The gifts of Anna!

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

I John 2:12-17

Luke 2:36-40

Did you have a nice Christmas? Did you get some lovely gifts for Christmas? One of the nicest gifts I received is called “The Frame.” You can download pictures to it, and it rotates the photos and continually shows the pictures. I love it as I can see pictures of family and friends all day long. Also, our readings are a wonderful gift to us of a picture of what we are to do with our faith in Jesus Christ.

In our Gospel, we hear of Anna, who is another witness to the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Yesterday we heard about Simeon, and in four sentences, we get a lot of information about her. Anna means “Grace of God.” Other than Mary, women are followers of Jesus, but Anna is mentioned as a prophet. She is to speak the Word of God to anyone who would listen.

We are told that she was married for seven years and then a widow for eighty-four years. This would put here well past the average life expectancy of 44 years. So it is well to assume she was an elderly lady. She lived in the temple day and night. This may mean that she slept somewhere else but spent much time praying and fasting.

All of this is important because Simeon was told that he would not die before seeing the world’s Savior. Anna recognized the Newborn King when he was presented by Mary and Joseph to the temple today. Imagine how many young boys she saw being presented to the temple? Her gift of prayer and fasting gave her the sight to see the Lord when he came to her.

Where Simeon yesterday spoke praise to Joseph and Mary about their son, Anna, sings praise to God, and then she tells the others there that day that this is Jesus the Savior of the World.     

Anna is a good role model for us today. Unfortunately, we cannot live the rest of our lives in the temple, as Anna did, but we are still called to stay focused on God, and we do this with daily prayer. So let us know of the Christ Child in our midst and go and tell others of the Good News of Jesus.

We look to the Holy Family for help!

Feast of the Holy Family

I Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28

I John 3:1-2, 21-24

Luke 2: 41-52

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, and I believe the Church has us celebrate this feast day right after Christmas to remind us what we are to become. But maybe some of us have enough family and need some alone time. So our readings today help us do all that we can to keep our families holy and together.

Do you remember when your children were baptized? Maybe it was one of the godparents or perhaps one of the parents you were given a candle and asked to light it from the Easter candle with these words.

Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly so that your child, enlightened by Christ, may walk always as a child of the light and, persevering in the faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the Saints in the heavenly court.

Are we as parents being the best role models for our children and grandchildren as we can be? Are we keeping the light of Christ burning brightly for our children? Are we people of prayer and daily devotions?  

In our first reading, Hannah brings her son to the temple that the grace of God gave her. A few years back, she could not conceive a child and prayed in the temple, and the prophet Eli heard her prayer and promised her a child. She, in turn, promised to dedicate the child to God, and she brings the child to Eli. Have we dedicated our children over to God?

In our second reading, we hear what all of us should always keep in our hearts, and that is we are “children of God.” Therefore, we need to have confidence because we are children of God, and we do our best to keep God’s commandments that he will answer our prayers for our children.

In our Gospel, we hear what happens when struggles come in families as Joseph and Mary say to Jesus, “Son, why have you done this to us?” Have you told that yet to one of your children? If you haven’t, there is a good chance that you will someday. Grace is hidden in good things and in our struggles, and we would be good to ponder these things in our hearts of prayer.

My friends in Christ, family life is hard and it demands us taking risks. It is about us willing to reach out and love again, to forgive again, and to be healed from past hurts. May we never give up from being loving, patient, and holy family

The word dwelt among us!

Christmas Day

December 25th, 2021

Isaiah 52:7-10

Hebrews 1:1-6

John 1:1-18

I heard a story recently that took place during the Middle Ages when most people could not read. There was a monastery where early in the morning on Christmas morning, the monks would gather in the chapel around a lit candle. The one monk who could read would open up the bible and begin to read very slowly, (Put up slide)“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” When he was finished with the passage, he would step back and wait. Then, after a period of quiet, he would approach the bible read again, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.”

He would read the passage each time very slowly so all could hear. Each monk stayed until they heard the passage enough to understand what they needed to do to make it part of their flesh. Then, the monks left one at a time to go and live what they heard.

In our Gospel, we hear what must be done in us, the Word is to become flesh in us. The word “dwelt” means to pitch his tent among us. The early people would hear this and know that it refers to the temple and the Holy of Holies is to dwell within them.

We need to hear the Christmas story told unto us time and time again, so it sinks deep within us and becomes flesh. Because when God becomes one of us, God allows us to become divine. We need to hear this story to return to our homes as holy people and make the invisible God seen in our human faces. We need to make the Eternal Word spoken by our voices. We need to make the sacred touch of God possible by our human hands. We need to proclaim that there is nothing that God cannot be born into. The Son of Man has come to us to dispel all doubt, fear, brokenness, and darkness.  

With the Word of God becoming flesh within us, may we, for our homework, set out to make our number one goal to bring good to all we meet.  

The light has come!

Christmas Eve

December 24th, 2021

Isaiah 9:1-6

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-20

7:00 & 10:00   

Tomorrow morning NASA plans to launch the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built. It is the Webb Space Telescope, and it is as big as a tennis court and 100 times as powerful as the Hubble Space Telescope. Its mission is to travel over a million miles to see the light some 13.5 billion years ago in galaxies, stars, and plants never seen before. With all these discoveries being made with light in faraway places, we gather tonight to know that the light of Christ provides us with what we need to live in our world today.

Lights off – One light on

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us of the essence of this night as he says, “The people who have walked in darkness because of sadness and pain, will see a great light, and that light will bring joy for all who believe.” The prophet continues by proposing that a child who will be that light will be born.

Our Gospel tells of this child, for on this night, the heavens exploded in light, and angels appeared singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favors rest.” From the moment that the light of the Christ child shone forth from the stable, the light came to dispel the darkness of night. The light of Christ has come to bring sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the lame walk, and prisoners are set free. The light of Christ has come to correct or need to be right, to give us patience, and to dispel or anger and hate!

My friends in Christ, as the Webb Space Telescope will bring many discoveries of light long ago. However, the light shown from the stable this night 2000 years ago has come to change our lives and bring us into his marvelous light.

Our homework is to allow this light to sink deep within us and make our number one goal to bring as much good into the world as possible.  

A child born unto us!

Christmas Eve

December 24th, 2021

Isaiah 9:1-6

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1- 20

4:00 pm

   

Do you remember how much you weighed at birth?

In googling the average weight of a newborn baby in the United States, I discovered that the average weight is 7.5 lbs.

Grab the bag of seeds wrapped as a gift and hold it in my arms.

This bag is 7.5lbs. Hold it like I am holding a baby!

Do you remember the first time holding your newborn baby?

The first time I did, I said to myself, “Now what? What am I to do now?”

New parents do well to learn the cycle of a newborn as quickly as possible. It is sleep, eat and change the diaper. When any one of these needs is not met, the newborn will let the parent know by crying aloud. Babies have a way of changing everything in our lives, if we are ready or not.

The truth of this night is this is how God works in our lives by sending us his Son wrapped in swaddling clothes as a newborn baby. The newborn King constantly cries out to us to do something for Him. The child of Jesus waits for our response to his calling.

Our homework for this night as we listen to the child Jesus speak to us. May we make it our goal this year to do as much good to others as possible!  

The messengers of God!

Thursday, December 23

Of Advent

Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24

Luke 1:57-66

Who have been the messengers in our lives who have helped us, encouraged us, to be whom we are today? Our readings recall those messengers as we give thanks to these people in our lives.

In our first reading, we hear the prophet Malachi proclaim, “The Lord God says: I am sending my messenger to prepare the way for me to come.” We hear these words and attribute them to John the Baptist, who will come and be the messenger for Christ to come into the world.

In our Gospel, we hear Elizabeth has given birth to a son. As the community prepares the circumcision ceremony, the crowd assumes the child will be named Zechariah, after his father, as was the custom. Elizabeth says, “No!! He will be called John,” which means “God is gracious! The crowd turns to Zechariah for his thoughts, and he writes on a tablet, “John is his name.” He would go on to be known as John the Baptist, and he would be the last of the prophets, and John becomes the bridge to Jesus Christ.

There are no more prophets after John the Baptist. There are only those who will be called to be his disciples and messengers. We are invited and challenged today to be the messenger for Christ? Therefore, the Eucharist is given to us to help us follow that plan.

Keeping our minds and our hearts together!

Wednesday, December 22  

Of Advent

I Samuel 1:24-28

Luke 1:46-56

What is in your heart today? What are your concerns and hopes, and dreams for today? Are our hearts and minds working together because when they do, great things will happen? Our readings give us the hearts and minds of two women and the great things in their lives.

In our first reading, we hear about Hannah, who was praying to conceive a child three years earlier because she was barren. The prophet Eli hears her pleading and proclaims God will bless her with a child. Hannah promises that if she conceives and bears a child, she will dedicate him to God. Keeping true to her promise, she brings her baby to Eli at the temple.

Our Responsorial Psalm tells of what is in Hannah’s heart and mind as she sings this song of praise to God, “My heart exults in the Lord.”

In our Gospel, we hear what is in Mary’s mind and heart as she sings, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Mary praises God for choosing her to be the Mother of God.

We hear of what is in these two women’s hearts and minds, and it is words of praise. Hannah and Mary praise God because they have listened to God speak words of prophecy to them, and they believe and because they believe they are given many blessings.

What is in our hearts today? May we hear God speaking to us, and come to believe in his words, and know of his many blessings?

The messenger meets the message!

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Micah 5:1-4

Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-45

As we draw closer to Christmas, many of us will be traveling to visit with family and friends for Christmas or family and friends will be traveling to visit us, and hope to be safe. Some of these visits may be enjoyable, and some may not be enjoyable. Our readings give us a framework for preparing ourselves for all of these visits.

In our Gospel, we have the ending of the Visitation of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. Mary has received the news from the angel that she would conceive and bear a son by the Holy Spirit, and she is told that her older cousin is also six months pregnant. In today’s story we are told Mary goes in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Before we get too far along, let’s put this story in context to know what we are talking about. Mary is very early in her pregnancy and probably is not showing any signs of being pregnant. Mary is around 13 or 14 years old, so she is very young. Mary has to travel some ninety miles over hills and rough roads. Young women may be unaccompanied to the well to get water but not very likely this distance. Mary goes to share her good news, but Elizabeth has no idea that she is coming. Many of us would not like to be surprised by an unexpected guest staying for three months without warning?

After traveling for a few days, one can imagine the excitement in Mary to finally arrive and be able to get cleaned up, have a good meal, and be able to sleep in a real bed. Mary greets Elizabeth, and then everything switches to Elizabeth because the child in her womb, John the Baptist, leaps for joy in meeting Jesus. One would say the messenger leaps for joy in meeting the message. Elizabeth continues by saying what a blessing Mary is to her and the world. In the translation of the word “blessing,” it is said that Elizabeth shouts these words out, and it is more than to be happy. It is to see Mary as blessed.

My friends in Christ, we come here to meet the message of Jesus Christ, and as we meet the message, we should leap for joy and know that we now become the messengers. In all of our visits, we are to bring this good news to whomever we meet.

Our homework this week is for us to be more like Elizabeth, who did not grumble when an unexpected guest showed up. May we, like her, know that the message has come to us to bring us joy, and may we, in turn, shout God’s blessings upon all we meet?  

Who are these people?

Friday, December 17^th  

Of Advent

Genesis 49: 2, 8-10

Matthew 1:1-17

All School Mass

I nailed all those Jewish names!

Who knows the names of your parents?

Who knows the names of your grandparents?

Who knows the names of your great-grandparents?

Why is it essential we hear all 42 of these names proclaimed in our Gospel? It is important to hear all these names because we are assured that God has been intimately involved in all of the world’s creation. Listing all those names also fulfills the prophecy that the Messiah would come from Abraham through the line of King David.

Another reason to hear those names is to know that some of those people were saints and sinners. Yet, God used them all to bring about his will of having the Son of God born among us. Our hope should be that with all of our gifts and limitations, we live in such a way as to have our names listed among those mentioned today.

The great ending to our reading is being fulfilled in our midst as in the days we have remaining. We will celebrate the Christ Child being born unto us on Christmas day.

May we always know that Jesus Christ is the reason for the Season?

What do we hope to see restored today?

Thursday of the Third Week

Of Advent

Isaiah 54: 1-10

Luke 7:24-30

What did we come to see today? What is our hope to restore something that may have been lost?

In our first reading, the people of Israel are now being set free from Babylon and are returning to Jerusalem. The people go back wondering, “What will we see when we return?” When they return, they see a city in the rumble, but they begin to rebuild, and there is profound joy and gratitude.

In our Gospel, Jesus asks, “What did you go out to the desert to see? The desert is a place of simplicity and renewal. A place to rebuild one’s life and get things right with God. When people came to John the Baptist in the desert, he told them to get their lives straight with God by seeking forgiveness of their sins.

What do we come to see today? We will see simple bread and wine changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Will this be enough for us to turn back to God?