Third Sunday in Ordinary Time B 2012
First Reading: Jonah 3:1–5, 10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 25:4–5, 6–7, 8–9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29–31
Gospel: Mark 1:14–20
On Friday a team of doctors and nurses at the University of Southern California Medical Center sent Melinda home with her mother and father. Melinda, born at 24 weeks, and weighing only 9 1/2 ounces, was born in August. At birth, Melinda was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor’s hand. She weighed less than a can of soda. While doctors warn that babies born this premature often experience developmental delays, many thrive and today are doing fine. One is a 7 year old healthy first-grader, the other is an honors college student studying psychology, As we pray today on this 39th year since the legalization of abortion in our country, Melinda’s mother and father point out the obvious: that even the tiniest of preemies must be considered persons.
On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision on Roe v. Wade regarding abortion, which, by severely limiting states’ rights to regulate abortion, had the effect of making abortion legal. The decision sparked a national debate that is no less contentious now than it was 39 years ago. Of the many issues the decision raised, one is the question of what role religious and moral views should play in the political sphere. Answering this question has become almost as divisive as the question of abortion.
Our Bible readings for today center on our need to pray that God will teach us his way of life. The first is from the book of Jonah. The story of Jonah is not really history. It is an elaborate narrative about the power of God’s word to transform people. Assyria was a powerful and ruthless country that had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and seriously threatened the southern kingdom of Judah. Nineveh had been the capital of Assyria. Assyria was considered the most brutal of all the Mediterranean Middle Eastern countries that had ever existed. The city of Nineveh became a example for the scariest place on earth. Parents would threaten to send their children to Nineveh if they did not behave.
Written long after Nineveh had fallen, the Book of Jonah attacks a consequence of Judah’s experience of brutal war with Assyria and its later conquest and exile at the hands of Babylon. For various reasons the Jewish people isolated themselves from others. They had become “outsiders,” and many laws and religious rules were put in place to insure this.
But God had something else in mind for the people of Nineveh. It is to this place that God sent Jonah to tell them that they had to ask for forgiveness. God had mercy on them. Amazingly the people of Nineveh changed their ways when they heard Jonah. This story teaches us that God is radically different from us. His ability to forgive is beyond our imagining.
God was interested in seeing His people change their hearts and convert others, not condemn them. Jonah tells a story of God’s desire to reach outsiders. In using Nineveh we see God reaching out to the worst of the worst, and with just a word from God speaking through Jonah the Ninevites repented. Not only did they repent, even God repented, that is, He changed His threat of destruction into an act of forgiveness.
In our Gospel we hear Jesus tells us, Repent and believe, and act like you believe it! The command is to change our attitude based on trusting God. To repent is to always make a choice to put God first in our lives. As an example: we might have to adjust the hour we attend Mass because of conflicts in scheduling, but to put God first is to make joining others in Church once a week as our first priority. When we do this we give clear witness of the absolute importance of God in their lives.
How do we bring people to respect human life? How do we get people to change their attitude toward abortion? We cannot force change because force does not change attitudes any more than a law can make us moral. Such changes take place in our heart and our conscience. We bring people to repentance by passing on the invitation of Christ: “Follow me.” If people see that God’s word has changed us, made us joyful and holy, it makes repentance an attractive choice. We are really saying by our actions: Do not do what I say but do what I do. This way we are like a compass showing others the right direction.
In a similar way Jesus comes to each of us here on this Saturday, January 21, 2012 (Sunday, January 22, 2012) and invites us to reform our lives and to believe in the good news. Reform means to turn our lives around if that is necessary. If we have been going away from God, it is now time to turn to him. If we have been following God, then we pray that we will continue.
Without our knowing it we often meet up with persons who want to set themselves up as our Savior and invite us to join them. Some are well intentioned; others want numbers. We are given the opportunity today to again listen to God’s call to reform our lives. God is in our midst, but we can never respond to Him, if we are looking somewhere else. Very often we are tempted to walk in the path of evil. If and when we do, God does not seek to punish us, but he offers us his mercy and his love for forgiveness. Jesus invites us to daily follow him. From the very moment of our conception God has placed in our person the desire to be good. But because he has also given us the freedom to do good or to do bad, we can make the choice of evil. Like Jonah or baby Melinda’s parents, let us never regret or feel ashamed that we have not followed the right direction.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Homily for the Week of January 15, 2012
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2012
1 Samuel 3:3-10.19 Psalm 39 1 Corinthians 6:13-15.17-20 John 1:35-42
If you were listening carefully to the first reading some of you may have thought that God is really a good father. He tells his son: GO BACK TO SLEEP, IT IS NOT YET TIME FOR YOU TO COME TO WORK. All three of our readings for today are invitations by God and Jesus to do something for others.
True, there is the notion of sleeping, but God is going way beyond that. He is actually calling Samuel and Peter, and Andrew and others to work with him as his friends. The word call or invitation appears 11 times in our three Bible readings for today. First God calls Samuel. And Samuel with the help of God, his spiritual director, learns to figure out the call and to respond to it. Samuel says; SPEAK LORD FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING. The idea of sleeping really is God saying that we can not figure out God's invitation for us unless we take time to be quiet, and take out of our life all that is noise or distractions.
Counting today, we will be reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians for five Sundays and from Second Corinthians afterwards. To best understand these Bible readings it is important to know a little about the city of Corinth. Corinth was a Greek city. Corinth was the most important trade city of ancient Greece, and it remained important to the Roman Empire. Sailing was very hazardous, and rounding the southern tip of Greece was dangerous. To avoid this area, shipping between Rome and Asia used the isthmus at Corinth for portage. Ships unloaded their cargoes, and the goods were carried overland to be reloaded on another ship at the opposite port.
Thus, Corinth was called the bridge of the seas. Corinth had two patronal deities: Poseidon, god of the sea, and Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love. The Temple of Aphrodite was central to the worship of Aphrodite, and, like a lot ancient Greek cities, it had prostitutes who were available to the people of the city and to visitors. Their income provided a major source of the city’s income.
Merchants and sailors, anxious to work the docks, migrated to Corinth. Athletes participating in the Isthmian games and professional gamblers who gambled on the games lived there. Homeless slaves, free or runaway, roamed the streets day and night. The practice of prostitution coupled with a mixed and transient population, gave Corinth a terrible reputation. Athens was another Greek city. The people of Athens invented the term, “to Corinthianize,” which meant to live an immoral life. To call anyone “a Corinthian” meant that the person was immoral.
St. Paul was forced to address the issues of immorality directly. Our passage today reads, “The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” He taught the Corinthians that our bodies are meant for the Lord. Our bodies are members of Christ. Paul tells us that we should be united with the Lord and thus become one in spirit with Christ; therefore, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Each of us here have been called by God when we were Baptized as was Jesus by John the Baptist. But that was just the beginning. Just like none of us would ever want to stay as we were when we were babies, so too I hope that none of us want to have just the faith and religion that we had when we were Baptized. As we have grown up we have also grown in partnership with Christ. But, quoting St. Paul, at times in our years of growing up we might have allowed ourselves to be Corinthianize. But inspite of this we have also tried to respond more fully to what Christ and our religion demands of us. And also how others need us. Very many of you here you already heard God say to you that he needs you as husband and wife, as father and mother; but for an equally large number of you here Jesus has yet to to give you his final need, and you have not yet given your final yes.
That is what happened to those that Jesus called as apostles. These were men who were mostly fishermen, the trade of the time. But they must have been men who were living in such a way that they would be available to God if he needed them. Along comes Jesus. WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO, THEY ASK HIM. And Jesus turns to them and asks; WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? After some conversation they continue: WHERE DO YOU STAY? And Jesus responds: COME AND SEE. He invites them to come and to see. And they did, and because they did they became the first of Jesus followers.
In trying to bring people to Jesus, Paul changed attitudes and behaviors. At times we need to do the same for ourselves. Next Sunday is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Although rendered 39 years ago, the decision still affects our moral attitudes toward human life and the human person. Samuel did not recognize the voice of God because he was unfamiliar with the Lord. We are very familiar with the Lord, and we know what Christ has taught and the implications of his teaching. Just as Eli told Samuel to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” we must say the same. Unlike Samuel, the word of the Lord has been revealed to us.
St. Paul called people to a radical change in behavior. We must not forget that nothing has changed since Paul spoke to the Corinthians. Our bodies are still the Lord’s, and we must use them to glorify the Lord. We do this only by uniting ourselves with Him and with the whole Body of Christ. This week, let each of us try to listen carefully to whatever change God is calling us. When God speaks to us let us respond: SPEAK, LORD, FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING.
1 Samuel 3:3-10.19 Psalm 39 1 Corinthians 6:13-15.17-20 John 1:35-42
If you were listening carefully to the first reading some of you may have thought that God is really a good father. He tells his son: GO BACK TO SLEEP, IT IS NOT YET TIME FOR YOU TO COME TO WORK. All three of our readings for today are invitations by God and Jesus to do something for others.
True, there is the notion of sleeping, but God is going way beyond that. He is actually calling Samuel and Peter, and Andrew and others to work with him as his friends. The word call or invitation appears 11 times in our three Bible readings for today. First God calls Samuel. And Samuel with the help of God, his spiritual director, learns to figure out the call and to respond to it. Samuel says; SPEAK LORD FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING. The idea of sleeping really is God saying that we can not figure out God's invitation for us unless we take time to be quiet, and take out of our life all that is noise or distractions.
Counting today, we will be reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians for five Sundays and from Second Corinthians afterwards. To best understand these Bible readings it is important to know a little about the city of Corinth. Corinth was a Greek city. Corinth was the most important trade city of ancient Greece, and it remained important to the Roman Empire. Sailing was very hazardous, and rounding the southern tip of Greece was dangerous. To avoid this area, shipping between Rome and Asia used the isthmus at Corinth for portage. Ships unloaded their cargoes, and the goods were carried overland to be reloaded on another ship at the opposite port.
Thus, Corinth was called the bridge of the seas. Corinth had two patronal deities: Poseidon, god of the sea, and Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love. The Temple of Aphrodite was central to the worship of Aphrodite, and, like a lot ancient Greek cities, it had prostitutes who were available to the people of the city and to visitors. Their income provided a major source of the city’s income.
Merchants and sailors, anxious to work the docks, migrated to Corinth. Athletes participating in the Isthmian games and professional gamblers who gambled on the games lived there. Homeless slaves, free or runaway, roamed the streets day and night. The practice of prostitution coupled with a mixed and transient population, gave Corinth a terrible reputation. Athens was another Greek city. The people of Athens invented the term, “to Corinthianize,” which meant to live an immoral life. To call anyone “a Corinthian” meant that the person was immoral.
St. Paul was forced to address the issues of immorality directly. Our passage today reads, “The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” He taught the Corinthians that our bodies are meant for the Lord. Our bodies are members of Christ. Paul tells us that we should be united with the Lord and thus become one in spirit with Christ; therefore, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Each of us here have been called by God when we were Baptized as was Jesus by John the Baptist. But that was just the beginning. Just like none of us would ever want to stay as we were when we were babies, so too I hope that none of us want to have just the faith and religion that we had when we were Baptized. As we have grown up we have also grown in partnership with Christ. But, quoting St. Paul, at times in our years of growing up we might have allowed ourselves to be Corinthianize. But inspite of this we have also tried to respond more fully to what Christ and our religion demands of us. And also how others need us. Very many of you here you already heard God say to you that he needs you as husband and wife, as father and mother; but for an equally large number of you here Jesus has yet to to give you his final need, and you have not yet given your final yes.
That is what happened to those that Jesus called as apostles. These were men who were mostly fishermen, the trade of the time. But they must have been men who were living in such a way that they would be available to God if he needed them. Along comes Jesus. WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO, THEY ASK HIM. And Jesus turns to them and asks; WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? After some conversation they continue: WHERE DO YOU STAY? And Jesus responds: COME AND SEE. He invites them to come and to see. And they did, and because they did they became the first of Jesus followers.
In trying to bring people to Jesus, Paul changed attitudes and behaviors. At times we need to do the same for ourselves. Next Sunday is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Although rendered 39 years ago, the decision still affects our moral attitudes toward human life and the human person. Samuel did not recognize the voice of God because he was unfamiliar with the Lord. We are very familiar with the Lord, and we know what Christ has taught and the implications of his teaching. Just as Eli told Samuel to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” we must say the same. Unlike Samuel, the word of the Lord has been revealed to us.
St. Paul called people to a radical change in behavior. We must not forget that nothing has changed since Paul spoke to the Corinthians. Our bodies are still the Lord’s, and we must use them to glorify the Lord. We do this only by uniting ourselves with Him and with the whole Body of Christ. This week, let each of us try to listen carefully to whatever change God is calling us. When God speaks to us let us respond: SPEAK, LORD, FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Homily for the Week of January 8, 2012
The Epiphany of the Lord, 2012
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Think of the time that you might have been in an open field or on a hill and watched the stars in the dark sky above you. Perhaps you saw a shooting star or tried to follow a satellite or an air plane. There is something mysterious about watching stars. They seem so far away and we feel so small and insignificant. God’s creation is mysterious, amazing. As we watch those stars, it even becomes easier to imagine the Magi fixed on following that star to Bethlehem so long ago. If we stop to think about it, today’s feast of Epiphany is both mystery and revelation.
Our first reading from Isaiah is a good preparation. He is excited as he urges Jerusalem to rise up in splendor, to see the glory of the Lord shining on the people. When we hear about gold and incense we immediately think of those Magi and the gifts they brought Jesus. It sounds like a grand celebration. But if we stoop to think about it, was it all that grand when they came? Wasn’t it hidden, perhaps dangerous? We know that Herod’s intentions were not good. He wanted no rival to his power, and the Magi, warned in a dream, went home by another way.
St. Paul, in our second reading tries to explain. Paul tells us that you and I have inherited a tremendous treasure. We have all won the lottery. We are all partners with God and Jesus. Maybe we were not expecting this. Paul could just as easily have told us that God loves us immensely and left us with some warm feelings. Paul’s words are strong. And they are even difficult at times. Put simply, all people, every last one of us, share in the same inheritance, we are members of the same body, and share in the same promise in Jesus. God has been made known to all of us through Jesus; Christians, Jew, Muslim, Mormon. God does love us all.
The real message of Epiphany is about a gift: about the gift of God to each of us through the baby Jesus. On Epiphany we are invited to recall our image of God.
Sometimes we read the newspaper, listen to the news on the radio, watch current events on television and we wonder where is God in this world of ours. In the long daily litany of pain, sorrow, suffering, dishonesty, death, greed…where is God? Where is God among leaders of nations that are at war with each other? Where is God in the earthquakes, the hurricanes, the mud slides? Where is God in poverty? Where is God in a hurting relationship or marriage? And I could go on and on.
But God is there because we have Epiphany. Epiphany means to reveal, to show, or to make known. The enduring insight from the earliest days of Israel to our own modern Christianity is that God is not remote from us; God is actively involved…God cares…God is concerned. So where’s God? God is present in the epiphanies of our life each day.
But with this love there are also expectations. We need to be strong daughters and sons of God, loving sisters and brothers of Jesus. Today we are those Magi when we are persons of good will and want to know Jesus. But we might ask: where will we find Jesus now that today, Epiphany, Jesus will leave Bethlehem and the stable and the sheep and shepherds. We will find Jesus in those sitting beside us, we will find him in those with whom we share our home and our table, in those who are hungry and come to take some of the food you give each month in the St. James Food Shelf, we will find him in the sick and homebound and nursing homes, we will find him in the unhappy in our families, in those living next door, in our classrooms, and perhaps we will find him even in our mirror if we have the courage to look.
We find God in the sacrament of everyday life. We encounter God in trials, sufferings, joys, triumphs, hopes, fears, defeats and successes that come to us each day.
The epiphanies of life are not just about us. God is present in the way we serve our neighbor. God is forever the beggar outside our gate, the victim left on the side of the road and the voice of those who have no one to plead for their needs. We are not just called to be sensitive to God’s presence within our own lives but we are also called to extend God’s presence through our care for others. Each of us is called to be a living epiphany and a sacrament of God’s love to the world around us.
God is with us. Sometimes all we have to do is take the time to open our eyes and see…open our ears and hear…open our hearts and feel the presence. May we all see and hear and feel the epiphanies of God in our lives this day and in each day to come. We need to stretch ourselves, to leave our comfort zone and realize life isn’t all about me. Life is about us, about our shared inheritance, our membership in the same body and the same promise in Jesus. God has been manifested to all. We need to open our hearts and our eyes.
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Think of the time that you might have been in an open field or on a hill and watched the stars in the dark sky above you. Perhaps you saw a shooting star or tried to follow a satellite or an air plane. There is something mysterious about watching stars. They seem so far away and we feel so small and insignificant. God’s creation is mysterious, amazing. As we watch those stars, it even becomes easier to imagine the Magi fixed on following that star to Bethlehem so long ago. If we stop to think about it, today’s feast of Epiphany is both mystery and revelation.
Our first reading from Isaiah is a good preparation. He is excited as he urges Jerusalem to rise up in splendor, to see the glory of the Lord shining on the people. When we hear about gold and incense we immediately think of those Magi and the gifts they brought Jesus. It sounds like a grand celebration. But if we stoop to think about it, was it all that grand when they came? Wasn’t it hidden, perhaps dangerous? We know that Herod’s intentions were not good. He wanted no rival to his power, and the Magi, warned in a dream, went home by another way.
St. Paul, in our second reading tries to explain. Paul tells us that you and I have inherited a tremendous treasure. We have all won the lottery. We are all partners with God and Jesus. Maybe we were not expecting this. Paul could just as easily have told us that God loves us immensely and left us with some warm feelings. Paul’s words are strong. And they are even difficult at times. Put simply, all people, every last one of us, share in the same inheritance, we are members of the same body, and share in the same promise in Jesus. God has been made known to all of us through Jesus; Christians, Jew, Muslim, Mormon. God does love us all.
The real message of Epiphany is about a gift: about the gift of God to each of us through the baby Jesus. On Epiphany we are invited to recall our image of God.
Sometimes we read the newspaper, listen to the news on the radio, watch current events on television and we wonder where is God in this world of ours. In the long daily litany of pain, sorrow, suffering, dishonesty, death, greed…where is God? Where is God among leaders of nations that are at war with each other? Where is God in the earthquakes, the hurricanes, the mud slides? Where is God in poverty? Where is God in a hurting relationship or marriage? And I could go on and on.
But God is there because we have Epiphany. Epiphany means to reveal, to show, or to make known. The enduring insight from the earliest days of Israel to our own modern Christianity is that God is not remote from us; God is actively involved…God cares…God is concerned. So where’s God? God is present in the epiphanies of our life each day.
But with this love there are also expectations. We need to be strong daughters and sons of God, loving sisters and brothers of Jesus. Today we are those Magi when we are persons of good will and want to know Jesus. But we might ask: where will we find Jesus now that today, Epiphany, Jesus will leave Bethlehem and the stable and the sheep and shepherds. We will find Jesus in those sitting beside us, we will find him in those with whom we share our home and our table, in those who are hungry and come to take some of the food you give each month in the St. James Food Shelf, we will find him in the sick and homebound and nursing homes, we will find him in the unhappy in our families, in those living next door, in our classrooms, and perhaps we will find him even in our mirror if we have the courage to look.
We find God in the sacrament of everyday life. We encounter God in trials, sufferings, joys, triumphs, hopes, fears, defeats and successes that come to us each day.
The epiphanies of life are not just about us. God is present in the way we serve our neighbor. God is forever the beggar outside our gate, the victim left on the side of the road and the voice of those who have no one to plead for their needs. We are not just called to be sensitive to God’s presence within our own lives but we are also called to extend God’s presence through our care for others. Each of us is called to be a living epiphany and a sacrament of God’s love to the world around us.
God is with us. Sometimes all we have to do is take the time to open our eyes and see…open our ears and hear…open our hearts and feel the presence. May we all see and hear and feel the epiphanies of God in our lives this day and in each day to come. We need to stretch ourselves, to leave our comfort zone and realize life isn’t all about me. Life is about us, about our shared inheritance, our membership in the same body and the same promise in Jesus. God has been manifested to all. We need to open our hearts and our eyes.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Homily for the Week of January 1, 2012
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, New Year’s Day 2012
Nm 6:22-27 · Gal 4:4-7 · Lk 2:16-21
The Bible readings given to us for this day in honor of Mary the Mother of Jesus and New Year’s Day are relatively brief. The first text, from the Book of Numbers, is a blessing of God's people which seems appropriate for the first day of a new year. The gospel, from Luke, tells of the shepherds spreading the message of the news of the Lord's birth and contains that beautiful verse, "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." The middle text, from Galatians, includes a verse so appropriate for this time of the year and the day's feast, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law." Also, 45 years ago when our country was at war in Viet Nam Pope Paul VI asked that New Year’s Day be designated as the World Day of Prayer for Peace.
Today is also 7 days after the birth of Jesus. According to Jewish law parents had to bring their child to the synagogue 7 days after birth in order to give the child a name. This is the day when the baby Jesus was officially given his name Jesus by his mother and father. The angel had already told Mary that his name would be Jesus. Jesus is his name in English. In Hebrew his name would have been Joshua which means one who saves. Over the centuries God had promised us a saviour who would save us from the original sins of Adam and Eve. Jesus, the saviour, finally was born.
Giving a name to a child is the most considerate gift that parents give their newborn child. While we might be identified with a nickname, it is very rare that a person will change the name given to them by their parents at birth and at Baptism. Our name sets us apart from everyone else. It identifies us. We respond to it. We spell and write it thousand of times during our lifetime. One way by which we hurt persons is to disrespect them by using their name sarcastically. In some way a person’s name reveals that person’s true identity.
The name Jesus or Jesus Christ is often used in everything from idle conversation, to bumper stickers and jewelry, to enforcing false teachings, to justifying wars and political agendas. Like the name God it is often used as a profanity or in as a curse. The name Joshua however, has remained pure and holy. While it is rarely used, it is used only by those who would praise the name of Jesus and His teachings. Likewise we too should use the name of Jesus for only spiritual matters and sincere prayer.
Every teacher supervising a playground knows that calling out a child’s name is an effective way of getting attention or correcting a problem. People can be hurt if we forget their names. Forgetting a person’s name can be received as a sign that the person doesn’t matter. Catholics have the custom of bowing whenever the name of Jesus is spoken.
Our first reading today is from the Book of Numbers in which we are given a blessing that relates to a name. In the blessing we are told to put the name of God on what we own. This is much like writing our name on items in order to identify them as being our possessions. This is exactly what God is saying, that we are His. We are not possessions in the sense of things; we have been made members of God’s family. It is in this sense that God’s name is put on us.
As Jesus started to grow up we can imagine Him blessing his mother many times. We can also imagine Mary blessing Jesus many times. As our first reading stated: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.
Mary would be the first to remind us that is only through her son Jesus that we can enter heaven after we die. As a Jewish woman Mary also had great trust and faith in God the Father. And God is our father, because Jesus is our brother, because Mary said yes to being his mother -- and is also our mother as well. God cared enough to send his very best in Jesus. But God needed a human mother to cooperate in this plan of salvation. But we must see Mary as a real human being who was frightened when the angel told her she could be the Mother of Jesus, who was upset when she lost Jesus among the people who had come to the temple, and who cried when her beloved son was nailed to a cross like a common criminal.
On this New Year's Day, we are given an opportunity to begin this new year by asking the questions and seeking our answers. Human beings, like all living creatures, learn through imitation. It is no surprise, then, that as we seek to grow spiritually and be a better person, we look to others: parents, godparents, sponsors, and others who, by example, show us how to follow Jesus. The church gives us role models, the saints, who have faithfully followed Jesus by living lives of holiness. Among all of the Church’s saints, the greatest example is Mary.
New Year's is also a time of making ''New Year's Resolutions.'' A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something. So many times we keep our resolutions only as long as it takes the time to say them. Or we make a list of them, but forget where we put the list. We may make too many of them. I invite each of you to make just two spiritual resolution: each day of this new year spend at least 5 minutes in prayer, and always use the name of God or Jesus with respect. And may your new year be a happy one.
Nm 6:22-27 · Gal 4:4-7 · Lk 2:16-21
The Bible readings given to us for this day in honor of Mary the Mother of Jesus and New Year’s Day are relatively brief. The first text, from the Book of Numbers, is a blessing of God's people which seems appropriate for the first day of a new year. The gospel, from Luke, tells of the shepherds spreading the message of the news of the Lord's birth and contains that beautiful verse, "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." The middle text, from Galatians, includes a verse so appropriate for this time of the year and the day's feast, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law." Also, 45 years ago when our country was at war in Viet Nam Pope Paul VI asked that New Year’s Day be designated as the World Day of Prayer for Peace.
Today is also 7 days after the birth of Jesus. According to Jewish law parents had to bring their child to the synagogue 7 days after birth in order to give the child a name. This is the day when the baby Jesus was officially given his name Jesus by his mother and father. The angel had already told Mary that his name would be Jesus. Jesus is his name in English. In Hebrew his name would have been Joshua which means one who saves. Over the centuries God had promised us a saviour who would save us from the original sins of Adam and Eve. Jesus, the saviour, finally was born.
Giving a name to a child is the most considerate gift that parents give their newborn child. While we might be identified with a nickname, it is very rare that a person will change the name given to them by their parents at birth and at Baptism. Our name sets us apart from everyone else. It identifies us. We respond to it. We spell and write it thousand of times during our lifetime. One way by which we hurt persons is to disrespect them by using their name sarcastically. In some way a person’s name reveals that person’s true identity.
The name Jesus or Jesus Christ is often used in everything from idle conversation, to bumper stickers and jewelry, to enforcing false teachings, to justifying wars and political agendas. Like the name God it is often used as a profanity or in as a curse. The name Joshua however, has remained pure and holy. While it is rarely used, it is used only by those who would praise the name of Jesus and His teachings. Likewise we too should use the name of Jesus for only spiritual matters and sincere prayer.
Every teacher supervising a playground knows that calling out a child’s name is an effective way of getting attention or correcting a problem. People can be hurt if we forget their names. Forgetting a person’s name can be received as a sign that the person doesn’t matter. Catholics have the custom of bowing whenever the name of Jesus is spoken.
Our first reading today is from the Book of Numbers in which we are given a blessing that relates to a name. In the blessing we are told to put the name of God on what we own. This is much like writing our name on items in order to identify them as being our possessions. This is exactly what God is saying, that we are His. We are not possessions in the sense of things; we have been made members of God’s family. It is in this sense that God’s name is put on us.
As Jesus started to grow up we can imagine Him blessing his mother many times. We can also imagine Mary blessing Jesus many times. As our first reading stated: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.
Mary would be the first to remind us that is only through her son Jesus that we can enter heaven after we die. As a Jewish woman Mary also had great trust and faith in God the Father. And God is our father, because Jesus is our brother, because Mary said yes to being his mother -- and is also our mother as well. God cared enough to send his very best in Jesus. But God needed a human mother to cooperate in this plan of salvation. But we must see Mary as a real human being who was frightened when the angel told her she could be the Mother of Jesus, who was upset when she lost Jesus among the people who had come to the temple, and who cried when her beloved son was nailed to a cross like a common criminal.
On this New Year's Day, we are given an opportunity to begin this new year by asking the questions and seeking our answers. Human beings, like all living creatures, learn through imitation. It is no surprise, then, that as we seek to grow spiritually and be a better person, we look to others: parents, godparents, sponsors, and others who, by example, show us how to follow Jesus. The church gives us role models, the saints, who have faithfully followed Jesus by living lives of holiness. Among all of the Church’s saints, the greatest example is Mary.
New Year's is also a time of making ''New Year's Resolutions.'' A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something. So many times we keep our resolutions only as long as it takes the time to say them. Or we make a list of them, but forget where we put the list. We may make too many of them. I invite each of you to make just two spiritual resolution: each day of this new year spend at least 5 minutes in prayer, and always use the name of God or Jesus with respect. And may your new year be a happy one.
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