31 December 2018 - grace and truth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses, 
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Moses was a great figure but he was limited. He was able to receive the law from God and deliver it to the people. But that law itself did not have power. Without the ability to change hearts that law could only condemn. It did so inflexibly and pitilessly for it was merely a written word that could need speak specifically to individual situations.

The greatness of Jesus was that he was able to bring grace and truth to mankind. Being God from God Jesus was himself the lawgiver. What he asked was more than mere adherence to the law. He showed the true purpose of the law by requiring a dynamic adherence to the one who created the law in the first place. The first choice was no longer will I do or not do this or that moral and immoral act. The first choice was now whether or not to accept Jesus himself.

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 
to those who believe in his name, 
who were born not by natural generation 
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision 
but of God.

It is only the grace flowing actively in the context of this relationship that makes it possible for us to keep the law. Only as children of God does the law take on its true meaning. From a written code condemning us our view of the law changes. We now see a spiritual code governing our family household, designed, not to condemn us, but to preserve our family life together.

Only the word made flesh, the word who was in the beginning with God, who was himself God could bring us the grace we need. All humans were too finite, too limited to make the permanent and ontological change necessary in the human story. Humans were able to receive and deliver words and acts from God. But while these had limited value for a time, lasting change needed the grace upon grace that only God could bring. Human life was insufficient. God raised it up by filling his people with his own life and made possible true fulfillment for humankind.

The grace of Jesus Christ keeps us safe even now. Deceivers, "antichrists" have appeared that would have us place our hope in literally anything but Jesus. But grace is our guardian. It keeps us safe from the lies and wickedness and snares of the enemy.

But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,
and you all have knowledge. 
I write to you not because you do not know the truth 
but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth

The Father has made us his sons, brothers and sisters of Jesus. Our family is invincible as long as we avail ourselves of the protection it offers. Let us remain in grace. Let us grow in it more and more for indeed we are tempted to fall back upon our own resources constantly. But the grace of God, if we trust it, is always enough.

The LORD comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.

30 December 2018 - lost for a cause

Today's Readings

(Audio)

It is likely that Mary and Joseph, humanly speaking, wouldn't have voted for a story about losing track of Jesus to commemorate their family life. And yet...

After they had completed its days, as they were returning, 
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, 
but his parents did not know it.

The reality of family life, even within the Holy Family where two thirds of the members are perfectly without sin and the third is called a just man, even there we find challenges. We may imagine that the Holy Family wants us to know this. We are not alone in dealing with anxieties about family life.

Jesus leads the Holy Family in the direction of a new perspective on what family is all about.

And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Family life is about mutually enabling and empowering dedication to God, to the Father's house. We receive one another from God but we must offer one another back to him. We need to insist less on our control and to rely more on God's grace.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.

The family is the place where we learn "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience". We learn the art of "bearing with one another and forgiving one another". It often does involve teaching and admonishing one another. But it begins with the word of Christ dwelling richly in our hearts. If we "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" we accept our own limitations. We sometimes lose track of Jesus amidst the chaos. But as long as we return to his Father's house we find him again. At that very moment we find our families stronger and more holy than ever.

He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them; 
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor
before God and man.

29 December 2018 - true light shining

Today's Readings

(Audio)

my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

The darkness is cast out by Jesus, for he is the light of the world whom the darkness cannot extinguish.

for the darkness is passing away,
and the true light is already shining. 

This metaphysical darkness is a place of fear and hiding where the practice of evil is concealed. It does not serve us to remain in this darkness. It is not a place of fulfillment. And yet we often willingly remain in it.

Whoever says he is in the light,
yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. 
Whoever loves his brother remains in the light,
and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. 
Whoever hates his brother is in darkness;
he walks in darkness
and does not know where he is going
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

We become so accustomed to not seeing clearly that the light seems harsh to our eyes. The true moral standard seems to be an imposition.

Our eyes need the light of Jesus to open them. Now is the the time.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed (see Romans 13:11).

Once we are exposed to the light we come to understand how it is the only place worth living. We see that hiding in the darkness wasn't making us happy. The more light we see the more hope we have.

The LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty go before him;
praise and grandeur are in his sanctuary.

The light of Jesus is revealed in his dedication to Father. Let us consecrate ourselves to the Father as well. Our own lives are meant to let the light of Jesus shine forth.  The darker the day seems the more we need to let our light shine. The light is never extinguished. We are always able to turn toward it.

28 December 2018 - triumph in the midst of tragedy

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.

Even apparent tragedies, things we would in which we would not find any redeeming value, God's hand may yet be at work. Ask the mothers of these children and they would probably disagree. Ask Rachel weeping for her children and should would almost certainly disagree. Yet these Holy Innocents are empowered to be the first witnesses to Christ. They ascend immediately to the arms of the Father. If their mothers follow them to heaven, now more likely because of their prayers, they will be reunited for all eternity. This is no tragedy. This is a miracle made possible by the infant Christ.

God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” 
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.

We must be on guard that we do not become jealous of the newborn King as does Herod. Jesus insists in priority in our lives. We are no longer free to rule the kingdoms of our lives according to our petty whims. Our thrones are at the same risk as Herod's throne. Our hearts contain the same darkness as Herod's, albeit typically on a smaller scale. We need the light of the newborn King to shine in us. We need him to deliver us and make us less like Herod and more like the Holy Innocent.

If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just 
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. 

God's hand is always at work, even when we can't see it. Because of this we can surrender to him in great confidence. We don't need to defend our thrones like the paranoid King Herod. The only true and lasting crowns are the ones found by the Holy Innocents. May they pray for us. 

27 December 2018 - Word of life

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —

Jesus is the Word of life. But that doesn't mean he is simply an idea because Jesus is the Word who became flesh. He is not only someone thought about, but a voice heard, a body seen and touched, as his friend and beloved disciple John testifies. The Father's Word contains everything he is and knows from all eternity. But at Christmas that Word takes on a new aspect, a relation altogether new even to the Triune God. Without ceasing in any way to be God he unites himself to a human existence. He is born of Mary. The invisible and the eternal becomes visible to us in time.

for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us— 

Though God is immortal and invisible, eternally beyond human comprehension, he still desires to reveal who he is to humankind. He wants us to know his Word. And so he does the unthinkable. He doesn't simply put up billboards in the sky or broadcast a booming voice at regular intervals worldwide. Those options might have conveyed something. But the choice God makes is far more personal. Although it is easier to dispute than less personal options it reveals far more about the heart of God to we who receive it.

We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

In Jesus Christ God allows himself to be thwarted by human sinfulness. He allows himself to be killed and laid in the tomb. He absorbs all the hatred human selfishness engenders in order, by doing so, to free us from that selfishness, and to win us over with his love. Our selfishness is spent in killing him. But in his mercy love remains to bring us back to him.

When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed. 

God comes so close to us. He does not want to be impersonal as would be a mere written or even spoken word. John shows us that Jesus is a living word, a Word that we still reject when we sin, and a word that nevertheless has arms of mercy waiting to reveal his resurrection to us.

Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.

26 December 2018 - born and born again

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus is born into the world. He wants to be born in our hearts as well. His coming into the world matters only to the degree that people allow him entrance into their hearts. Saint Stephen shows us the full depth of what it means for Jesus to be born in us.

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.

Stephen takes Jesus at his word when Jesus says that his followers would do greater works than his own. He goes out, not relying on his own wisdom, but trusting in the Holy Spirit to speak through him.

Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

Stephen did what we are all called to do when we have to give witness.

When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Interestingly, we can't always count on it being efficacious for our hearers. They are free to plug their ears.

But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.

And yet the Spirit wants us to speak anyway. God wants to be sure the invitation is clearly heard, that his offer of lovely is explicitly stated, even if he refuses to force their response.

Because we must proclaim the gospel in season and out of season we will often meet opposition. Stephen shows us how to face this opposition precisely by trusting in Jesus who lives in him. He begs forgiveness for his persecutors, just as Jesus does. He hands everything ultimately to God, just as Jesus does. He is able to surrender his life because Jesus lives within him and he is able to manifest the life and victory that Jesus has already lived.

We may or may not be called to martyrdom. But we will certainly be called to give testimony. We will certainly find the need to pray for our persecutors and to surrender ourselves into God's hands. Christmas makes this possible. If Jesus his born in our hearts his victorious life will be manifested in us. Let us celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and the heavenly birthday of Stephen, so that we make room for the birth of Jesus in us, and so that we may one day be born to the life of the resurrection.

Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.

25 December 2018 - born this day

Today's Readings (Mass During the Day)

(Audio)

Jesus is the Son of the Father from before all eternity. Before time began the Father never ceased to pour himself out entirely into Jesus.

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

This Son, born in the Father's heart before time, is born for us today in time. 

For to which of the angels did God ever say:
You are my son; this day I have begotten you?

All the prophets were leading up to this morning. The law itself meant to point us toward him.

In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways 
to our ancestors through the prophets; 
in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, 
whom he made heir of all things 
and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,

The baby in the manger is the word who became flesh. He comes to be near to us. He comes to win our hearts over with his love. But we must not be lost in mere sentimentality. Jesus in his mother's lap is indeed a beautiful sight. But Jesus, even as an infant, is worthy of worship. He gives himself completely so that we can have grace and truth. We in turn must come and kneel by the manger and offer all that we have and are.

What is happening before us is more than something that simply stirs our emotions, though he surely does that as well. This is the LORD, directly, before our eyes, restoring Zion. He does it by becoming a helpless infant. God's wisdom is making foolish the wisdom of the world. If God can do this can we not, for a little while, let go of our need to be in control? Can't we let allow the love of God to fully express itself and to embrace the world without the need of power to set right everything bothering us? Yes, the surrender of the Son to become an infant calls forth our own surrender as well.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

We surrender ourselves to the mercy of the Father and to the arms of Mary. Jesus makes us sons in his own Sonship and shows us the way.

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 
to those who believe in his name, 
who were born not by natural generation 
nor by human choice nor by a man's decision 
but of God.

24 December 2018 - the dawn from on high

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

The shadow of death surrounds us. The glowing light of dawn is on the horizon. Whose heart does not stir at the thought of this coming dawn? It will banish darkness that is not merely physical but spiritual.

We strain our eyes to see this hope drawing near. Already the world feels lighter, more livable. Already fear is being cast out.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

Unlike in the darkness where vague shadows strike terror in the hearts of the people, in the light things take on solidity. 

I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.

We begin to sense a place we can truly call home. This is the house of the Son of David, the Kingdom that shall endure forever before God. It is the coming of this king that lightens our horizon. To be near him is the fulfillment of all of our hope.

I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.

Jesus is the light of the world who shines in the darkness. The darkness can not comprehend or overcome him. He wants to banish the darkness from our hearts and from our world so that we can live without fear in the presence of God. What is the darkness in our own spheres of life into which we can invite Jesus as he dawns on the world this Christmas?

23 December 2018 - the new ark

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.

The one who is to be born in Bethlehem is coming. He is of David's line and so he comes from David's city. He will give himself to his people as the bread of life so he comes from the city whose name means house of bread.

Then he says, "Behold, I come to do your will."

Because Jesus is the one "whose origin is from of old, from ancient times" he is uniquely able to do the will of God. Because he comes forth, God from God, light from light, he is able to stand firm and shepherd his flock. Unlike all of the shepherds before him he has complete access to the strength of the LORD. He himself shares in the majestic name of the LORD.

It is the hope that this presence inspires that the yet unborn John senses and that Elizabeth interprets.

Blessed are you among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, 
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, 
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

The ark of the new covenant, containing the shekinah glory of God's presence comes to Elizabeth. This same presence is meant to fill us with hope this Christmas. We are meant to receive it and, having received it, because tabernacles of his presence ourselves. Let us come to the house of bread. Let us receive the presence of the royal king, the Son of David into our hearts. Let us brings his presence into a world of darkness that desperately longs for his light.

Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

22 December 2018 - filled with good things

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The LORD gives himself to us so that we can give ourselves back to him.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. 
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.

On our own our love is barren, unable to bear fruit. The LORD has a proven history of making desert lands fruitful. He wants to do so for us. That said, we must remember that the point of the fruit is not so much for the enjoyment of the tree from which it grows as for those who receive it. The LORD makes us yield an abundant harvest. We need to offer it back to him to use as he wills or else it will have no purpose but to fall to the ground and rot.

Mary knew that it was God who had given her the blessings that Elizabeth perceived in her. She did not accept to simply be praised as a beautiful tree with beautiful fruit. Rather she gave thanks to the one from whom all of her blessings flow. She praised the one from whom comes every good and perfect gift (see James 1:17)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.

Many of us stop here. We say thank you and then go our own way. But neither Hannah nor Mary would stop there. Rather they insisted that the fruit given by God would be given back to him and used by him for something greater still.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Hannah's fruit was multiplied because she didn't keep it for herself alone. Mary's fruit, because she selflessly offered Jesus back to God, became the fulfillment of all of the many promises of the Scriptures. 

So what are the gifts we have been given? Are we content to simply use them as a matter of convenience and to say an occasional thank you or do we rather actively and consciously seek to put them at the disposal of God? Do we ask him what he wants us to do with our fruit and then follow the guidance which he never fails to offer?

He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.

21 December 2018 - joyful expectation

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.

The LORD is near at hand. We need to have great expectations for what this coming means for us.

For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.

Is this too poetic? Are we still crushed with anxiety even after having read it? This anxiety is a symptom of the winter that the LORD is coming to change into spring. It is precisely our servitude to the world that gives it power over us. Jesus is coming to set us free. He comes to give us a different kind of peace than the world can offer.

O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice, 
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.

Most of us still have it backwards, trying first to sort out our normal life and fit Jesus in where we can. But this can never work. Jesus has to be the priority. We must seek first the kingdom. The world cannot give peace except in limited doses that keep us longing for more in what is fundamentally a relationship of addiction. But seeking Jesus first gives us all else besides.

Now is the time to seek Jesus first. It is precisely amidst the noise and haste that we most need him. If we put him first he won't abandon anyone we care about nor let our other obligations which truly matter collapse. But it might feel like any of that could happen when we surrender our lives to him. We must embrace trust in him. Let us look at Mary. She was not less about to serve because Jesus came first in her life, but more able.

Mary set out in those days
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth. 

Mary came, ostensibly, to help with the birth of a child. But what she actually brought to the situation was something that mattered so much more.

And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

Jesus dwelled in Mary's womb and so brought joy to Elizabeth and John. But now he dwells in the hearts of the baptized and longs to bring his joy to the world through us. If we fixate on the problems before who he is and who we are in him we prevent him from working in the way he wants.

The winter weather may continue outside. But the springtime of our souls, which may seem like an impossible hope, is near at hand. Let us believe it and expect it so that we can fully receive it.

Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.

20 December 2018 - may it be done

Today's Readings (Audio)

And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

Mary believed, but she did not believe the angel out of pride. And if she had been living a life "full of grace" we might well assume that would be a risk. If she was truly sinless, would it even occur to her to be troubled about the appearance of an angel?

But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Why was she troubled? She was troubled because the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. She was to be the Seat of Wisdom in human form. Fear of the LORD is a gift of the Holy Spirit who alone could have enabled her to be full of grace. Was it a servile fear? No. Was it a paranoid or anxious fear? No. It was precisely her full spirit becoming attentive to what God was doing at that moment. It was her absolute refusal to miss it or to mess it up through any selfishness on her part.

Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.

In meeting an angel fear is a normal human response. But it was not as is if the plan somehow depended on Mary's ability or skill. As always before, in this new thing too she was permitted to trust and allow God to have his way. Even in her trust she still needed to know more in order to fully be available to what God wanted to do. And so she asked.

How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.

Not that this answered all questions. But it was enough. Trusting in God's plan allowed her to remain in the peace of God, and to fully receive the peace the angel spoke to her.

Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
Then the angel departed from her.

The balance between trust and doubt seems precarious. Ahaz didn't quite get it right.

But Ahaz answered,
"I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!"

Trust is not burying one's head in the sand and ignoring what the LORD is doing. Nor is it demanding proof of his power as does Zechariah. Trust is precisely what Mary shows. She is not afraid to get those details which she needs and to leave the rest to God.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?

She will speak her fiat in us if we ask her. It is not a fiat of fear, but one which sees a world of difficult circumstances and still realizes "nothing will be impossible for God."

19 December 2018 - in solemn stillness waits

Today's Readings (Audio)

Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard. 

Sometimes we're just fulfilling what we perceive to be our duties to God and yet suddenly things get real. Zechariah burned incense according to the schedule. The incense was an offering to God. Yet he did not expect an angel to stand before him. This is similar to how we go to mass without expecting to be changed. His mind was still weighed down by earthly things. Because of this, even seeing Gabriel wasn't quite enough to shake him from his typical way of thinking.

"How shall I know this? 
For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." 

When an angel appears or we receive a message from God we should be able to take him at his word. We may ask for details of the how of the plan but we ought not require evidence of the possibility thereof. Yet we do. Our words bring with them all of the presuppositions of this world and the habits and priorities of our daily lives. We often speak, in fact, as if angels do not have power to bring about miracles in our lives. If this describes us than we need to silence that sort of speaking until words of faith become primary and definitive.

But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary.

This silence is not primarily punishment. It is designed to give space for the seed of God to grow and to take root without being choked out. It is ordered to ensuring the the word of God is what defines what we say, think, and do. If other thoughts try to enter we don't give them room to do so. We take them captive to Christ (see Second Corinthians 10:5). One of the first doubts we may have to destroy is that this is in fact possible. Yet, Scripture tells us it is.

But he said to me,
'You will be with child and will bear a son. 
So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. 
For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb,
until the day of his death.'"

Let us learn to trust God's message to us, just as does the mother of Samson. If we don't see an angel today, we nevertheless have an even more direct account of the promises of God to us (to us specifically) in his word. We ourselves are meant to be consecrated to God just like Samson, not receiving what is unclean, and separated from sin. This begins with our thoughts and speech agreeing with God's word about what is in fact sin and from there that overcoming it is possible. Instead of asking, 'How can this be?' from a place of doubt we can ask 'How will this be?' from a place of excitement and hope. This is the difference between the response of the Virgin and the response of Zechariah.

On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength. 

18 December 2018 - the name given

Today's Readings (Audio)

Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

We must not be afraid to welcome Mary into our hearts as well. She is accused of being one sinner among many, but the angel constantly vindicates her. She is full of grace. She is overshadowed by the Spirit through whom her child is conceived.

Joseph shows us how to trust. He shows us how to believe God even when to do so is not our natural or first response. Through him we see how to welcome God's plan of salvation given to us through Mary.

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.

Joseph is the first one to learn the name above every other name (see Philippians 2:9) besides which there is no other name given under heaven by which we may be saved (see Acts 4:12). It is because he first pronounces this name in fidelity to the angels that we are able to call upon it now. 

In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell in security.
This is the name they give him:
“The LORD our justice.”

Jesus is savior. He is therefore our justice. He is therefore the one who brings back all the exiles from the land of their banishment. He brings the children exiled from the garden to a new and better paradise.

As the LORD lives,
who brought the descendants of the house of Israel
up from the land of the north”– 
and from all the lands to which I banished them;
they shall again live on their own land.

This name is not spoken into the darkness and heard at a distance. Rather, Jesus is born precisely to be with us, to be near to us in a way which is entirely new even for the omnipresent divinity.

All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

And he remains with us, even unto the end of the age (see Matthew 28:20). He is near to rescue the poor when he cries out and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. Because his time is at hand true justice and fullness of peace are possible. In our world, in this busy season, they do not always seem possible. Even so, the Savior is able to do these things. He wants to begin within our hearts.

17 December 2018 - more than myth

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. 
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

There are many reasons why the genealogy of Christ is important, although it is easy to pay it little attention. Firstly, it shows us, that unlike mythological figures, Jesus is a person of history. He was born at a specific moment in time, in the "fullness of time" (see Galatian 4:4) as Paul tells us. Because Jesus is more than myth he was able to be what no myth could be. Coming at a specific moment from a specific lineage he was able to fulfill the promises God gave through the holy prophets. Jesus was able to bring the blessings first promised to Abraham because. After so many failed kings of Israel, after so many conquests, Jesus was the "horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David" as Zechariah prophesied. He was and remains the king from between whose legs the mace or scepter shall never depart.

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his legs,
While tribute is brought to him,
and he receives the people’s homage.

This same truth is what Gabriel declares to Mary.

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (see Luke 1:32-33).

The genealogy also shows that human agency plays a role in salvation. God chooses to work through men and women, sometimes deeply flawed, to achieve supernatural results. We look at the genealogy and we must see grace at work, for Jesus is more than the sum of any good genetics he inherited. Yet he, having descended from them, is truly man. We would think that on the one hand God's salvation might happen from a distance, untainted by man. Or that contrarily, he might perfect mankind over the course of ages so that his smooth and unencumbered entrance might bring forth salvation. But it is not quite either of these. Rather than remaining at either distance he becomes involved personally and immediately in history. He does so in a way that brings him shockingly close to mankind. He becomes Emmanuel, whose name means God with us.

Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

16 December 2018 - the joy that sustains us

Today's Readings (Audio)

Now the people were filled with expectation, 
and all were asking in their hearts 
whether John might be the Christ.

The people are filled with expectation for the coming of the Christ just as we are supposed to be. In this season is particularly easy to misdirect our expectations to something other than God. It is easy to set them on all the good and necessary things surrounding family and worship that this season entails. But John is not content to have us look at anything other than the Christ for our fulfillment.

I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John himself is definitely concerned about all of the things that go into preparing our hearts for Jesus. He tells us how to live in charity and justice. Yet Christmas is always more than the sum of our preparations. Even if we host great parties, pray more frequently than usual, give good gifts to our friends and charity to the poor the grace of Christmas is more than a sum of these parts. We tend to view Christmas as something achieved once a year and then set aside until the next Advent. But God in our midst changes everything forever.

The LORD has removed the judgment against you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.

If we were approaching this Christmas without the grace of the incarnation we would probably be overwhelmed by worry and anxiety. But now, even now, we remember that God is in our midst. This means that what we are doing is not repeating an annual occurrence but rather entering more deeply into something that always is. Because this is so, we need not be anxious and fearful. The LORD is in our midst. He makes it possible for us to rejoice. Indeed, it is so possible that he commands it.

Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!

Now the good and appropriate things we do to get ready for Christmas take on a new dimension, based on the LORD who is already near.

Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.

Now even the most rigorous preparations need not deprive us of our peace.

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, 
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding 
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We might have trouble believing this, but perhaps some memories of Christmases past can bring to mind the extent to which joy and peace our possible. Because the LORD has been our savior we can be confident that this trip to the well of salvation will not be onerous but instead filled with songs of praise.

Most reassuring of all is that God himself longs to sing this song of joy over us, with us, and indeed from within our very hearts.

The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

15 December 2018 - missed messages

Today's Readings (Audio)

He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.

Who are the messengers we're missing, because they don't meet our expectations? For example, if we were expecting Elijah to come again it is likely we would fixate on the miraculous, the droughts and the fires that resulted from his words. We might miss the one who truly was turning the hearts of fathers back toward their sons, who truly was re-establishing the tribes of Jacob in righteousness.

You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you 
and who falls asleep in your friendship.

We must not try to fit the miraculous into a mold. It will never conform to our preconceptions about it. The risk is twofold. We either make assumptions and then are disappointed or deny the miraculous all together, thwarting God's desire to display his power through us. Like all else, the miraculous is added when we seek first the Kingdom. In our intercessory prayer or focus is not on the how but on the what. We leave the how fully in God's hands, even if that means he works through what seem to be entirely naturally means, or if he chooses to do something entirely beyond human comprehension.

The Wise Men followed a star. The shepherds heard angels glorifying God. We too must remain open and watchful so that we don't miss the specific ways in which God reveals himself to us. They are highly individual. These varied ways are the how. But the what is the same for all of us. Jesus himself, lying in the manger, is our destination. Preachers like John the Baptist help us prepare our hearts for him. Anything from which this preparation results is actually more miraculous than the mighty deeds that enchant us.

Our goal must be to welcome the messengers God sends to help us prepare. Miracles are often attendant with them, but not always. This is where we must be open but not fixate. Only in Jesus can our hearts truly fixate and find rest.

May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.

14 December 2018 - trust the music

St John of the Cross

Today's Readings (Audio)

I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.

We harbor secret doubts that what the LORD commands is really for our good. Of course, we never say that out loud. We accept the commands and struggle to apply them in our lives. But all the while we undermine ourselves but not really believing that are meant for our benefit.

"To what shall I compare this generation? 
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.' 

We really want to preserve the status quo in our lives. We don't want to be called onward, upward, to higher places. But our call is an upward call (see Philippians 3:14). This means that we need to let our dancing and our mourning be brought into harmony by the flute and the dirge of God. Our desires and our actions are still not properly ordered and we need the music of God to order them.

Our sorrows are too selfish. Even our joys are too narrow. The LORD is calling us to a bigger world. It is good to value that which has value. It is bad to value that which does not really have value. We must learn to trust in the music of God. We must learn that what he is showing us is not for his benefit but for our own. His law exists not because he is arbitrary or cruel but because he wants us to live the best lives we can. His soundtrack for our lives is more fitting than the ones we try to impose.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

The LORD may be calling us to greater fasting or greater feasting at a given moment. But whichever it is, his calling is better than choosing either of them on our own apart from him. Let us listen. He is drawing us into a dance. 

But wisdom is vindicated by her works.

13 December 2018 - greater than John

Today's Readings (Audio)

I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, "Fear not,
I will help you.

With God's help we enter the Kingdom of heaven. This makes us at least the least in the Kingdom, which according to Jesus, makes us greater than John the Baptist. Yet John seemed more impressive than most members of the Kingdom we know. His preaching was dramatic and caused a movement of repentance. He and his followers were among the first who attempted to take the Kingdom by force. That force was used to choose to seek God rather than gratifying the desires of the flesh. Yet we ourselves rarely seek God so vigorously. We seldom proclaim his coming. In what sense are we greater than John?

We have not yet fully arrived. It is more true to say that those who have gone on to eternal rest are, because of their union of God, greater than John. Yet even now we share in something of this greatness because God has already united himself to us in Jesus Christ.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

If we do not do the mighty deeds of John it isn't because we lack the potential. Indeed Jesus told his followers they would do greater deeds than even he himself (see John 14:12). The trouble with us is that we often choose to live from our old man, the residual sinful self that remains even in Christians. We need the advice of Paul, "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds" (see Ephesians 4:22-23). We are called to seek the Kingdom of heaven even if it means doing violence to that old self. Paul is very familiar with the active intensity by which we are called to seek God.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (see Romans 8:13).

..and again..

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (see First Corinthians 9:27)

Though of course this violence and force is not human strength. All such strength originates from the old self that needs to die. This new grace comes from the life of the Spirit within us who enables us to live in a new and better way. It is therefore not a trial or an imposition to be zealous but is rather the only way to live with the peace and fullness of life that God desires for each of us.

But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

12 December 2018 - juan to imitate

Today's Readings (Audio)

Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Mary continues to come to us with blessings. Those blessings are always the same as the infant in her womb in whose presence John rejoiced in the womb of Elizabeth. Mary is the true ark of the covenant who brings the presence of Jesus to us. She is able to bless us and the world in this way because of her faith.

Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.

She believed the angel when he told her what would happen.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.

She did not understand everything. She asked the angel for clarification. Yet that clarification couldn't remove all mystery from what would follow. Even having heard that the Holy Spirit would be involved and that miracles were indeed possible for God she did not have a full basis to accept what would happen by her rational understanding. It was ultimately her humility, faith, and obedience that agreed to the part God chose for her in salvation history.

Mary wants us to learn from her the way to respond to God in faith. She wants this because she delights to bring the presence of her son anywhere he is welcome. Since the way that Jesus comes to be born in our hearts is through our response of faith Mary wants to nourish this response in us by her example and by her irrefusable prayers at the throne of Christ.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

She appears, as she did in Guadalupe, not for her own glory, but that the world might know her son. She longs for Jesus to reign in the hearts of brothers and sisters throughout the world. We witness in Juan Diego the lengths to which she will go to accomplish this. Mary works through humble people like Juan Diego to make Christ known. If we are humble and open she will work through us as well.

Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

11 December 2018 - more than most

Today's Readings (Audio)

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray? 

Would we go and search for the lost sheep? Would we not look around us thinking that the ninety-nine were good enough and that we could afford to lose one? Yet God's heart is not easily sated. He longs for each of us not simply the majority. When we gather at his Eucharistic table he rejoices over those who come but his heart is moved for those who still stray.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (see Luke 19:10). He wants this to be the desire of our hearts as well. He wants to raise up in us prophetic voices like the voice of Isaiah.

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out

And what are the tidings we are to cry out? They are the tidings of the joy of Christmas! They announce that the shepherd truly has come to seek out all the strays.

and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

There is more joy in finding the lost one than in the ninety-nine that did not stray. This is a similar situation to the prodigal who experienced afresh the joy of his father's love whereas the elder took it for granted. Whether we have strayed or not we can experience the utterly surprising immensity of the Father's love for us. We can experience the full joy of heaven.

They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.

10 December 2018 - carry overs

Today's Readings (Audio)

And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.

None of us come before the LORD on by solely our own strength. Even when it seems that way historically we know that there were countless prayers of strangers that helped us. We know that angels fought to give us the chance at freedom. Indeed the angelic hosts and the prayers of the Church are also vital to sustain us, lest we be overcome. We don't like to think of ourselves as spiritually paralyzed. But God delights to involve us in the salvation of our brothers and sisters. He does not mind that we ourselves are too weak to come before him as long as we get there in the end. And this he provides for with the vast cloud of witnesses who surround us, the angelic hosts that protect us, and the prayers of others that sustain us.

None of us can now say that we cannot come before Jesus. We may be too weak on our own, but the path has been opened for us. We hear the words of the prophet giving us the strength we do not have on our own.

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!

All of us are responsible for our brothers and sisters. We cannot disclaim responsibility for anyone. Like the men who brought the paralytic we must bring all we can before Jesus for healing and for forgiveness. And we may need to be creative and finding a way to reach him.

But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus. 

Jesus is not only a healer. He is not one among many. He alone, being God, can forgive sins. Because sin is the most fundamental problem of our world he is the only one who can transform it. He alone can turn the desert of our world into verdant land. He alone turns the burning sands into pools "and the thirsty ground, springs of water". He himself clears the highway, "called the holy way". He himself gives us the strength and the wisdom to follow it.

They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.

Jesus may seem distant but he is not. There are so many people fighting to bring us near to him. And they will succeed unless we frustrate them with obstinate hearts which refuse to be carried.

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD –for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.