The Greatest Love Story Ever

Rembrandt's Dream of Joseph

Today at sunset begins the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of lights.   If you have Jewish friends, you might want to wish them a happy Hanukkah.

This fourth Sunday of Advent is also a particularly festive time of year for children excited for the arrival of Santa Claus and Christmas Day. The symbols of this season can invite us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas: Emmanuel, God-with-us.

A TREE: the green color symbolizes hope. AN ANGEL: angels sang the glorious news of the Savior’s birth. Look for the good in yourself, in other people in every situation in life. A STAR symbolizes the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Messiah, a Savior. Let’s keep our promises. A CANDLE: the candle symbolizes Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who scatters the darkness all around us. SANTA symbolizes good will. Be generous with what we have.

In Sunday's word of God, Isaiah describes the Hebrew King Ahaz in a quandary: mighty Assyria threatens his kingdom. Should he join an alliance? Or trust in God’s providence?

Isaiah begs him to “ask for a sign from God.” The king refuses. So, Isaiah prophesizes that God will give a sign. A woman will bear a child, Emmanuel or “God-with-us.” Isaiah's point: God never reneges on His promises. Eight centuries later, early Christianity saw the prophecy fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, whose name means “he will save.”

Paul in his letter to the Roman Christian community, introduces himself as an apostle called to deliver a message from God: the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus Christ is gloriously alive, and because He lives, we live, forever. The community, Paul emphasizes, is beloved by God and called to be holy, consecrated to continue the ministry of Jesus until He comes again with glory at the end-time.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Mary is pregnant with a child by the power of the Spirit. Joseph faces a dilemma: it's logical to conclude Mary must have committed adultery, punishable by death according to custom.  But Joseph is not about to let that happen. Then, he has a dream, an overpowering experience of the Divine, that convinces him to take Mary as his wife.

Joseph and Mary especially are two people of extraordinary trust in God’s love. Somehow, the power of God broke into Mary’s life, asking her to believe that she would bear within herself a special child. And because Mary was so attuned to God's presence in her daily life, she replied with great faith: may it be it done to me as you say.

These words are easy when things go our way; but not so easy when what is happening is the opposite of what we want. Such turns in life can test our trust in God's unconditional love.
But Mary’s “Yes” gave us the Christmas story: the greatest love story in the history of civilizations.

This Wednesday, remember: Christmas means not simply God in Bethlehem centuries ago, but God within us today. That is the reason for this holy season: to celebrate God's presence in the Christ child and through this God-man, God's presence within us.

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).

Family: Always There for Us

Murillo's Holy Family

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Cherish the precious gems you have in your family: siblings, spouse and sons/daughters; recognize the gems in your parents. Notice the gems all around you in your neighborhood and parish community.

We become like God, here and now, by striving to reflect godlike attitudes and behaviors in our relationships with one another.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph made a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. On their way back, Mary and Joseph suddenly realized Jesus was missing. But their anxiety turned into joy: young Jesus was astonishing the rabbis with his wisdom.

This close-knit holy family went back home to Nazareth, where Jesus grew in wisdom and age. For twenty-some years, this family clung together. They fled to Egypt together. They lived in a backwater village and worked at ordinary tasks. Joseph, tradition says, kept his loved ones in daily bread with the skill of his hands. Mary baked and spun, carried water, and taught Jesus to pray. And Mary eventually waved goodbye to Jesus as he set off for his life’s mission. She experienced the empty nest!

What sustained the holy family in Nazareth? What sustains ours? I would like to suggest three virtues: faithfulness, courage, and prudence.

Faithfulness builds trust. Parents need to be faithful to each other and to their children. Children trust that parents will always be there. We all need to know that someone loves us and will always be there for us, especially when we hit a rough patch in life. We need the anchor of faithfulness in our ever-changing world.

Second, families need courage. Courage is about moral character. It defines who we are at the core of our innermost selves. It is an attitude that challenges us, despite our fears, to stand up for what is right and true and good. Many of us would include Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mother Teresa in our list of courageous people. And we probably would include our parents. Parenting, sustaining life, requires courage, always trying to do the right thing even when we’re not sure it’s right.

And the third virtue for families is prudence. It doesn’t mean caution. Rather prudence is the instinct to seek the right thing to do among our many choices, whereas courage is the instinct to do the right thing despite our fears. Prudence and courage go hand in hand. Often decisions are not either/or but both/and. It’s only by making decisions daily that parents become experienced decision makers. Prudence requires continually reflecting on decisions and learning from them.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived as a family, a holy family. May God on this Feast of the Holy Family anchor our own families and community in faithfulness, courage, and prudence.

Merry Christmas

Rembrandt's Adoration of the Shepherds

Every year we relive the wonderful Christmas story. The Gospel according to John summed up this magnificent story in a single line: The Word became flesh.

That takes us back in our imaginations to the beginnings of the human family, in Genesis: when man and woman walked with God, had friendship with God and one another. But somehow man and woman lost that friendship, they fell from grace: they hid from God.

But in the midst of ancient Israel’s fidelities and infidelities to the covenant, God never reneged on his promises. And so the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The Word of God for the Christmas liturgies is like a prism through which is refracted the multiple facets of this great mystery of the Incarnation.

Isaiah proclaims glad tidings: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Paul writes that the grace of God appeared in Jesus Christ who made us “heirs” to the promise of eternal life. In the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke, the Virgin Mary gave birth to her son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.And the Gospel of John sums up the meaning of Christmas: the Word became flesh. That is God’s greatest gift to us.

Some gifts really transform the lives the people: gifts of teaching, of listening and supporting, of sharing time and experiences, of compassion and forgiveness and affirmation. This begins in our own families and workplaces and communities: enduring gifts that we can always give to one another.

The Word became flesh. That single line changed our destiny. Christmas means not simply God in Bethlehem centuries ago, but God within us. We carry within ourselves Emmanuel, God with us. How? By virtue of the life-giving waters of baptism.We gather to proclaim the awesome Word of God, to celebrate the presence of the living Christ.

That great truth of our faith, God within us, challenges us always to look for the good in ourselves, in other people and in all situations in life.

And who is the ultimate good-finder? God so loved us that he became one of us. Yes, Jesus had a unique relationship. He was God-man. A healer, a teacher, a peacemaker. Think of all the people in the Gospels that Jesus met: the blind, the leper, the lame, the sinner, the forgotten. And Jesus found goodness in all of them where many didn’t.

The promised Messiah has come, He is in our midst mystically in the word proclaimed and the sacrament celebrated, and He will come again in power and glory at the end-time. In the meantime, pray this Christmas season that the Lord will 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 health; those who are sad to find joy; and those who have died to find eternal life in God.

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.