Dwelling Among Us

Gospel: John 1: 1-18

"The Word became flesh, and dwelled among us." The literal translation is "pitched his tent among us." The Gospel writer chose to use the image of God's presence among the Israelites in the desert during their time of traveling between Egypt and the Promised Land - the dwelling tent of God - to speak of the coming of Jesus on earth among us.   

Jesus came not to establish a religion of empire or fixed nation.  He did not come to dwell within stone buildings.  Jesus came to call a pilgrim people and to dwell among them in humble surroundings, leading us to our ultimate homeland where our citizenship truly lies.  He came to call a people to live together in simplicity and dependence on God and one another, walking together along the way to the kingdom.  

The Second Vatican Council called the Church to return to this image and model.  This model calls us away from our constant desire to attach ourselves to empire and nation, to power and wealth.  It calls us to radical simplicity and service, to deeper dependence on the Lord and one another.  As we approach a new year, we have the opportunity to begin again to live as pilgrim people, to shed the trappings of empire and to walk humbly and simply toward our heavenly homeland.

A Gospel Prelude

Gospel: Luke 2: 36-40

The infancy narratives of Jesus provide us with a fitting introduction to the larger Gospel themes that will come to mark the public life of Jesus.  We encountered God revealing the Word to two women who will bring forth the Word and his herald into the world, in the midst of doubting men.  At the manger we find the arrival of the Word revealed to poor lowly shepherds and unnamed Magi from the east who come to bring gifts.  Today, we find the Word revealed to a poor widow named Anna who recognizes and accepts this revelation.

By contrast, we find the noteworthy and powerful of the world conspiring against the Word from the very beginning.  We find opposition from the professional religious class who take part in the conspiracy.  Yet, we see the providential hand of God at work protecting the Word by guiding Joseph and the Magi  away from the web of entrapment that these powers of the world created for destruction.  The Word becomes a refugee  and returns to a humble life in Nazareth.

This same dynamic persists to our very day.  We will find the Word among us not among the powerful of the world, not among the professional religious class.  We will find the Word among us amid the poor and lowly, the refugee and foreigner, the meek and humble.  For this is where we found the Word on earth from his birth to his death.  

All in the Family

Gospel: Luke 2: 41-52

The term 'dysfunctional family' is somewhat redundant.  Not a single family functions perfectly, even the small family of Jesus as we see in today's Gospel portion.  Families come in all shapes, sizes, and constitutions.  There is nothing normal about them, and some random picture of the 1950's American family is hardly the standard for families then or now.  Besides, today's feast is not about making families conform to some standard composition, but rather about being holy.  This is true both for our biological and ecclesial families.

So, what makes a family holy? It is not some political litmus test or even biblical or catechetical proficiency. It is rather the love we have for God and one another, the trust we place in each other through the relationships we forge together.  It is realizing that communion is not a one sided affair where everyone else conforms to me, but a mutual give and take that respects each other and the gifts they bring to the family.

To be a family - in the home and in a church - is to be around the table with one another, knowing it is better to be together sharing a meal than to be apart, accepting one another for who they are and growing together in virtue and grace, supporting one another in struggles and successes.  It is to be together and present to and for one another through all the function and dysfunction.

The Role of Religion

Gospel: Matthew 2: 13-18

Within this story of the Holy Innocents we find two divergent paths that religion can take in the world.  The first is shown by the religious leaders who are advisors to King Herod.  In this path, religion is an institution that allies itself with the powers of the world.  It is ever fearful of protecting its interests and rights.  It is disingenuous with others, conspires to protect itself, and engages in atrocity and the justification thereof to protect its power and existence.

The other path is that of Joseph.  He is open to the voice of God in his life.  He has taken upon himself the task of protecting the vulnerable and poor in the persons of Mary and Jesus.  The voice of God always leads such people to find creative means to carry out this task of protecting and caring for the marginalized.  So, Joseph flees into Egypt with his family, and stays there until told to move them again to their permanent home in Nazareth.  

Which path will we follow as the Church today? For too long we have followed the first path.  We have created refugees both in a literal sense and in those who flee from the Church herself.  Today is the day to begin anew and follow the path of Joseph, to create a faith community whose sole mission is the care of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized, and who follow the voice of God that guides her in this mission. 

What We Have Seen

Gospel: John 20: 2-8

The week of Christmas is like a ride in a Delorean.  We began at the birth of Jesus, then made our way to the death of the first martyr, and now we find ourselves at the resurrection of Jesus.  This stop is most important because it is reminder that without the event of Jesus' resurrection, his birth among us would have no importance or meaning for us.  Indeed, the birth of Jesus is celebrated because he died and rose again.  Otherwise, he would be just another man who came and went on this earth.

Many people flock to creches and manger scenes in order to see the baby Jesus.  Like the shepherds and Magi, people come to the manger in order to see God among us.  But if we are to make pilgrimage to this sight of God's presence among us, it is equally important to make our way to the empty tomb in order to see the great absence - an absence which manifests God's presence among us in the risen Jesus who appears to us in all sorts of circumstances of our life.

Today's feast is a reminder that Christmas and Easter are essential to each other, that they exist in a symbiotic relationship to one another.  The presence in the manger foreshadows the absence of the tomb, the resurrection gives importance and meaning to the birth.  To rejoice at the manger is to rejoice at the empty tomb.  

Rejoice Always

Gospel: Matthew 10: 17-22

For an age that sees grievance in all things, it might seem odd that we celebrate the feast of the first martyr the day after celebrating the birth of Jesus.  But note that both days are called feasts, both are causes for rejoicing in the understanding of the Church, in the understanding Jesus himself gave us in the beatitudes: Blessed are you when you are persecuted and suffer for my sake, rejoice, for your names are written in heaven."  

Throughout Advent we were exhorted to rejoice in the Lord always.  Always.  Not just when we feel warm and fuzzy as we do on Christmas, but also in suffering and persecution as on St. Stephen's day.  He rejoiced in his suffering, as all the martyrs do.  We should not claim grievance or appeal to religious liberty or such when persecution and suffering comes.  We are to rejoice.  

Even in Christmas we are reminded that opposition to Jesus existed from the very beginning with Herod's attempt to kill Jesus.  This opposition will lie dormant but return at the very beginning of Jesus' public ministry and run throughout until his execution.  But we are reminded that that hatred continues on. The extension of mercy and love to all is a threat to the powers of the world who live by a privilege built on inequality.  But we insist in our belief: God's love is for all people, no exceptions.  

Something New

Gospel: John 1: 1-18

In various religions many deities have taken on human form, as well as other forms of animals and such.  But these were mere costumes taken on by the various deities in order to transact business here on earth.  The taking on of the costume was for a transactional interaction with human beings at best, and in many cases manipulative interactions for the benefit of the deity.  

But what takes place in the incarnation of Jesus is that God becomes human not in the way of a costume but really human.  God comes to understand what it is to be human. God identifies with the human condition and comes down to our level of existence and understanding.  So, the offering of mercy to human beings is made with the full understanding of who we are and not merely as an offering of a superior to an inferior.  God understands the need for mercy on a human level.

So today mercy becomes incarnate in the person of Jesus, and this mercy is extended to all of humanity.  In turn, we are asked to extend mercy and love to others, to come to understand the condition and situation of others just as God has done for us in taking on humanity in the person of Jesus.  The greatest gift we can give to another is to identify with them and extend mercy and love.   

The Promise of Peace

Gospel: Luke 1: 67-79

The hope of liberation from what oppresses us is this prayer of Zechariah in today's Gospel portion, this prayer that is that of the Church each morning in the Liturgy of the Hours.  What we pray for is liberation from what truly oppresses us - sin.  This is not something Israel awaited at the time of Jesus; they wanted someone to liberate them from foreign occupation, to bring them political freedom.  We are no different.  We prefer the political Jesus to the one actually given us.

We do not accept the offer of liberation from sin because it requires that we in turn show mercy and forgiveness to others. It demands we live as Jesus lived.  But we cling to our family feuds, our spats with co-workers.  We desire the death penalty, animus toward immigrants and refugees, the justification of any and every war and every action taken therein.  We feel we have nothing to repent of while only others do; we see conversion as others conforming to our way of thinking.

And so the promise of peace goes unfulfilled because we see it as some baby Jesus magic to make everyone like us instead of repenting of our sins, accepting God's mercy, and extending that mercy and love to all as God freely did.  But may Jesus truly come to us and may we accept his invitation to loving-kindness and mercy to others.  Only then will peace on earth be realized.   

The Limits of Tradition

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66

The figure of Zechariah provides us with important lessons for us about the importance of and limits to a religious tradition.  The first point is that a religious tradition is important for helping us discern God's presence in our own lives.  If we can look to the past and see God acting in similar ways in the lives of others it helps us discern God's action in our lives.  Zechariah failed to see that what God was doing in Elizabeth's life had been done in the lives of others in the tradition.  

At the same time, Zechariah also helps us to recognize that God is not limited to the tradition, that God does new things as well.  In giving the name John to his son, a name never before given in his family, Zechariah recognizes God's presence in the here and now, in the new, and not just in the past.  Just as Mary conceiving without intercourse is a new action of God, just as women are the chosen leaders of the story, God is showing his presence in a number of new ways in the Gospel.  

Advent is a time of recognizing God in our lives both through the tradition and in the new.  Tradition alone is a heresy that seeks to limit the unlimited God, to make the unknowable God utterly knowable.  It rejects the biblical truth that God has and continues to do new things, to reveal himself ever anew in our lives both in the tradition and in new things.  Advent is our time to discern how God is revealing by orienting us within the tradition and in seeing him within the new as well.   

Putting Others First

Gospel: Luke 1: 39-45

Prior to the angel visiting her, Mary had not known that her cousin Elizabeth was with child.  Everyone in the family thought she had been barren, and yet now she is with child.  It is a miraculous event.  And now Mary has news of her own to share as well, news that others would find impossible to believe.  But Elizabeth will believe, for she has experienced God's miraculous work in her life as well.

How often is it the case in our lives that we cannot always share news of different sorts with everyone in our lives because not all of them will understand or appreciate it.  When we do try to share news with others who have not had such experiences in their life, we find they are not understanding or fail to believe what we say.  We are disappointed and hurt by their response.  So, we look for those in our lives who will understand, who do have similar experiences and can relate to what we are sharing.

Mary goes first to rejoice in Elizabeth's good fortune, and she shares her own with Elizabeth first, for only her cousin will understand and believe what Mary is saying.  To belong to a tradition of faith is to have these experiences as part of our family story so that we might be understanding when God visits and touches the life of another and wants to share that experience with us.  We have our own experiences, and a treasury of family stories that help us relate with others and rejoice with them at God's coming into their lives.  

Listening to Others

Gospel: Luke 1: 39-45

Upon learning from the angel that her cousin Elizabeth is with child in a miraculous way, Mary goes to visit her.  Mary needs Elizabeth as much as Elizabeth needs her.  In a patriarchal society it was somewhat dangerous for a woman to say that they have been visited by God or an angel and received a divine gift.  Women would rely on each other in such moments and find support among themselves amidst men who would mock and disbelieve them.  

An important role for religion is to provide a safe place for people to share their own experiences of God and to listen to those of others.  It is a place to reflect on our experiences of God within a large tradition of stories of other people's experiences of God in their lives.  When people find that they are not heard within the walls of their church they will go elsewhere.  When a religion tells us that God commanded genocide but that God could not possibly call women to serve him in certain ways, people will rightly question.

Advent is a time where we learn to listen for the voice of God in our lives, and to provide space for others to hear the voice of God in their lives.  If God is to be incarnate within us and be brought into the world through us, then God speaks to all of us just as God spoke to Mary and Elizabeth.  It is for us to listen and follow where the voice of God leads.   

Highly Favored

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

This Gospel passage is familiar enough to us.  It is read at every Marian feast day in the Church's liturgy.  In fact, we heard it just a few weeks ago for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Apologists pour over this passage again and again in the endless controversies they create in order to retain positions within the cottage industry.  But the Gospels were not written to be proof texts for anything.  They were written so that we might have life through Jesus the Lord, that we ourselves might be disciples of the Lord, following where he leads and imitating what he does.   

In this light, what does this passage mean for us? Imagine for a moment that the angel has announced to you that you are called to bring forth Jesus into the world - not through natural birth - but through your actions of love and mercy extended to others.  Now this passage engages us.  It is no longer about a singular event for one unique individual.  It is now a mission extended to everyone, a call to answer the invitation as Mary did - with total faith and trust in God.

Each page of the Gospels is a reflection for us on how to respond as disciples of the Lord.  Today, Mary is the model disciple, and our task is to reflect on how we might respond to this invitation from the Lord in our own life, how the Lord might be born anew in the world through our acts of loving-kindness and mercy.  

The Minority Report

Gospel: Luke 1: 5-25

In these beginning passages of the Gospels we find the introduction of a theme that runs consistently through these works: it is the idea that the faith of women is the source and foundation, inspiration and nourishment of our faith.  The trusting faith and acceptance of Mary and Elizabeth stands in contrast to the doubt and confusion of the men at the beginning of these stories.  Without the faith of these women we would not have our faith at all.

That fact is emphasized at the end of the Gospels wherein we find women the first to experience and proclaim the resurrection event in the face of doubt and fear that grips the apostles.  Without their faith, the resurrection, the core of our Christian faith, may have been unknown to the world.  And amid the Gospels we find the servant faith of Peter's mother-in-law, the evangelical faith of the Samaritan woman, the faith of Martha and Mary, and so many others who stand in contrast to the Apostles arguing about their power and failing to listen to the Lord Jesus.

This Advent, let us embrace the faith of the women and journey through the narratives and the entire Gospel seeking ways to continually say yes to the Lord, to continually live lives of service and mercy to others.  Then, like Mary, we can bring forth Jesus into the world with our deeds of loving kindness in the world. 

Do Not Fear

Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-24

Joseph is the first to hear the message that runs throughout the Gospels: do not be afraid.  If the incarnation of Jesus were to be summarized by one phrase, it is that - do not be afraid.  For we have God among us, God who pitched his tent among us - and if we have that, what can we possibly fear?  The Gospel is the ever continual reminder that God is present among us at all times and all places - the God who is love, and if love then there is no room for fear.  

Joseph has a lot to fear: the religious authorities would heap shame and derision on him and Mary.  The worldly rulers already seek the life of the child and he must live as a refugee in a foreign place for a time.  He has a poor life and future to look forward to in Nazareth.  The world is full of fearful things that threaten, especially for the poor and marginalized as Joseph finds his lot.  

Today, what was spoken to Joseph is spoken to us as well.  Do not be afraid.  God is in our midst, dwelling within and among us.  Yes, the world has much that is fearful. Its institutions of religion and power threaten the poor and marginalized in our own day too.  But we have the God of love among and within us, a perfect love that casts out all fear, and God will provide for us as he did for Joseph.

Jesus' Family Tree

Gospel: Matthew 1: 1-17

Earlier in Advent we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception where the emphasis was placed on a sinless point of origin for Jesus to be incarnate in the world.  Today's Gospel reading, however, presents the exact opposite idea.  The entire family lineage of Jesus is one of sin.  Even the great patriarchs Abraham and David have sins which cry to heaven for restitution.  Jesus was born into a family, a tradition, and a world utterly in sin.  

It is from within this world that Jesus will redeem and transform it into something glorious.  The entire tradition of Israel - the cycle of violence and vengeance - will end at Jesus' coming.  This family full of sin will be transformed into a new family now capable of living a full life of holiness because the Old Law will be changed into the law of love and Jesus himself will provide an example of how to life this life of love and mercy.

The promise of Christmas is the promise of a new world, a new hope of living differently.  We are not to look to the Old Law for examples and heroes.  To emulate the imperfect is to wind up with an imperfect outcome again and again.  But in the Lord Jesus we have a perfect model to follow, a perfect law of love as our guide.  Following this new path will lead to different outcomes for ourselves and our world.   

By What Authority?

Gospel: Matthew 21: 23-27

Human beings are obsessed with the topic of authority.  The Pharisees in today's Gospel portion want to know by what authority Jesus does the things he does; it is a question frequently asked of Jesus.  As in today's reading, Jesus often avoids answering the question, but does so clearly when Pilate asks it. "The reason I was born, the reason I came into the world, was to testify to the truth.  He who listens to the truth hears my voice." and

Truth and goodness are criteria all their own.  They require no other authority to speak on their behalf, and it is to these that Jesus appeals in his last days on earth.  Appealing to divine authority has no value at all if one is not good, if one is not truthful, for God is truth, God is goodness itself.  To claim divine authority while not being good and truthful is to mock God, and to mock goodness and truth itself.  

Our lives, too, must be ones that appeal to truth and goodness.  We recognize the times in our lives when we have failed to do so, and this time of penance encourages us to remedy those faults.  In accepting the mercy of God we likewise commit to being merciful and loving to others as well.  This is our path to truth and goodness, our path for living the life John and Jesus both preached and lived.  

What Must I Do?

Gospel: Luke 3: 10-13

The kingdom of God is coming; its arrival is not some external realm, but one that is within the hearts of each human being.  This is the message John the Baptist came to announce, and now people from all walks of life and professions come to him, asking what they must do in order to be ready for this kingdom that is to come within them.  How now are they to live in the particular circumstances to which life has called them?

It is for us now in these days to ask the same question, for the kingdom comes to our hearts as well.  God has granted mercy to us; now it is our task to show mercy and love to others.  How are we to show this mercy and love to others within the professions to which we have dedicated ourselves, within the families and communities we have created and cultivated in our lives? How can our outward actions manifest the kingdom of love that has come within us?

What John the Baptist preaches, Mary exhibits in her life.  God came to her with the invitation of the kingdom to come within her.  She accepted and brought forth to the world the Lord Jesus, love incarnate.  It is for us to do the same.  We have been invited to house the Lord within us and to bring him forth by deeds of love and mercy for others.   

A Prophet's Honor

Gospel: Matthew 17: 10-13

It is fashionable nowadays to have a love affair with the prophetic tradition within religion.  Everyone wants to speak truth to power.  It is a noble thing to hold the nation to the commands of God in caring for the poor, protecting immigrants and refugees, in forgiving unjust debts, and in calling the nation to greater commitment to justice and peace.  All of these things are characteristic of prophets, and all of them are noble things to pursue.

What is often neglected, however, is that in accepting the mantle of the prophet one must also accept the fate of the prophet.  In ancient Israel the prophet was consistently sent into exile and executed outside the city walls.  The same fate befalls both John the Baptist and Jesus. Jesus himself enjoins his followers to accept the prophets' fate with joy, to suffer persecution with loving patience.  

This message may seem an odd one for Advent, but we are soon going to encounter Herod and his desire to kill the infant Jesus. We will see the innocence of Bethlehem slaughtered.  We will then read of the martyrdom of the deacon St. Stephen and that of Thomas Becket.  The Gospel cannot be had without suffering persecution.  One cannot be a prophet without threat of death.   

What We Await

Gospel: Matthew 11: 16-19

What do we anticipate during Advent? The coming of Jesus? He already came, and he comes to us each day in a myriad of ways.  Do we, then, await the second coming of Jesus? Such a day is excessively anticipated and leads to many false paths.  No, what we await is what Jesus came to proclaim in word and in deed, what he taught us to pray for - the kingdom of God.  

We have imagined the kingdom wrongly, thinking it to be a worldly political empire like other kingdoms governed by violence and lies.  This kingdom we await is the one that John and Jesus both preached: repent, accept the mercy of God, and extend mercy and love to others.  The kingdom comes when we do those three things.  It comes to us within our hearts, and it becomes an incarnate reality in the lives of others when we commit to a life of love and mercy.

This message is as rejected in our time as it was in the time of John and Jesus.  In their day there was a certain honesty about putting them to death in order to show their displeasure at the message.  In our day, we invent vicarious religions that pretend to follow Jesus but are not about love and mercy for all.  Advent is our time to repent of this tendency, to accept God's mercy, and extend mercy and love to all in the world. 

Suffering in Patience

Gospel: Matthew 11: 11-15

In today's Gospel portion Jesus provides us with one of the qualities of the kingdom of God - it suffers violence; it does not engage in violence.  Whether it is John the Baptist or Jesus suffering an unjust death, or martyrs suffering for their faith, or the poor and marginalized being crushed by the rich and powerful - we find that violence is the mark of the world, and those called to live in the kingdom non-violence must be our posture, the posture of love.

We might be tempted to violence as Jesus' first followers were.  But he rebuked James and John for wanting to destroy a Samaritan town by fire.  He rebuked his disciples in the garden for using a sword against those who would arrest him.  He told Pilate his kingdom was not of this world, for it is not composed of an army engaged in the violence of this world.  

The world will not be changed for the better by violence.  With every act of violence the world grows ever more violent, and every act of violence somehow justified if even an attempt is made at justification any more.  Tis far better to suffer an injustice than to commit an injustice.  Socrates taught it; Jesus lived it, and he calls us to live it as well.   

Becoming Unburdened

Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30

Nearly every human being is burdened by life and grows weary spinning on the wheel of existence.  We all feel it, but we never ask ourselves why this is the case.  It is because we human beings put our hope in the wrong things.  We embrace an ideology or a revolution, only to discover that the thing we have created is no better than what we replaced.  We follow religious figures with their personae and ideology only to watch them fall one by one into hypocrisy and scandal.  

We are like children chasing fireflies in the dark.  We are disappointed at not catching any, and we are equally disappointed at catching some only to see them die in our grasp.  We are ever in pursuit of the ephemeral and impermanent, or worse yet seeking to make something permanent in an impermanent world.  All these pursuits will leave us weary and burdened; they offer no satisfaction whatsoever.

Jesus did not offer ideology or revolution, nor did he offer a cult of personality and cheap theology.  What Jesus offered was a way of living  - one that accepted the offer of mercy and love from God, and one that then shared that love and mercy with others in the world.  The acceptance of mercy and love unburdens us; the offer of mercy and love enlivens us and others.  It is the only authentic Christian existence in the world.

Moral Calculus

Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus asks a probing question in today's Gospel portion: what shepherd would not leave 99 sheep to go and search for one lost sheep? What shepherd would not rejoice at finding that one lost sheep? The answer of the modern utilitarian would be - no shepherd would, or should, do such a thing.  What sense does it make to risk the safety of 99 sheep for sake of one lost sheep?  In fact, almost all aspects of modern life think in these utilitarian terms.

But in the kingdom of God, the calculus works differently.  There, every human being matters, no one is left behind, no one sacrificed for the greater good.  Every life has value - that of the cripple, the possessed, the woman, the stranger, the unclean.  Indeed, there is not one single time when Jesus refused to heal or feed someone, not one time he turned anyone away from him.  Everyone was healed, everyone fed.

How often in our world, including in institutions that bear the name Christian, are people excluded from care and concern! How many are intentionally rejected from our care because they fail our worthiness test, because we lack the love Jesus had for all people?  Perhaps today is the day we take a remedial course in moral calculus for the kingdom. 

Relating to Mary

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

There are some aspects of Marian devotion and dogma that are difficult for the average person to relate to.  After all, Mary is the only one to receive the privilege of being sinless throughout her existence on earth.  The images of Mary as a rarefied queen make her seem remote and distant from God's children, as most royals on earth project that image.  

But the Gospels themselves give us a presentation of Mary we can all relate to - a woman who has a genuine struggle to endure in making this momentous decision.  It was one that presented itself with a great deal of dangers and vulnerabilities for her, ones we can see in our own lives and the lives of ordinary people too.  It is in these difficult decisions and moments of life where we can identify with Mary, and where she can identify with us.  

If we follow her example in the Gospel stories we can perhaps get a faint glimpse of what it is like to be without sin, or at least to make a decision in our life that is truly noble and ethically pure.  If we make the conscious decision that our fundamental option in life is to follow the way of the Lord Jesus, we are more surely going to lead a life of greater virtue and holiness like Mary.   

Road Work Ahead

Gospel: Luke 3: 1-6

None of us likes road construction.  It is tiresome and inconvenient.  But once it is completed we do indeed like the results: smoother roads, more convenient routes to various places, less traffic congestion.  In order to realize these effects we must endure the hard work and inconvenience that goes with it.  This same phenomenon occurs within the spiritual life as well where we find the road of our soul to be in need of many improvements.  

We go about those improvements when we strive to live as Jesus invites us to live, when we imitate the way Jesus lived - by showing love and mercy to others.  When we undertake the mission of healing, liberating, and feeding others as Jesus did, we participate in the repair of our own spiritual road.  As God has healed and restored us, so we too must become instruments of healing and restoration for others.  

Advent is not about awaiting Jesus' first coming; that occurred already.  It is also not really about awaiting Jesus' second coming, whatever that might be.  Advent is about encountering the coming of Christ each day in the presence of other people, in the opportunities present each day to show love and mercy to others whether we know them or not.  In accepting and caring for a person as another Christ, we begin to repair the roads of our spirit, and those of others. 

Help Wanted

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

Whenever vocations are discussed in the Church, this passage is inevitably referenced on every prayer card for vocations - the harvest is great, the laborers few, send workers...What is often overlooked, however, is the job description and context in which Jesus utters these words.  He stands in the midst of the diseased, possessed, and hungry - healing, liberating, feeding them all.  He instructs his disciples to go out and do likewise, living simple, humble lives.  That is the job.  

There are plenty of people who want to don the habit and to dress in liturgical finery day after day.  The number is legion who have the best in phylacteries and tassels, ready for any public spectacle.  But few there are who will sit with the sick and dying, visit the imprisoned, care for the refugee and foreigner.  Few there are who will care for the hungry, thirsty, homeless, and naked.  Few there are who will take up the basin and towel.

The job description is clear enough.  Those in these various needs are many, their number will only increase in the coming months and years. Who will come forward to answer the call? When we pray for vocations, it is to this call for which we pray.  When we discern a vocation, it is to this mission and work that we consider.  If the Lord Jesus has done so for us, so we must do for others in our world.   

Pass It On

Gospel: Matthew 9: 27-31

There are two ways of passing on faith to others.  The first way is the one in which we are accustomed, the ones that involve public testimonials and great spectacles.  They draw large crowds of people with their fantastic stories and exhibits.  They are also great fundraisers to fill the coffers of churches and ancillary cottage industries.  But this way is ultimately one of failure, for it is centered on ego and self, not on God at all.  Jesus time and again commanded us to tell no one, to not follow this path, but we never listen.

The second way is the one we do not choose, but the one Jesus commands of us.  It is to become an instrument of healing and nourishment and compassion in the world.  It is the path of direct encounter with those in need, not in some slick healing service but in engagement with others in the world in which they live.  It is to be an agent of healing, liberation, and nourishment in the world in the same way that Jesus was while on earth.

Christians are not called to wait passively for Jesus' second coming.  Christians are called to be the first coming of Jesus to many who have never had an encounter of love and mercy in their lives.  The idea of a second coming makes no sense to those who have no sense of Jesus ever coming at all into their lives.  It is for us to be that coming in the form of mercy, love, and compassion now and always.

Weathering the Storms

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

When people are beset by the storms of life, what they often need are healing and nourishment.  Yesterday, we saw Jesus provide both to a multitude of people, and his only criteria were two questions: Are you in pain; how can we heal you?  Are you hungry?  When people are in need that is the only criterion that is needed in order to provide for them what they need.  

If we live a life dedicated to providing healing and nourishment to those in need, to those who are beset by the storms of life, we will find ourselves coming to understand others.  We will be listening to people share their needs, their hopes and dreams, fears and anxieties.  We will discover the wisdom that is given to us and them in the silence of the listening, in just being the presence of God for others in the world.  

So, when it is our time to weather the storms of life, we will have a wealth of wisdom from these experiences in sitting with others in their time of need.  We will likely have others come minister to us in our time of need as well, just as we did for them.  For the measure by which we measured will be measured to us in return.  Let us, then, live a life of loving service and mercy to others. 

An Open Table

Gospel: Matthew 15: 29-37

Today we find people bringing others to Jesus who are in need of healing: the crippled, blind, lame, deaf - any and all illnesses.  And Jesus heals every single one of them without exception.  There was no screening to see whether one was worthy or not.  There were no bouncers at the door keeping away the unclean or alien.  All were invited, and all received healing.

Afterward, Jesus realizes there is a huge crowd in a far away place.  They are all in need of food.  The disciples give what they have, and they are able to feed everyone amply.  And again: all are fed without exception.  There was no qualifying examination, no catechism quiz, no passing through a worthiness machine.  All were provided bread simply because they were hungry and in need.

We might well consider this posture of Jesus and compare it with our own, both as an individual and in community life at church and society.  Are our churches open to the care of all, or are they more like country clubs with stringent requirements for those who will benefit or not? In Advent we await a Savior who came to heal and nourish all people, and we are called in this season to imitate him in that work and mission.

A Revelation for Children

Gospel: Luke 10: 21-24

Jesus repeatedly tells us that the kingdom of God is for children.  We are reminded again of that fact as we begin Advent and Christmas, seasons in which children revel in the wonder and mystery therein.  The anticipation of receiving gifts, the joy in giving gifts, and the coming together in families and communities of faith are all manifestations of the love that animates this season and that is the core of our faith.

Sadly, such joy and wonder is often lost on us as we become adults and experience the heaviness of the world.  We experience the world of lies, abuse, power, greed, and the machinations of these that oppress the poor and vulnerable.  When so much corruption and evil are experienced in the world, we can't help but have doubts about our wonder and awe of this season.

And yet this Sunday we lit the first candle of Advent, the candle of hope.  We lit this candle to let the world know that in spite of all its grime and filth we continue to hope that the love and joy of our childhood might be made real, that once again love might become incarnate not just in One Person, but in all people who come to answer His call and invitation to love.  

An Unlikely Beginning

Gospel:  Matthew 8: 5-11

The first weekday Gospel text for Advent has us as confused as Peppermint Patty at Thanksgiving - what is all this? Why are we starting with the healing of the centurion's servant in our Advent journey?  In point of fact there could be no more perfect place to begin, for in celebrating Advent we are once again looking for the presence and coming of Jesus among us in our life today, in our here and now of this moment.

None of us has experienced the historical Jesus when he came incarnate among us in Galilee 2000 years ago.  Our encounter with the Lord is like this centurion's servant in today's reading.  We are sick and on the point of death.  We need the healing presence of the Lord, but he does not come to us directly.  He comes to us through the mediation of the Church, of others in our lives just as the centurion did for his servant.  

So today we are reminded of the fact that we are healed through the relationships we have with others, and that we can be a source of healing for others in their life as well.  This season reminds us of the Church's fundamental mission in the world - to be the source of healing and intercession for others in the world.  Advent is our time to renew that commitment to healing and intercession for others before God in the world. 

A New Beginning

Gospel: Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

Religion has two fundamental roles that are useful for our spiritual progress.  The first is the reminder of who we are as a people of God.  Religion reminds us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, that we are another Christ to the world, a temple of the Holy Spirit.  We are vessels in which God dwells, the temple God made for worship and service in the world.

The second role religion plays is as a constant invitation to be aware of the presence of God in the world and in our lives.  When we connect this role to the first, we discover God's presence in the lives of every person we encounter. Each meeting with another person is a graced event where God reveals something to us about ourselves and about God as well.  It is for us to continually reflect on these moments of grace.

If religion is successful at these two roles, then the fear of apocalyptic is not necessary.  We are not so focused on the ever elusive second coming and preparing in fear for that when we have come to discover God already present among us.  If we honor God's presence in other people, we have no fear of a second coming, for we have lived faithfully as the other Christ which God made us to be.

Come and See

Gospel: Matthew 4: 18-22

When Jesus invited others to be his disciples, there was not an extensive reading list, schedule of lectures, or elaborate courses or programs.  It was a simple invitation: come and see, follow me.  And so we are invited to follow Jesus, to see and observe what he does and how he does it, and then to go out into the world and do the same in our lives.  

What do we see as we follow Jesus?  We find him healing all sorts of people.  Some of those are scandalous to us; we try to prevent him, but he always rebukes us.  We then see him liberating people from demons and from whatever else holds people bound.  Again, some of these astonish us and we wish he had not helped that particular person.  Finally, he feeds others and sits at table fellowship with many people - tax collectors, prostitutes, Pharisees, scribes.  These too cause us scandal in many cases, but as always Jesus ignores us.  

But now, he asks us to go out and do what he does.  He now commands us to go and heal others, liberate others from bondage, and to feed others and sit with others at table - without discrimination, just as he did.  We too will hear objections from those who find this scandalous, and like Jesus we must ignore those objections so that all may be healed, all may be liberated, all may be fed - that all may be one. 

The Kingdom is Near

Gospel: Luke 21: 29-33

We are tired of hearing about the coming of this kingdom.  For two thousand years we keep hearing that it is coming, that it is here, and it never comes.  That's because we have interpreted it wrongly all this time.  We continually imagine it to be an external worldly kingdom, and it is not.  It is a kingdom that exists within the heart of every person, one built for each one of us by God.  

That is why Jesus says that we should not fear, that the kingdom is near.  It is near - it is in our midst, it is within each one of us now as we speak.   This kingdom is already built; it only has to be realized within each one of us, to be shown to others by the deeds we perform - deeds of love and mercy, care and compassion.  

Each and every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.  Each person is another Christ, a temple of the Holy Spirit.  There is no person for which these statements are not true.  The kingdom exists within each person.  We have only to realize it and to manifest its existence to others by deeds of loving kindness and mercy.  Awaiting an external kingdom will forever disappoint us; cultivating the kingdom within and sharing it with others is forever satisfying.  

Love Amid the Ruins

Gospel: Luke 21: 20-28

Throughout this section of the gospel, the writer is vividly describing the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent events of the Christian community that took place thereafter: expulsion from the synagogue and persecution by the Romans.  In the midst of these calamities the Christian community were convinced those were the end times and that Jesus would be returning imminently.  Needless to say, such was not the case.

But amidst the calamities of their day and the false expectations they held, a calm, soft voice of the Lord can be heard: "Do not be afraid, I am with you.  Do not look for my second coming, for I have already come.  I am in your midst.  I am present within you.  I am in the person of the poor and needy.  Yes, I am in even your enemies.  Love them all.  Show mercy, forgiveness, and love.  The mission has not changed. Follow my example."

Our focus must always be on this soft, silent voice in the midst of the ruins.  Time and again we make the mistake of the early community of the church and perseverate on the end times, or we fret about the calamities of our times.  Like the storm and earthquake, God is not there.  God is the soft voice amid the gentle breeze that is in the midst of the ruins.  It is the voice of assurance, of presence, of love amid these ruins. 

Don't Worry

Gospel: Luke 21: 12-19

When Luke wrote this Gospel, persecution was a real fact of life for the small community of Christians.  After the fall of Jerusalem, the split between Christians and Jews became complete.  Christians could no longer assert that they were a sect within Judaism.  This meant they now had to pay tribute to Caesar as a deity, something they were not willing to do, and so punishments and persecution ensued.  

In spite of all this danger, the message in response was always the same: do not worry, and in fact rejoice in being persecuted.  Christians were never encouraged to entrust themselves to political leaders or ideologies, nor seek refuge in the strong man for societal protection.  Instead, the Christian is to put their trust in the Lord and to accept whatever comes in a spirit of joy.  

Regardless of what is happening in our world, the mission of the Christian is always the same.  We are to extend love and mercy to all in the world.  We are to provide healing, liberation, and nourishment to all in need of these things in body and soul.  The response to persecution is not whining, nor seeking power and influence in the world.  It is to trust and to continue the work of love and mercy. 

Fading Beauty

Gospel: Luke 21: 5-11

People marveled at the beauty and opulence of the Temple, but it is destroyed and gone.  People have marveled over the beauty of church buildings, many of which are gone too.  Their external beauty was impressive, but failed to bring any nourishment and substantial food to its people.  A fig tree full of leaves is a beautiful thing to behold, but if it is full of beautiful leaves it means the tree has no fruit, nothing to feed and nourish others.  Such is the case very often with the opulence of religions.  

What genuinely feeds and nourishes people from religion are works of love and mercy: healing, liberating, nourishing; feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and imprisoned, welcoming the immigrant and refugee.  All these things nourish body and soul of both giver and recipient.  All of these things honor the true temple of God, the human person, the love for whom is our only command from God.  

The external beauty of religion is impressive, but how often is it like the beauty of Jezebel or Delilah, a beauty that leads us astray, one that is merely superficial but leaves us barren.  Such beauty will fade and die away, but the beauty of love and mercy produce fruit endlessly that nourishes and sustains all people wherever they are. 

Wrong Temple

Gospel: Luke 21: 1-4

This scene of the poor widow in the Temple takes place in the court of women.  Thus, those who are wealthy putting large sums in the donation coffers are women married to wealthy men or widows themselves who are well off or well-provided by others in their life.  The Temple had many receptacles for the reception of donations, but apparently no capacity to provide for poor widows in need.  

Man-made temples are supposed to assist and help human beings who are temples made by God to be his dwelling place in the world.  When man-made temples become ends in themselves and not a means to help others, they become a cancer and a harm.  They are like the barren fig tree that produces no fruit for others.  It only has beautiful leaves, an outward show, but no substance.

Today's reading is a reminder of the fact that religion pure and undefiled before God involves the care of widows and orphans - the showing of love and mercy to the most vulnerable and marginalized in our society.  Our offerings for the care of the living temple of God - human beings - is the goal of those who gather in man-made temples.  Those temples will have life and fruit to the extent that they care for the living temples of God on earth. 

If You Say So

Gospel: John 18: 33-37

How eager we are to give Jesus a title he shunned and ran away from time and again throughout his life.  How ironic that we should create images of Christ as king with scepter and sword, war horse and battle armor - for one whose hands were occupied with towel and basin to wash the feet of others, whose mount was a donkey, and whose crown was made of thorns.  

In today's Gospel reading we find Jesus and Pilate discoursing on this very topic.  Jesus has been accused of being a king, an accusation that brings with it a death sentence.  But Jesus has created no armies, built no castles or fortresses, and has established no court of earthly rule.  Jesus states that his one and only mission was to testify to the truth, a subject on which Pilate and all other worldly rulers are decidedly agnostic.  

Today's unfortunate feast carries with it a warning.  Our image of Jesus as king may resemble more of Barabbas than Jesus, and we may find ourselves pledging allegiance to Caesar with Pilate and the chief priests.  The antidote is simple: we take up towel and basin to wash the feet of others, to provide healing to those who are ill, deliverance from those in bondage of sin and demons, and nourishment of body and soul to all who are hungry.   

Finding Relevance

Gospel: Luke 20: 27-40

Today's Gospel passage has as its topic an issue that has little relevance or meaning for us today.  Jesus and his adversaries are arguing about the resurrection of the body, something we take for granted today in Christian theology.  The argumentation seems obscure and we can't quite understand what all the fuss is about.  But while we might not derive any meaning from the topic, we can learn something from Jesus in his approach to others.

In beginning the conversation the Sadducees reference a scripture passage that has no connection at all to the issue of resurrection.  We are perplexed by this line of argumentation and the hypothetical they pose.  It makes little sense to us.  In response, Jesus cites a scripture passage that does in fact address the issue of the resurrection.  It is a familiar passage, and the line of reasoning Jesus employs makes sense to his audience.  Jesus was able to meet them in their need and where they were at with relevant content.

In our dealings with other people, it is important for us to meet people where they are at and to meet their need with relevance.  The controversies of the past are not those of the present.  We must listen with humility to what is being said and to respond with love and content that will prove meaningful and helpful to others.  

Overturning Tables

Gospel: Luke 19: 41-44

Everyone loves the story of Jesus overturning tables.  They can use it to justify whatever cause to which they are attached and defend whatever tactics they wish to take.  Whether one is a social justice warrior or culture warrior, this Gospel is misused by one and all alike in order to justify whatever political ideology is paying for the interpretation.  

The Temple building is a symbol for the temple God created - the temple of the human person.  Like this man-made temple, we human beings sell ourselves for our own self-interest.  Our bodies have ceased to become temples where God is honored and served. It is no longer a place where deeds of mercy and love are extended to all, where care of the poor and marginalized are our main concern.  Like the man-made temple, we have become ends in ourselves for our own profit and gain, not a place that leads others to God and care for others.  

Jesus indeed used this action to confront injustice, but that injustice in the social realm is but an outward manifestation of the injustice that exists within each one of us as the true temples of God.  So, before overturning tables in the public square, let us first be open to the Lord overturning tables within our own hearts and lives to confront the injustice within. 

The Road to Peace

Gospel: Luke 19: 41-44

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, for they like so many fail to see the road to peace.  When we conceive of the kingdom of God in political, earthly terms we inevitably choose the wide road of violence and war.  When the kingdom of God is seen politically, we look at human beings as transactional agents who are either useful to my cause and side or useless and an enemy.  And unlike Jesus who saw enemies as people to be loved, we see them only as objects to be destroyed.  

But such a view always leads to our ruin, as it did for Jerusalem so it is for us.  For if other people can be seen in transactional objectivizing terms then so can we.  To debase other human beings is to debase ourselves as well.  This political path never leads to peace; it can only lead to endless conflict and war to our destruction.

The path of peace is the path of the cross, the path where we endure violence done against us and never wield it against another.  It is one where the kingdom of God is within us, unharmed and untouched by the violence done to the body, where the only one to be conquered is ourselves, and once that is achieved we have everlasting peace and union with God and others.  Let Christ not weep over us like he did for Jerusalem.   

A Warning for Us

Gospel: Luke 19: 11-28

Jesus and the disciples are approaching Jerusalem.  The disciples are convinced that this is the moment Jesus takes power, restores the monarchy of old, makes Israel great again, and installs them into positions of power.  Jesus is aware of their thoughts and expectations, so he tells them a parable that they think confirms everything they believe, but in fact it does just the opposite.

The only temple, the only kingdom God ever built is the human heart.  It is there God wishes to dwell and have domain.  When we decide, however, that this is not the kingdom we want - when we prefer an earthly kingdom with all the power and influence that Jesus rejected time and again - then the kingdom within us is taken away and it seeks another place in which to dwell.  And like the Jerusalem of Jesus' day it falls to ruin, never to return to its former glory.

This parable is indeed a warning, but to those claiming to be disciples.  The kingdom of God is not a worldly realm of power and influence.  Jesus rejected all that in the desert at the very beginning of the Gospel.  The kingdom of God is within each one of us, built by God for this very purpose.  This interior kingdom cannot coexist with notions of a political one on earth.  To choose the earthly one is to crucify Christ again; to choose the authentic one is to be crucified with him. 

Standing Up to the Crowd

Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10

Yesterday we saw the leaders of the crowd push others to oppose Jesus in healing Bartimaeus.  Today, the Gospel writer notes that everyone - the crowd and the disciples - oppose Jesus' intention to dine at Zacchaeus' house.  Jesus makes this declaration to Zacchaeus with no preconditions at all.  He saw the effort Zacchaeus made in looking for him and that was enough.  

Now, Zacchaeus finds himself opposed by everyone, standing before the Lord who wants to dine with him.  Like the Lord, Zacchaeus ignores the crowd and speaks only to Jesus.  He makes a response to love: he pledges to make restitution for his sins and to care for the poor in his community.  This does not make Zacchaeus worthy for the Lord to enter - the Lord was coming anyway! It was his response to God's love in his life. 

The Lord comes to each one of us in the same way.  He announces to us that he intends to enter our house.  The crowd and disciples will oppose this, but like Zacchaeus I must ignore the crowd and the disciples, and to focus entirely on the Lord Jesus.  My response to love must be like that of Zacchaeus - to show love and mercy to the poor and marginalized, for that is what we are called to do, called to imitate the Lord himself in his work on earth. 

Leaders of the Crowd

Gospel: Luke 18: 35-43

In Luke's version of the healing of the blind Bartimaeus, it is noted with significance that those in the lead of the crowd were determined to prevent Jesus from healing him.  It is worthy of reflection for us to consider whether our leaders both secular and religious have the common good at heart, have the care and healing of all as their main interest or not.  It is very often the case that those in power do not at all have such concern but act as these leaders do in this story.

But Jesus never listens to the din of the crowd, and he is not swayed by the words of the influential and powerful unless they ask him to help another person.  But it is Jesus' concern for the need of others and not the words of the influential that determine his course of action in each and every case.  And so Bartimaeus is healed, and so are we.

It is our task to pattern our lives on the example of Jesus.  We cannot be swayed by the din of the crowd or the pressures of the influential and powerful.  Our only concern always has to be the care of souls - the healing, liberation, and nourishing of of all people in need of care and mercy.  It is only when we see and listen clearly that we can follow Jesus on the way. 

Any Day Now

Gospel: Mark 13: 24-32

The New Testament teaches one thing clearly and consistently throughout its pages - from this Gospel text through Paul and on to Revelation - and it is that Jesus was coming in that generation's time.  From this fact we can deduce two things.  The first is that those who claim some notion of Christian culture or theory of state are full of bunk, for no such thing exists or was expected in the Christian scriptures.  

The second deduction is that the New Testament was clearly wrong on this idea of Jesus' coming, just as every preacher since claiming the end times has been wrong.  It is a topic that receives far too much attention because it blinds us to the reality of God being present in our midst now in the present moment, present now in every person I encounter, present now in every event of my life.  We have come to neglect the presence of God in the now for some future presence unknown to all.

The fundamental message and mission of Jesus is to live a life of mercy and love extended to all, especially to the poor and marginalized.  It is not to perseverate on end times.  If we fear the end times it is perhaps because we have failed to live this life of mercy to which we are called.  If we do live this life of mercy, we have nothing to fear at any time, for God is present to us now and at all times. 

Prayer is Hope

Gospel: Luke 18: 1-8

There are moments in our individual lives when the struggles we face and the difficulties we endure seem so overwhelming that we find ourselves near despair.  We find ourselves burdened by our own imperfections; our desire to do and be better fail time and again.  But we remember the stories of the man born blind, the woman with a blood loss, the man at the pool, the demoniac - all who struggled for so long and finally found healing in the person of Jesus.  These stories give us hope for ourselves.

There are times as a community of people when we encounter great forces of evil that threaten so many. We find ourselves close to despair at the enormity of the evil we face in the world.  But we remember the parables of Jesus: the mustard seed, the vineyard, the fig tree. No authentic good comes overnight. It takes time and perseverance.  It begins with the planting of some good deed which stands as a witness against the evil all around us.  We light a candle rather than curse the darkness.

So we begin again with prayer.  To pray is to hope for a better world, to hope that one day I myself might be the best version of myself.  To pray is to dig the hole that will hold the seed of good that you will plant in the world, the good that will stand against the evil that besets us as individuals and communities.  For one day, the good that you plant will overcome the evil we face, and we remember it all began with that prayer, that hope, that hole we dug for a better world. 

Apocalyptic Relaxation

Gospel: Luke 17: 26-37

Jesus speaks of the end times, as do many parts and an entire book of the New Testament. We have been conditioned by false prophets and teachers to regard these passages with fear and dread.  This is a complete and total misreading of apocalyptic literature designed to get people to buy the books videos, and special candles of the false prophets who only seek to profit off the fear of others.  

Time and again Jesus tells us not to worry about the time, place, and events of the end times whatever they may be.  If we remain focused on our core mission: to provide love and mercy to others in the world by healing, liberating others from demons, and nourishing people then all shall be well.  This perfect love casts out all fear, united as we are to the God who is love itself.  

When the Roman Empire was falling, pagans blamed Christians for this demise.  St. Augustine wrote a lengthy book called The City of God in response.  It can be summarized in four words: Rome was never great.  The same is true for our country and every other one.  All that matters is the kingdom of God, which is not a physical place but a place of love and mercy that exists in the divine actions of love and mercy extended to others in the word.