|
 |
|
Homilies are posted no later than during the week
prior to the Sunday they are needed |
|
|
3 Advent
|
Third
Sunday of Advent - Cycle C
Luke 3:10-18
An elderly person in Kansas City went each day to the newspaper box on
the corner. She placed her money in the slot, opened the door, and took
as many newspapers as were there. Finally she was caught. The charge
was that she was selling the papers. She was acquitted. In fact, she
was taking them back to her home to use as fuel. She wanted to remember
what warmth felt like for a few moments each day.
One third of our fellow citizens in the United States are either badly
fed or living in sub-standard housing or wearing rags. Sometimes they
suffer from all three afflictions. The situation deteriorates daily.
Our privately funded Soup Kitchens are sometimes literally running out
of soup. Incidentally, contrary to popular prejudice, the majority of
our poor are white and they are children.
We Americans have the capability to watch a comet strike Jupiter, but
we have failed to give an old woman in Kansas City fuel for her house.
Why should this tale of woe excite us this third Sunday in Advent?
After all, we can already see beautifully wrapped gifts and bright
Christmas trees. The answer is to be found in today's Gospel. It grabs
us rudely by the throat and reminds us that ours is a social Gospel. It
is not merely a question of God and me but rather God, me, and the
other person. This is so especially when the other fellow is going down
for the third time.
Many Catholics charge that the Church, priests, and religious are
oftentimes off the mark. This is true the charge goes whenever they
speak or act on the nitty gritty matters of, say, economic questions.
The Church many parishioners say should confine itself to the
enunciation of general moral principles and guidelines.
Unhappily for these critics no one bothered to share their program with
John the Baptizer or John the Disturber, as James Tahaney calls him, in
today's Gospel.
What can be more explicit about moral questions than the three answers
given by John to questions put to him?
One section of his audience asked him, "What must we do then?" In
answer he said, "If anyone has two overcoats, he must share with the
man who has none, and the one with an extra loaf of bread must do the
same." John the Disturber is not telling his audience to give away all
they have. Rather, he is advising them to give out of their surplus.
Then it is the tax collectors' turn. "Master, what must we do?" His
answer was swift, "Do not rob taxpayers blind."
Finally the military. "What about us?" John continues on a roll,
"Hold no kangaroo courtmartials. Do not shake anyone down."
This advice from this Jewish holy man can hardly be called the general
principles of morality. Rather, the Disturber is crossing the "ts" and
dotting the "is."
A spiritual director at a seminary was admiringly nicknamed John the
Baptist by the students. He not only lived like the Baptizer but also
he spoke like him to them. Would anyone be tempted to give us such a
nickname? I fear not.
St Paul endorses the advice of the Disturber. He is writing to the
small Christian colony at Philippi in Greece. It had been founded by
Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, and so its
name. Paul writes, "Let your generosity be manifest to all."
As a matter of fact, this advice to be generous with a five dollar bill
is a broken record in the letters of Paul. One finds the advice not
only here but also in his letters to the Romans, Galatians, Hebrews,
and in both letters to the Corinthians. Paul did not confine himself to
enunciating the general principles of ethical conduct.
Rather, he was taking direct aim at the checkbooks of his followers. No
doubt they were making as many moans about Paul of Tarsus as we do when
people ask us for the poor. The human condition is the human condition
no matter what the century.
But do keep in mind that Advent is designed to give a serious
electrical shock to one's spiritual nervous system. It is true that
Jesus cannot be born again, but, as Tahaney notes, we can. And that
really is what Advent is all about. It is unabashedly demanding, again
in Tahaney's well chosen language, that we give birth to our best
selves.
|
|
http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
3 Advent
|
Third Advent: What Should We Do?
It
was just so exciting. The people who heard John the Baptist could
feel the dynamism of his words. More than that, they were
told that they would not just be witnesses to the things that were
about to happen. They were told that they would be an intimate
part of these events. Not the so called religious elite of their
day, not the Pharisees and scribes and Temple priests, but they,
everyday people, were entrusted with the message that the world was
being renewed, the message that the Christ was coming.
“What should we do?” they asked the prophet John, the Baptizer
John. “What should we do?”
He
told them that going through the motions of religion would not be good
enough. Maintaining the status quo of their society would not be
good enough. Their lives had to change. They needed to care
for the poor and the hungry. The tax collectors were told to be
honest. The soldiers were told to stop bullying people.
Everyone was told to live his or her life sincerely, honestly,
compassionately.
What
should we do? How should we react to this burning within us, this
presence of Jesus. The exercise of Advent is to place ourselves
in the days before the Lord, but that is really not possible.
Jesus has already come. He is here, in this Church. He is
here, in our hearts. What should we do when we are on fire with
the Lord?
I
ask myself that question this Advent because the presence of Christ
means more to me than ever before in my life. I am sure most of
you also feel the same way. So, what should we do? What should I
do?
First of all, we have to stop acting as though worshiping God was a
boring routine, a chore that had to be completed to get into heaven. We
worship God because we need Him, not because He needs us. We are
united to Him to protect us from the moral diseases of our fallen
world. More than that, better than that, we are united to Him
because we really love the Lord.
Second, we have to stop belittling ourselves, thinking that we are not
good enough to proclaim Jesus Christ. So many of our people do
this. Many of you drop your children off for religious education
or youth ministry and let the parish usurp the role of parents as first
teachers in the ways of the faith. Many of you say, “Who am I to
speak about God to my children? I have not always been a good
Christian.” Allow me to remind you who you are. You are children
of God, created in His Image and Likeness and redeemed by His
Blood. You are people whom God loves. And just as a loving
Father or Mother looks at their children and sees that spouse they love
so much, God looks at your children and sees you and sees me, people He
loves so very much.
God
does not give up on us. We can’t give up on ourselves. If
we need it, God will provide us with the sacrament of forgiveness,
penance, but we do not have the right to belittle
ourselves. We are to proclaim that Christ is coming. We are to
prepare the way of the Lord. God is calling on us all to speak about
His Presence and His Love to our children, to our Teens, our neighbors,
our families and friends, and even to strangers. We can do this,
and we must do this.
“Oh,
that’s easy for you to say, Father. You’ve had years and years of
education in theology. I don’t know enough about the faith to
teach others.” I sincerely doubt that. Many of you know the
faith and morals extremely well. But even if you are not all that
familiar with this or that teaching, you still know the
fundamentals of Catholicism. You know that God loves you.
You know that God is with you. You know that there are times that
you have to call on Him for special support, to carry you through
crises. You love Him, and He loves you. You have all the
knowledge you need to proclaim Jesus Christ.
What
else do we need to do to proclaim the Presence of the Lord? John the
Baptist makes it clear that we proclaim the Kingdom in the way we treat
others. You folks have been wonderful in the way that you have
reached out to the poor of our area in the Advent Giving Tree, in your
continual support for our Pregnancy Center, our Community Life
Ministry, Caritas Ministry, and so forth. Whenever there is a
special collection, you are generous. When the parish has a need,
I just have to hint, and you respond. These are important ways of
ushering the Messiah into people’s life.
There are even more fundamental actions we need to take, though.
We need to treat others justly. We need to treat others with
dignity. We need to treat others with respect, respect for our
children, respect for our parents, respect for our women. We need
to be loving. We need to be compassionate. We need to be
forgiving.
The
world is not a kind place. Be it in business, in school, in the
neighborhood, or even in families, people are continually looking for
ways to knock others down, and to step on their fallen bodies,
their destroyed reputations. This cannot be our way, the way of
people who proclaim Jesus Christ. We treat others with justice and
dignity and respect because Christ loves us and loves them. We
cannot sacrifice the Love of the Lord for temporary, and, in fact,
immoral gain.
We
need to be loving, not in a syrupy way, but loving in a Christian way,
a sacrificial way. We become Christ-like when we put the needs of
others before our wants and even before our needs. This may mean
visiting someone who has lost a loved one and who is now hurting deeply
at Christmas. Maybe we went to the wake or funeral. That
might have seemed hard at the time, but it is harder now to support
those who are hurting and be exposed once again to their pain when you
and I want to laugh and celebrate Jesus’ birth. But others need
us. Their needs are more important than our wants. We need
to be loving as Christ was loving.
We
also need to be compassionate and forgiving. It is amazing how
the one part of our brain that always functions at full capacity is the
“Grudge Center”. We may forget all sorts of things, but we always
remember hurt feeling, nasty words, and unjustified
attacks. The grudge center doesn’t do us any good. It just
keeps bad memories alive. Many people who have hurt us want to
come back into our lives. Cards or gifts are often their way of
saying, “Please let me back in.” We proclaim the Lord’s Presence in our
lives and in our world by letting go of the past and letting God’s love
and compassion and forgiveness accompany someone into our heart not
just at Christmas but throughout the year.
“What should we do? Christmas is upon us. How can we
prepare the world for the Kingdom of God? We should rejoice. We
should live our lives in the joy of the Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord,
always, I say it again, rejoice!” Paul’s words to the Philippians in
our second reading, the Rose Candle and Vestments for this Sunday,
remind us that we are people of joy. We need to provide others
with examples of our joy. That is how we can help others prepare
for the Kingdom.
After all, joy is contagious.
|
|
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see
Spanish homilies
3 Advent
|
Joy
as a Duty
(December 13, 2009)
Bottom line: St. Paul presents joy, constant joy, as not just a good
thing, but as a duty. St. John shows the three basic steps to joy.
This Sunday we lit the third candle of our Advent Wreath. You probably
noticed that it has a different color: rose, instead of violet or
purple. The rose color signifies "rejoicing."
St. Paul tells us to "rejoice in the Lord always." He doesn't say,
"rejoice when things go your way." Or "rejoice when you are feeling
good." No, he simply says, "rejoice always." Before saying how this is
possible, I would like to first address why it is necessary for a
Christian to always rejoice.
St. Paul himself gives the reason in the second sentence: "Your
kindness should be known to all." Inner joy leads to kindness.* The
person who goes around sullen, angry and bitter has a hard time
treating others with kindness. On the contrary, the angry person often
treats others harshly. St. Paul presents joy, constant joy, as not just
a good thing, but as a duty. Rejoice always, he says.
Today's Gospel outlines the steps to joy. When people asked St. John
the Baptist what they must do, he gives some surprising advice. You
might expect that he would tell people to put on sack cloth and join
him in the desert. But he doesn't. He gives very ordinary advice: Share
with the person who has less, don't cheat, tell the truth, no false
accusations, find satisfaction in what you have.
You could get the same advice from the Buddha, Socrates, Lao-Tse or any
good teacher. John is not inventing new moral precepts. He speaks from
the universal moral law - a law "written in the human heart." All of us
know the moral law because we have something in us called a
"conscience." Quoting the Second Vatican Council, the Catechism gives
this description of conscience:
"Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid
upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to
love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at
the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by
God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary.
There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths." (1776)
The first step to joy is to obey one's conscience. I'm not talking here
about some anemic undestanding of conscience: whatever I happen to feel
is right.** I'm talking about conscience in the true sense - the law
God has written on our hearts. We usually only need to be reminded, as
John does today.
Even non-believers know the connection between conscience and
happiness. The Roman philosopher, Seneca, said, "The foundation of true
joy is in the conscience."*** A troubled conscience, with all its
self-deception and deception of others, destroys peace. Obedience to
conscience, to the moral law, brings tranquility - and joy
So, a peaceful conscience is the first and fundamental step to joy. A
second step follows. It involves, as St. John shows us, finding one's
place in the order of things. God has a specific plan for each person.
We were not created randomly or accidently, but for a purpose. Each
must discover his place in God's order. As much as people lionized
John, as much as they flocked to him, John acknowledged someone much
greater than himself. In that sense he was very different from Satan.
Lucifer tried to exalt himself, even to a divine level - and he wound
up the most miserable creature. John humbled himself, "one mightier
than I is coming..." Joy not only involves recognizing those who are
greater - and ultimately the One who is greatest. You can express this
second step in single word: humility.
The third step is the most difficult for many of us: patience. St. John
is the great teacher of patience. His entire ministry was one of
patient waiting. He awaited the Messiah. He knew that he couldn't
construct a paradise here on earth. Lasting happiness can only come
from God. You and I spend so much time trying to create our own
happiness. John teaches that joy comes from patient waiting on the
Lord.
I'd like to sum up and to suggest that you use this summary as a
preparation for confession. We will have our Advent Penance Service
this Friday. To prepare yourself, ask how you are doing in relation to
joy: Are you striving for joy in the right way: by a good conscience,
by humility and by patience? Is your joy made evident in your kindness
- not isolated acts, but a constant, deep-rooted practice? Even with
your family - when no one else is looking?
With that in mind, here is a summary. This is what I want you to take
home: Rejoice always. Joy is a Christian duty. It enables us to treat
others with deep kindness. St. John teaches the basic steps to joy:
First, obeying one's conscience, that is, strive to keep the moral law.
Second, humility: Find your proper place in the order of things - above
all, in relation to God. Third, practice patient waiting - joy comes
God, not our meager efforts. Three things, then: Good conscience,
humility and patience.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice. Your
kindness should be known to all."
************
*Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa points out that the Greek word translated as
"kindness" means much more than being a "nice guy." Besides common
courtesy (which is not always so common) the word means "the capacity
to know when to accede to others y show oneself amiable...to be
welcoming and tolerant," even to those who irritate. Kindness - in the
full sense of the word - has diminished today. Fr. Cantalamessa
illustrates how the media have coarsened us with all its gratuitous sex
and violence. (see Echad Las Redes, Reflexiones sobre los Evangelios,
Ciclo C) Anyone who uses email knows how people will type things they
would never say in a face-to-face conversation or write out in a
letter. If an email has enfuriated me, I try to wait several days
before responding. But it is even better to work on the joy that
banishes anger.
**"I have my truth, you have your truth." This mindless slogan (which,
when push comes to shove, no one really believes) has given people a
convenient way to reject Church teaching. By and large, they not
seriously studied the teaching they brush aside in the name of
"conscience."
C.S. Lewis gave a dramatic example of distorted conscience: "Of all
tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims
may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber
barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's
cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be
satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us
without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
***Lewis also saw conscience as clue to God's existence. In one of his
most famous quotes, he said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone
to rouse a deaf world."
General Intercessions for Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle C (from Priests
for Life)
Spanish Version
|
|
http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
3 Advent
|
Background:
The Christmas stories in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke
are not meant to be literal history, like, let us say, detailed
descriptions of the Battle of Gettysburg. Rather they are theological
stories designed to tell us that with the birth of Jesus a new phase of
the history of humankind had begun. The stories may not be true in all
their details but they are True in the sense that they disclose to us a
sudden, dramatic, and total transformation in the human condition.
As John Shea says in his book Starlight, we discover at
Christmas, not only the light that is God and the light that Jesus came
to bring to the world, but the light that is and has always been in us
because we are creatures who share in the light of God, beings in whom
the spark of God's light and love has always shone.
Christmas reveals to us that like Mary and Joseph we too can be
the light of the world and that indeed our own frail and often dim
lights are not completely discontinuous from the light of Jesus, from
the starlight that shone at Bethlehem.
Story:
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Jeanne Marie who
was afraid of the dark. She wouldn’t go to sleep at night unless all
the lights in her room were on. You couldn’t never tell, she argued,
who’d sneak into her room at night if it were dark. She absolutely
refused to go into her closet because, like the boy in comics several
years ago, she thought monsters might lurk in the closet especially at
night. She claimed that she could hear the monsters talking about what
they were going to do to her. Although she like snow, she hated winter
because it was dark so much of the time. She didn’t like to go off to
the country for vacation because there were no street lights and the
dark was very scary indeed. The monsters who had hidden in her closet
now wandered the streets of the summer village and lurked in the woods.
She was frightened when she went to the movies because the theaters
were too dark. Her mother said to her once aren’t you old enough now
not to be afraid of the dark. She said, no, the older she got the more
reasons she should think of for being afraid of the dark.
She came home from school one day with the story of the midnight
sun in Sweden in the summer. Lets live there, she said. But in the
winter the sun hardly ever shines there, her mommy said. Well, where
does it go. To the South Pole. Well, lets live there. It’s too cold. I
don’t care, so long as it’s not dark. Then one day her mommy and daddy
took her to midnight Mass in the church. It was totally dark inside.
Jeanne Marie was terrified. Then the priest flicked the switch and the
church was filled with light. Oh, said Jeanne Marie, it’s so pretty.
Light always comes on, doesn’t it mommy? If you wait long enough.
|
|
http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
3 Advent
|
Dec,
13, 2009
Luke 3: 10-18
Campion P. Gavaler, O.S.B.
Third Sunday of Advent
Gospel Summary
Immediately preceding this passage, Luke tells us that the word of God
had come upon John the Baptist in the desert. John then began to
proclaim the coming of the Lord: all flesh would at last see the
salvation of God. John also proclaimed the necessity of turning from
evil in repentance in order to prepare for the Lord's coming.
The crowds ask, "What should we do?" John replies that whoever has two
cloaks or food should share with the person who has none. Tax
collectors should not collect more than what is prescribed. Soldiers
should not practice extortion or falsely accuse anyone, and they should
be satisfied with their wages. The people are filled with expectation,
wondering whether John might be the Messiah. John responds that one
mightier than he will come, and will baptize with the Holy Spirit and
fire. John warns that when the Messiah comes, he will gather the wheat
into his barn, and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Life Implications
We will celebrate with gratitude the Lord's coming among us in the past
on Christmas. Advent, however, is a time to affirm our faith that the
Lord's coming is also a present and future reality for which we must
prepare. We too ask, "What should we do?" The ordinary-ness of John's
reply to our question is surprising: share what you have with those who
have nothing; do your job without cheating or telling lies; be
satisfied with what you earn.
Someone asked Saint Philip Neri (who happened to be playing cards at
the time) what he would do if he learned that his death was imminent.
Philip Neri replied that he would continue playing cards. The best
preparation for the Lord's coming at any moment is to be doing what we
ought to be doing. In the words of the old Shaker hymn: "'Tis a gift to
be simple, 'Tis a gift to be free, 'Tis a gift to come down where we
ought to be."
There is also a surprising ordinary-ness about the Lord's coming -- the
divine presence does not force itself upon us with bells and whistles.
When Jesus did come as Messiah, most people did not recognize him
because he did not meet their expectations. Would God allow the Messiah
to be defeated and disgraced by dying on a cross like a criminal?
Advent thus is also a season to ask for the grace to be freed from
false expectations about the Lord's coming into our lives.
Perhaps the most ordinary and most surprising way of all that the Lord
comes to us is in the reality of the Present Moment. Each moment
becomes a sacrament of divine presence if we say in faith, "It is the
Lord." It is thus possible to bless the Lord at all times because every
moment without exception is a grace of divine, self-giving love to us.
The Lord is with us even in those tragic moments beyond understanding
that seem to be without meaning. Life either has no meaning at all, or
has total meaning because the Lord is present in all its moments.
Saint Paul tells us the wonderful life-implications of trust in the
Lord's presence at every moment in all the circumstance of our lives:
"Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give
thanks...Have no anxiety at all...Then the peace of God that surpasses
all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (1
Thes 5:16-18 and Phil 4:6-7).
Campion P. Gavaler, OSB
|
|
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
3 Advent
|
Third
Sunday of Advent
Zephaniah 3, 14-18; Isaiah 12, 2-3. 4. 5-6; Philippians 4, 4-7; St.
Luke 3, 10-18
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, "Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico,
gaudete. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice."
What kind of rejoicing can come from hearing St. John's description of
the coming of the Messiah? "...he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his
threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the
chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."(Jn 3: 16-17) And yet, St.
Luke tells us we are to welcome this news as good: "So with other
exhortations, he preached good news to the people." (Jn 3: 18) John's
preaching about the judgment, that some souls might be lost, can hardly
be considered "good news"; unless it is the truth.
The truth, however difficult though it may be for us to hear, is always
good news. St. John lays bare the truth about the sins of the people,
the tax collectors and the soldiers, instructing them as to how to
correct their lives. This is good news, though painful to hear, for it
will bring repentance, conversion and healing. Rejoicing will follow,
for those who amend their lives enjoy God's mercy unto everlasting
life. It is the truth which is the "Good News".
Today on Gaudete, or "rejoice", Sunday we remember that though our
lives are marked by waiting and watching, by penance and prayer, we are
yet people of joy. Our joy is a gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit,
given to us in fullest measure, that we may love God. "The love of God
has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us." Joy is not possible unless one receives the Spirit's gift of
divine charity.
The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity,
which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; (Col 3:14) it is
the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among
themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice.
Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it
to the supernatural perfection of divine love. (CCC 1827)
We rejoice because we are secure in the knowledge of the love of God
who has truly revealed himself as our Father through the gift of his
only-begotten Son at Bethlehem.
St. John foretells the coming of the Incarnate God who is Judge and
Lord. The people, stricken with fear at St. John's message, ask him,
"What are we to do?" He instructs them to live in charity: give a coat
to him who has none, share your food, act with justice. These are the
fruits of the virtue of charity.
The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands
beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters
reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship
and communion. (CCC 1829) The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that
the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The
tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness,
modesty, self-control, chastity.' (Gal 5:22-23) (CCC 1832)
Heaven, the union of all the saints and holy angels with the Triune
God, is the only place of unending and complete joy. Hope of heaven,
together with faith and charity, are the virtues by which the Holy
Spirit enables us to rejoice with authentic joy flowing from and
leading toward the Trinity.
We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those
who love him and do his will. (Cf. Rom 8: 28-30; Mt 7:21) In every
circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to
persevere "to the end" (Mt 10:22; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1541.) and
to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works
accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for
"all men to be saved." (1 Tim 2:4) She longs to be united with Christ,
her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven. (CCC 1821)
The virtue of hope flows from true charity, bringing rejoicing,
enabling us to begin to anticipate, here on earth, the love of heaven.
The life of charity enables us to look toward the second coming with
joy. St. Teresa of Avila teaches Christian joy made possible through
hope in God's mercy for eternal and unending joy:
Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch
carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience
makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long
one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that
you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your
Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end. (CCC 1821)
Let's pray for each other until, next week, we "meet Christ in the
liturgy", Father Cusick
(See also nos. 535, 696, 2447 in the CCC.)
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mictl/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Micah 5: 1-4a; Psalm 80: 2-3, 15-16,.18-19; Hebrews 10: 5-10; St. Luke
1. 39-45
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our Advent meditations devolve in great part around our Lady, she who
all generations have called "blessed," she who does not "know man"
because of her vow of perpetual virginity, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Why, many today ask, does she take such a great role in the life of the
Church? Should not Christ alone, "in whom are all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge", suffice?
The Church honors Mary in obedience to her Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
can truly be Lord only for those who keep all of his commands, who
proclaim all of his Gospel in all of its parts. Our Lord has entrusted
his Body, the Church, to Mary as Mother when from the Cross, with his
dying words he said, "Behold your Mother."
By God's will and plan our Lady fulfilled a unique and irreplaceable
role in our salvation, all beginning with the words of the Gospel:
"Fiat voluntas tua, thy will be done". For Our Lady's perfect obedience
to the Father she is the first and most perfect disciple.
Elizabeth is the first to proclaim with authentic devotion and love our
Lady's greatest title, "mother of my Lord". Mary is Mother of God.
Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by
Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of
her son, as "the mother of my Lord." (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt
13:55.) In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit,
who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than
the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence
the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
(Council of Ephesus (431); DS 251.) (CCC 495)
Saint Bede comments that Elizabeth blesses Mary using the same words as
the archangel "to show that she should be honoured by angels and by men
and why she should indeed be revered above all other women" (In Lucae
Evangelium expositio, in loc.)
Her divine Motherhood gives our Lady an intimate and irreplaceable role
in our spiritual lives and our salvation. As we pray the scriptural
Hail Mary we proclaim again these divine greetings, "rejoicing with
Mary at her dignity as Mother of God and praising the Lord, thanking
him for having given us Jesus Christ through Mary" (Pope St. Pius X,
Catechism of Christian Doctrine, 333).
"With her generous 'fiat' (Mary) became through the working of the
Spirit the Mother of God, but also the mother of the living, and, by
receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of
the Covenant and true Temple of God." (Pope Paul VI, Marialis cultus,
6.)
This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made
manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death;
first when Mary, arising in haste to go to visit Elizabeth, is greeted
by her as blessed because of her belief in the promise of salvation and
the Precursor leaps with joy in the womb of his mother...The Blessed
Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully persevered in
her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood (cf. Jn 19:25),
in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only-begotten Son
the intensity of his suffering, associating herself with his sacrifice
in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of
this victim which was born of her. (Second Vatican Council, Lumen
gentium, 57f).
Let's pray for each other until, next week, we "meet Christ in the
liturgy", Father Cusick
(See also nos. 148, 448, 495, 523, 717, 2676, 2677 in the CCC.)
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mictl/
|
|
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
3 Advent
|
Third Sunday of Advent, Year C
In the Gospel text set before us today we get Luke’s perspective on the
ministry of John the Baptist. It is not very long and in the following
two verses comes to an end with his imprisonment by Herod.
Luke simply states that John preaches a Baptism of Repentance. Nowadays
when we think of repentance we tend to mean sorrow for sin. We feel
remorse or sadness that we have transgressed and wish we had done
better. Or it could mean confessing ours sins but with no real
intention to reform our lives.
This is not the way the John the Baptist intends. The translation in my
commentary says that John preached a Baptism of Conversion. This is
perhaps a more accurate meaning. Conversion means a change of
perspective, an altering of one’s direction or changing one’s
allegiance, or a turning around.
And this kind of repentance has very direct consequences. As it says in
the Gospel, it means sharing our spare tunic with the man who has none.
It means giving food to those who ordinarily would go without.
In the case of the tax collectors who are told to exact no more than is
their due and the soldiers being told not to intimidate or extort or to
grumble about their pay, these also involve a turning round. This is
not what they would do in the ordinary course of events.
Tax collectors were well known for trying to get more than was their
due, that’s why they were so despised. And soldiers, who were the
equivalent of the police in those days, were just as notorious for
bribery and corruption. They grumbled about their pay as a heavy hint
that they needed a backhander.
In those days for a tax collector or a policeman to go straight was a
turning around indeed—it was quite extraordinary! The tax collector had
bought the right to collect particular taxes as a sort of franchise and
was thought to be entitled to screw as much as he could out of the
people.
And soldiers were in a position of power, they were a strong body of
men and since they were fully armed no one could disagree with them
with impunity.
So John the Baptist’s message was a difficult one, it involved real
change and it was no mere lip service.
We, of course, are asking the same question as the people asked in the
Gospel: What about us? What must we do? I can’t answer the question for
you. Each person must look into their own heart.
But if we are to speak in generalities then we have to think about the
situation in which we live. Thornbury and its surroundings is, in
absolute world terms, privileged territory. We are very comfortably
off; we are rich. The average person who lives around here is probably
in the top 10% of world earners.
What would John the Baptist say to us? He told those with two tunics to
give one to the man who has none. So he might tell us to share much
more than we already do. He might expect us to give away the second
family car or half the equity in our house. That would be a shock!
Perhaps we are glad that we don’t live in New Testament times and are
far away from any John the Baptists who would certainly make us squirm.
But what about that turning around, that alteration of our perspective,
that is conversion? This doesn’t involve giving away material things
but it does affect something far more precious—our attitudes.
Our attitudes and perspectives on life are very dear to us. We have
acquired them from the interaction with our parents and through our
experience of life. And, very importantly, we have unconsciously
absorbed all sorts of influences from our culture.
We tend to think that the way we do things here in Britain is the best
way or, indeed, the only sensible way things can be done. Sometimes we
feel rather sorry for the French and the Italians and the Spanish. It
is a pity that they haven’t got things as well organised.
It is only when we go to live abroad and become immersed in another
culture that we find how strangely they regard us. The Italians, for
example, while admiring many aspects of life in Britain, regard us as
extremely cold fish, as sad people who are repressed and afraid to show
our emotions. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they feel sorry for
us but they surely wouldn’t swap with us. Certainly not our cuisine,
anyhow!
It is the same with our faith and morality. What we have grown up with
and become accustomed to is not necessarily what God wants. In general
we have accommodated ourselves to the world around us. But what Christ
wants is for us to accommodate ourselves to the heaven above us.
It is not our values but Christ’s values that are important. And
conversion consists in giving up the one and taking on the other.
Advent, as we have said again and again, is about three things:
preparing to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, it is about
preparing to welcome him at the end of time, and it is about preparing
our hearts to welcome him in to our lives right now.
The way to do this last and more important thing is to adapt ourselves
to God’s way of thinking, to adopt his values and to relinquish the
values of the world around us. We tend to cling to the material world
and forget the spiritual world. By inviting Christ into our lives we
are putting this into reverse—forgetting the material and welcoming the
spiritual.
Christ was not as demanding as John the Baptist. Christ did not despise
or reject the material world and lead a life of austerity but then
neither did he place any great reliance on material things.
Perhaps one of the most important attitudes Jesus had towards those
around him was compassion; this is surely what moved him to perform so
many healing miracles. Well, we may not be able to perform any miracles
but we can still exercise a healing ministry.
We are able to reach out to others in love, especially to the
unfortunate and the rejected. We can speak words of compassion and
healing. We can bring a little light and warmth to other people’s
lives. All these things and many more are within our grasp. By doing
these things in the way Christ would do them if he were in our position
will actually cause us to change our attitudes.
If we wear the shoes of Christ and go where he would go, if we hold out
our hands to others as if they were his hands, if we utter the same
sorts of words as he would utter then we begin to feel as he feels,
then we begin to think as he thinks and we become more and more at one
with him.
This is conversion. This is a turning around. This is an advent.
|
|
Father Bonar will not be posting homilies for Cycle B to allow himself
time for other projects. His collection of homilies (including homilies
for Cycle B) is available at www.clydebonar.com.
3 Advent |
|
|
These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
