December 27, 2020: Feast of the Holy Family

In the celebration of Christ's Birth still fresh, we acknowledge that Jesus is fully man and fully God.  So it's fitting that we would, as part of the Christmas Season, celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Christ entered into a human family so that God's presence could be known at all times in life, starting from the earliest years of our lives.

Even in the brokenness of our world, we are blessed because God is at work in our lives, just like with Abraham: Despite his advanced age, God provided a son for him and Sarah, as a sign of the great promises that his descendants would fill the Earth and be God's blessing everywhere.  

And so Simeon and Anna rejoiced so greatly at the presence of the Christ Child, the fulfillment of God's promise to each of them.  While Mary and St. Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to fulfill the Law's dictates, they were blessed with wondrous words about their Child from these two devout individuals who knew He would be a blessing beyond measure in the world.

God has poured forth His love into our hearts and, in families, we have the opportunity to live, share, and grow in that love as a sign of His presence.

Living such love leads us to attain holiness through fulfillment of God's commands, especially to love others as He loves us, in the Church family, the Body of Christ, and in the world at large.  As we grow in love and live it, the world truly recognizes that God's favor is upon us all.

December 25, 2020: Christmas Day/Feast of the Lord's Nativity

The readings for this great Feast speak to the idea of a Great Light shining into the darkness.

Christ is that Light, because in Him, God has come into our world.

While darkness of all kinds in this world might try to prevent the Light from shining--which this year 2020 has certainly not been in short supply of--the Light shines brighter than any darkness.

There's something amazing about the scene of the shepherds in the fields at night, punctured by the light of the angel announcing Good News for all, namely, the Birth of One anointed to be Savior of the world.  And then the Light shines even brighter with the song of the angels, which continues to echo through the ages to our own day.

The Light was born in the world that, and is born in us each day as we open our hearts to God's presence and open ourselves to the transformation He brings so that we can shine His Light into the darkness of the world around us.

December 20, 2020: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Throughout time, God has made promises to His people, revealing little by little, according to His timing, His great work of salvation, as St. Paul writes so magnificently in the 2nd reading.

God promises David that His House would endure forever, because one of his descendants would be the Everlasting King, the long-awaited Messiah.

That descendent, Christ, was born of Mary.  The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was full of grace, and chosen to be the One to bear the Son into the world, to be an important part of the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah.

Even though it didn't fully make sense to her, she recognized God had it all under control, and so she opened herself to God's plan.

God's House continues into our own day, and God's work of salvation continues, as He chooses each of us to be part of the unfolding of this plan.

We awaken ourselves to how God is manifesting His promises among us, and we entrust ourselves to those promises and watch as He fulfills them.

December 13, 2020: Third Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday

This Sunday is an occasion that stirs something deep within me:

Even as await the joy of celebrating Christ's Birth, we have joy now as we welcome God Who comes to be present with us.

Christ indeed was so great that just the act of His coming was enough to stir hearts, and inspire St. John the Baptist to proclaim repentance as He pointed others to Christ, fulfilling the role that Isaiah spoke of as the voice calling out in the desert to prepare the way.  And Mary, filled with awe at how God chose her, magnified God's Name.

The coming of Christ signaled what Isaiah speaks of in the first reading, One anointed to bring liberty, freedom, and glad tidings.  And just as the earth would bloom, so would "justice and praise spring up before all the nations", as Isaiah writes, a sure sign of God's presence.

Let us join our praises then with those in Isaiah, and join with Mary, rejoicing that God has looked upon us so favorably, which is reason for joy deep down within us.  We are always in the presence of God, Who works to make us holy, and so we are constantly in a state of prayer as we keep ourselves aware of God's presence, and give thanks for His constant presence.  We also answer the call to holiness, for we have been anointed by God to participate with God in bringing transformation to all the earth, kindling the joy within us all around us.

The words of the first reading bring back joyful memories of the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2019, when we were sent forth by Pope Francis to fulfill God's dreams in this world.

I rejoice greatly on this Gaudete Sunday, for it was 10 years ago when the new Ministry Life Center addition at St. Teresa's was blessed at a special Mass, which was part of a great tradition and one of my fondest memories, a special Advent Mass, followed by a fancy dinner as the 1st semester concluded.  Being part of the St. Teresa's community is a great joy.

I further rejoice because it was on Gaudete Sunday 10 years ago that I launched this blog.  It is a joy to ponder what God speaks in His Words at Mass, and to share it.

December 12, 2020: Feast of La Señora de Guadalupe

The reading from Zechariah speaks so powerfully to what this feast is about: The Daughter of Zion rejoice as all nations come to join themselves to the Lord.

Our world is truly blessed because Mary submitted to God's plan for her life as she took up an important role in salvation history.

God continues to shine a great Light through her, that darkness may be banished and we all may experience renewal and transformation, as happened in Mexico when La Virgen appeared to San Juan Diego.

So, with Mary, we truly magnify the Lord for His great gift of salvation and redemption.

December 8, 2020: Feast of the Immaculate Conception

As God sought to reverse the curse of sin and bring us back into right relationship, He chose Mary to play a special role by bearing the Son into the world to be our Savior.

Mary was full of grace and an awareness of God at work in her life.  Even though she couldn't fully understand it, given her question to Gabriel at the annunication, she trusted that God would work with her offering of obedience.

As the first disciple, she offers us a model that God will work in us as we say, "yes", to Him.

December 6, 2020: Second Sunday of Advent

A voice cries out in the first reading from Isaiah, and in the Gospel passage from St. Mark.

It is a voice that calls us to repentance.  As St. Paul states in the 2nd reading, God is patient with us, because His sense of time is much different than ours, in the time before the Heavens and Earth will be made new.  It is a time that calls us to be transformed to be righteous, just as all Creation is awaiting transformation, with the valleys filled in, the mountains made low, and everything made straight and smooth.

St. John the Baptist, as the voice crying out in the Gospel, points to the Mighty One Who was to come, Who would bring transformation inwardly through baptism by the Holy Spirit.

This transformation manifests the glory of the Lord, which is present in all the world, but also in us as we go forth to bring the tidings of comfort and joy that are the Good News of the Gospel of our Savior Who comes to free us from the malady of sin that infects all humanity, as I heard so well in a homily when attending Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, and restores us to righteousness.