Sunday Gospel Reflection, January 19, 2020: I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God...

I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God…

How does God’s message spread?

  In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord celebrates his servant, through whom God shows his glory.  The identity of the servant is not entirely stable – it seems to shift within the passage, now Israel, now a remnant of Israel, now an individual called to save Israel.  One thing is clear, though:  It is too little, the Lord tells his servant, for you to to raise up the tribes of Jacob… I will make you a light to the nations!  God’s message cannot be contained – it will spread exponentially to greater and greater groups of people.  And so, as evidence of the people’s fidelity to God is transmitted beyond the boundaries of their land, the people of Israel become a light to the world, even to the ends of the earth. 

  But for this to happen, they must first listen!  Psalm 40 tells us that the law of the Lord is in the psalmist’s heart; the psalmist is open to God, listening to God’s message, ears open to obedience, so that he can then announce the Lord’s justice with unrestrained lips.  Only careful listening can enable us to speak God’s message faithfully.

  In Jesus’ time, the Good News also spreads exponentially.  In John's Gospel, John the Baptist baptizes with water so that Jesus might be made known to Israel; his baptism of repentance serves to open people’s hearts (and ears) to receive Jesus Christ.  John testifies to the identity of Jesus as the Lamb of God, evoking all at once the passover lamb of Exodus, the suffering servant led to slaughter in Isaiah, and the victorious Lamb of Revelation; John states clearly that this Jesus is the Son of God.  The Good News spreads after Jesus’ death and rising through God’s action in the early leaders of the Church.  When Paul writes to the Corinthians on behalf of himself and Sosthenes, the message is destined to be shared with all those everywhere who all upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.  The ripple effect is clear, and we are called to be participants, as we too help to spread the Lord’s message, the Good News of salvation to all the world!

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Christmas Gospel Reflection, December 25, 2016: I proclaim to you good news of great joy!

   Imagine, if you will, trying to attend all four Masses this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:  the Vigil, Mass during the Night, Mass at Dawn, and Mass during the Day.  What scriptural riches you might encounter!

   All of the first readings for these two days are taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, whose message is one of hope.  At the Vigil Mass, we hear of Jersualem’s vindication shining forth like the dawn, when God delights in his people as a man in his spouse.  Midnight Mass tells us that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, for a child is born to redeem us all.  At dawn, Isaiah proclaims that our savior comes, while the daytime Mass brings glad tidings to us because their God is our King!

   Not surprisingly, our psalms are all songs of praise:  Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord, Psalm 89 proclaims, while Psalm 96 calls upon us to exult before the Lord, for he comes to rule the earth.  Psalms 97 and 98 also exhort us to rejoice, for the Lord is king, and thus all the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

   The Gospel texts naturally walk us through the story of our Lord's birth, from Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus and Joseph’s dream, to Luke’s account of  Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem to register, where, of course, the child Jesus is born.  Shepherds visit the baby, while Mary keeps all of these things, reflecting on them in her heart.  And finally, John’s magnificent prologue, which reminds us that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, a testimony to Jesus as revelation of the Father to humankind.

   Lastly, our epistles remind us of all that we know of Jesus thanks to the Incarnation:  that he is the descendent of David, savior of the world (Acts), he in whom salvation is revealed (Titus 2), the love of God incarnate, come to save his people (Titus 3).  A final, powerful reading from Hebrews speaks of Jesus as the refulgence of God’s glory, whom we, like the angels are to worship!

   No one can attend every Mass, and perhaps no celebrant is crazy enough to tackle all of these readings with four different homilies.  But we would encourage you over the next few days to make a bit of time each day to read these beautiful readings in sets, first all of Isaiah, then all the psalms, then the Gospels, and finally the epistles, meditating on their meaning and reflecting on them in your heart.  What better way to prepare for the coming of Jesus than to enter more deeply into the stories that reveal his glory?

 You can find all the readings for this glorious weekend here:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122516.cfm

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, January 18, 2015: Here I am, Lord; I come to do Your will...

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will...

Are you ready to answer the call?

Our readings this Sunday all remind us that each and every one of us is called.  We all have a vocation – from the Latin vocare, to call – a way God calls us to act in concert with God’s will, to serve God’s mission here on earth.  Do we respond, like Samuel, Here I am!  Do we then act on our yes?

Samuel is called in the night as he minds the oil lamp in the temple, the flame that allows God’s presence to be known.  From the time God appears to Samuel, calling him to intimate relationship, Samuel turns toward the Lord; God is and will be his sole focus for his entire life, because he has attuned his inner ear to hearing the Lord’s call.  His ears, as Psalm 40 suggests, are open to obedience; to do God’s will is Samuel’s delight.

And it’s not just our spiritual essence that has to respond to God’s call:  as Paul reminds the Corinthians, our physical bodies have a responsibility to engage as well.  Having its origin in God, the transformation of our physical body should be in the direction God intends:  your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, Paul says.  All that is energy within us, including sexual energy, must therefore be channeled not to our own ends, but to God’s, so as to bring honor to God.  Jesus understood this:  at his own baptism, John tells us in the Gospel, Jesus devoted his entire self, body and spirit, to his Father’s will:  Behold, the Lamb of God, John the Baptist says to his disciples, behold the sacrifice, the suffering servant, called to offer himself for the sake of all others.  Even at this early date, the disciples understand the significance of Jesus’ physical presence:  where are you staying? they ask him, willing and able to follow the teacher, body and spirit, willing to respond to the call.

Are we ready to follow Jesus, body and spirit?  

Are we ready to answer the call?

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 14, 2014: My soul rejoices...

My soul rejoices in my God...

What brings you joy?

Ultimately, if you think about it, the answer is always God. 

Our readings for this Gaudete Sunday all focus on joy, developing the Mass’s opening call to Rejoice! because God is working in us to bring good news to all.  The prophet Isaiah, for example, rejoices because God has wrapped him in a mantle of justice, allowing him to bring glad tidings to the poor and to announce a year of favor from our God.  In place of a psalm, we hear a canticle from Luke, Mary’s Magnificat.  My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, she proclaims: during her visit with Elizabeth, Mary shares the marvelous news of what God is doing in her at that very moment, as she opens her heart to allow God’s work to take place.  The mother of Jesus gives voice to her own glad tidings, and Elizabeth participates in her joy.

The ultimate joy, of course, is Jesus, the light to which John the Baptist came to testify in John's Gospel, a light that will show the way to salvation, revealing all things, but most importantly, revealing God’s love and loving action in our lives.  And so Paul can tell the Thessalonians, Rejoice always! – by means of prayer and praise, opening themselves to the work of God that will fill them with holiness and peace. May we, too, rejoice, rejoice always, for God is about to be revealed – born – in each and every one of us again quite soon, so that we can continue to share his love, and his light, with the world.  What better reason could there possibly be to be filled with joy?

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle