'Tis the Season to Rejoice

John the Baptist Proclaiming Repentance

This third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete” Sunday: a Latin verb meaning “rejoice” because Jesus, the joy of our salvation, will be born.

As we anticipate celebrating his birth, we thank Jesus for the gift of life, God's eternal life. We have so much to be thankful for. Yet many people lack what we take for granted. Yes, this season especially is a time to rejoice and share our blessings.

When you hear the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, remember there’s a story behind it. I share this each year because Christians still are persecuted in some places for their faith.

Catholics in Protestant England could not practice their faith openly for more than two centuries. So someone wrote The Twelve Days of Christmas which has two levels of meaning: one secular; the other, religious. Guess what the numbers symbolize; here’s a hint:
A partridge in a pear tree is…Jesus Christ.
The two turtle doves are the New and Old Testaments.
Three French hens stand for faith, hope, love.
Four calling birds are the four Gospels.
Look up the rest and play a game with children/grandchildren to see how well they can remember.

The word of God from Isaiah takes us back probably to the sixth century before Jesus (the 500s). Jerusalem had experienced immense destruction. Yet the author speaks about new beginnings: the desert will bloom; the wilderness will burst with life. The messiah will come. The author may be asking us: what message do we proclaim through our attitudes and behaviors?

James in his letter urges us to practice patience like the farmer who plants and works with nature to bring forth a harvest of produce. Patience! Even better, perseverance!

In the Gospel, John the Baptizer announces that he is the voice in the wilderness who prepares the way for the messiah. He cried out to the people who came to the waters of the Jordan River, “repent,” live an other-centered, God-centered life. And when Jesus walked along the Jordan, John pointed to Jesus as being the sacrificial Lamb of God, through whose bloody death/glorious resurrection we have a right relationship with God.

John prepared the way for Jesus, the bridge between two covenants that created a special relationship between God and us.

John challenges us to be heralds of Jesus, evangelizers, missionary disciples, in our families, our workplaces our communities by the manner in which we live. We are called to prepare the way of the Lord so that Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, can enter into our “hearts” and those of our fellow human beings.

This season, there’s no better place to begin again than in our own families, by creating an even better sense of togetherness, by cherishing people more deeply for who they are, and by reaching out to one another with a helping hand and praying together – especially at Sunday liturgies.

Joseph's Dream

Murillo's Nativity

Advent is a season of hope. We can spread that contagious hope.

In the word of God, Isaiah speaks about an ideal leader. Isaiah might be asking us how we exemplify these baptismal gifts in our everyday lives: wisdom (to recognize what truly matters), intelligence (to see what's true), courage (to stand up for what's right), empathy (for the needy), good judgment (to do the right thing for the common good), and wonder and awe (to worship the great God of this universe).

St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community in Rome calls for reconciliation and harmony. Paul asks us to practice virtue: the key organizing principle of a good society!

In the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptizer appears with a message of immediacy. He proclaims a turning away from a self-centered to an other-centered, God-centered life, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He says, to the many people coming to him, “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Our mission – the theme of Advent -- is all about preparing for the messiah by living a God-centered, other-centered life.

During Advent the Word of God focuses on Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary. All three, in their experience of God, delivered a special message.
Isaiah spoke about a liberator, a savior for us.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The lamb, of course, references the Passover meal. Jesus is the Lamb who through his death and resurrection creates a future for us, transforming us.
The Virgin Mary is the living temple of God, the ark of the covenant, because she carried within herself the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us.

Joseph also appears briefly in Advent in the infancy narrative. Joseph had a dream in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

Think about what couples dream when they learn they will be parents. Their first dreams are usually for a safe birth, a healthy child. Then, that their son or daughter will excel. Along the way, dreams may change. Mom and Dad may pray for their child to pass tough courses, recover from an illness, overcome an addiction. Sometimes disappointments or tragedy may change our dreams. But as Joseph learned, the most important things we can dream for children are that they will know we love them dearly, we accept them unconditionally, and we are always praying for God’s grace.

As we prepare for the birth of the Eternal Word of God at Christmas, let us pray for the grace to see God’s presence in all things; to do things as best we can; and to accept people as a gift from God (even if they're not quite the gift we hoped for).

Beginning the Advent-ure

Advent: a season to prepare for the birth of the Messiah

Today we begin Advent. Advent in Latin means “coming.”

Advent is all about hope in a glorious future. It invites us to reflect on the threefold coming of Jesus. Yes, Jesus came to us centuries ago; He comes to us now sacramentally; and He will come again with great power and glory at the end-time to transform this universe into a “new heaven and a new earth.”

The prophet Isaiah spoke about hope. He proclaimed that people everywhere “shall go up” to the Temple in Jerusalem not only to hear but to do the word.  Everywhere there will be peace. Do we trust in God’s unconditional love for us? And yes, do we try to do the right thing?

Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome wrote about his earthly life drawing closer to the end every day. So too is ours. Stay awake, be ready, live in the light, writes St. Paul. Practice virtue. Care for one another, pray earnestly, and please God.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus speaks to us about watchfulness or readiness.  Jesus may come to us suddenly, when we least expect Him. And so, live each day with purpose.

The Advent season can be captured in one word: “waiting,” anticipating the Messiah.
Folks in ancient Israel often waited for the Messiah to rescue them from their hardships, from the follies of their kings, from their exile, from their many occupations by a cruel foreign power.

We, too, often pray to God to rescue us from a crisis of one kind or another. Some would say that this is the story of everyone. Where was God when a loved one was in harm’s way? Why didn’t God protect them? There are no answers that satisfy us. Yes, we pray for God to rescue us. And yet God can seem silent, hidden. But is God silent? Is God hidden?

We profess that God is indeed in our midst. Not in a manger -- that was centuries ago in Bethlehem. Where is God today? All around us! In nature, in people, yes, even in our beloved pets. God is with us, as we ache with all sorts of growing pains. God is especially with us in the mass, where we sacramentally encounter the living Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity.

Saint Paul wrote that God’s favor, God’s grace has been revealed in Jesus. And so, we wait and sing in Advent, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

Let us pray this Advent season that the Spirit of God who through the Virgin Mary brought forth the Word made flesh, will reenergize us. Yes, fire us up so that we, through God’s grace, can go forth to help those who doubt to find faith; those who despair to find hope; those who are weak to find courage; those who are sick to find healing; those who are sad or depressed or angry to find joy; those who wander to find the way; and those who are about to die to find eternal life. Amen.

The Gift of Salvation

"Strive to enter through the narrow door" 

The word of God today takes us back to the sixth century before Jesus. In a vision, the author of Isaiah sees all men and women, from all nations, Jews as well as non-Jews, going up to Jerusalem into the temple to worship together the one true God, Creator of us all. This invites us to recognize God’s likeness in all people.

The letter to the Hebrews alludes to the age-old question, why do bad things happen to good people? Of course, there’s no satisfactory answer to human suffering and natural disasters. Yet hardships can help us realize our true selves as sons and daughters of God our Father.  Inescapable suffering, accepted with trust in an all-good God and joined to the sufferings of Jesus, can be saving and healing for ourselves and others. And why do I say that?  Because the sufferings of Jesus were precisely that--saving and healing for all.

In the Gospel, disciples ask, “Will only a few people be saved?” Jesus indicates that many who think themselves respectable or high and mighty may not be first in line for the kingdom of God. And many who are considered down and out will be the first included. God's ways are not ours.

Salvation is ultimately a gift from God. Jesus says that we have to struggle to enter through the symbolic “narrow gate” into the kingdom of God. Many times in life, we can only go through by letting go of our fears and doubts, and by realizing that God is with us as we open these doors into an uncertain future.  Our faith in particular can sustain us, because it helps us overcome these fears and doubts, because it satisfies our basic needs. How is that?

Our faith fosters a healthy self-image . We are made in the image and likeness of God, and through baptism, God lives within us, and we live within God. And people with a positive, healthy self-image generally engage in constructive behavior.

Faith satisfies our longing for happiness. Within every human, being there is a subconscious quest for the ultimate, the all-good. St. Augustine wrote, “O God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Our primary purpose is to live in a right relationship with God and one another. In heaven, we will see God face-to-face.

Third, our faith gives us a sense of belonging. We are a community of believers, linked by a common bond of faith, grace, and baptism. We gather regularly to offer God gratitude and worship. These encounters with the triune God are wrapped up in the mystery of the sacraments.

We are a community not only of heroes and heroines but also of sinners and scoundrels. But Jesus assures us that God’s mercy outweighs our failures. God gave us the sacraments of initiation, healing and service, grace and power to help us through these times.

Finally, our Catholic faith provides us with a guide in the Bible, with the best news ever: how God offers each one of us salvation through Jesus, who is the gate to eternal life. The risen Christ is present in these scriptures proclaimed in our liturgies.

Yes, as we go through life, our faith will sustain us so we may eventually enter safely that final gate into our eternal home with God.

Experiencing God

James Tissot's "He sent them two by two."

The sixth century before Jesus was a catastrophic time for ancient Israel. Yet the author of Isaiah speaks about a bright future. Jerusalem will prosper again. A miracle! Centuries later in Jerusalem, Jesus brought new purpose in life—another miracle! Yes, our citizenship is in heaven. The author of Isaiah may be asking whether our lifestyle and behavior reflect our citizenship.

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, proclaims that the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb is our salvation, eternal life. Paul celebrates that God through the life-giving waters of baptism has transformed us into “new creatures,” living temples of God, alive with the breath or life of God in us.

Paul writes that the power of God enabled him to endure all kinds of hardships for the sake of the Gospel. That same power of God enables us to practice a life of virtue.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus sends forth disciples to continue his saving and healing work. They are to trust always in God's unconditional them for them. They reported back how they witnessed to the power of God with healings of the sick.

Now what does it mean to witness? I’m a witness not simply by seeing or saying something is true but if I actually experience it.

The disciples were witnesses to Jesus in that sense. They walked, talked, ate and prayed with him.
Peter, for example, reached out for Jesus’s hand in the Sea of Galilee. Doubting Thomas put his finger into Jesus’s side in the Jerusalem upper room.

We too are called to be witnesses. We testify to our core Christian beliefs: the triune God, the incarnation, the death/resurrection of Jesus, the dependable Spirit, the global community of disciples, life eternal. But what men and women look for, expect from us, is some visible sign that we have experienced what we believe.

We will evangelize effectively if we are a sort of sacrament, a symbol, an outward sign of God’s grace/presence in us. We must not simply know about God; we must experience God.

The heroes and heroines of Christianity knew/experienced God in their lives: Augustine, Francis and Clare of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, and many more.

Faith from God empowers us to have a right relationship with the triune God as creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Faith is richer and deeper than belief. Faith calls us to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, to follow Jesus who illuminates the darkness around us as we journey toward our heavenly home. Faith is about our relationship with God that we nurture, especially in the Eucharist.

Belief, on the other hand, is a statement about the essential truths of our faith that we proclaim e.g., in the fourth-century Nicene Creed.

From faith comes a confidence and purpose in life. We trust in a God who is always near to us. Successes convince us that it is possible to succeed. Our failures show us it is possible to survive and proceed.

We are in the hands of an all-good God. And with a can-do, faith-filled spirit, we can overcome the  challenges we face in life.  Why? Because God loves us unconditionally, because God is always near to us and because God ultimately will achieve His purpose for us and for this universe.  And to this divine providence, and to Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, our way, our truth and our life, we joyfully witness in our daily lives.

Letting Faith in God Illuminate our Lives

Murillo's Holy Family

The Advent season is about waiting. We do plenty of waiting, don’t we? So did the ancient Hebrews.They often waited for the Messiah to rescue them. Yet the Messiah often seemed hidden.

We often pray for God to rescue us from a crisis of one kind or another, to appear and make things right. Some would say that is everyone’s story.

God seems silent sometimes. But our faith proclaims loudly that God is indeed among us. He is closer than we are to ourselves. Do not be afraid, Jesus proclaims; I am with you always.

The word of God gives us Baruch, in the sixth century before Jesus. Times were catastrophic for the Jews; everything they thought would endure suddenly disappeared. Yet, Baruch spoke of hope: a faithful people who will reflect the glory of God.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community prayed that we will possess true wisdom, to distinguish what matters in life from what doesn’t, so that we will always do the right thing.

In the Gospel according to Luke, John the Baptizer proclaims repentance: prepare our hearts for the Lord. Yes, ask God to help us to hear the word of God in our hearts and turn toward a God-centered, other-centered life.

During Advent the word of God focuses on three biblical personalities: Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary. Each delivered a special message.
Isaiah spoke about a future Messiah, a liberator, a redeemer, a savior for us.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who through his own death and resurrection creates a future for us.
The Virgin Mary is the living temple of God, the ark of the covenant. She carried within herself the Word made flesh, a child, Emmanuel, God with us.

The word of God in Advent also briefly references Joseph, who had a dream in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

I ponder couples’ dreams when they learn that they will be parents. Their first dreams are usually for a safe birth, a healthy child. Then they may dream that their son or daughter will excel. Along the way, things may change very quickly. Parents may pray for their child to pass courses, or recover from an illness or a serious accident, or overcome an addiction.

As Joseph learned, the most important things we can dream for those we love are these: that they always will know that we love them dearly, we accept them unconditionally for who they are, we are ready to forgive them their so-called peccadilloes, and that we are always praying that God will grace them.

All these are manifestations of faith. As I view the beautiful windows in our church, and value the light illuminating them, I think of a quote President Bush read at the National Cathedral:
...without faith, we are but stained-glass windows in the dark.

But with the light of our faith, we illuminate the same splendid multi-colored stain-glass window into a "work of art" for all to see. May the light of our faith make our lives a "work of art" for all to see Jesus as our way, our truth and our life.