Holy Innocence

Gospel:  Matthew 2: 13-18

By our choice of association and our actions we decide whether we are citizens of the city of man or the city of God.  The city of man is characterized by association with the rich and powerful.  This city is gripped by perpetual fear of losing said power and wealth, and so any means at all are employed to preserve their wealth and power: lies, coercion, violence.  This is the city of Herod in today's Gospel, and both the innocents and innocence are its victims.

The city of God, by contrast, is characterized by association with the poor and marginalized.  This city is animated by love, for here there is no desire for wealth and power.  The only desire here is to serve others in loving-kindness and compassion.  This is the city of the Lord Jesus, of the shepherds and the Magi.  This is the place where both the innocents and innocence itself are protected.  

Today is a day to reflect on which city is our place of citizenship, which city holds our allegiance.  Which city is the one to which we are journeying?  

The Peace Has Returned

Gospel: John 20: 2-8

The peace of Christmas had been disturbed by the message of persecution yesterday, but today the peace returns in the resurrection of Jesus.  All of this may seem strange in its placement in the Christmas season, but we are quick to forget what Advent had been all about, and we are slow to see what the message of the stable is all about.

In Advent we awaited the coming of the Savior of the world, a title that had been one for the Roman Emperor.  But Jesus, the true Savior of the world, will not save the world through bloodshed and military conquest as Rome does.  Instead, salvation will come about by laying down his own life in place of ours, in showing infinite love to finite creatures so little deserving of the gift.  

Jesus comes through the way of humility: the poverty of the stable, the vulnerability of a baby, the coming to outcasts and foreigners, ministry to the poor and marginalized, the washing of feet, and execution on a cross as a condemned revolutionary.  Even the empty tomb is a humble announcement of victory over death and salvation for all.  This must be our way as well.   

Where Did the Peace Go?

Gospel: Matthew 10: 17-22

It seems like only yesterday that we were present at the stable enjoying the peace of a newborn child and the joy of those gathered at the mystery.  For today we are again presented with the threats to peace: the stoning of Stephen, the blood lust of Herod, and the words of today's Gospel that remind us of the threats to us that are ever present.  

In one sense these threats are ever present.  In the material world we are constantly subject to incessant change and the misfortunes that accompany it.  However, in the spiritual realm we can and must remain fixed in the love of God, our only impermanence in the universe, the only source of eternal peace.  We were drawn to the stable in order to be introduced to this peace so that we might find it and keep it throughout our lives.

This peace can be likened to a home well-prepared and provisioned for a storm.  It remains at peace as the storm rages, knowing the storm will subside and pass at some point.  And even if the storm does overtake it, like Stephen the peace is not lost, for the vision of love found at the stable animates our hearts at all times.  

Camping on Christmas

Gospel: John 1: 1-18

And the Word became flesh, and pitched his tent among us.

This is the literal translation of the text.  God pitches his tent among us.  God did not come to build a mansion or palace among us.  God came to pitch his tent among us.  Those who live in tents are nomads, shepherds, pilgrims.  It is a reminder that we do not live in a permanent place on earth; that our only permanence is in God alone, and this God comes to live among us in our impermanence.  

It is also a reminder of the time when God lived among his people in a tent as they wandered through the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land.  God's presence stayed among his people and guided them those many years.  God lived humbly in a tent and did not want any grand temple built in the Promised Land.  God wanted to dwell among his people, not apart from them.  

So Christmas is a permanent reminder that God comes to dwell among us in complete humility, and that only the humble and outcast - the shepherds and Magi - will come to recognize this dwelling among us.  Only if we too are humble can God dwell among us and bring glory once again to our world. 

The Time is Here

Gospel: Luke 1: 67-79

Everyday the Church prays these words of Zechariah at morning prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours; it is the one constant text each morning.  It is well, then, to reflect on this prayer as it is given to us today on the eve of the great celebration of the birth of Jesus.  

Each day in this prayer we give thanks for God's saving words and deeds in salvation history and in our own lives.  It is a proclamation of liberation from bondage in all of its forms.  And it is a declaration of peace.  Liberation and peace do not come to us from war or any other forms of violence.  They come about in one way, the way of the Lord Jesus.  

Jesus came into the world in the most humblest of means.  He lived a life of quiet solitude for most of his days.  He then went about on a mission of mercy, healing people of their infirmities, feeding the hungry, and forgiving sins. In his last days he knelt down to wash our feet, then took our place at the executioner's station.  Only by imitating him and living as he did can we come to liberation and peace in our lives and in our world.  This is our prayer every morning. This is the message of Christmas here and now and always.

Encountering God

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66

Zechariah had been born to the priestly class and became a priest himself.  The role of a priest is to perform the customary rituals in the Temple - the prayers, sacrifices, offerings, and other such things that were prescribed according to tradition and custom.  These ways were set and established, unchanging pillars of religion for him and his people.

But now Zechariah encounters God in a most unconventional way.  He is visited by an angel and given a message he does not believe.  For this unbelief Zechariah is made mute, so he now has time to reflect on his life.  When it comes time to name his child, Zechariah speaks up for the unconventional name of John, and his speaking is restored to him.  

Zechariah learned that God cannot be found in conventional things, for this would mean that we could place God in a box, that there is some formula for connecting with God, that God is all figured out.  This season reminds us that God is found in the unconventional, that it is the marginalized and outcast who find God, and that the established ones of convention will simultaneously not recognize God among them, and also seek to destroy God among us.   

The Magic of Christmas

Gospel: Luke 1: 46-56

Mary's Magnificat proclaims an end to the prophetic age.  No longer will we hear about future promises, for God has come among his people, and Mary's prayer today expresses that finality: God has cast down the mighty from their thrones; God has lifted up the lowly; God has provided the hungry with good things; God has sent the rich away.  These are present and perfect realities God has accomplished in the person of Jesus.

So, why does hunger, inequality, and injustice still exist? Largely because we believe in a magic God and not the God of Jesus.  We falsely believe that God just magics things away just by coming and that we do not have to do anything.  Or, worse yet, we have created a whole set of future prophecies about a final coming of Jesus and kicked it all down the road in order to avoid the real God of Jesus.

For the God of Jesus is an incarnational God, one who requires that these things be done now, not by God magic but by our cooperation with the call and mission of Jesus.  Just as Mary participated fully in this mission by her life of bearing Jesus to the world, so we all must do the same by our lives.  That is the only way the mighty are cast down and the hungry are fed: by us doing the work of Jesus in the here and now.  That is the magic of Christmas: that God came among us to divinize us, to enable us to do this mission to which we are called. 

The Authentic Call of God

Luke 1: 39-45

How are we to know when we or anyone else has received an authentic call from God? This is an important question since the claim is raised often by many people, and sometimes the "call from God" seems rather strange or outlandish to us.  Today's Gospel provides us with an important tool of discernment in the actions of Mary and Elizabeth.

Both Mary and Elizabeth receive important callings from God.  Mary is to be the mother of Jesus, while Elizabeth is to be the mother of John the Baptist.  Yet both women have as their first impulse the desire to serve one another.  Mary undertakes the dangerous journey through the hill country of Judea to serve her cousin at the and of her pregnancy.  At the same time Elizabeth serves Mary by believing her story about the background to her own pregnancy, thereby providing Mary with a support structure in the midst of extreme vulnerability.  

When we see that the first impulse in a person is to care and serve for others, we can be sure that a call from God is an authentic one.  When the impulse is a self-interested one, when it is concerned with power, control, or wealth, then it is not a call from God but from the evil one.  An authentic call from God always leads to greater love and care for others. 

Accepting the Challenge

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

Mary is invited by the angel to bring forth Jesus into the world.  This invitation comes with a great deal of personal risks for Mary.  No one is going to understand or believe her story about how she became pregnant.  She is likely to lose her engagement to Joseph.  As an unwed mother she could face stoning by the strict letter of the law, or more likely face a life of poverty and marginalization with her child.  And yet, Mary accepts this calling because somebody has to do it.

Someone has to bring Christ into the world, and this invitation to Mary is an invitation to us as well.  Each one of us is invited to bear Christ and to bring him forth in the world.  Like Mary, this invitation comes with risks of misunderstanding and marginalization and possible risk to our very lives.  But someone has to bring forth goodness and light, love and compassion, care and service to others in a world of division fueled by self-interest.  

Mary and Joseph lived in silent contemplation of the mystery that enfolded their lives.  They embodied loving service to one another and to others - Mary's first action was to care for her cousin Elizabeth.  These are our model as we take up the invitation to bring forth Christ in the world: silent reverence for the mystery, and loving service to others. 

Why We Disbelieve

Gospel: Luke 1: 5-25

Zechariah was a priest who offered sacrifice every day in the Temple.  He prayed daily and read the Scriptures with great devotion.  He knew all the stories of God's work in times past and could retell them by heart.  And yet, when God announced to him that he would have a part to play in this great drama of salvation he did not believe the message.  Why?

We can be familiar with the scriptures, but in a way that separates us from the events themselves.  We see them as events of the past that cannot be repeated in our own times.  We can see God calling others in the past to these great deeds, but we cannot imagine God doing so with us in our own times.  We have placed God in a safe box where God cannot inconvenience us with a calling that does not suit our plans.  

It is easy to read this story and judge Zechariah, but upon reflection we come to realize we are not so different and far removed from him.  God is present and active in our world today as much as in the past.  Zechariah's story reminds us to remain open to God's call to love and serve others in the world, to do our part to which we are called in the drama of salvation history. 

Hopes and Dreams

Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-24

Joseph was a man like any other. He had dreams about his future, dreams about married life and children, dreams about his career.  Every human being has these dreams for themselves and others, but how often are they realized?  How often does life come along and alter our plans, change our hopes and dreams into something else?

So while Joseph had the dreams of ordinary people, he also had dreams of another sort where his original plans and hopes become altered.  Life now will be a bit more difficult.  Joseph will have to go into exile in a foreign land to protect his family, then sneak back into his country of origin to establish a quiet life with them.  Because he chooses to take Mary as his wife, they will be under a cloud of suspicion regarding their child and the circumstances behind the pregnancy.  This too will affect their lives.

Yet through it all Joseph is comforted by the dreams God gives him.  He quietly follows these dreams and sets aside his own for the greater good for Mary and her child.  How often are we ourselves called to something similar - of putting aside our own hopes, dreams, and plans in order to care for the needs of others, to take part in God's dreams of the kingdom for us and the whole human family?

Family Trees

Gospel: Matthew 1: 1-17

The original purpose of Jesus' family tree in the Gospels was to show legitimate ancestry as a Jewish person and as one claiming to be the Messiah of God.  For the first, one had to trace one's lineage back to Abraham; for the second, back to David.  Ancestry was an important component for ancient peoples.  It showed one came from legitimate stock and that one had important ancestors and divine origins.  These things are less important for us today.  

What meaning, then, can Jesus' family tree have for us today?  First, looking at the people listed in the genealogy, we find a wide cadre of rogues and outsiders, in addition to the famous people.  This fact means that everyone has a role to play in salvation history.  Everyone is important and every life has meaning.  We may not realize our role until we reflect on it and see the bigger picture.

A second meaning for us is an important idea from the Jewish tradition: we make known our full history before everyone, the ugly parts as well as the glorious parts.  We are not to be a triumphalistic people, but a humble people before God acknowledging our past faults and wayward ways.  Only by doing so can something better come forth in our world. 

Message and Deeds

Gospel: John 5: 33-36

Many came to hear the message of John the Baptist, a message of repentance and an announcement of the imminent coming of the Messiah.  Many thought perhaps John himself was the Messiah, but this was a mistake.  John's mission was one of announcement and message.

By contrast, the mission of the Messiah was to do the works of the Father, i.e. the works of mercy offered to all people everywhere.  Jesus did not come to announce anything or to provide any messages.  Jesus came to do works of mercy - to forgive and heal, love and console.  

This same dynamic can exist in our own lives during this time of Advent and beyond.  If we accept the message of repentance and sincerely atone for sin in our lives, then we are open to receiving the works of God and to do the works of God in our daily life: to offer mercy and forgiveness for all; to provide healing to the sick, lame, deaf, blind, and leprous; to liberate the dead and imprisoned; to welcome the stranger; to offer love and consolation for all.  

What Did You Expect?

Gospel: Luke 7: 24-30

What did you go out into the desert to see?

The desert is not a place for tourism.  The rich and powerful will not be found there.  Wealth and worldly success is not attained in the desert.  No one organizes popular excursions to the desert in order to experience pleasures and a good time.  

The desert is a severe and harsh place.  The elements humble a person very quickly and lead to a posture of dependence on God and others.  The desert has no place or time for power struggles and the amassing of wealth; these things have no use or value in the desert.  To survive in the desert a person must be humble and cooperative, supporting one another along the way.

The desert is the way of the Lord.  It was - and is - the way to the Promised Land.  In the desert we are brought to humility through the elements and the ministry of John the Baptist.  But there we find the waters of baptism that move us into the ministry of Jesus who invites us to a life of mercy in word and deed extended outward to others.  The way of the desert - the way of repentance and humility - are a necessary precondition for a life of mercy toward others and entrance to the Promised Land.

Stumbling Blocks

Gospel: Luke 7: 18-23

We began Advent with the exhortation to prepare the way of the Lord.  Things can often obstruct pathways.  Debris and stumbling blocks can find their way onto the way.  Sometimes those obstructions are there because of natural occurrences.  Other times they are placed there by others, and sometimes we find that we ourselves have placed these barriers in the way.  Regardless of how they got there, these obstacles must be removed so that the way can be clear for the Lord to come into our lives.

Jesus tells John's disciples the works of mercy that are the defining feature of the coming Messiah and the marks of Jesus' own ministry: the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, lepers are cleansed, the poor receive Good News.  People will find the works of mercy to be a stumbling block, for they see the role of the Messiah as a political one, a militaristic image wielding power and judgment.  But that is not at all the ministry of Jesus.  Here we find a stumbling block that must be removed.

John the Baptist came with the ministry of reconciliation.  Jesus comes to bring the ministry of mercy.  Authentic repentance necessarily brings with it a life of mercy offered for others: forgiving the sins of others, healing others, dispelling demons from people's lives.  Once we embrace a life of mercy all obstacles and stumbling blocks are removed from our lives.  The way is clear for Love to come and rule our lives. 

Going my Way

Gospel: Matthew 21: 28-32

The Parable of the Two Sons is a lesson in Advent pilgrimage.  In reality every human being is in the position of the second son: we have all been disobedient and have failed in one way or another to follow God's will in our lives.  The question is not whether we have failed to do God's will; the question is what we are going to do in the face of this reality.

We could take the position of the first son and pay lip service to God's will.  We can make promises, offer prayers, and talk a good game - but all the while fail to do God's will.  This is a common posture in religion, but it is a false one.  Love is found in deeds, not in words, and not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Or we could be like the second son.  We have been disobedient.  We recognize our failures, and we arise from our place to go about doing the will of God in our lives.  And God's will is nothing more than repenting of our sin and offering mercy to all we encounter in our lives.  This is the Advent pilgrimage: to accept the message of John the Baptist and repent; and to follow the way of the Lord Jesus and perform the works of mercy to all on earth. 

By What Authority?

Gospel: Matthew 21: 23-27

The religious authorities approach Jesus and ask him, "By what authority do you do these things?" Their question comes from a place of institutional power.  They want to know who gave Jesus credentials to teach - which rabbinic school instructed Jesus in the law.  The religious authorities had control over the rabbinic schools and could thus sanction them if found wanting.  

But Jesus turns the conversation to an entirely different plane in referencing John the Baptist: is the mission one from God or from humans? Now the religious authorities are on less certain ground, but provide an answer designed to preserve their institutional power so as not to lose popularity with either side.  Jesus' question, however, is a serious one: how are we to know if a work is from God or merely from humans?

The work and ministry of John and Jesus were repentance and mercy.  If a ministry brings us greater repentance before God and enables us to be more merciful to others in our words and deeds then this is a work of God.  If the work does not accomplish these deeds then it is merely human and is mere self-interest.  Advent is a continual journey of seeking repentance and mercy. a journey that takes us to the desert, to the manger, and wherever Jesus goes.

Where is Christ in the World?

Are you the One who is to come or should we look for another?

This is the question of John's disciples to Jesus.  They are looking about for the long awaited Messiah and want to know if Jesus is the One.  Jesus' response to them is telling:

Go tell John what you see and hear: the blind receive their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus did not come as a warrior, cultural or otherwise.  He did not come in ostentatious majesty with pomp and circumstance.  He came as a humble newborn and served his entire life in a humble ministry of service to others offering mercy to all.

Many despair of finding Christ in the world today, perhaps because the church is so often obsessed with political power and capital campaigns that are not at all about the works of mercy.  As scandals and hypocrisy mark church leadership, people look for where Christ is on earth.  But today is the Sunday of rejoicing because despite all this - which existed in Jesus' time too - we can still find Christ among those carrying out these works of mercy in our world today.  It is in them, as in Jesus' original coming, that we will find him - there we will find the church living and true.

Hospitality for Prophets

Gospel: Matthew 17: 10-13

John the Baptist came in the tradition of the prophets inviting people to repentance and providing baptism as a means of cleansing from sin.  John, like prophets before him, was rejected and eventually executed by an unholy alliance between religion and the state.  The message of repentance is one that few wish to hear and carry out in their own lives.

Jesus mourns the death of John, and he is aware that a similar fate awaits him as his message and invitation to a life of mercy toward others will receive a similar rejection.  People will show infinite mercy towards themselves but none for others.  The meals of reconciliation will be continually rejected by religious authorities throughout Jesus' ministry.

It is a common theme throughout religion that prophets, saints, and the Messiah himself are rejected by religious and secular authorities because the message of repentance and mercy are continually opposed.  In our own times Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero were vilified by religious and secular authorities and persecuted, only now to be raised to the altars as saints in later days.  

Advent is a time to work against this cycle in our own hearts and to accept the messages of repentance and mercy in our own lives and times.  This acceptance is preparing the way for the Lord, to make the road by walking on it.

Seeing Beyond Appearances

 

Gospel: Matthew 11: 16-19

People did not accept John the Baptist, nor did they accept Jesus.  We might see these rejections as a matter of appearances - John was an eccentric ascetic who lived in the desert.  Jesus was someone who ate with sinners and welcomed them to his table.  And while these outward appearances may have dissuaded some, it was in fact our own appearances that cause us to reject both John and Jesus.

We human beings have the natural tendency to defend ourselves at all costs and to condemn other people for just about anything.  The message of John was that we should repent of our sins, which goes against our first natural tendency to defend ourselves at all costs.  The message of Jesus was that we should show mercy to others, which goes against our second natural tendency to condemn others.  

The constant wisdom of God throughout the ages is that we must repent of our sins - to judge only ourselves - and to show mercy to others in concrete ways of acceptance and fellowship.  Advent is a time of renewing our commitment to mercy: in seeking God's mercy for our sins, and in showing mercy continually to all in the human community.

Mary, Our Model for Advent

 God chose us in Christ before the world began, to be holy and blameless in his sight, to be full of love. - Ephesians 1: 4

Today's feast day fits perfectly into the Advent preparation for the coming of Jesus into our world.  Mary had a unique calling from God to be the mother of Jesus, to bring him forth into the world in a physical, biological sense.  Yet, Mary also was mother in a very spiritual way to Jesus as well, and so provides us a model to follow in our calling to bring Jesus into the world in our lives.

We, like Mary, are called to be holy and blameless, to be full of love.  We are called to bear Christ in our very beings and to bring Christ forth in the world through our deeds of love and service to others.  As Mary was open to this mission from the angel so we must be, and just as Mary's first impulse upon accepting this message was to go and serve her cousin in need, so we too must have as our impulse this same service to our fellow human beings in need.  

Mary, in turn, was served by her cousin Elizabeth, and this is the mystery of the Church in miniature.  Each of us is called to bring forth Christ to the world through service to each other.  The Church is the womb, the place of nourishment that enables us to bring Christ forth to the world in our lives.  Mary as the first disciple becomes our model to follow as we prepare ourselves to be bearers of Christ.  

Burdens and Rest

Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30

Every human being longs for rest and an easier burden from the struggles of life.  The message Jesus provides today is one that resonates with every human being in every time and every place.  There is not a single person who is without struggles, burdens, and fatigue.  It seems as if most of our lives are spent in search of just a little rest and a little easing of our burdens.  

The immediate audience of Jesus would be especially open to this message.  The people of Galilee experienced harsh oppression and dispossession of property and wealth at the hands of the Roman occupiers.  In addition, Galilee was the northern kingdom of ancient Israel and as such was shunned by the power structures of Judaism in Judea.  Collusion with the Roman occupiers to keep Galilee repressed added an additional burden on Jesus' audience.

Jesus comes to bring both material and spiritual rest and relief to people.  He came to heal the whole person - body, mind, and spirit - and to ease burdens in all aspects of our lives.  We await this coming in our lives, but we also respond to the call of Jesus to take part in this ministry of offering easement and rest for people in their struggles of life.  May Advent be a time when that coming of Jesus to us is a greater reality for our world today. 

Utilitarian Calculus

Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus invites our response to the parable of the lost sheep.  So from the point of view of the shepherd, the following thought process is employed: if he chooses to do nothing and not go after the lost sheep, it is likely that lost sheep will never be recovered, but the 99 are safe in his care.  On the other hand, if he chooses to go after the lost sheep he may well save that sheep, but he may lose others he left behind.  Most shepherds would not seek after the lost sheep by this reckoning.

But consider: if the shepherd makes it a habit to not seek out lost sheep, he could very well lose his flock one by one over time.  The shepherd makes the assumption that this lost sheep is a one time occurrence, when in reality this event could repeat itself time and again.  

In any case, Jesus is convinced that a good shepherd would go after the lost sheep, for in reality this parable is an allegory.  All of us are lost sheep; there is not a secure one among us in the flock of the Lord.  God comes among us to seek us out and rescue us from ourselves.  This is the message and hope of Advent.

Which is Easier?

Gospel: Luke 5: 17-26

A paralyzed man is brought to Jesus for healing, whereupon Jesus forgives his sins, then heals him of his paralysis.  In the ancient world these two phenomena were intertwined: sin and physical malady went hand in hand, so to deal with one the healer had to deal with the other.  

This encounter leads to a controversy with the religious authorities, in the midst of which Jesus asks an important question: which one is easier to do - heal the physical malady, or forgive sins? On the surface, this seems like an easy question to answer, but consider...

Consider how much time, resources, and human labor goes into the research, testing, and ultimate cure of physical maladies.  The numbers are astounding, and it often takes many years before a cure is found.  The human community invests a great deal in these endeavors, and it is important to do so.

Now consider how much time, resources, and labor we put into forgiving others of sins.  The quantity is far less, evidenced by the fact that we will hold grudges for years, take revenge upon another at the drop of a hat, and go to war over the slightest of things.  And yet the ability to forgive is within the power of every human person.  It costs us nothing except our own pride, and it takes less time to discover if we are willing to find it.  

 

A Place for Mercy

Gospel: Matthew 3: 1-12

It is not insignificant that John the Baptist conducts his ministry of repentance in the desert, for this is the place of God's mercy.  It was in the desert and through the desert that God showed mercy on Israel and let them to the Promised Land.  It is in the desert that we will come to find God's mercy in our own lives.  The desert requires detachment and divestment of things to which we are attached.  The harshness of the desert humbles us quickly, leading us to seek mercy and to realize our finitude and dependence on God alone.

Some who come seeking this mercy are confronted by John, and so are we.  We come seeking mercy, come to take part in this external ritual, but does our outward participation conform to our inward disposition? Here we are confronted with the meaning of a sacrament: a visible sign of an invisible reality.  If our visible actions are not in agreement with our interior disposition then we have not really experienced God's mercy.  We make a mockery of it by an empty outward show just to impress others.  

Advent is a time to seek God's mercy and to be repentant.  The condition or way in which we know that we have encountered God's mercy in our lives is if we are merciful to others, if we are more loving and compassionate.  We cannot seek mercy if we ourselves are not willing to show mercy.  This reality is what John the Baptist confronts us with today.  

Workers Needed

Gospel: Matthew 9: 35- 10: 1, 6-8

"Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather the harvest."

We have been conditioned over time to reduce this plea of Jesus to a prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, but this is false, and it is little wonder then that we have a vocation crisis.  

Let us note the context of the story: Jesus sees and exhausted sea of humanity in desperate need of healing in body and spirit.  So many to care for! And so he makes this plea to God.  Jesus then commissions his closest associates to go out and heal people in body and spirit.  None of the tasks involve special priestly powers of ordination, none are exclusive to the vows of the religious.  It is a task for us all!

In Advent we await the coming of Jesus who heals us all of infirmities of body and soul.  As we await his coming in our lives, we can spend this time of Advent praying for vocations - for our vocations, each one individually.  We pray to discern how God is calling us in our own lives to care for those in body and spirit.  How might Jesus come to me - to incarnate himself within me - to live out this task of care and service in our world?

The Winter Growing Season

Gospel: Matthew 9: 27-31

Winter is not associated as a time of growth; we tend to think of it as a time of death, barrenness, and void.  But the scientist and farmer know well that winter is the time when the soil is being prepared to receive the seeds of spring and bring forth fruit in later seasons.  Winter soil receives the nutrients of decayed leaves and detritus, as well as the water from melted snow.  The soil is regenerating in order to bring forth new plantings in spring.

Advent is a time of silent growth in the midst of winter (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). Like the two blind men in today's Gospel, we encounter the Lord and he makes us to see this reality of silent growth, and like them Jesus enjoins us to say nothing about it to others.  Like the soil of the earth, our time will come to show others what God has done for us in our lives.  But it will show forth in loving deeds to others - the fruit of our soil - and not in words of boasting.  

So let Advent be for us a time of silent meditation and encounter with the Lord Jesus, a time where the Lord enables us to see these realities of faith, a time for our soil to be prepared in order to bring forth the fruits of mercy and loving service to others. 

What does God Want?

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

The phrase "God's will" is one that is heard often and encouraged to follow in our lives.  But when we ask the question, "What is God's will?' we tend to focus on the particulars of our life: vocation, career, etc. or we look at issues related to sin and avoiding things that lead us to sin.  Each one of us has to discern those areas of our life, to be sure.  Looking at God's will in a more general sense may help us in our particular areas of discernment.

In the Gospel's Jesus is clear that God's will and judgment are tied to two fundamental things: the measure of mercy we show to others, and the love and service we show to others.  Jesus taught repeatedly that the measure in which you measure will be measured to you, that the unforgiving servant was severely judged for his lack of mercy, and that in the prayer Jesus taught us we pray to be forgiven as we forgive others.  To forgive and show mercy is a divine action, it is to be Godlike in our actions, to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Additionally, judgment is tied directly to how we love and serve others.  The only questions of judgment in Matthew 25 are related to care for others: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the imprisoned, caring for the sick, welcoming the stranger.  The rich man was judged harshly for his failure to care for Lazarus.  The good Samaritan was the answer to the question on what must be done to inherit eternal life.

So today when Jesus asks us to do God's will, we consider these things in a general sense, and discern how we are to do those things in the particular areas of our own lives.