December 31, 2017: Feast of the Holy Family

God came to Earth to be like us, and placed Himself in the context of family, to show us in that sacred community how we can live out the virtues that make Him present to each other.

We rejoice that God has given us families, and brings us to the fullness of Life through them as we share the love He first shows us through the coming of Christ to our world.

We do this by faith, like Abram had faith that God would fulfill His promises to bring forth for Him a child, the substance of a covenant that served as the basis for the Law that Mary and Joseph obeyed when they offered up Jesus to God, whom Simeon and Anna proclaimed as the One Who would bring salvation to God's people. 

We open ourselves up to the favor of God as we offer ourselves up to God by sharing what He has given us to others, His very presence abiding in us, known through living out the virtues that come from Light, Life, and Love, made known in Christ, Who made them real in living as a human in family life.

December 25, 2017: The Nativity of the Lord/Christmas Day

It's amazing to see the effect of one light in a dark space: the light fills it so brilliantly and fully.

With the fourth candle lit on the Advent wreath at home, I couldn't help but notice how brightly it lit the space in the table around it.

So Christ has entered our world, shining such a great and glorious Light.  He is the Light that delivers us in evil and cleanses us from sin.

At Mass this morning, during Father Bob's homily, I was reminded of how shepherds were considered so despised in ancient Israel, because they were constantly dirty from doing their work.  Yet God chose to send angels to them to announce the great and glorious news of the Birth of His Son on Earth.

So He has sent His Son among all of us who are stained by sin, as a helpless baby Who would grow into a Man who would die to save us from sin.  And by His coming, we can enter into a closer relationship with God.  God is no longer shrouded in Mystery, but a great Light shining into our world, revealed for many ages by the prophets, but now fully by the Son, Who has come to save all.

Truly this Christmas Day is reason for rejoicing and celebrating, as we join with the song of the angels who proclaim Glory to God in the Highest, and peace upon us on Earth, for God's favor rests on us.

December 24, 2017: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Advent is a time for us to remember the promises God has made to us, and how He has gloriously fulfilled them.

When King David desires to build a house for the ark of God, He responds through Nathan the prophet that He will build up David into a house that will last forever, because from this house shall come the Messiah.

God marvelously brought the Savior to us through the working of the Holy Spirit in Mary.  God favored her and chose her to bear the Son of God into the world.  God would take care of everything.  All Mary had to do was consent and open herself up to the will of God.

So in our lives, God works marvelously in us.  Even when we can't fully understand what He's doing, we can rest in the great assurance that He is fulfilling His promises for us as we say "yes" to Him.  He is the One Who, in His great wisdom, revealed Himself to us so powerfully that we might live by faith for Him.

And by consenting to His will for our lives, we give birth to the Son of God in our world.

December 17, 2017: Third Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday

Let us rejoice!  We've made it halfway through Advent and the Nativity of the Lord is getting closer.

But our waiting is not passive, as our God calls us to actively wait in preparing for Him.  We are certain that He will come, and that reality fills us with great joy.  Indeed, because of John's baptisms and proclamation, people thought he might be the One, but he made clear that someone else was on the way, and he would be unworthy before Him.

The One Who comes is anointed by God to bring glad tidings by reversing the fortunes of those experienced misfortunes.  We truly rejoice that He reverses our unfavorable circumstances, joining with Mary's magnifying of the Lord, because God is faithful in accomplishing His work in us, and that's reason for us to ceaselessly express joy and gratitude.  Furthermore, we can be part of the reversal as we meet the needs of others and bring them glad tidings, for as disciples, we are called to that purpose, too.  As we are touched by the joy God brings us, we share that joy with others.

Today marks the birthday of Pope Francis, who turns 81.  We see in Him a great example of deep-seated joy that comes in proclaiming the Gospel, by which all the peoples see the favor of the Lord coming upon them.

I also rejoice in the composition of this post, for it was on the occasion of Gaudete Sunday four years ago that I started this blog of Scriptural reflections, and this post is #250 on the blog.  Thank you for reading the reflections I write on the readings at Mass.

December 12, 2017: Feast of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

What a celebration it is, that God desires to manifest His presence through people of faith.

He started with Mary, the first disciple, Who bore Jesus into the world.  Then, San Juan Diego helped propagate the faith starting from an apparition of Mary to him at Tepeyac.

God is truly at work all the time to make His presence known, and we respond in great joy by proclaiming that faith.

December 10, 2017: Second Sunday of Advent

God is on the way is the message from the voice crying out in the desert, and so it's time to prepare for Him.  He may operate on a different timetable than us, but there's no doubt He's on His way.

The reading from Isaiah gives pictures of hills being made low, valleys rising up, the crooked made straight, and a highway in place for our God to come to us, which speak to how we should make our hearts ready for God, striving to be the holy people God has called us to be, as we prepare to see His glory. 

We take comfort that He is like a Shepherd guiding us to new Life in Him, baptizing us in the Holy Spirit, as St. John the Baptist says, so we can be a holy people.

December 8, 2017: Feast of the Immaculate Conception

We rejoice in this occasion because God has poured His graces upon humanity to reverse the effects of the curse of sin on humanity and turn us toward Him to be holy people He calls us to be.

He started with Mary, the first disciple, and now works in us, that in the midst of a world marred by sin, we can be a fount of grace bringing hope and new Life.

December 3, 2017: First Sunday of Advent

Our hearts long for God, even as we're aware of our shortcomings that separate us from Him.  We know that He is faithful, and so that gives us the hope that He will come to rescue us and restore us, turning us back to Him, so that we may abide in righteousness before Him.

In this hope, we remain alert for His arrival, not only for the celebration of His second coming, and anticipating the celebration of His first coming, but also for Him to enter into our hearts to reign there in righteousness.  May our hope keep us confident and ever ready for Him to appear and work in us, as He is the potter and we are the clay, like Isaiah writes, as we cooperate with His great power that works so marvelously in our lives even now.