The Holy Family

INVEST IN FAMILY

1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28; 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24; Luke 2:41-52

Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family

A little boy asks his father when he returns from work: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” The father is surprised: “Look, son, not even your mum asks that question!” The son keeps insisting. The father is tired and so replies: “Four hundred rupees.” “Daddy, could you lend me two hundred?” Dad is livid: “So that was the reason you asked how much I earn, right? Now, go to sleep and don’t bug me anymore!” 

Later, the father feels guilty; his son may have needed to buy something. He goes to his son’s room. “Are you asleep, son?” “No, Daddy. Why?” Dad gives him two hundred bucks: “Here’s the money you asked for earlier.” “Thanks, Daddy!” replies the boy. Then he reaches under his pillow, pulls out some crumbled notes, joyfully gives them to Dad: “Now I have enough! Daddy, here’s four hundred rupees; please give me an hour of your time tomorrow!” 

This is only a story, but it drives home a crucial point: a huge threat facing families today is we don’t spend enough time together. We are busy working or watching our screens; we have little time for each other. Today’s Feast challenges us to invest in our family life.

The holy family spent time doing religious things together.

Luke writes: “Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover…” The distance between Nazareth and Jerusalem was over 100 kilometres. Travelling was on foot; the journey was dangerous. Despite hardships, Mary and Joseph fulfilled their religious commitments together. 

The holy family came together at mealtime. 

We read: “In the evening they looked for him among their relations and acquaintances.” The pilgrims travelled in groups… men in one group and women in another, and children with either group. But Joseph and Mary were particular they came together for the meal. 

The holy family gave priority to family.

“He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them.” This is a bit of a puzzle! The twelve-year old Jesus knew that his mission was to be about his Father’s business. Yet he returned to Nazareth with his parents to spend the next eighteen years there. For every one year of his public life, Jesus spent ten years in family; that is the importance he gave to family and time with them.

The Holy Family is an example and a challenge to us to value and invest in our families before all else, even when our job is as important as saving the world.

How will I spend time with my family: will I pray together, eat together, and value our life together?

The Nativity of the Lord

NOT “MERELY”…

Readings for the Mass at Night

Isaiah 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14

Readings for the Nativity of the Lord: Mass at Night

Readings for the Mass During the Day

Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18

Readings for the Nativity of the Lord: Mass During the Day

Virginia Owens in her book, “And the Trees Clap their Hands”, suggests that along life’s way, everything becomes “merely”. There are merely stars and sky, merely sunrises and sunsets, merely rain and dew… we lose their connection with God’s creation. 

Owens asserts that this diminishment to “merely” leads to crime! The human thought-process: It costs “merely” a few bucks; I’ll take it. It’s “merely” the earth; I’ll exploit it. He/she is “merely” an employee; I’ll fire him/her. This is “merely” a human life; I’ll destroy it. This diminishment to “merely” leads to violence and war; the loss of “merely” a few thousand lives makes little difference.

The Christmas story, nay, reality is a powerful affirmation that there is no “merely”!

Jesus is not merely an infant in a manger; he is the Son of God, the Word who became flesh and pitched his tent among us. 

Mary is not merely a maiden with child; she is the mother of the Saviour. And Joseph is not merely a carpenter; he is the earthly father of Jesus. 

They are not merely shepherds; they are the privileged recipients of the Good News and the first ones to pay homage to the Christ-child.

It is not merely a manger; it is the cradle of the “Prince of Peace”. It is not merely a stable; it is a marvellous symbol of communion among all God’s people—beyond barriers—and among his creation. Bethlehem is not merely an obscure town in Judah; it is birthplace of the new-born King of the Jews. This is not merely the world; it is a world so loved by God that he gave his only Son.

Everyone and everything are part of God’s grand design for the world and its salvation.

Yet it was not so at the first Christmas! In the Gospel, we have the one of the saddest lines in the Bible: “He came to his own and his own recognized him not.” Why? He was merely a carpenter. He was merely from Nazareth. 

We need to rediscover the inherent worth of every human being as a child of God, and the value of every aspect of reality as a part of God’s creation. A man/woman/child is not an object whom I can exploit for my selfish gain and lustful pleasure. The earth, with all its resources, is not something which I ravage and destroy without concern for others and without care about the future.

From this Christmas, will I stop looking at people and things as “merely” and start looking at them as connected with God and his wonderful plan? Will I give every person his/her rightful worth and everything its rightful value?

IV Sunday of Advent

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45

Readings for the IV Sunday of Advent

The news this week. Xi and Putin meet against the backdrop of the Biden summit. A build-up of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border. Uproar in Parliament over the “Lakhimpur Kheri” case. Controversy rages over the F1 title race and there is a buzz about the IPL auction.

To deal with issues, humans have recourse to strong means:  power, authority, money.

How does God deal with issues? 

God’s standards and ways are different from ours. To save our world and us, he becomes human and joins us in our weakness. He is the God of small things.

In the first reading, Micah announces God’s intention to raise a king who would bring peace to God’s people. This ideal king would come not from the capital Jerusalem but from Bethlehem, a little obscure town. Bethlehem is small and obscure God will work through its littleness to raise a mighty shepherd king.

Little Bethlehem had within it a still littler life: a humble virgin who would give birth to the saviour of the world. The gospel tells us that Mary – humbly and despite inconvenience to herself – goes to serve her elderly cousin. 

Our God is not a powerful king, but a fragile infant born in a lowly manger. Our God brings salvation not through power, authority, and money, but with humility, obedience and service, and by his death on a cross (see the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews). 

Our God is the God of small things; he comes among us in small ways.

Do I believe in the God of small things? How do I deal with the issues and problems of life: Do I use power and authority, or do I choose God’s little ways? Do I strive for influence and money, or do I allow God to work through my littleness and defects? 

III Sunday of Advent

GET MOVING – GET PREPARED – REJOICE

Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18

Readings for the III Sunday of Advent

On 17 October 1989, San Francisco experienced a major earthquake. In one place, there stood a group of people watching fire-fighters try to put out a blazing fire. A cop came up to the crowd and yelled out to them: “What are you doing just standing there? Getting going! Go home and fill your bathtubs with water. Be prepared to live without city services for 72 hours. Your time is running out. Get going and get prepared.”

Roll back the clock two thousand years to the region around the river Jordan. We have a similar scene! Instead of a dishevelled cop, there is a dishevelled John the Baptist. The situation is the same: there was no geological earthquake but a political and moral one in Israel. The message and the urgency are the same. “Get going and get prepared!”

Today’s gospel continues from last Sunday; the people ask John: “What should we do?” John’s response may be summed up thus: 

- be loving by sharing your resources

- be just/ honest

- be content with what you have

When we are LJC (loving-just-content), we will be ready for the coming of LJC (our Lord Jesus Christ)! 

John announces the Lord’s coming as a coming of judgement. But it’s a judgement we can meet joyfully if we have loved and have faithfully done our daily work.

We find this theme of “joy in unlikely situations” in the other readings. In fact, this is a distinctive feature of Advent joy! Zephaniah announces the coming of the Lord as a day of doom and yet invites Israel to “shout for joy”! Paul calls the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord always”; he writes to them from prison, uncertain about his future.

How can one be joyful in situations in which it seems impossible to be joyful? Joy comes – as Zephaniah prophecies – because “the Lord is in our midst”. Joy comes – as Paul writes – because “the Lord is near”. It comes not by us not by circumstances but because our future is secured by God and in God. Our task is to get moving and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming.

Let me ask: “What must I do?”

With whom will I share myself and my resources this Advent? Are there areas in my life in which I need to be just and honest? Will I be content with what the Lord has given me?

II Sunday of Advent

PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD

Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6

Readings for the II Sunday of Advent

A man caused a stir among Christmas shoppers in a mall. He sat near the beautifully decorated Christmas tree and talked to people. He asked them why they spent so much money on Christmas, and why they stressed themselves out over this tinselled holiday. To some he said: “The best gifts we can give are kindness and compassion.” To yet others: “Why don’t you forgive or reconcile with family or friends?” 

Many nodded in agreement. Some quit shopping and went home to be with their families. Others bought an extra toy or some clothes for charity. 

Word reached the store managers. They had security escort him from the premises. He wasn’t really hurting anyone, but he had to go; he was ruining everyone’s Christmas. 

Were John the Baptist to appear today, he probably would ruin everyone’s Christmas. He would remind us of the same things and tell us that the coming of God among us means more than cleaning and decorating, shopping and cooking. It means preparing the way for the Saviour.

In the first reading, Baruch offers a song of hope to the Babylonian exiles that God would one day lead them home. Like the foreman of a road crew, God orders that mountains be levelled and valleys filled for the building of a royal road on which “Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.”

Luke takes up the same image to interpret the message of John the Baptist. John offers hope that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

The salvation promised by Baruch and John is God’s work. Ours is to repair the road for God’s coming. Our task is to repent: to recognise and admit that I’m going the wrong way and then change direction. Repentance is awareness-admission plus action.

What are the areas in my life that need “repair”? What are the obstacles that must be removed? There are 

- mountains that need to come down: racism, communalism, sexism.

- valleys to be filled: despair, loneliness, grief, pain.

- crooked places to be made straight: abuse, immorality, violence.

- rough places to be made smooth: oppression, injustice.

There is work to do! Let’s bring on the bulldozers and road graders… and get to work on our hearts!

I Sunday of Advent

WAIT... WITH REALISTIC HOPE

Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12–4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Readings for the I Sunday of Advent

In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Viktor Frankl narrates how he survived Auschwitz. Frankl says one of the worst sufferings at Auschwitz was waiting: waiting for an uncertain release or for the war to end or for death. This waiting caused some prisoners to give up; the same waiting did not cause others like Frankl to succumb. They had a realistic goal; they had a “why”. They looked at the present realistically and to the future with hope.

 

Look at the present realistically and to the future with hope! This is the message of the readings today.

- Jeremiah is preaching at a time of national and personal distress: Jerusalem is under siege, and he is in prison. He recognizes that the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile are imminent. But Jeremiah foresees that a shoot will bud from the old stalk of David; this shoot will bring about peace with justice and there will be a total recovery of national and religious stability. The present is bleak; Jeremiah looks at it squarely and looks to the future with hope.

- Jesus predicts the total collapse of Jerusalem, which has been the symbol of God’s eternal fidelity. But he encourages his disciples to stand firm, because he is the shoot of David who will re-establish order and recovery of identity. Jesus paints a grim view of the future not to paralyse his listeners with fear but to call them to faith, prayer, and hopeful waiting; he invites them to be attentive to their disorders.

- St Paul urges the Thessalonians to grow in love for another and to grow in holiness during this period of waiting.

 

How will I spend this season of Advent: Will I lament the present or will I look at it realistically and to the future with hope? What are the disorders I need to remove from my life? How will I grow in love and holiness?

May this Advent be a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus, a time of hope-filled and realistic waiting-action.