Where God is Found

Gospel: Luke 2: 22-40

We modern human beings are obsessed with celebrity and the big event.  Through novels, movies, and history based on dramatic events we have been conditioned to crave the exciting and to yawn at the ordinary.  Socialized to be voyeurs, we cannot abide the ordinary and humdrum, and we demand to know what happened in Nazareth for thirty years in the life of Jesus.  Not content with this silence we invent all sorts of things and pass it off as Gospel.

Consider this: every celebrity we admire and follow spends most of their time in the ordinary.  They eat meals, sleep, handle their daily business in much the same way we all do.  Aside from their celebrity appearances their lives are as ordinary as our own.  They are no more special than we are.  Jesus came to be an ordinary human being - to live a life most of us experience in our day to day.  It is in these moments most of all where we encounter God, not in the extraordinary.  

Even when we come to Jesus' public life, we find him spending most of his time having meals with people - a simple, ordinary everyday event.  We learn to share meals with others at home, and it is in the ordinary of a meal where we encounter Jesus most of all.  Today's feast teaches us to look for God not in the flashy extraordinary, but in the simple, quiet ordinary events of our day - in the elements of a meal, in the sharing with others. 

Women in Lead Roles

Gospel: Luke 2: 36-40

By and large all ancient religions saw men as the ones who received messages and missions from God.  Women did not have direct access to God and only received mission through a man.  But the Gospel of Luke presents us with three women - Elizbeth, Mary, and Anna - as women who receive direct messages from God and whose missions are central to the coming of Jesus into the world.  

Elizabeth receives the mission of giving birth to John the Baptist who will be the forerunner to Jesus the Messiah.  She believes in spite of her husband, high priest, disbelieving.  Mary receives the mission to be the mother of Jesus, and in spite of all the peril it entails she accepts this mission with great faith.  Today we meet Anna, a female prophet in the temple who provides to Mary the prophecy of Jesus' destiny on earth.  

Anna forms the second bookend to this section of Luke's Gospel and provides great contrast to the first bookend.  Luke begins the story of Jesus' infancy in the temple with Gabriel announcing to the high priest Zechariah and he disbelieves the message.  The infancy narratives in Luke end with Anna, a woman of great belief who has direct access to God, giving prophecy about Jesus in the temple.  Mission and ministry are not distributed by gender. God can and does work through everyone so that the Word might be born among us and brought into the world.

Seeing God's Salvation

Gospel: Luke 2: 22-35

At the end of each day the Church prays the canticle of Simeon that is part of today's Gospel reading.  He prayed these words to God in thanksgiving for having lived to see the coming of the Lord Jesus in the world, an event for which many longed to see and did not.  Simeon knew his good fortune and gave thanks to God for this gift.

So why do we pray these words?  The saving words and deeds of God are not time bound; they are not limited to a particular time and place.  They take place daily in our lives.  We encounter Christ in each person we meet, in each event of our day.  In all of these encounters God reveals Good News to us, provides for us what we need for our salvation.  

To pray this prayer each day is to remind ourselves that God's kingdom is in our midst now, that God reveals salvation to us through others in our lives.  It is also to reflect on whether we have been an instrument of God's salvation in our daily living.  If we have, then we can give thanks; if we have fallen short we can begin anew, for the drama is replayed daily and God gives us many opportunities to be a blessing for others in the world.   

A Never Ending Tale

Gospel: Matthew 2: 13-18

The extent to which those in power will go to retain their power and wealth is reflected in Herod's slaughter of the innocence, a scene that played out many times prior to that event and one in which has repeated itself to our present times.  No doubt it will repeat again and again in human history, one sanctioned by religious leaders either in active word or in cowardly silence.  Why the silence?

We honor these children as martyrs today and we bemoan such brutality - on this page of the hymnal.  But what of our singing of the glories of Joshua's genocide in Canaan, or the atrocities committed by the Maccabees? Do we really believe in intrinsic evils, or are actions atrocities only when they happen to us and our tribe and not when we commit them against others?  

Jesus came to remind us that we are all children of one heavenly father, that we have a common origin in one set of human parents - that both in matter and spirit we are one human family.  Perhaps some day we will live as such, and as that day has not yet been, then let it begin today. The love and peace of Christmas cannot be for one day only - it must be for all days, all times, and for all places. 

The Other Disciple

Gospel: John 20: 1-8

 

Today we find ourselves at the tomb of Jesus – at the very end of his life on earth two days after the celebration of the very beginning of his life on earth.  Our focus is on this other disciple who goes with Peter to the tomb.  It is often a challenge to go with Peter, the one who is always the first to speak and the first to act.  Everyone knows Peter and everyone knows of his words and deeds, which can be good and bad depending. 

 

But the other disciples goes about his work in obscurity and humility.  He serves the Lord without any name recognition or notoriety.  He is content to love and serve others without any accolades or attention to himself.  It is enough for him that the Lord alone knows; it is enough for him that God loves him and acknowledges him in many silent, unseen ways.  This is what it is to be the other disciple.

 

There are plenty of people who want to be Peter; their words and deeds are ever present and known.  There are precious few who seek to be the other disciple – working, loving, and serving in obscurity and humility.  The humble manger with a host of unnamed shepherds and wise ones from the east calls us to consider this humble disciple, to imitate his humble service throughout our life. 

Love Rejected

Gospel: Matthew 10: 17-22

On the day after Christmas we celebrate the feast of a martyr and we are left to wonder why.  We forget, of course, that Herod sought the life of the newborn Messiah and slaughtered an entire town's children in vengeance.  The opposition to Jesus comes at the very beginning of his life before he even has a chance to utter one word and perform one good deed.  This martyr Stephen followed the life of love and service of the Lord Jesus, and this cost him his life.

We might well ask why this is the case, the answer to which is found in the people who commit such atrocities.  For the message of love and forgiveness poses an existential threat to those in power, to the Herods and religious leaders of every time and place.  Their power and wealth is dependent upon a divided world continually at strife. It relies on the message of national exceptionalism and religious triumphalism, that God is for us and not them.

But the message of Jesus is that there is no us or them - there is only us.  Jesus reminds us of our origins at creation, that we come from one common set of parents, one origin point in God, and thus we are one human family.  God's love - and ours by extension - are for all, not a few.  God's communion and blessing are for all; let no one deny them to anyone.  

Christmas: Encountering God

Gospel: John 1: 1-18

In the Christmas stories we find three groups of people find their way to Bethlehem.  The shepherds are led to the manger by the angels announcing the birth of Jesus.  The wise men from the east come to the stable having been led by a star to this place.  And wicked Herod finds his way through the scriptures and theologians of the day.  

The shepherds and wise men are led by their experiences and encounters with the divine in their ordinary lives and cultures.  They come to encounter God and to be transformed by the experience.  By contrast, Herod and the professional religious class come to destroy the experience and the encounter.  They come to control it so that they may maintain their own power and status.  

Christmas is about God taking flesh among us.  It is about encountering God in our lived experiences of our daily lives.  It is not just about one event in time, but it is about every moment of every day where God is enfleshed among us in the people and events of our lives.  So we come to the manger to meet God in our daily life, to have God dwell within us and to experience this blessing - this communion and blessing theology would deprive from us.   

Misunderstood Promises

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

How often do we misread the promises of God! How often do we make them about our own pursuits in the world! God promises David an everlasting kingdom on the land, a promise that we interpret to mean the literal land of Israel and so we spill blood to justify this reading.  God promises to Mary that David's "eternal" kingdom would be restored in Jesus, but the kingdom of Israel is not restored in any political sense, though we insist on interpreting in this way to our own detriment.  

So often we misread these words: kingdom, land, garden, vineyard, Zion, Temple, Jerusalem.  We take them for literal, physical places but they are metaphors for the kingdom within the human person: our hearts and souls.  It is there alone God wants to dwell, there alone God has created as a Temple, as a homeland for God.  How little we struggle for this kingdom within.  We prefer our own interpretations because in them we avoid the truth: that our only enemy to be conquered is ourselves.  

The coming of Christ is not about an event that has already taken place in time, nor is it about some future second coming and our various imaginings of that event.  The coming of Christ is about God coming into our hearts and souls.  That is where the star leads, that is where the manger awaits, there is where the gifts are to be brought.  The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem is a journey within where our hearts will give birth and bring forth God on earth in our deeds of loving kindness.

What Faith Means

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66

 

His name is John.  Elizabeth insists to her family that her son will be given this name.  In his imposed silence Zechariah confirms this decision in writing.  Everyone is shocked and protests: but no one in your family has this name! It was rare that one broke with the tradition of family names and chose something entirely new.  It was something not generally accepted. 

 

Is our faith in God, or in tradition?  It is a rather easy thing to follow tradition.  It asks very little of us.  All that is required is to keep doing the same things again and again.  Tradition is the realm of the comfortable; it requires little faith or risk.  But to follow God is entirely different, for God always moves us to new place, to the uncomfortable and foreign.  It requires deep faith to follow God into the unknown and unfamiliar – into the realm of greater love of God and of our neighbor. 

 

If we are to consult the tradition, it is to discover that time and again God moves his people to the new and uncomfortable continually: from Ur to Canaan; from Canaan to Egypt; from Egypt to Canaan again.  God calls us in Jesus to be a people not of one race but of all races, to be a people not of one nation but of all.  The tradition continually calls us to faith in God by always embracing the new and challenging that God calls us to do, for it is a call of ever deeper love. 

Mary's Magnificat

Gospel: Luke 1: 46-56

Everyday throughout the world Mary's Magnificat is recited at Evening Prayer in the Church's Liturgy of the Hours.  For centuries the Church has been convinced that this prayer forms a fundamental part of each person's life of faith.  Each of us is to magnify God in our lives; each of us has experienced God doing great things in our lives through the person of Jesus; each of us has experienced the mercy of God.

Also contained in the prayer are the ancient promises of God caring for the poor.  If we have been divinized through the coming of Jesus, then we are to do the works of God on earth, we are to care for the poor and fulfill this promise.  We are the ones who are to fill the hungry with good things and lift up the lowly.  If God's promises to the poor have not been fulfilled it is because we who claim the mantle and blessing of God have not lived to make it so.  

During the holidays the poor often receive far more than during the rest of the year.  We empty our pantries and closets of old things we no longer need or want to make room for the new.  We make our end of year contributions for the tax deduction.  We do what is convenient for us in this matter and forget it until next December.  The Church has us pray this prayer of Mary to remind us that the promise and the obligation is a daily one, and it is not convenient.   

To Serve Others

Gospel: Luke 1: 39-45

In receiving the Lord Jesus into herself, Mary's first impulse was not to rest content and keep this gift for herself.  Instead, she went out to see her cousin Elizabeth, hearing from the angel that she would be in need of help.  Mary made a dangerous and inconvenient journey from Nazareth - a 90 mile trip - to serve the needs of her cousin who was also with child.  

To receive the Lord Jesus into our lives is to respond in the same way as Mary did.  It is to go outward and find others who are in need of our help and care.  It is to serve the needs of others, even if it is inconvenient or dangerous.  To be a Christian is not to pursue our own self-interest or make decisions based upon our comfort and convenience.  To be a Christian is to receive the Lord within us and to serve others.

The Lord Jesus has already come among us and is already within each one of us.  It merely remains for us to respond to his presence within us, to go outward and to serve those in need wherever we find them, wherever we hear God calling us to serve them - just as Mary did.  To be visited by God is to be invited to visit others and bring God's presence to them. 

A Model of Great Faith

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

Mary and Elizabeth both receive God's messenger in silence.  Elizabeth utters not a word: she knows that God has had women beyond years conceive and bear children through marital relations.  Mary is aware of this fact as well, which is why she asks her question: God has done it this way in the past; how will God do this through me who has not had such relations? Upon hearing the explanation, Mary accepts and allows this miracle to happen within her.

Mary's acceptance and silence are fully aware of the implications of this gift from God.  It comes with much danger and vulnerability for her.  Nobody will understand nor believe her story.  Joseph will be put in a difficult situation.  Mary may very well be left alone and subject to the harshest judgment of the law.  She and her child may face great poverty.  In spite of all these dangers she accepts and trusts that if God can do this miraculous conception, then God can take care of her too.

No matter what our condition or status in life, God comes to us and asks us to bring Jesus forth into the world as well.  For each of us that carries certain risks and dangers: people will not understand or believe; we may be subject to isolation or other social threats.  But like Mary, if we believe God can be born within us, then God can take care of us too.

Another Silence

Gospel: Luke 1: 5-25

The silence of Joseph led to hearing the voice of God within and acting upon it when the time was right.  Today the forced silence of Zechariah provides us a different - though similar - reflection on silence.  For Zechariah was forced to be silent as a result of his rash speech to the angel who announced to him a great gift from God. He used that time wisely to learn how to listen to God's voice and act upon it, and when the time was right Zechariah gave John his name and a great prayer that is said everyday in morning prayer throughout the Church.

In our own lives we might find ourselves silenced by events and situations in our life, stunned to silence as it were before the great mystery of God and our own inadequacy.  In such instances we have a gift given to us, the gift Zechariah received: an opportunity to reflect, to listen to God's voice dwelling within us, and to act upon that word when the time is right.  

We often regard this silencing of Zechariah as a punishment, but in reality it was a great gift.  We often see our silences in the face of inadequacy and failure as punishments as well. In reality, it is a gift that we ourselves God offers us in these moments of life too, an opportunity to reflect and listen to God. Advent is our time of forced silence to listen to God's voice and recognize his presence and coming each day in our encounters with others.    

Discovering God Among Us

Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-24

What does this story of Joseph have to do with our everyday lives? Joseph was a just man; even his decision on how to handle the pregnancy of Mary was not an unjust one.  It was designed to protect Mary from the harshness of the law while saving face.  But here God calls Joseph to take an active part in this drama; it is here and in this way that Joseph will encounter Jesus in his life - certainly not the way neither he nor anyone else might expect.

It is in the posture of Joseph where we can learn the most for our everyday lives.  Joseph has a plan of his own, but he remains open to other possibilities.  In silence he comes to hear the voice of God direct him to a new path, a process Joseph will follow throughout his brief scenes in the Gospel.  Joseph remains silent, comes to recognize God's voice and presence, and then he acts decisively.  

In these remaining days of Advent we are invited to cultivate this silence of Joseph, a silence that is not occupied with daydreaming or our frivolous fantasies, but rather a silence of openness and awareness to God's voice and presence directing us in the world.  This voice will direct us to see God among us in the person who needs us in the moment - the sick friend, the frightened refugee, the lonely elderly person, the hungry and thirsty person at the soup kitchen.  In them we find God come among us, there we find the kingdom of God. 

Theological Avoidance

Gospel: John 1: 6-8, 19-28

How often do we human beings use transference, projection, or outright avoidance in order to evade the core issue in our lives? In religion, theology is often employed to avoid the essential issue.  In today's Gospel the religious authorities are focused on John's identity and credentials rather than his core message of repentance and the arrival of God's kingdom.  This is a phenomenon we will see throughout the Gospel, and if we examine ourselves we will find it as a theme of our own lives.

The religious leaders press John on his identity - are you Elijah, the Prophet, the Christ? Would they actually have heeded his message if he were any of these people? Would we? As it is, we know that when the Christ came they did not heed the message then either, and neither do we.  Even those of us who recognize Jesus as the Christ ignore this core message of repentance, offering mercy, and accepting God's kingdom in preference for theological insignificances.  

John the Baptist accepted the message of repentance himself.  He accepted his status and who he was.  He could have accepted any of these titles and become a cottage industry phenom and wealthy itinerant preacher.  Instead, John focused on the message: repent, offer mercy, accept God's coming kingdom.  That is our task as we travel through the Gospel this church year.  

A Life of Endless Joy

 

Gospel: Matthew 17: 9-13

 

Jesus’ disciples, like the Pharisees and religious leaders, are obsessed with this question of Elijah coming, and they come to see John the Baptist as  that Elijah figure that precedes the coming of the Messiah.  But the whole question seems unimportant to Jesus.  Of greater importance to him is the message of John in how it was received – in John’s execution – and how the same will happen to Jesus himself.

 

The real issue is not the identify of particular people but in the message itself.  John and Jesus announce the coming of God’s kingdom, a kingdom of mercy and love.  We are to prepare for that coming kingdom in our hearts through repentance and through offering mercy to others.  It is this message that will not find welcome in our world, a message that will lead to violent opposition from the world. 

 

The powerful of this world are fine with the message as long as it is confined to the commoners and the sins they commit; and the commoners are fine with the message as long as it is aimed only at the rich and powerful.  In realizing the message applies to them both leads to common cause against the message and the messenger.  Yet, if we accept this message and the kingdom in our hearts – if we repent and show mercy to others – the kingdom and its joy are ours.  We rejoice in them and in the persecution we face for it.

Blaming the Messenger

Gospel: Matthew 11: 16-19

People in Jesus' time are no different from us today or in any other time.  Rather than addressing the message someone brings, they will instead attack the messenger.  John the Baptist was labeled a wild lunatic; Jesus was tagged as a permissive libertine.  But both proclaimed a message of repentance and turning away from sin.  This is what people did not want to hear or address, so it was - and is - easier to attack the messenger than address the message.  

We do not mind hearing about repentance as long as it is in regard to someone else.  All of us in our own minds have the gift of infallibility, the idea that we were immaculately conceived.  We see no sin in ourselves, but we manage to find an infinite amount in other people.  So each one of us listens to this message of repentance, applies it to others but not themselves, and goes about life changing nothing.  Is it any wonder nothing changes or even gets worse!  

Advent is upon us.  The message is the same and so is its reception.  We hear it, think it applies to others, and move on.  A war rages in the Middle East, just like every year.  The poor are temporarily reprieved this time of year but otherwise neglected and spurned.  We look for political solutions of coercion because we will not repent, we will not show mercy to others, we will not love as we ought.  We will have Caesar as our king for we do not accept the burden of love of the Lord Jesus. 

Violence and the Kingdom

Gospel: Mark 11: 11-15

In today's Gospel portion Jesus talks about the relationship between the kingdom of God and violence, one that has two distinct movements.  In the first, the kingdom of God suffers violence, and that is its primary posture to violence.  We are to suffer the violence, not inflict it - and we are to do so joyfully and without complaint as the Lord Jesus himself did.  

The second relationship to violence is that which the inhabitants of the kingdom are allowed to inflict, and that is on oneself alone.  In this sense, violence is understood as penance, asceticism, and discipline that attacks the evil and sin within us that threatens the kingdom of God dwelling within us.  This violence is fasting, denials, and other penance done to avoid sin and evil in our own lives, for the only real enemy the kingdom has is me, the only enemy I can rightfully address.  

The kingdom of God is not Christendom or the Church or any other institution on earth.  It is God dwelling within each person and no outside entity can take it from us.  Thus the persecution, abuse, and mocking we endure are things we can experience with joy, for they cannot harm the kingdom.  The only harm can be done by us, and it is here where the struggle lies - against ourselves alone. 

Easing the Burden

Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30

Life under Roman occupation was harsh.  Taxation was high, the workload for the vast majority of people was backbreaking, and poverty was rampant.  There was no hope of upward mobility (unless you gave yourself to the rulers as a collaborator), nor any possibility of regime change.  There were Messiah figures in Jesus' day who promised upward mobility and overthrow of the Roman army.  Such men were either charlatans or quickly executed for rebellion.  

But Jesus offers an entirely different path to liberation.  Freedom from our sins and vices - spiritual liberation - will lead to liberation of the entire person over time.  Once the burden of our sins and vices is removed, the person is free to consider other possibilities in life.  A spiritually liberated person sees others with empathetic eyes and reaches out with love and mercy.  For it is in love that new things become possible and creative pathways come into existence.  

The burdens of human existence are hard, but Jesus comes to ease those burdens, not with cottage industries or political revolutions, but with the lifting of the burdens of sin and vice that hold us back from our full human potential and flourishing.  Once spiritually free, a person can find liberation for themselves and others in all other areas of life in creativity, not destruction, in organic growth and not pyramid schemes.  This is what love can do, and Advent is our time to realize this path of freedom. 

The Lost Sheep

Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus asks us what we think of this case: a shepherd has 100 sheep; one gets lost, so he leaves the 99 in search of that one lost sheep and rejoices upon finding it.  Makes sense, right? In human terms, no.  No shepherd in his right mind would leave 99 sheep unattended for fear of losing them just to find one lost sheep.  He would protect the remaining 99 and abandon the one lost sheep to be devoured by wild animals.  That is what any human shepherd would do.

But not so with God.  God will seek out that one lost sheep, going to any lengths in order to see it safely home.  God is not concerned about the welfare of the other 99, for they are loved and protected by God as well.  God trusts them to be fine, for God knows the other sheep would want God to seek them out if it were one of them who was lost.  That is the love and trust that exists between God and the sheep.

But what of us? How often do we act like human shepherds and not at all like God in this story! We are fine with casting away those who go astray, those who are difficult and disagreeable to us.  We prefer our small, pure church of like-minded individuals.  We may even rejoice when others different from us leave the church community.  We are not at all like God.  But Advent calls us to repent of this and begin anew, to remember God comes and is for all.   

Which is Easier?

Gospel: Luke 5: 17-26

In today's Gospel reading Jesus asks us an important question: which is easier for us to do - forgive someone of their sins, or heal a person lame from birth? On the surface, this question should be easy to answer.  It is far easier for us to forgive another than to cure the incurable, and yet if we look at human behavior we find that we act as if the opposite were true.  

How little time and effort we spend on forgiving others! How much prayer and effort we spend hoping for a miracle cure of an incurable affliction!  In terms of societal priorities, our money and resources continue to be spent on more deadly weapons, on an unjust capital punishment system, and the right to carry a lethal assault rifle anywhere we like.  All of this negates our worthwhile spending to heal other people of infirmities, injury, and disease.  But it highlights the fact that we spend no money at all on restorative and transformative justice programs, and precious little on mental health services.

Advent reminds us that Jesus came to bring mercy to the whole person - healing of body, mind, and spirit.  Jesus calls us to be ministers of this mercy in the world, to bring healing of those with bodily afflictions, forgiveness to those relationships in our lives that are broken, healing to spirit and mind of those afflicted with anger, bitterness, and demons of all sorts.   

A Voice in the Wilderness

Gospel: Mark 1: 1-8

John is not preaching on a topic a lot of people like to hear: repent and reform your lives!  And yet people are coming out into the desert from all places to hear John and be baptized.  Why is his message connecting with people.  First, John is not exempting himself from repenting.  He dons the hair shirt, eats only wild honey and locusts, and he lives out in the desert.  He is aware of his need for repentance as well. 

John is also not speaking only of certain sins and to a partial audience.  He is not a tool of the ruling class only talking about the sins of the commoners.  At the same time, he is also not a self-righteous activist only talking about institutional sin.  Both are addressed equally.  Finally, John's message comes at an important time where people were open to hearing it.  Roman occupation was hard and people were powerless over it.  But in changing their lives they had control over something, and in changing their lives they gained some power over their situation as well.  

So, what does this mean for us today? Let us be John and repent of our own sins.  Let us avoid being tools of an empire or tools of culture warriors or social justice warriors: let us speak the whole truth about sin and redemption.  And let us see that in taking control of our own lives and faults gives us some power and control over the world around us and how we see that world.  It is broken just like us, but also redeemed and loved by God as well.

The Mission of Advent

Gospel: Matthew 9: 35-10: 1, 5-8

In ancient times when a new kingdom came along to rule over a land, this arrival was met with great fear and apprehension.  For when a conquering kingdom entered the land, they often brought with it terrible things: pillaging, rape, and slavery.  There might be a random act of mercy here and there in order to get certain people on the side of the new regime, but by and large the arrival of a new kingdom was not a time of rejoicing.  This was especially true in the history of Israel.

Today we are given the Advent mission: go our and proclaim that God’s kingdom is at hand.  To mark the arrival of this kingdom acts of mercy are extended to all, acts that we are supposed to do for others: heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, drive out demons.  God’s kingdom does not bring destruction and woes.  Instead, it brings mercy and liberation to all people of all times and places. 

As people of God, have we brought mercy and liberation to others, or have we instead brought more woe and calamity? How might other people answer that question if it were asked of them about us? If the Christian faith has been more woe than liberation for others, now is the time to change that dynamic, now is the time to bring the kingdom through deeds of love and mercy that will bring liberation of body, mind, and spirit to others in our world.  This is our Advent mission.

A Sinless Life

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

In the book of Ephesians Paul argues that God predestined us all to be holy and blameless in his sight through Jesus the Lord.  It does not take a great deal of research to discover that we have not lived up to this statement of Paul.  Our sins both individual and collective are vast.  Yet, the possibility exists for us to achieve this goal of living without sin in the world through the person of the Lord Jesus.  That we have failed in this task is on us, not him.

So today we consider the person of Mary the Mother of Jesus.  In her we have this one unique example of someone who has fulfilled this promise of which Paul speaks.  She lived without sin as she was ever united to her son in all she did.  This was not merely a privilege given her by God in some deterministic fashion, for she had to cooperate with the promptings of God in freedom as we all do. It was a conscious choice on her part to follow God's will for her throughout her life.

It is important for us human beings to have this yearly reminder of what Paul speaks to us of the hope God has for each of us - to be holy and blameless in his sight.  And it is important for us to reflect on the singular life of Mary who carried out this hope of God.  We too can bear the Lord Jesus in our bodies and bring him forth to the world - not in natural childbirth but in our every word and deed that evokes mercy and love to others.   

Doing and Not Saying

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

In ancient times when a conquering general and his army entered a city the inhabitants would line the streets and shout, "Lord, have mercy!" in the hopes that they would be spared looting, raping, and other atrocities common to foreign occupation.  This is the context in which Jesus tells us that those who shout "Lord, Lord?" will not find a hearing.  This seems harsh, but consider:

If a person spent their entire life fighting against the coming of God's kingdom, preventing others from having access to that kingdom, repelling people by an unmerciful and self-interested life but then desire entrance into this kingdom as a full citizen - well, that just does not make much sense at all.  The cry for mercy is a self-interested one, desiring the privileges of a kingdom for which one rebelled against their entire life.  The cry for mercy in such a person is not of repentance but of privilege.

But Advent is a time for us to make a cry of repentance.  We have fought against God's kingdom in our lives.  We have not lived merciful, loving lives.  We have deterred people from having access to God's kingdom.  Let our cry of "Lord, Lord!" be a repentant one, one that makes way for God's kingdom to enter our hearts and the hearts of others, one that leads to a life of mercy and love extended to others.

 

All Needs Met

Gospel: Matthew 15: 29-37

On the mountain of the Lord all needs are met: the lame and deformed are healed, the blind can see and the mute can now speak.  God has healed them of their infirmities.  What is more, everyone without distinction is fed.  No one goes away hungry or in want of anything.  God's banquet has come to earth and all are fed in great abundance.

Jesus instructs the original disciples - and us - to provide for these needs.  The original group of disciples was skeptical, but they did provide him with whatever they had in order to help meet the need.  Would that we had such faith! We may give a few cans of food to a pantry, but mutter that the poor we will always have! We grumble about migrants and immigrants but support the wars and policies that displace peoples.  We prefer Go Fund Me fundraisers and building stadiums for billionaires to providing health care and education opportunities for all.

Jesus came in the flesh 2,000 years ago, but he comes among us each day as one who is lame, deformed, blind, and mute.  Advent is our time to recall this fact and to accept the call of the Lord in today's reading to provide what we are able in order to do the works of mercy that are the essence of God's kingdom - to bring that banquet table of the Lord down to earth for all to partake.

Hidden Things

Gospel: Luke 10: 21-24

Hidden among the many stories of war and bloodshed in the Old Testament is the promise of peace about which Isaiah so often speaks.  It is hidden and forgotten until the coming of Jesus who time and again rejects appeals to the sword and bloodshed, instead choosing to suffer and die rather than subject others to such.  The merest child understands and appreciates peace, they long for peace in a world obsessed by war.

By contrast the learned and clever will forever convince us of the next war, and there is always a next war.  There is never a war they cannot justify, and so the message of peace is set aside for the weapons of war.  The prince of peace is reshaped into the warrior and crusader.  The learned and clever are master spin-doctors indeed.  

Advent is the time to reclaim the promise of peace in our world, beginning in our own hearts through repentance of our sins and then extending outward to the entire world.  It is once again time to put away the pretensions of the learned and clever - the lust for power, wealth, influence, and self-interest - and take up the dreams of childhood again - a world of peace and cooperation, of wonder, appreciation, and love. 

An Advent Miracle!

Gospel: Matthew 8: 5-11

This story of the Roman centurion is familiar enough to us, but we wonder why it is the first Gospel to begin the weekday cycle of readings for Advent.  We hear continually of this man's great faith in Jesus so much so that his words are an integral part of the communion rite of Mass: Lord I am not worthy for you to enter my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed...

In response to these words Jesus tells us that many will come from lands far and wide and find a place at the banquet table in the kingdom of heaven.  This centurion had great care and mercy for his servant, one of the least ones, and this care led him to seek help from the Lord Jesus.  The centurion was not asking anything for himself; he was not seeking power or riches or any privilege.  His faith in Jesus was rooted solely in care and concern for another, for a desire of mercy for them.

Advent faith is that of the centurion: to seek mercy and healing for all people, especially the least ones among us.  It is not about seeking advantage for oneself.  The centurion was a man of power and influence who stooped down to care for a servant and seek help from the Lord Jesus.  In this he is a symbol of Jesus himself who came among us to heal us of our infirmities.  It is our Advent task to imitate the centurion - to imitate the Lord Jesus - and show mercy on others in our world. 

Watching and Waiting

Gospel: Mark 13: 33-37

"Be ever watchful," Jesus tells us.  But what are we watching for?  We will be told that we are to watch for the return of the master, the second coming of Jesus, though we know that train has been awaited for some time.  Instead, we are to consider our own mortality and the inevitability of our death.  For it is then that we will encounter the Master again.

The word "again" implies we have encountered him previously in our lives, and indeed we have - many, many times.  And in this final encounter with the Lord we will be reminded of those times of encounter with the master: when he was hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, in prison, sick, and a stranger and outcast.  The Master will remind us of these encounters, and we will remember when we did and did not recognize the Lord in them.

So we are to be watchful over our own mortality, to be mindful of death.  But we are to be watchful of the Lord's coming each day in the persons who need our help.  If we want to encounter Jesus in the manger, see him in a prison cell or in a hospital bed in the person of a prisoner, a sick one, an immigrant and refugee.  If we wish to give Jesus gifts, bring his poor food, drink, clothing to wear, and a home for shelter, warmth, and love. 

The Anxieties of Life

Gospel: Luke 21: 34-36

In today’s reading Jesus tells us not to be overwhelmed and distracted by the anxieties of life, a very difficult task for most of us.  It is an easy trap for us to find ourselves in.  We have many cares to attend – family, upkeep of home, car, computer, phones, and the like.  All of the so-called “time saving devices” we have been required to have in life are in reality more a prison than a liberator of time. 

It requires great discernment and constant, regular prayer in order to be free from these anxieties of life.  We can help ourselves a great deal by not living a life of consumerism.  If we instead lead a life of simplicity, having as few possessions as possible, we will find that our time is not being monopolized by the many unimportant things of life.  We are free to pray and meditate, free to read and think, free to exercise our agency in the world with positive purpose. 

When the tribulations of life do come, we will find that they are in fact illusory in nature, that they are not real but mental creations brought on by our attachments to all these things that are in truth unnecessary.  We will then not act out of fear but out of love and generous spirit of mercy and service to others who struggle with these tribulations.  

A Prophecy Misunderstood

Gospel: Luke 21: 29-33

The entire New Testament is from start to finish a constant expectation that Jesus would return and the end of the world would take place within the lifetime of the original audience.  And yet, we are still here.  Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman army in 70 CE and many times thereafter armies surrounded the holy city, and yet here we are.  The end times have not fallen upon us, and Jesus has not come a final time.  Here we sit waiting for Godot...

Or is there another way? What if we were to think of Jesus coming among us in our midst today in the here and now, not in some apocalyptic manifestation but as he did on earth when he was present here? How would our lives be different if we encountered the Lord in our daily life? How might we live differently if we met the Lord Jesus today in the midst of our hustle and bustle?

This is not an abstract question; it is a very real one.  For in every person we encounter we meet Christ present within them, and we have in that encounter an opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus in the needs of that person present to me now.  Each meeting we have with another person is our judgment day, each a time when we sit in the balance as a sheep or a goat, as one who will serve the least ones or one who will not.   

Changing the Pattern

Gospel: Matthew 4: 18-22

On the surface of things, Jesus' decision to call together two groups of brothers as disciples looks headed for disaster.  Historically, brothers are not good components for building anything.  Not only do they not get along, but also they are downright hostile to one another, forming generational rivalries: Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, the tribes of Israel.  There is no precedent in tradition to justify this move of Jesus.

But Jesus would succeed where the others failed, for Jesus calls together brothers into a community of love.  Here, the community has but one command - to love - and what is more they have a concrete example and model of love in the person of Jesus that will enable them to succeed as an enduring community on earth.  For in love all rivalries are set aside, all self-interest destroyed, all thoughts of personal gain and partisanship left behind.  

It is to this community that we also are called to belong.  It is true that we will find people within the community who do not live the command of love and are guided by self-interest and power, gain, and partisanship.  But love calls us to love them as well, to endure the sufferings they put upon us just as Jesus did in his life, for he alone is our model to follow in all all things.   

Don't Worry - Rejoice!

Gospel: Luke 21: 12-19

Throughout the Gospels Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples that they would be persecuted - expelled from assemblies, arrested, tortured, put on trial, and put to death.  In every instance he tells them not to worry; in fact, in the Beatitudes we are told to rejoice when these things happen to us.  Indeed, that was the posture of the early Christians for three centuries as they faced these many hardships.  The ancient accounts of the martyrs testify to this joy and serenity.

Today, however, Christians complain about everything.  The merest slight and inconvenience sets them over the edge.  From uncomfortable pews to holiday coffee cups to people saying Happy Holidays a slight is found everywhere.  The incessant moaning about religious liberty from those who would not respect such for others bespeaks a people accustomed to imperial privilege, a group more enamored of the imperial basilica than the humble cave churches of Cappadocia.  

If people are not attracted to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus it is because it is not lived among those who claim to follow it.  Jesus calls us to be a church that rejoices, not one that grumbles.  Throughout the Gospels the grumblers are those who keep people away from Jesus, but those who rejoice attract and bring others to the Lord.   So let us rejoice in all things! 

End Times Illusions

Gospel: Luke 21: 5-11

People come to Jesus marveling at the beauty of the Temple in Jerusalem - all its jewels and adornments.  Yet it will all be torn down, all of it an illusion and distraction from what really matters.  So it is with our constant perseveration over the end times - the endless predictions and false demigods of religion who make money off these things.  Note how Jesus describes these end times: not very specific.  It can and does describe every time and place.  Why? Because the topic is not important.

What is important? Jesus came to announce that God's kingdom is here, and that our task is to extend mercy to others in the same way that mercy has been extended to us.  That is our task, and that is what we constantly seek to avoid by focusing on all sorts of other questions that are fundamentally unimportant, such as the end times and Jesus' second coming.  

In our own day we are enamored of the beauty of church buildings, and we are ever fixated on end times conversations.  But each is torn down - churches close and are destroyed, and our endless procession of false ideas on end times are obliterated by the ongoing march of time.  There is still time to concern ourselves with the one thing necessary - being merciful to others as God has been merciful to us, the real work of God's kingdom. 

The Plight of a Widow

Gospel: Luke 21: 1-4

By the time the original audience of the Gospel reads this story, the Temple has been destroyed and will never be rebuilt.  All the wealth given to its upkeep is utterly in vain, and that is the point of the story.  The widow's mite is praised because that is the value of the Temple itself.  As a lifeless entity with no eternal destiny it is but a monument to human beings.  The true temple is the person created by God in his own image.  The true temple is the widow herself.

The care of widows, orphans, and the poor was a core component of Israel's law.  In this story we see that core utterly neglected and replaced with a false religion.  The wealthy men of Israel are supposed to be providing for the widow and her needs.  Instead, their money goes to support a lifeless temple of stone and the largesse of a class of wealthy religious leaders who have replaced the care of widows and the poor with temple religion. 

In early Christianity the offering collection was taken up to care entirely for the poor in the community.  As time went on the money now goes to maintain buildings and the salaries of the professional religious class.  Yes, we still care for the poor but it is no longer our primary mission.  The care of widows, orphans, and the poor can again be our primary mission of authentic religion, the reason why we gather each week as a community around the common table of the Lord.

The Final Exam

 

Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46

 

Judgment day is upon us, but we have good news: we have been given the questions in advance.  It is not a surprise test; its contents are not arcane or obscure.  And what is more, the content is relevant to every human being of all times and all places, for it is of a set of skills we can always use for the good of all.  They are fairly simple: did we, or did we not feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, visit the imprisoned, and welcome the stranger. 

 

It is instructive to note what the final exam is not about.  There are no questions about theology, none on the catechism.  There is nothing about your membership in a particular church or group or popular movement.  It is not at all about your attendance or lack thereof at church services, your allegiance to a particular liturgical form, or your voting record.  In short, the final exam is not about any of the things we commonly hear regarding judgment or what we consider to be religion in our time. 

 

No, the final exam ends our story where it began with the giving of the Beatitudes.  They form a set of bookends by which we are to understand the entire path of discipleship.  As Jesus was going about living the Beatitudes and doing all these deeds of mercy which are the questions of final judgment, what was our reaction? Were we discouraging him from healing that person, or grumbling and complaining when he ate with sinners, or were we jealous when he invited all and not just my own? Or are we eager to join the Lord Jesus in this work of mercy to all, the work of the kingdom of God?

Being Faithful to Each Other

Gospel: Luke 20: 27-40

Today's reading shows how unimportant questions can lead to very important lessons being taught to us about the real purpose of religion.  The Sadducees think their question is important but it is not.  What does it really matter who is considered this woman's husband after death? Every brother cared for her as he ought and are rewarded for this care.

But the real lesson Jesus teaches through this encounter is the vast difference between the kingdom of God and our kingdoms here on earth.  Here on earth the woman needed to marry all these times because she was not regarded as a citizen in her own right but only through connection by law to a man.  She was a vulnerable person because human law made her so.  But in God's kingdom everyone is a citizen in their own right, everyone protected, cared for, and loved.  In God's kingdom no injustice or inequality exist.  

We might think that the contrast Jesus provides between God's kingdom and our own would lead us to create a world more like God's kingdom.  A brief scan about the world shows we still are plagued with the unimportant questions of religion - the denominational wars, the liturgy wars - to the neglect of the more important questions of caring for others, for living lives of love and mercy.  May today be the day we set aside the unimportant for the sake of the important, today is the day we care for others always. 

Cleansing the Temple

Gospel: Luke 19: 45-48

It is easy to use this story as a way to avoid ourselves by seeing Jesus' actions as some political-economic act or some rejection against Judaism.  But God did not create the temple of Jerusalem or any other building made of stones and wood.  God made the human being as a temple wherein God dwells, where God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, where contemplation of God takes places night and day. 

Like the temple buildings we human beings create, we have defiled the temple God created within us: we use it to advance our egos and self-interest.  We contemplate ways of gaining advantage over others for our own personal gain, for riches and power.  We spend so little time thinking of God and being a place of mercy and love.  Our temples desperately need cleansing.

And like the devotees of the ancient temple we chafe at Jesus cleansing our temple and we rebel against it.  We will prefer our idols of self, the merchants and money-changers, and we will prefer Barabbas over Jesus.  But we always have the option to submit to Jesus' cleansing, to contemplate God within so that we might be a place of love and mercy open to all.   

The Thanksgiving of a Leper

Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19

In this story we find a group of lepers from rival ethnic communities - some were Jewish, some Samaritan.  If these men were not lepers they would be regarding each other as unclean and as enemies.  Yet the fact that they are all lepers and regarded as unclean by all makes them live together as a community, supporting each other and living in harmony.  For they all share the same condition of being unclean in the sight of all.  

Jesus comes along and heals them of their uncleanness; only one came back to give thanks.  Is this not the story of humanity in miniature? We are all lepers, all unclean before God.  This ought to make us live together in harmony, but it does not, for some of us do not think they are unclean at all.  Or rather, we invent some other difference - race, ethnicity, religion - to pretend that we are better than some other group of people and oppress them.  In point of fact, however, we are not.

In spite of all this Jesus has made us all clean.  Today is a day for us to be that one healed leper and return to give thanks for being healed.  As we have all shared in the condition of uncleanness, so we all share in the condition of being made clean.  Let this be our thanksgiving: that we commit to living in harmony with one another, recognizing these common bonds and putting aside all other human inventions that separate us and tear us apart through illusory differences. 

A Parable for Our Times

Gospel: Luke 19: 11-28

The Gospel writer is intentional about the setting and context of Jesus telling the parable of the talents: they are heading to Jerusalem where everyone is expecting Jesus to re-establish the kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of God.  They are expecting the new kingdom to overthrow foreign occupation, restore the purity of the Temple, and live again the glory days of Israel of old.  

If this were the case, then Jesus would have done exactly as the parable of the talents suggests.  He would slay his enemies who did not want him to be king.  He would give rewards in the measure in which we used our talents in a worldly sense.  But he did none of these things.  Instead, Jesus would be the one to die, and he would forgive those who put him to death.  We have completely misinterpreted the kingdom and the Messianic expectations, and Jesus is setting us straight.

The kingdom of God is not about occupying space, erecting buildings, and conquering armies.  The kingdom of God is about mercy and love extended to everyone.  It is about living and dying for the sake of others, in carrying out the concrete acts of mercy to the world.  These are the talents we are to cultivate and by which we are measured.   

A Story Within a Story

 

Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10

The story of Zacchaeus is the story of the Incarnation of Jesus in miniature.  Jesus, the word made flesh, came to dwell among us – to pitch his tent among us.  There was no precondition on our part for him to do so.  No action of ours was required for this event to take place.  It was entirely of God’s initiative, and it was designed to evoke our response of love and mercy in return.  But our response is entirely that -a response to divine initiative, not aa action of ours that causes God to act.

The same takes place in the story of Zacchaeus.  Jesus come to him and says: I intend to dine at your house today.  And so they go to Zacchaeus’ house for this meal and encounter, this communion of two people.  In response to that initiative of Jesus, Zacchaeus comes to an awareness of his sin.  He repents of his sin and offers to repay what he has stolen and to give even more to help the poor, to live a life of mercy for others.  This is not a precondition for Jesus coming to dine with him; it is his response to that initiative of Jesus.

In the story of Zacchaeus everyone – everyone – murmurs and complains that Jesus ate with a sinner.  If the complainers had their way this event would not have happened.  They would have set preconditions and requirements, or they would have regarded Zacchaeus as so sinful that any meeting would be not possible.  Those complainers are still with us today; we may be one of them.  To whom would you deny such an opportunity for encounter with the Lord? Why do you think yourself worthy but not others? Every one of us – everyone – must face this reckoning.  

Attract or Repel

Gospel: Luke 18: 35-43

If the crowd and the disciples had their way this blind man in today's Gospel would not have had his sight restored, would not have become a follower of Jesus and seen the works of redemption.  But as is the case with every other encounter like this one, Jesus rejects the narrow thinking of the crowd and his disciples.  He comes to meet this blind man, and he provides for his needs both physical and spiritual.  

How often is it the case that the crowd and the disciples of today seek to prevent others from experiencing the healing of Jesus in their lives! Consider the many barriers and requirements we establish that deter people from having a relationship with Jesus.  But notice in the Gospels how easy it is to meet Jesus; he goes out of his way to meet others and talk with them.  It does not matter who you are or what condition you are in or even if others try to prevent him from meeting you.  Jesus finds a way each and every time.

Those in religion bristle at those who identify as "spiritual but not religious."  But consider the fact that this may be the way Jesus is seeking them out and meeting them because we who are "religious" have sought to block his way to them and deter them from meeting him at all.  Jesus enjoins us to make straight the path to God, not be a roadblock.   

Fear Kills Growth

Gospel: Matthew 25: 14-30

The one who received talents but did not invest them did so out of fear.  Fear kills growth within a person: we always freeze up when fear grips us and it stunts our growth psychologically and spiritually.  What is more, fear does not lead to growth of the kingdom of God either.  Fear buries talents leaving them unexplored and untapped.  Fear leads to people being disinterested in the kingdom and its work entirely.

Yet, fear seems to be the dominant tool used in religion to instill conformity.  Its practitioners seem convinced that its use will lead to growth despite all evidence to the contrary.  So, we see the continued threats of hellfire and damnation, the refusal of communion and sacraments to people, and the excommunication of others.  Has all this led to growth in faith? Not at all, but the cult of the smaller, purer church is undeterred.  

The authentic life of faith does not live in fear.  It risks everything for the sake of the kingdom and its growth.  It goes into the highways and byways meeting all people, extending mercy and deeds of loving-kindness to all.  This is how talents are multiplied.  This is how the kingdom grows - within ourselves and within others.