.

“You too, my people, are blessed,” comments St. Ambrose, “ you who have heard and who believe. Every soul that believes — that soul both conceives and gives birth to the Word of God and recognizes his works.

“Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you, to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one of you, to rejoice in God. According to the flesh only one woman can be the mother of Christ but in the world of faith Christ is the fruit of all of us.”

 

Approaching Christmas we ask that our souls be like the soul of Mary.

Zechariah in the Temple

It was “in the days of King Herod” that the Angel Gabriel came to the priest Zechariah who had been chosen to bring incense into the sanctuary of the temple in Jerusalem to honor the Lord God. The angel speaks to him next to the altar of incense where we would expect an angel to be. “Your prayer has been heard,” the angel says to the old priest. “Your wife will bear you a son.”

Surely, though, the old priest no longer prayed that prayer. Their childbearing years were long over. The promise of new life was long gone. They would pass on with hopes unfulfilled.

But the angel speaks of a child “great in the eyes of the Lord” who is to be called John. He will more than fulfill their hopes, turning “many of the children of Israel to their God.”

Yet, the old priest persists in doubt and the angel punishes him with silence. He cannot speak. Only after the child is born will he speak again, as he announces to those at his birth that “his name is John.” You lose your voice when you lose hope in God’s promises.

When John is born, Zechariah will sing a song of praise.

Readings here.  Homily here.

Advent Readings: 3rd Week

Nazareth, Basilica of the Annunciation

Luke’s gospel, as well as Matthew’s gospel,  provide the gospel readings for the final week of Advent till the Christmas feast. The events that lead immediately to his birth are world-changing. The world will not be the same.

On Monday the promises that Jacob makes to Judah of a heir who will succeed him (Genesis 49) are joined to the genealogy of Matthew that traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Jacob. (Matthew 1, 1-17)

On Tuesday, the angel speaks in a dream to Joseph, “Son of David” about the child to be born of Mary. He will name him Jesus, because “he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1,19-25)  In the first reading Jeremiah prophesies a return of God’s people to their own land. (Jeremiah 23,5-9=8)

Luke’s Gospel supplies the rest of the gospel readings till Christmas. Typically, he sets the stage on a grand scale. This is an event that will change the world. Herod the Great rules in Palestine when the Angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the temple in Jerusalem (where Isaiah experienced God’s presence). The angel announces to the elderly priest as he offers incense to God that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son who will be ”the prophet of the Most High:” Luke 1,5-26 (Wednesday)

Six months later the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary in the small town of Galilee called Nazareth that she will bring into the world a holy child, who will be called “the Son of God.” Luke 1,26-38 (Thursday) This happens “in the days when  Caesar Augustus is emperor of the Roman world.

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth to share the Good News. Luke 1,39-45 (Wednesday) Mary offers her prayer of thanksgiving to God, her Magnificat: Luke 1,46-56 (Saturday)

Zechariah praises God for compassion towards those “dwell in darkness and the shadow of death” and for guiding our feet “on to the ways of peace:” Luke 1,67-79 (Monday, 4th week)

Old Testament readings recalling the marvelous births of Samson  and Samuel  whose mothers – thought barren–  conceived and bore children who brought blessings to Israel provide witness from the Old Testament that God can intervene in history to save his people.

All is set for the birth of Jesus Christ.

3rd Sunday of Advent

Readings are here. A homily here.

Here’s a homily on John the Baptist  by St. Augustine:

John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives for ever…

Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offence to the word.

I am not the Christ, he said, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. And the question came: Who are you, then? He replied: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness is the voice of one breaking the silence. Prepare the way for the Lord, he says, as though he were saying: “I speak out in order to lead him into your hearts, but he does not choose to come where I lead him unless you prepare the way for him.”

What does prepare the way mean, if not “pray well”? What does prepare the way mean, if not “be humble in your thoughts”? We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ; he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.

If he had said, “I am the Christ,” you can imagine how readily he would have been believed, since they believed he was the Christ even before he spoke. But he did not say it; he acknowledged what he was. He pointed out clearly who he was; he humbled himself.

He saw where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp, and his fear was that it might be blown out by the wind of pride.

The Road Through the Wilderness

I’m preaching a mission at the Catholic chapel at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware this week.

Sometimes the best view you can get of the world in which you live is from above. Here’s a picture taken from a plane in the 1930s or so of the road up to Jerusalem from Jericho and the Jordan Valley. I add another from the ground of the road outside Jericho from more recent times.

 

Both pictures tell us the road to Jerusalem is a climbing, winding road. It wasn’t easy to take when prophets like Isaiah and John the Baptist knew it. Of course, today it’s easily managed by car or bus. But in those days you walked and you didn’t always know what to expect when you went through deserts and mountains and some fertile areas where there was water and crops were grown.

Isaiah and John the Baptist knew this road very well and they used it to explain our way to God. First, it’s an image that says life will never be easy.  On that road you are going to get hungry, tired, even wonder whether you will make it or not. Unexpected things can happen: you may get robbed like the man did in the parable of the Good Samaritan. That happened on the road up from Jericho to Jerusalem, you may remember. You might be blind, like the two blind men from Jericho who couldn’t find their way.

But if you want to get to Jerusalem and enter the house of God, you have to take that road. Jesus took it when he went up to the Holy City.

The message of Isaiah and John the Baptist, so beautifully expressed in our first reading for today (Isaiah 35,1-10), is that God will bring us there.

Advent Weekday Readings: 2nd Week

An Overview

We journey  through a wilderness. That’s what Isaiah said in the Sunday readings and in the readings during the week. John the Baptist shows us the way.  Isaiah points him out as a guide: “Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, to prepare your way.” Mark 1:1. In the desert John calls for repentance and promises forgiveness.

The Old Testament readings this week, mostly from Isaiah, describe our  journey through the desert as a hard journey, but the desert will bloom and a highway will be there, a holy way. (Monday) We’ll hear tender, comforting words as we go. (Tuesday)  Those who hope in God will renew their strength, soaring on eagle’s wings. (Wednesday) We are as insignificant as a worm, the prophet says, but God grasps our hand and says: “Fear not; I am with you.” (Thursday) God teaches us the way to go. (Friday) Prophets like Elijah and John accompany us on our way. (Saturday)

Above all, Jesus is our way, the gospel readings say. His healing and forgiveness of the paralyzed man  lowered through the roof into the house in Capernaum symbolizes his healing and forgiveness of  paralyzed humanity, (Monday)  Like a good shepherd Jesus searches for and finds the stray sheep. (Tuesday)  “Come to me all who are weary…” he says. (Wednesday) We’ll find prophets and guides like John the Baptist and Elijah.   (Thursday) Though rejected like John the Baptist, Jesus always teaches. (Friday) He saves us, even though he goes unrecognized like John and Elijah. (Saturday)

You can follow the daily readings daily here and a daily homily on them here.

I’ll add some homilies on this site during our mission at Dover Air Force Base, in Dover, Delaware.

Why do I find an evangelist like Joel  Osteen too ready to deny the journey through the wilderness and with it the mystery of the Cross?

Praying with John the Baptist: Second Sunday of Advent

He looks forbidding, but don’t be put off by his appearance. John the Baptist was sent by God into the wilderness where you can’t wear fine clothes or worry how you look. It’s not an easy place to live; people may wander aimlessly and be afraid and lose hope there.

John’s father, the priest Zachariah, said: “You, my child shall be called the prophet of the most high, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.” John’s role was to guide those in the wilderness “into the way of peace.”  (Luke 1)

A wilderness seems like a godless place, but the Jews learned it was a place where you discover God.  When their ancestors wandered aimlessly from Egypt,

“God found them in a wilderness

in a wasteland of howling desert,

he shielded them and cared for them

as the apple of his eye.” (Deuteronomy 12, 1-12)

So God is not absent in the wilderness. From the temple in Jerusalem, the Prophet Isaiah said the holy mountain of the Lord can be reached through the wilderness.  Standing in the wilderness, John the Baptist claims it as a holy place and the way through it is holy too.  Though the hills are steep and the valleys deep, and the mountain of the Lord must be climbed,  “the way of the Lord” is there:

“A voice cries out:

In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!

Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!

Every valley shall be filled in,

every mountain and hill shall be made low;

the rugged land shall be made a plain,

the rough country, a broad valley.

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;

in his arms he gathers the lambs,

carrying them in his bosom,

and leading the ewes with care.”

The Judean wilderness where John the Baptist baptized lay about 15 miles east of Jerusalem in the Jordan Valley north of the Dead Sea. Pilgrims coming from the north took an ancient road along the River Jordan and followed it as it veered right near the town of Jericho to ascend steeply about 3,500 feet  up to the Holy City, about an 9 hour walk. Near where the road begins to ascend, John baptized great crowds in the river’s refreshing waters.  He baptized Jesus and his disciples in these waters and then pointed Jesus out as “the Lamb of God” and told his followers to follow him as their Shepherd and Way.

He points Jesus out as our Shepherd and our Way this Advent. John was a voice in the wilderness. Where would he speak today? What would the wilderness be like where we would find him?

Sunday Homily: http://thepassionists.org/reflections/

2nd Sunday of Advent

We’re reading from the Gospel of Luke today. He plays a major role in the season of Advent. All this year, in fact, we’ll be reading from Luke’s Gospel on Sundays.

When you read Luke, notice especially his thrust towards the world beyond Judaism. Though he repeats most of the stories about Jesus found in the gospels of Mark and Matthew, Luke emphasizes the universal message of Jesus. His gospel is meant for everybody.

In Luke’s gospel, for example, old Simeon in the temple predicts the Child will be a “light of revelation to the gentiles.” ( Luke 2, 32) “All flesh shall see the salvation of our God,” John the Baptist says to today’s gospel. (Luke 3,6) Outsiders like Namaan the Syrian and the widow of Zareptha will accept his gospel rather than his neighbors, Jesus says in the synagogue at Nazareth. (Luke 4,17 ff) After his resurrection Jesus tells his disciples “A message of repentance and forgiveness would be preached to all nations.” (Luke 24,47)

Luke further emphasizes that the Christian message is good for this world. It brings life. The Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s sequel to his gospel, tells of the beneficial spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, “the ends of the earth.”

In today’s gospel for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent you can see the evangelist’s universal thrust. He introduces John the Baptist by a list of impressive world leaders:  Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod Antipas and Philip, the sons of Herod the Great, and the Jewish priests Anna and Caiaphas– all significant figures, and most strong opponents of Jesus.

They represent the power structure of the day, but Luke is not interested in their stories. He would have us recognize the real power in this world: Jesus and John.

How insignificant John the Baptist seems compared to an emperor and Roman governor, other powerful rulers and priests. Unkempt in appearance and in ragged clothes, John looks like a nobody as he preaches to travelers near the Jordan River, on the road to Jerusalem. What power does he have? Luke answers simply, “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.” The word of God empowered him.

The gospels invite us to see ourselves and our world in the stories they tell. What can we see in this gospel?

Does Luke remind us that Jesus is more important than anyone else in this world, even ourselves? Keep before your eyes the One who is far more important, far more wise, far better than any celebrity or anyone famous. Look for the One who in the manger and on a cross. God is present and powerful there.

We are meant to bring our gifts to this world. Our time and place wait for the goodness of the gospel, and who will bring it but us?  I mentioned earlier that Luke’s gospel says Jesus’ message is meant for everybody. Do we really believe that, or are we losing our belief that Jesus Christ belongs in everyone’s life?

John the Baptist in the desert seems to have nothing. But he has the word of God, a word he preached and lived.  Isn’t that enough?

Messengers of Advent

In the four weeks of Advent the Prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist and Mary of Nazareth are messengers from God.  Isaiah is one of the first voices we hear. His voice is constant in our readings for Advent.

Isaiah was a priest in the temple of Jerusalem in the eighth century– the worst of times, when the powerful armies of Assyria were ravaging the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God came to Isaiah in a vision in the temple’s Holy of Holies (Isaiah 6) and he’s overwhelmed by a Presence more powerful than all the mighty armies and their clever leaders. God is “Emmanuel,” “God with us.” no matter how bad the times.

That was Isaiah’s message then, and it’s his message for us today. He always seems unreal, as he must have seemed to those who saw Assyrian armies wasting their land.  All nations streaming toward the mountain of the Lord’s house, laying down arms of war?  All peoples, nations and races living in harmony and peace?

Today, the prophet’s promise still seems an impossible dream in our splintered world.  But Advent is about such a hope. It’s not just a personal hope for ourselves and those dear to us, but hope for the whole world. The peaceable kingdom, a seemingly impossible achievement , is not impossible achievement for God.

God is with us. Emmanuel.

Prophets like Isaiah  tell us not to be satisfied with anything less than the Kingdom of God. We become satisfied with what we see and hear, our immediate goals and achievements, our daily projects.  The prophets remind us these are stepping stones to something more. It’s all preliminary to what’s hidden in God’s plan.

Like the bread and wine we bring to the altar, there’s more than we see.  There’s  something more.

Is Faith a Ticket to Success?

You can’t listen to the story of the Prophet Jeremiah, our first reading these days,  without thinking about the passion of Jesus.  In fact, readings from the Book of Jeremiah are the dominant readings for Holy Week. We see Jesus in Jeremiah.

God tells Jeremiah to “hold nothing back,” but speak the truth to those in power, no matter how unpopular it is.  Jesus did the same.

Like Jeremiah, Jesus was innocent, but was framed by the powerful as guilty. They questioned his authority, but he would not deny his mission.

Only a few voices seem to stand up for Jeremiah and only a few stood up for Jesus. Neither had many faithful followers at their time of trial. Yet both were carried along by God’s power and their names vindicated.

Our gospel reading recalling the lonely death of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod Antipas adds him to this brave company.

Some would have us see our faith as a ticket to success, an inoculation against failure or suffering.  Believe and nothing bad will happen to you. Yet, as you look at Jesus, the prophets and the saints, you see a more realistic profile of faith. We’re promised victory, yes, but only by accepting the mystery of the cross.

Keep an eye on Jeremiah and John. Keep an eye on the passion of Jesus. Follow them.