In the Fourth and final Sunday of Advent in
Year A, we meet a man who can only be characterized as upright and
righteous.We meet Joseph, the husband
of Mary, who had every justification to leave his betrothed from what appeared
as infidelity but didn’t.He didn’t
because first and foremost he did the will of God who provided what had to be
an outlandish explanation for her pregnancy but second because Joseph was made
of good wood.He had been formed to always
do the right and unselfish thing.Matthew
would later write in Chapter 6:
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear
good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather
figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man
out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of
the evil [a]treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance
of the heart his mouth speaks.
Actually Joseph never speaks but out of
Joseph’s heart compassion and goodness leads him to accept the will of
God.I have a personal prayer to St.
Joseph that begins with;
“O good St, Joseph, father, husband, protector, provider, show me the
way to goodness, prudence, and faith.Show me the way to virtuous manhood so I can lead my family for the
glory of God.”
It’s a prayer I wrote myself and I’m very
proud of it.He is a model for my life.
Here is the Gospel passage.
This is how the birth
of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary
was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived
together,
she was found with
child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband,
since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to
expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her
quietly.
Such was his intention
when, behold,
the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of
David,
do not be afraid to
take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the
Holy Spirit
that this child has
been conceived in her.
She will bear a son
and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save
his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what
the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with
us."
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of
the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into
his home.
~Mt 11:2-11
Archbishop Wiesenberger
gives another superb homily explaining the context and significance of the
passage.
“So am I Ahaz or am I
Joseph?”But the truth is that’s too
simple.The truth is messier.I suspect the truth there’s a little of Joseph
and Ahaz in each of us.”May the Lord
show us the way for us to be “trust in the power of God’s love over the power
of this world.”May the Lord show us to
be Joseph!
The pastoral homily will
not actually be a homily but a reflection on St. Joseph the foster father of
Jesus from MyCatholic Life!
Gee, I thought that
was excellent. My Catholic Life!also
has a website providing
a resource into Catholic devotions and daily reflections.Today is a perfect day to meditate on the
role St. Joseph plays not just in the life of the Church but in our individual
lives.How does St. Joseph shape your
life?
Sunday Meditation: "When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the
Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.”
For today’s hymn I
think the Hillbilly Thomists’ “Good Tree” makes for a great reflection on St.
Joseph.
“From a tiny seed grows a good tree.” I love the Hillbilly Thomists!
Kerstin’s Introduction to Chapter 2: How Can
the Ark of the Lord Come to Me? The Gospels:
Seward:
“He is not only the inhabitant of the womb; he is also its “fruit” (Luke
1:42). His body does not come down from heaven; it is fashioned out of his
Virgin Mother’s flesh and blood. Indeed, since she is made fruitful by the Holy
Spirit, not by male seed (see Matt. 1:20), he is physically more indebted to
her than any other child could be to his mother.”
My Comment:
The second chapter meditates on what the Gospels say of Mary’s carrying
of Jesus in her pregnancy.
The key Biblical event of Mary’s pregnancy is the Visitation, her travel
to assist her cousin Elizabeth in her pregnancy.Much of the chapter is taken up with
meditations on the Visitation.
Apart from the journey to Bethlehem, St. Luke records only one
event during Our Lady’s pregnancy: the Visitation. “In those days,” after the
departure of Gabriel, Mary hastened to visit her cousin Elizabeth in the hill
country of Judaea (Luke 1:39–56), probably in the neighborhood of Ain-Karim,
six kilometers to the west of Jerusalem. The Evangelist says that, in going
south, Mary “arose” (anastasa), the verb used to designate the Resurrection.
This strong and suggestive word, one of Luke’s favorites, heightens the drama
of the Blessed Virgin’s journey: it is an ascent, a climb into the high
country. Similar language is used to report the three other southward
expeditions of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Luke 2:4, 22, and 42).2 It is as if
Luke wants Theophilus to lift up his eyes to the mountains (see Ps. 120:1), to
the heights of Mount Zion. Later, he will show how, in his public ministry,
Jesus kept his sights on Jerusalem: “When the days drew near for him to be
received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). The message of
Luke 1:39 is that the first time the Savior ventured south, presaging his later
journey, was as an unborn child. Mary carries Jesus on the road that later he
will purposefully tread.
Saward quite rightly points out that as one travels southward from
Israel’s north country (Nazareth and the towns about the Sea of Galilee) toward
Jerusalem, one is traversing uphill, and in some places very steeply up
hill.I have never been there, but I
have seen topographic representations of the geography.Quite nice how the word “arose” is used here
and tied to the Resurrection.Mary’s
life is frequently portrayed as in communion with Christ’s life.
###
Kerstin’s Comment:
When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist,
she walks the same path as Jesus would later leading up to the
crucifixion. Even unborn, John is Christ’s herald; by his infant joy,
he is prophet. As St. Ambrose says, “Before his father or mother had done
anything wonderful, he leapt in his mother’s womb and preached the good news of
the advent of the Lord.”
Even before his birth, the Child Jesus is at his saving, sanctifying
work. While still in the womb, the Savior consecrates the forerunner for his
mission. What is more, grace comes to John from Jesus through Mary, who, in
Gerard Manley Hopkins’ words, “this one work has to do—Let all God’s glory
through.”10 Already, at Ain-Karim, Our Lady is at her handmaidenly, motherly
work of mediating the grace of her Son.
Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant. Just like the Ark of old had been
carried up the hills toward Jerusalem, so Mary carries Jesus. The Baby in the womb is God, and so the expectant Mother is the definitive
Ark, and hereby God is made present in a very tangible way. Before God has
shown Himself in a cloud, an entity that eludes physical grasp. Now, in a very
real way, God makes Himself known in person without losing his transcendent
reality.
This New Testament revelation of Jesus in Mary presupposes the Old
Testament belief that the womb of woman is the stage on which the first scenes
of the human drama are played out. The Lord forms, “knits together,” every man
from the womb (see 2 Macc. 7:22–23; Ps. 139:13–16; Is. 44:2, 24). Indeed,
“He-who-fashions-you-in-the-womb” is one of the divine names in Deutero-Isaiah
(Isa. 49:5). The nakedness of the human person as he comes from the womb
foreshadows the nakedness with which he goes into the tomb: both signal his
utter dependence upon his Creator (see Job 1:21) … Thus in Mary, who conceives
her Son by the Holy Spirit, not by human seed, two major themes of the Old
Testament converge and are surpassed: the hidden presence of God and the secret
beginnings of man.
Mary speaks her sublime Magnificat. A
hymn of praise to God. Unfortunately modern scholars do not think the lowly and
uneducated Mary to be capable of uttering such beautiful poetry spontaneously.
What they do not acknowledge is that she has been immersed into Scriptures her
whole life, probably knowing much of it by heart, as many did at the time. From
this perspective her composing the Magnificat
is entirely plausible.
If the Annunciation narrative reveals the faith and love with which the
Holy Virgin welcomed God’s Son into her flesh, the Magnificat expresses the joy and gratitude with which she sheltered
him. These religious acts are more than simply individual. Mary of the Magnificat is Israel in person. Her ‘I’
recapitulates the ‘we’ of her people. What God has done for her, he has done
for all Israel (see Luke 1:54). The grace poured out on the lowly Handmaid is a
blessing for all the poor of the Lord (vv. 48 and 53). In the Child in Mary’s
womb, every promise made to Abraham is fulfilled (v. 55).
There is a long tradition wherein Joseph already knew of the Virginal
Conception before the angel appeared to him in a dream. The angel’s message
told him not to leave her but to protect her. We’ve all heard the translated
words of Joseph wanting to “divorce her quietly” which is, when one thinks
about it, nonsensical. All divorces are public then as now. A better
translation would be that he decided to leave her quietly. Joseph is in awe and
fear of the holy occurrence happening in front of his eyes, and like we see in
the Bible so often, he is afraid and wants to withdraw. The angel tells him not
to withdraw but to protect the Holy Child concealed in the Virgin’s womb.
###
Michelle’s Comment:
What stood out to me the most in this chapter was the comparison of the
Ark of the Covenant to Mary as the new Ark. She traveled to the hill country of
Judea where David was with the OT ark. And Elizabeth and David both basically
said the same thing regarding their respective encounters with the ark:
Elizabeth: And why is this granted me, that the Mother of my Lord should
come to me? (Luke 1:43)
David: How can the Ark of the Lord come to me? (2 Sam. 6:9)
###
My Comment:
It is so fitting that today, the fourth Sunday of Advent of Year C we
are in this chapter.Today’s Gospel
reading was the Visitation scene where Mary after the Annunciation and “in
haste” travels to visit Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist.Saward does a nice job of explaining the
Marian theology connecting her to the Ark of the Covenant.
The chief actors in the drama of the Visitation are two babies in the
womb—Jesus in Mary and John in Elizabeth, the Prince and the Prophet, the Word
and the Voice. Luke says that the unborn Baptist “skipped” (eskirtêsen) in his
mother’s womb when she heard the greeting of the Christ-carrying Virgin (Luke
1:41). Elizabeth is overwhelmed. Her baby’s inward dance—he jumps “for joy,”
says Elizabeth, en agalliasei (v. 44)—fills her with the Holy Spirit. She
recognizes her cousin’s unborn baby, the blessed fruit of her womb, as God, “my
Lord” (v. 43),3 and declares Mary to be “blessed among women,” blessed in body
and in soul, blessed because of the One she carries, blessed because she
believed (v. 45).
Saward goes on to point out the Old Testament connections to the Ark,
King David’s moving of the Ark, and David’s jumping for joy.Every word used in the Visitation narrative
has allusions to the Old Testament, which provides the significance of the
Blessed Virgin.
But I’m not sure I quite agree with Saward that the “chief actors in the
drama of the Visitation are two babies in the womb.”On the one hand, I could see that Jesus is
always the central character, but Mary is also quite central to this
scene.Can one minimize the Blessed
Virgin here as a supporting character?I
wouldn’t.
Saward quotes Origen who make this remarkable connection of the
Visitation as foreshadowing Pentecost.
The God-man sanctified his forerunner while they were both being carried
by their mothers. At the Visitation, the promise made to Zechariah comes true:
“[John] will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” (Luke
1:15). The grace of the Holy Spirit flows from Jesus through Mary to John and
from John to Elizabeth. Origen (c. 185–c. 254) describes this cascade of the
Spirit, this proto-Pentecost,
I would never had made that connection but it is apropos.Saward then quotes Gerard Manly Hopkins how
Christ’s graces flow through Mary.
Even before his birth, the Child Jesus is at his saving, sanctifying
work. While still in the womb, the Savior consecrates the forerunner for his
mission. What is more, grace comes to John from Jesus through Mary, who, in
Gerard Manley Hopkins’ words, “this one work has to do—Let all God’s glory
through.”10 Already, at Ain-Karim, Our Lady is at her handmaidenly, motherly
work of mediating the grace of her Son.
Make sure you point that out to your Protestant friends!
But Saward doesn’t go far enough.In listening to a bunch of homilies on the internet (I do this every
Sunday) for today’s Gospel reading, a certain Fr. Anthony Craig (no one famous
that you would know) pointed out that Christ’s first action incarnate in the
world while still in the womb is an act propelling the bearer to service and
charity.I don’t know if Fr. Anthony
came up with that himself (probably not) but I had never heard it before.I found that really worth contemplating.You can read my blog post on understanding
today’s Gospel reading of the Visitation here:
The Visitation is one of my favorite scenes in the New Testament.There is so much one can meditate upon.
Kerstin Reply:
Manny wrote: "The Visitation is one of my favorite scenes in the
New Testament. There is so much one can meditate upon."
Very much so. Our priest had a beautiful homily today with the theme of letting
Christ in, letting Him dwell within us just like Mary.
The
first snow storm of the winter always makes for some great photos, and this past
Sunday (Dec 14th) we had our first.It was only supposed to be about three inches.We wound up with over double that.So much for having faith in their predictions.
Let’s
share some photos.First from my bedroom
window looking out the back of the house.I’ve mentioned this before, but behind my backyard used to be a
convent.It was sold and now is some Hasidic
Jewish facility.But I am still blessed
with open field from my window.
It does look like a snowstorm, doesn't it? It was coming down hard at the time of that picture.
Now looking out my front window.
Here
are a couple of snaps around my neighborhood.
It was only six inches but a fluffy snow. It looks so much more.
Here
is one from my backyard.Look carefully
and you will see one of the black kittens leaping through the snow.
Speaking
of black pets, here is Rosie standing out very well against the white snow.
The old dog (she's now eleven years and four months old) loved it out there.
When
I got over to my mother’s house, I took a picture of her Madonna.
Call
her Our Lady of the Snows.Actually that
is a title of the Blessed Mother under Our Lady of the Snows.It goes back to the year 352 when a summer
snow storm hit Rome.
Since
it was Sunday, we made it to Mass in the snow.Thank God for four wheel drive.Here is Our Lady with the Christ Child covered with snow.
All
the donated Christmas wreaths hung along the church fencing were dusted with snow.Here is ours.
Finally
since the day before, December 13th, was the Feast Day of St. Lucy,
our pastor still had the statue of St. Lucy by the sanctuary for veneration.
My
family has a special devotion to Santa Lucia for several reasons which I will
save for another day.
In the Third Sunday of Advent in Year A, John
the Baptist from prison has his disciples ask if Jesus is the messiah.Jesus replies with evidence of what He has
done: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the
dead are raised.Jesus is alluding to
not just the first reading of today’s lectionary but several other Old
Testament prophesies.Three years ago I
embedded a video from Dr. Brant Pitre explaining the allusions.Not
only do the allusions point to a messiah, but it points to the coming of God.
The Third Sunday of Advent is the turn from
the stern exhortations from John the Baptist to the joyful coming of the Jesus,
and so we have the rose candle for the celebration.All of nature rejoices with the coming birth.
Here is the Gospel passage.
When John the Baptist
heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples
to Jesus with this question,
"Are you the one
who is to come,
or should we look for
another?"
Jesus said to them in
reply,
"Go and tell John
what you hear and see:
the blind regain their
sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the
good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one
who takes no offense at me."
As they were going
off,
Jesus began to speak
to the crowds about John,
"What did you go
out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the
wind?
Then what did you go
out to see?
Someone dressed in
fine clothing?
Those who wear fine
clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go
out?To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and
more than a prophet.
This is the one about
whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending
my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your
way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of
women
there has been none
greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
~Mt 11:2-11
Fr. Geoffrey Plant
explains the fullness of the significance of Gaudete Sunday.
“So when John the
Baptist asked, “Are you the one who is to come?” he was drawing on this rich
tapestry of expectation: the Coming One was the long-awaited agent of God’s
final and saving intervention in the world.”He would be not just a messiah, but a Divine Messiah.Both John and Jesus start their ministry with
a call for repentance but they understand it differently.The winnowing fan and the unquenchable fire
on one side while on the other side is “mercy, healing, forgiveness, and
inclusion.”That is what confused John
and made him ask the question.
Here is another new
homilist, this from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).I did not know the USCCB had a daily
reflection and Sunday homily on YouTube.It looks like it’s about a year old.They seem to alternate bishops to give the reflection or homily.Oh this is a nice find.Today’s homily is not even by a full bishop.It’s from Most Rev. Jeffrey R. Haines,
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
“So what does this
mean for us?It means for making space for
preparing to receive Christ, a reception of Jesus each week especially at
Christmas requires that our prayer and worship strengthen us to take on the
challenges of our lives and our world….How can we begin to create a space in
our heart this advent? We can be signs of joy to our families, our communities
and those we meet.”That is the pastoral
message for this Gaudete Sunday.Rejoice!
Sunday Meditation: "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind
regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead
are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”
Not a hymn today but
the dramatization of this scene as portrayed in The Chosen.
The realism of The Chosen sometimes makes me wince a
little, but overall it is very well done.
Today
is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, memorializing the day and event of when
Our Lady appeared in Mexico to Juan Diego in 1531. You probably know the history, but if you don’t make sure you read the
Wikipedia entry and search out Catholic sites that will relate the story and
devotion.Our Lady under this title is
super important in this segment of the world, carrying the additional monikers
of Empress of the Americas, Patroness of Latin America, Queen of Mexico.If you live in North or South America, this
is our native Marian devotion.
Needless
to say Our Lady of Guadalupe is huge in Mexico.And so is Mariachi Music, a native musical genre from western Mexico.When the Mexicans celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it is
very common to integrate Mariachi Music into the Mass.For the first time ever, today at my parish
of St. Rita in Staten Island we celebrated today’s feast day with a Mariachi
band for musical accompaniment.
It
was different.It was endearing.It was wonderful!
I
wish I had videoed all the musical parts of the Mass.I only captured two at the end of Mass.Both were after the pastoral blessing when
the band moved up to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and serenaded the
Blessed Mother.Here are the videos.
And
here’s how they ended with a more upbeat tune.
Oh
that was wonderful, and you can see our two pastors, Frs. Eugene and Anthony clapping
along behind the altar.Fr. Eugene is planning
to do this annually.Unfortunately I did
not get the name of the band.
One
last thing.Our Lady of Guadalupe has a
special place in my heart.That was the
name of my parish in Brooklyn growing up.
For the second Sunday of Advent in Year A, we
meet John the Baptist and he bellows out his message of repentance for the coming
of the Messiah.
Here is the Gospel passage.
John the Baptist
appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
It was of him that the
prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying
out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the
Lord,
make straight his
paths.
John wore clothing
made of camel's hair
and had a leather belt
around his waist.
His food was locusts
and wild honey.
At that time
Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region
around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being
baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged
their sins.
When he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism,
he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee
from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as
evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to
say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as
our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up
children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies
at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree
that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and
thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you
with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming
after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to
carry his sandals.
He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is
in his hand.
He will clear his
threshing floor
and gather his wheat
into his barn,
but the chaff he will
burn with unquenchable fire."
~Mt 3:1-12
I’m really enjoying
Archbishop Edward Wiesenberger’s homilies.Here is another fine homily on this Gospel passage.
No Jesus without John
the Baptist first.No Christmas joy without
the stern message of John.No Jesus
without metanoia, “an internal change of heart along with a very real external
change of life.”
The archbishop alludes
to this, but it should be noted more clearly that baptism of John was not a
sacramental baptism.There is a
distinction.John’s baptism is only a
baptism of repentance.
Now for a homily that
bucks the trend.I would say just about
all the homilies on today’s Gospel emphasizes the sternness of John the Baptist’s
message, just as Archbishop Wiesenberger does above.Even my pastor, Fr. Eugene at St. Rita, who
almost never has a stern homily emphasized the Baptist’s sternness.Now here is a homily that looked at this
Gospel and found something in it that was not so stern.This is someone new again, a Dominican priest
from the Central Province (St. Albert Province), Fr. Samuel Hakeem.
“Acknowledge, let us
acknowledge our sins” as we do at every Mass.When one acknowledges ones sins he is nine tenths the way to repentance.
Sunday Meditation: "Therefore, stay awake!For you do not know on which day your Lord
will come.”
One of my favorite
hymns that comes up at Mass this time of year, Bernadette Farrell’s “Christ Be
Our Light.”
