The Holy Family

FOREVER FAITHFUL

Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3; Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; Luke 2:22-40

Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family

Timothy Stackpole was a New York fire fighter. In June 1998‚ he was severely injured in a fire. He had fourth/ fifth degree burns over 40% of his body, which needed multiple surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation. He had two goals: to spend as much time as he could with his family and to return to his job. Despite the advice of friends and family, and the fact that he could retire comfortably, he returned to work on 10 March 2001.

On 9/11, Stackpole had just finished duty when he heard news of the disaster. He rushed to the second tower. It collapsed shortly thereafter and took his life. He died forever faithful to his calling.

Forever faithful! These words sum up the thrust of today’s readings and speak for each character in them.

The first and second readings extol the faith of Israel’s first family. God promises Abraham many descendants. Abraham, though old and childless, “put his faith in the Lord.” God asks Abraham to leave his homeland and to sacrifice his son. Abraham is forever faithful.

The gospel recounts the faith of the Holy Family. Joseph and Mary present their son in the temple “just as it is written in the law of the Lord.” They did and would undergo difficult times; their son, Simeon tells them, “is destined… to be a sign that will be contradicted.” They remain forever faithful. Simeon and Anna are idealized portraits of the faithful remnant of Israel awaiting the Messiah’s coming.

Forever faithful! That’s the challenge and invitation to our families today… despite all the pressures, tensions, and crises we face. 

Will you and I remain faithful to God and to one another despite and in the face of troubles?

IV Sunday of Advent

GOD’S MYSTERIOUS CHOICES

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14,16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

Readings for the IV Sunday of Advent

Once upon a time, a prince yearned to win the heart of a princess. He had everything—looks, fame, and fortune—and tried everything but failed in his quest. The princess had her eyes and heart fixed elsewhere, and married a penniless woodcutter who did nothing to win her favour! The princess chose the woodcutter because of the mysterious preference of her love.

That happens only in fairy tales. Right! It happens in fairy tales and in God’s tales! The First Reading and the Gospel highlight God’s choice of people.

In the First Reading, God reminds David of his transformation from shepherd to king through God’s grace and mysterious choice! Jesse did not even bring him before Samuel; they considered David worthy only to tend sheep. God knew whom he was choosing and did great things through David.

The Gospel recalls God’s choice of Mary as the mother of his Son. Again, a mysterious choice! Everything is against her: age, experience, marital status, power. God knew whom he was choosing; his grace transforms her from maiden to Mother of God.

God’s choice required of David and of Mary a ‘yes’ that St Paul, in the Second Reading, calls ‘the obedience of faith.’ 

God makes another mysterious choice today: he chooses you and me! He chooses us to be entry points for his love into the world. We might feel inadequate and unworthy. God’s choice has nothing to do with our achievements or skills! 

Am I willing to say “yes”? Am I willing, like Mary, to allow the Holy Spirit to come upon me and overshadow me… and transform me? Do I believe that with God nothing is impossible and that he is with me?

If yes, the Almighty will do marvellous things through me and you!

III Sunday of Advent

REJOICE IN THE LORD

Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

Readings for the III Sunday of Advent

A king instructed his gardener to plant trees to represent different virtues. The gardener planted a palm to symbolise joy.

When the king saw the palm, he said: “I thought you would typify joy with a flowering plant like the tulip. How can the palm symbolize joy?”

The gardener replied: “Flowering trees get their nourishment from open sources in orchards or forests. I found this palm in a desert; its roots had found some hidden spring far beneath the burning surface. Highest joy has a foundation people cannot see and a source they cannot comprehend.”

How true that is! The foundation and source of our joy is God. That’s the emphasis of the readings on “Gaudete Sunday”; they urge us to rejoice… in the Lord.

The first reading from Isaiah invites us to rejoice in God who clothes us with salvation. This invitation is heart-warming because we are the broken-hearted God heals; the poor who receive the glad tidings; the captives he liberates.

In the second reading, Paul urges the Thessalonians to rejoice because the one who calls them is faithful. 

In the gospel, John’s response to the Pharisees highlights the primary reason for our joy: Jesus has already come into our world as our saviour.

The liturgy gives us a message of hope.

The readings also give us a mission: to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and—above all—to testify to the light.

What is the source of my joy: the pleasures of the world or God and his liberating and healing love? Will I rejoice in the Lord and joyfully testify to his presence in my life?

II Sunday of Advent

PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD

Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

Readings for the II Sunday of Advent

We are one week into Advent, and many of us are preparing for Christmas. Our Facebook walls have photographs of cribs and home décor, announce carol-singing events, advertise cakes and cookies… 

But that’s not quite the preparation scripture and the advent liturgy recommend! 

Isaiah, in the first reading, assures the exiles in Babylon that their desperate wait for freedom is almost over; God will lead them, like a shepherd, back home. The exiles have a two-fold task: to prepare the way of the Lord and to proclaim the glad tidings that God is coming to lead his people home.

Mark, in his gospel, has the same message and task. John the Baptist invites the people to straighten the pathways of their lives to prepare the way of the Lord. This was not an individualist cleansing of sins. John’s emphasis: salvation is corporate, forgiveness is corporate, and the new way of living is corporate; it is all rowing in a lifeboat together rather than having individual lifebelts.

Peter urges his Christians to conduct themselves “in holiness and devotion” and to “be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him”.

In the second week of Advent, the liturgy challenges us to put the C’s (cribs/carols/cakes/cards) on the backburner and focus on the S’s: be silent in the “wilderness” of our lives; straighten the pathways in our hearts; and share the glad tidings that our God is coming. 

Will I spend time in the wilderness?

What areas of my life and our lives need straightening: what are the valleys that need filling; which are the mountains that need levelling? 

How and with whom will I share the good news of the Lord’s coming?

A collegian failed all his college work. He texted his mother: “failed everything; prepare papa.” His mother texted back: “papa prepared; prepare yourself.”

This is our Advent task: we need to prepare ourselves for the coming of God. Our “Papa” is prepared… with his loving mercy.

I Sunday of Advent

WAITING IN HOPE

Isaiah 63:16-17, 19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37

Readings for the I Sunday of Advent

Waiting is a part of life. Outside schools, parents wait to pick up their children; at bus stops, railway stations, and airports, people wait for their loved ones; in hospitals, patients wait for their families. We are waiting for violence and wars to end. All they/we can do is wait… in hope!

Waiting is a part of life. All of us waited to be born, waited to be nourished, waited to be loved. We learned, soon enough, that not everything is available “instant”. We have to wait.

Advent is a time of a more profound waiting… for God to reveal himself and to come to us.

The first reading graphically portrays a people waiting for God. The newly-returned exiles hope that God will again adopt them as his children. But Jerusalem is a heap of ruins; there is no sign to confirm their hope. The people remember what God did for them in the past. This memory gives the people hope as they wait. 

The gospel and the second reading give us attitudes for this waiting period: be responsible and dutiful servants; stay awake to the signs of the kingdom around us and to the opportunities to serve others; stay firm to the end though God’s grace and gifts.

Like the newly-returned exiles, we are waiting for the Lord to come. We sometimes feel anguish when God seems absent from our lives. Like the exiles, we would do well to remember the mighty deeds God has done for us. This memory will give us hope as we wait.

What attitude characterizes my waiting: optimism or desolation; joy or anguish; hope-filled service or despairing passivity?

What gifts God has given me? How can I use them as a responsible servant for the task he has given me?