December 2010 - Bible Diary
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BIBLE DIARY 2010
Liturgical Readings and Reflections
| December 2010 |
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| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat |
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| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
January ♦ February ♦ March ♦ April ♦ May ♦ June ♦ July
August ♦ September ♦ October ♦ November ♦ December
1st Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 25:6–10a
On this mountain Yahweh Sabaoth will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, meat full of marrow, fine wine strained.
On this mountain he will destroy the pall cast over all peoples, this very shroud spread over all nations, and death will be no more. The Lord Yahweh will wipe away the tears from all cheeks and eyes; he will take away the humiliation of his people all over the world: for Yahweh has spoken.
On that day you will say: This is our God. We have waited for him to save us, let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For on this mountain the hand of Yahweh rests.
►Gospel: Mt 15:29–37
Jesus went to the shore of Lake Galilee, and then went up into the hills where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the dumb, the blind, the lame, the crippled, and many with other infirmities. The people carried them to the feet of Jesus, and he healed them. All were astonished when they saw the dumb speaking, the lame walking, the crippled healed and the blind able to see; so they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “I am filled with compassion for these people; they have already followed me for three days and now have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away fasting, or they may faint on the way.” His disciples said to him, “And where shall we find enough bread in this wilderness to feed such a crowd?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.” So Jesus ordered the people to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the small fish and gave thanks to God. He broke them and gave them to his disciples, who distributed them to the people.
They all ate and were satisfied, and the leftover broken pieces filled seven wicker baskets.
REFLECTION
“Then they all ate and had enough.”
We are given everything we need in life–
both for our spirit as well as for our bodies.
It is up to us to harvest the treasures waiting for both.
Our part of the process requires us to labor for our food
and to till the spirit by contemplation and good works.
Then nothing, either physical or spiritual, will destroy us.
1st Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 26:1–6
On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city,
he himself has set up
walls and fortifications to protect us.
Open the gates!
Let the righteous nation enter,
she who is firm in faithfulness.
You keep in perfect peace
the one of steadfast mind,
the one who trusts in you.
Trust in Yahweh forever,
for Yahweh is an everlasting Rock.
He brought down those who dwell on high,
he laid low the lofty city,
he razed it to the ground,
leveled it to the dust,
Now it is trampled
the poor and the lowly tread upon it.
►Gospel: Mt 7:21, 24–27
Jesus said to his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me: Lord! Lord! will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father.
“So, then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly is like a wise man, who built his house on rock. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house, but it did not collapse because it was built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible fall that was!”
REFLECTION
“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven
but only those who do what my father in heaven wants them to do.”
It is so easy to be religious.
All we need to do is to keep the rules of the institution.
The question remains, however,
whether we are really holy enough
to also keep the Laws of God
and their call to justice and mercy, to equality and peace.
1st Week of Advent
Francis Xavier
►1st Reading: Is 29:17–24
In a very short time,
Lebanon will become a fruitful field
and the fruitful field will be as a forest.
On that day
the deaf will hear the words of the book,
and out of the dark and obscurity
the eyes of the blind will see.
The meek will find joy
and the poor among men will rejoice
in the Holy One of Israel.
For the tyrant will be no more
and the scoffers gone forever,
and all who plan
to do evil will be cut down –
‑those who by a word make a you guilty,
those who for a bribe can lay a snare
and send home the just empty-handed.
Therefore Yahweh, Abraham’s redeemer,
speaks concerning the people of Jacob:
No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will his face grow pale.
When he sees the work of my hands,
his children again in his midst,
they will sanctify my name,
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
Those who err in spirit will understand;
those who murmur will learn.
►Gospel: Mt 9:27–31
As Jesus moved on from Capernaum, two blind men followed him, shouting, “Son of David, help us!” When he was about to enter the house, the blind men caught up with him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do what you want?” They answered, “Yes, sir!”
Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “As you have believed, so let it be.” And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus gave them a stern warning, “Be careful and let no one know about this.” But as soon as they went away, they spread the news about him through the whole area.
REFLECTION
“According to your faith, let it be done to you.”
God can only do with us what we will allow.
God puts us in places where there is good to be done
and we ignore it, call it someone else’s problem.
Only those with real faith allow themselves
to be used for the work of God
so that the needy who call to us for help are not denied.
1st Week of Advent
John of Damascus
►1st Reading: Is 30:19–21, 23–26
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. When you cry, he will listen; when he hears, he will answer.
When the Lord has given you the bread of anguish and the water of distress, he, your teacher will hide no longer. Your own eyes will see him, and your ear will listen to his words behind you: “This is the way, walk in it.”
He will then give rain for the seed you sow and make the harvest abundant from the crops you grow. On that day your cattle will graze in wide pastures. Your beasts of burden will eat silage tossed to them with pitchfork and shovel.
For on the day of the great slaughter, when fortresses fall, streams of water will flow on every mountain and lofty hill.
The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven times greater, like the light of seven days, when Yahweh binds up the wounds of his people and heals the bruises inflicted by his blows.
►Gospel: Mt 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6–8
Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and he cured every sickness and disease. When he saw the crowds he was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the workers are only few. Ask the master of the harvest to send workers to gather his harvest.”
Then he called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over the unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. Jesus sent these twelve on mission with the instruction: “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. “Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift.”
REFLECTION
“As you go, proclaim the good news.”
Life is not an endurance test,
it is a journey to goodness.
It goes through a world full of the poor
who wait for the word that God loves them
through the love they see in us.
Otherwise, our own journey has been in vain.
2nd Sunday of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 11:1–10
From the stump of Jesse a shoot will come forth;
from his roots a branch will grow and bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him –
a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a Spirit of counsel and power,
a Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Not by appearances will he judge,
nor by what is said must he decide,
but with justice he will judge the poor
and with righteousness decide for the meek.
Like a rod, his word will strike the oppressor,
and the breath of his lips slay the wicked.
Justice will be the girdle of his waist,
truth the girdle of his loins.
The wolf will dwell with the lamb,
the leopard will rest beside the kid,
the calf and the lion cub will feed together
and a little child will lead them.
Befriending each other, the cow and the bear
will see their young ones lie down together.
Like cattle, the lion will eat hay.
By the cobra’s den the infant will play.
The child will put his hand into the viper’s lair.
No one will harm or destroy over my holy mountain,
for as water fills the sea
the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
On that day the “Root of Jesse” will be raised as a signal for the nations. The people will come in search of him, thus making his dwelling place glorious.
►2nd Reading: Rom 15:4–9
And we know that whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, for both perseverance and comfort given us by the Scripture sustain our hope. May God, the source of all perseverance and comfort, give to all of you to live in peace in Christ Jesus, that you may be able to praise in one voice God, Father of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Welcome, then, one another, as Christ welcomed you for the glory of God. Look: Christ put himself at the service of the Jewish world to fulfill the promises made by God to their ancestors; here you see God’s faithfulness. The pagans instead give thanks to God for his mercy, as Scripture says: Because of that, I will sing and praise your name among the pagans.
►Gospel: Mt 3:1–12
In the course of time John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea and began to proclaim his message, “Change your ways, the Kingdom of heaven is now at hand!” It was about him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said, A voice is shouting in the desert: prepare a way for the Lord; make his paths straight.
John had a leather garment around his waist and wore a cloak of camel’s hair; his food was locusts and wild honey. People came to him from Jerusalem, from all Judea and from the whole Jordan valley, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan as they confessed their sins.
When he saw several Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he baptized, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who told you that you could escape the punishment that is to come? Let it be seen that you are serious in your conversion, and do not think: We have Abraham for our father. I tell you that God can raise children for Abraham from these stones! The axe is already laid to the roots of the trees; any tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.
I baptize you in water for a change of heart, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than me; indeed I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. He has the winnowing fan in his hand and he will clear out his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn in everlasting fire.”
REFLECTION
“When John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him
to be baptized, he said to them, ‘you snakes–who told you
that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send?’”
The mercy of God
depends more on our having a change of heart
than it does on our adopting a new set of pious rituals.
We are meant to become good
from the inside out,
not simply pious from the outside in.
2nd Week of Advent
Nicholas
►1st Reading: Is 35:1–10
Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice,
the desert be glad and blossom.
Covered with flowers, it sings and shouts with joy,
adorned with the splendor of Lebanon,
the magnificence of Carmel and Sharon.
They, my people, see the glory of Yahweh,
the majesty of our God.
Give vigor to weary hands
and strength to enfeebled knees.
Say to those who are afraid:
“Have courage, do not fear.
See, your God comes, demanding justice.
He is the God who rewards,
the God who comes to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unsealed.
Then will the lame leap as a hart
and the tongue of the dumb sing and shout.
For water will break out in the wilderness
and streams gush forth from the desert.
The thirsty ground will become a pool,
the arid land springs of water.
In the haunts where once reptiles lay,
grass will grow with reeds and rushes.
There will be a highway
which will be called The Way of Holiness;
no one unclean will pass over it
nor any wicked fool stray there.
No lion will be found there
nor any beast of prey.
Only the redeemed will walk there.
For the ransomed of Yahweh will return:
with everlasting joy upon their heads,
they will come to Zion singing,
gladness and joy marching with them,
while sorrow and sighing flee away.
►Gospel: Lk 5:17–26
One day Jesus was teaching and many Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every part of Galilee and Judea and even from Jerusalem. They were sitting there while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick. Then some men brought a paralyzed man who lay on his mat. They tried to enter the house to place him before Jesus, but they couldn’t find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and, removing the tiles, they lowered him on his mat into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.” At once the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to wonder, “This man insults God! Who can forgive sins but only God? But Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them, “Why are you reacting like this? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or: ‘Get up and walk’? Now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” And Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” At once the man stood before them. He took up the mat he had been lying on and went home praising God. Amazement seized the people and they praised God. They were filled with a holy fear and said, “What wonderful things we have seen today!”
REFLECTION
“They carried the sick man up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles
and let him down on his bed into the middle of the groups in front of Jesus.”
Coming to Jesus means that we must
make an effort to do life differently
than we may be accustomed to doing it.
We must first make up our minds to be disciples.
Then we must persist in that vision
no matter how hard it is or how many times we fail.
2nd Week of Advent
Ambrose
►1st Reading: Is 40:1–11
Be comforted, my people,
be strengthened, says your God.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, proclaim to her
that her time of bondage is at an end,
that her guilt has been paid for,
that from the hand of Yahweh
she has received double punishment
for all her iniquity.
A voice cries,
“In the wilderness prepare the way for Yahweh.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley will be raised up;
every mountain and hill will be laid low.
The stumbling blocks shall become level
and the rugged places smooth.
The glory of Yahweh will be revealed,
and all mortals together will see it;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry.”
and I say, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty as the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of Yahweh blows upon it.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will forever stand.”
Go up onto the high mountain, messenger of Zion,
lift up your voice with strength,
fear not to cry aloud when you tell Jerusalem
and announce to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes your God with might;
his strong arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and here before him is his booty.
Like a shepherd he tends his flock:
he gathers the lambs in his arms,
he carries them in his bosom,
gently leading those that are with young.
►Gospel: Mt 18:12–14
Jesus said to his disciples, “What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you: when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it than about the ninety-nine that did not get lost. It is the same with your Father in heaven: there they don’t want even one of these little ones to be lost.”
REFLECTION
“In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of the little ones to be lost.”
We are so quick to excuse ourselves for our failings,
so equally quick to punish others,
to make them pay for their weaknesses,
to shun and isolate them from nice society.
But just as God seeks us always, God is also seeking them–
and waiting for us to find those in need and bring them home.
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
►1st Reading: Gen 3:9–15, 20
Yahweh God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman you put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, you will eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”
The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
►2nd Reading: Eph 1:3–6, 11–12
Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord,
who in Christ has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing.
God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world
to be holy and without sin in his presence.
From eternity he destined us in love
thus fulfilling his free and generous will.
This goal suited him:
that his loving-kindness which he granted us in his Beloved
might finally receive all glory and praise.
We were awaiting the Messiah,
for the praise of his glory.
►Gospel: Lk 1:26–38
The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be if I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
REFLECTION
God also appears to us as he did to Mary,
in order to disconcert our plans.
To accept his will, respond with docility: yes… it’s difficult
but even in that, he helps us and makes us say to ourselves:
Be not afraid, nothing is impossible.
The blessings that God gives us are blessings that must be shared to others.
2nd Week of Advent
Juan Diego
►1st Reading: Is 41:13–20
For I, Yahweh, your God, take hold of your right hand and say to you: “Fear not, I am your assistance.” Fear not, Jacob, poor worm, and you, people of Israel, so frail.
I am your redeemer, says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, your helper.
I will make you a thresher, new and with sharp double teeth: you will thresh hills and mountains, crushing them and reducing them to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will carry them off and the storm will scatter them. But you will rejoice in Yahweh and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and the afflicted seek water, and find none.
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I, Yahweh, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up streams over the barren heights
and let the rivers flow through all the valleys;
I will turn the desert into lakes and brooks
and the thirsty earth into a land of springs.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle and the olive;
I will plant in the wasteland fir, cypress and pine—
that all may see and know, consider and understand,
that the hand of Yahweh has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
►Gospel: Mt 11:11–15
Jesus said to the crowds, “No one greater than John the Baptist has come forward among the sons of women, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is something to be conquered and the unyielding seize it. “Up to the time of John, there was only prophesy: all the prophets and the Law; and if you believe me, John is this Elijah, whose coming was predicted. Let anyone with ears listen!”
REFLECTION
“John the Baptist is greater than anyone who has ever lived.
But the one who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John.”
We are all meant to prepare the way
for the works of God here and now.
We are all required to do our best
to bring the Reign of God in our time.
We are not here simply to wait for heaven.
We are here to bring it.
2nd Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 48:17–19
Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, Yahweh, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go.
Had you paid attention to my commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from my presence.
►Gospel: Mt 11:16–19
Jesus said to the crowds, “Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain: ‘We played the flute for you but you would not dance. We sang a funeral song but you would not cry!’
“For John came fasting and people said: ‘He is possessed.’ Then the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and people said: ‘Look at this man! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet the outcome will prove Wisdom to be right.”
REFLECTION
“When John came he fasted and drank no wine and everyone said, ‘
He has a demon in him.’ When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank and everyone said...
‘He is a glutton and wine drinker?”
It is not so much the style of our pieties that count;
it is what we do for others
that makes us holy.
When we take care of the world and its people
the way God takes care of the world
then we are holy whatever else we do.
2nd Week of Advent
Damasus
►1st Reading: Sir 48:1–4, 9–11
Then came the prophet Elijah like a fire, his words a burning torch.
He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number.
Speaking in the name of the Lord he closed the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire.
How marvelous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal?
You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses.
It was written that you should be the one to calm God’s anger in the future before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live.
►Gospel: Mt 17:9a, 10–13
As they were coming down the mountainside, the disciples then asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?” And Jesus answered, “So it is: first comes Elijah to set everything as it has to be. But I tell you, Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”
Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.
REFLECTION
“Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him....
In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man.”
Anyone who upsets the power structure of the time
in behalf of the children of God
will be pursued and punished
by the power structure of the time.
But the fire such people light, the light they light
becomes the path that leads the world to God.
3rd Sunday of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 35:1–6a, 10
Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice,
the desert be glad and blossom.
Covered with flowers, it sings and shouts with joy,
adorned with the splendor of Lebanon,
the magnificence of Carmel and Sharon.
They, my people, see the glory of Yahweh,
the majesty of our God.
Give vigor to weary hands
and strength to enfeebled knees.
Say to those who are afraid:
“Have courage, do not fear.
See, your God comes, demanding justice.
He is the God who rewards,
the God who comes to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unsealed.
Then will the lame leap as a hart
and the tongue of the dumb sing and shout.
For water will break out in the wilderness
and streams gush forth from the desert.
The thirsty ground will become a pool,
the arid land springs of water.
In the haunts where once reptiles lay,
grass will grow with reeds and rushes.
There will be a highway
which will be called The Way of Holiness;
no one unclean will pass over it
nor any wicked fool stray there.
No lion will be found there
nor any beast of prey.
Only the redeemed will walk there.
For the ransomed of Yahweh will return:
with everlasting joy upon their heads,
they will come to Zion singing,
gladness and joy marching with them,
while sorrow and sighing flee away.
►2nd Reading: Jas 5:7-10
Be patient then, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. See how the sower waits for the precious fruits of the earth, looking forward patiently to the autumn and spring rains. You also be patient and do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Beloved, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be judged. See, the judge is already at the door. Take for yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name.
►Gospel: Mt 11:2–11
When John the Baptist heard in prison about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples, asking him: “Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus answered them, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life and good news is reaching the poor. And how fortunate is the one who does not take offense at me.”
As the messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “When you went out to the desert, what did you expect to see? A reed swept by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? People who wear fine clothes live in palaces. What did you actually go out to see? A prophet? Yes, indeed, and even more than a prophet. He is the man of whom Scripture says: I send my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way before you.
I tell you this: no one greater than John the Baptist has come forward among the sons of women, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
REFLECTION
“‘Tell us,’ John’s disciples asked Jesus, ‘
Are you the one who is to come or shall we wait for another?”
The answer Jesus gives to John’s disciples
is the bedrock of the spiritual life.
It is not about belief, it is about actions
in behalf of the poor.
What we do for God’s little ones
is the real mark of how religious we really are.
3rd Week of Advent
Lucy
►1st Reading: Num 24:2–7, 15–17a*(completed)
He looked up and saw Israel camping, tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him and he uttered his song:
“Word of Balaam, son of Beor, the seer, the one who hears the words of God,
and beholds the vision of the Almighty,
in ecstasy, with eyes unveiled.
How goodly are your tents, Jacob, your encampments, Israel!
Like valleys stretching far,
like gardens beside a stream,
like aloes planted by Yahweh,
like cedars beside the waters.
His buckets are overflowing and his seeds are always watered. His king becomes stronger than Agag, and his kingdom grows.
Then Balaam pronounced his oracle:
“Word of Balaam, son of Beor, the seer,
the one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
and sees the vision of the Almighty,
in ecstasy, with eyes unveiled.
I see a figure, but not really.
I behold him but not near.
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
he rises with a staff in his hand;
he shatters the forehead of Moab
and tears down all the sons of Sheth.
►Gospel: Mt 21:23–27
Jesus had entered the Temple and was teaching when the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the Jewish authorities came to him and asked, “What authority have you to act like this? Who gave you authority to do all this?”
Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you a question, only one. And if you give me an answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. When John began to baptize, was it a work of God, or was it merely something human?”
They reasoned out among themselves, “If we reply that it was a work of God, he will say: Why, then, did you not believe him? And if we say: The baptism of John was merely something human, beware of the people: since all hold John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what right I do these things.”
REFLECTION
“What right do you have to do these things? the Pharisees asked Jesus.”
All good things come from God.
When we try to argue that evil–any evil–
is from God, we fool ourselves.
It is possible that good can come out of evil
but it is not possible that God wills evil.
God wills that we bring goodness into the world.
3rd Week of Advent
John of the Cross
►1st Reading: Zep 3:1–2, 9–13
Woe to the rebellious, the defiled, the city that oppresses. She did not pay attention to the call nor accept the correction; she did not trust Yahweh nor did she approach her God.
At that time I will give truthful lips to the pagan nations that all of them may call on the name of Yahweh and serve him with the same zeal. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia they will bring offerings to me.
On that day you will no longer be ashamed of all your deeds when you were unfaithful to me; I will have removed from your midst the conceited and arrogant and my holy mountain will no longer be for you a pretext for boasting.
I will leave within you a poor and meek people who seek refuge in God. The remnant of Israel will not act unjustly nor will they speak falsely, nor will deceitful words be found in their mouths. They will eat and rest with none to threaten them.
►Gospel: Mt 21:28–32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, “What do you think of this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said to him: ‘Son, today go and work in my vineyard.’ And the son answered: ‘I don’t want to.’ But later he thought better of it and went. Then the father went to the second and gave him the same command. This son replied: ‘I will go, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what the father wanted?” They answered, “The first.” And Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you: the publicans and the prostitutes are ahead of you on the way to the kingdom of heaven. For John came to show you the way of goodness but you did not believe him, yet the publicans and the prostitutes did. You were witnesses of this, but you neither repented nor believed him.”
REFLECTION
“I tell you that tax collectors and the prostitutes
are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.”
Authenticity–being who we say we are–
is of the essence of holiness.
Those who pose as holy to fool the public
fool no one but themselves.
Those who try and fail and try again–
these are the ones God loves.
3rd Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 45:6c–8, 18, 21c–25
Thus says Yahweh,
so that, from the rising
to the setting of the sun,
all may know
that there is no one besides me;
I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
I form the light and create the dark;
I usher in prosperity and bring calamity.
I, Yahweh, do all this.
Let the heavens send righteousness like dew
and the clouds rain it down.
Let the earth open and salvation blossom,
so that justice also may sprout;
I, Yahweh, have created it.
Yes, this is what Yahweh says,
he who created the heavens,
– for he is God,
who formed and shaped the earth,
– for he himself set it:
“I did not let confusion in it,
I wanted people to live there instead”
– for I am Yahweh and there is no other.
Let them present their arguments
take counsel together and tell me:
Who announced this from the beginning,
who foretold it in the distant past?
Is it not me Yahweh?
There is no other God besides me,
a Savior, a God of justice, there is no other one but me.
Turn to me and be saved,
all you from the ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is no other.
By my own self I swear it,
and what comes from my mouth is truth,
a word I say will not be revoked.
Before me every knee will bend,
by me every tongue will swear, saying,
“In Yahweh alone are righteousness and strength.”
All who have raged against him will come to him in shame.
But through Yahweh there will be victory and glory
to the people of Israel.
►Gospel: Lk 7:18b–23
The disciples of John gave him all this news. So he called two of them and sent them to the Lord with this message, “Are you the one we are expecting, or should we wait for another?” These men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask you: Are you the one we are to expect, or should we wait for another?”
At that time Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses or diseases; he freed them from evil spirits and he gave sight to the blind. Then he answered the messengers, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the poor are given good news. Now, listen: Fortunate are those who encounter me, but not for their downfall.”
REFLECTION
“The Good News is preached to the poor.”
In Jesus’ time, to be sick, to be poor
was a sign of loss of God’s favor, of sin.
But it is to the very people called sinners by others that Jesus went.
In Him the poor saw Good News happen in their lives, too.
They were loved and they were saved from suffering.
What good do we do–and for whom?
3rd Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 54:1–10
Rejoice, O barren woman who has not given birth; sing and shout for joy, you who never had children, for more are the children of the rejected woman than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh.
Enlarge the space for your tent, stretch out your hangings, lengthen your ropes and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will take possession of the nations and inhabit cities that have been abandoned.
not be afraid for you will not be deceived, do not be ashamed for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth; no longer will you remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
For your Maker is to marry you: Yahweh Sabaoth is his name. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel: He is called God of all the earth.
For Yahweh has called you back as one forsaken and grieved in spirit. Who could abandon his first beloved? says your God.
For a brief moment I have abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will gather my people. For a moment, in an outburst of anger, I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I have had mercy on you, says Yahweh, your Redeemer.
This is for me like Noah’s waters, when I swore that they would no more flood the earth; so now I swear not to be angry with you and never again to rebuke you. The mountains may depart and the hills be moved, but never will my love depart from you nor my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh whose compassion is for you.
►Gospel: Lk 7:24–30
When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began speaking to the people about John. And he said, “What did you want to see when you went to the desert? A tall reed blowing in the wind? What was there to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? But people who wear fine clothes and enjoy delicate food are found in palaces. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For John is the one foretold in Scripture in these words: I am sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare your ways. No one may be found greater than John among those born of women but, I tell you, the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
All the people listening to him, even the tax collectors, had acknowledged the will of God in receiving the baptism of John, whereas the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, in not letting themselves be baptized by him, ignored the will of God.
REFLECTION
“The one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John.”
However much the great figures of the world do,
however exalted the powerful of the earth–
the kings and councilors, the wealthy and the politicians–
God reserves the blessing of ‘greatness’
on those who give their lives for the good of others.
Then politics becomes pure and power becomes holy.
3rd Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Gen 49:2, 8–10
“Gather round, sons of Jacob. And listen to your father Israel!
Judah, your brothers will praise you!
You shall seize your enemies by the neck!
Your father’s sons shall bow before you.
Judah, a young lion!
You return from the prey, my son!
Like a lion he stoops and crouches,
and like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
The scepter shall not be taken from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs,
and who has the obedience of the nations.
►Gospel: Mt 1:1–17
This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife.
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings: Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
After the deportation to Babylon Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ—the Messiah.
There were then fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Christ.
REFLECTION
“This is the list of the ancestors of Christ...”
Jesus, it is clear, from the list of ancestors
is first and foremost human.
He knows the perils of history and the struggles of life.
He is the sign of God’s love for humanity.
He is the one, this very human list assures us,
who knows of what we’re made of and loves us nevertheless.
3rd Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Jer 23:5–8
Yahweh further says, “The day is coming when I will raise up a king who is David’s righteous successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness. That will be a grandiose era when Judah will enjoy peace and Israel will live in safety. He will be called Yahweh-our-justice!”
“The days are coming,” says Yahweh, “when people shall no longer swear by Yahweh as the living God who freed the people of Israel from the land of Egypt. Rather, they will swear by Yahweh as the living God who restored the descendants of Israel from the northern empire and from all the lands where he had driven them, to live again in their own land!”
►Gospel: Mt 1:18–25
This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home. So she gave birth to a son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave him the name of Jesus.
REFLECTION
“Joseph did not want to disgrace Mary publicly.”
Mary is for us a sign of faith; Joseph, a sign of compassion.
Mary trusts God in every aspect of her life.
Joseph trusts the mercy and plan of God, as well.
Mary turns her life over to the will of God.
Joseph trusts that good will underlies human nature.
Her faith and his compassion are measures of our own.
4th Sunday of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 7:10–14
Once again Yahweh addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from Yahweh your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”
But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put Yahweh to the test.”
Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
“The Virgin is with child and bears a son and calls his name Immanuel.”
►2nd Reading: Rom 1:1–7
From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
an apostle called and set apart for God’s Good News,
the very promises he foretold through his prophets in the sacred Scriptures,
regarding his Son, who was born in the flesh a descendant of David,
and has been recognized as the Son of God endowed with Power,
upon rising from the dead through the Holy Spirit.
Through him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the sake of his Name,
we received grace and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith.
All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them,
you, the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy:
May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.
►Gospel: Mt 1:18–24
This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home.
REFLECTION
“While Joseph was thinking of putting her away privately,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.”
God speaks to all of us in many ways:
Sometimes it is through the voice of others.
Sometimes it is in a burst of sudden insight.
Sometimes it is through the example
of those who are the angels in our own life.
Whatever the means, God calls us to our best selves always.
4th Week of Advent
►1st Reading: Is 7:10–14
Once again Yahweh addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from Yahweh your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”
But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put Yahweh to the test.”
Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The Virgin is with child and bears a son and calls his name Immanuel.
►Gospel: Lk 1:26–38
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be if I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
REFLECTION
“There is nothing that God cannot do.”
The glory of God shines through everything in life:
When we are steeped in darkness of heart,
God stands with us waiting for our trust.
When what we desire in life seems farthest away,
God waits for us to accept the blessings of the present.
God-with-us, even now, comes to give us, like Mary,
fullness of life–if only we will accept it.
4th Week of Advent
Peter Canisius
►1st Reading: Zep 3:14–18a (or Song 2:8–14)
Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; rejoice, O people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!
Yahweh has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. Yahweh, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.
On that day they will say to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for Yahweh your God is within you, Yahweh, saving warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for he has revived his love. For you he will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.
I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be shamed.
►Gospel: Lk 1:39–45
Mary then set out for a town in the Hills of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”
REFLECTION
“Mary hurried into a town in the hill country of Judea...to Elizabeth.”
God sends angels into every life to help us
understand the present
and to enable us to bear the future.
We are one another’s lifeline to God.
We are here to hold one another up
and to help one another see the presence of God.
4th Week of Advent
►1st Reading: 1 S 1:24–28
When the child was weaned, Hannah took him with her along with a three-year-old bull, a measure of flour and a flask of wine, and she brought him to Yahweh’s house at Shiloh. The child was still young.
After they had slain the bull, they brought the child to Eli. Hannah exclaimed: “Oh, my lord, look! I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to Yahweh. I asked for this child and Yahweh granted me the favor I begged of him. Now, I think, Yahweh is asking for this child. As long as he lives, he belongs to Yahweh.”
And they worshiped Yahweh there.
►Gospel: Lk 1:46–56
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my savior!
He has looked upon his servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is his Name!
From age to age his mercy extends to those who live in his presence.
He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up those who are downtrodden.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He held out his hand to Israel, his servant, for he remembered his mercy, even as he promised our fathers,
Abraham and his descendants forever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home.
REFLECTION
“He has filled the hungry with good things.”
We are all hungry for something:
security, achievement, happiness.
But it does not always come to us the way we want it.
When we see it least, we must like Mary, remember
that God comes to us always in ways we cannot see
but, the history of humankind shows us, we must never doubt.
4th Week of Advent
John of Kanty
►1st Reading: Mal 3:1–4, 23–24
Now I am sending my messenger ahead of me to clear the way; then suddenly the Lord for whom you long will enter the sanctuary. The envoy of the covenant which you so greatly desire already comes, says Yahweh of hosts. Who can bear the day of his coming and remain standing when he appears? For he will be like fire in the foundry and like the lye used for bleaching.
He will be as a refiner or a fuller. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. So Yahweh will have priests who will present the offering as it should be. Then Yahweh will accept with pleasure the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, as in former days.
I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the day of Yahweh comes, for it will be a great and terrible day. He will reconcile parents with their children, and the children with their parents, so that I may not have to curse this land when I come.”
►Gospel: Lk 1:57–66
When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her and they rejoiced with her.
When on the eighth day they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” They said to her, “No one in your family has that name”; and they asked the father by means of signs for the name he wanted to give. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote on it, “His name is John,” and they were very surprised. Immediately Zechariah could speak again and his first words were in praise of God.
A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and through-out the Hills of Judea the people talked about these events. All who heard of it pondered in their minds and wondered, “What will this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.
REFLECTION
“Zechariah asked for a writing pad and wrote, ‘His name is John’...
At that moment Zechariah was able to speak again.”
When Zechariah agrees to name the child ‘John,’–
the name given by the angel Zechariah had not believed–
it is an act of faith rewarded by the return of his speech.
All of us are given one time after another to believe again
in the God whose works we so often doubt in our own lives.
That faith is always rewarded, too–however long it takes to come.
4th Week of Advent
►1st Reading: 2 S 7:1–5, 8b–12, 14a, 16
David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar but the ark of God is housed in a tent.” Nathan replied, “Do as it seems fit to you for Yahweh is with you.”
But that very night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, this is what Yahweh says: Are you able to build a house for me to live in?
“Now you will tell my servant David, this is what Yahweh of hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great as the name of the great ones on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel and plant them that they may live there in peace. They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppress them as before. From the time when I appointed judges over my people Israel it is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. Yahweh also tells you that he will build you a house.
“When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you and I will make his reign secure. I will be a father to him and he shall be my son. If he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod, as men do. Your house and your reign shall last forever before me, and your throne shall be forever firm.”
►Gospel: Lk 1:67–79
Zechariah, filled with holy spirit, sang this canticle,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has come and redeemed his people.
He has raised up for us a victorious Savior
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised through his prophets of old,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of our foes.
He has shown mercy to our fathers
and remembered his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to Abraham, our father,
to deliver us from the enemy,
that we might serve him fearlessly
as a holy and righteous people
all the days of our lives.
And you, my child,
shall be called prophet of the Most High,
for you shall go before the Lord
to prepare the way for him
and enable his people to know of their salvation
when he comes to forgive their sins.
This is the work of the mercy of our God,
who comes from on high as a rising sun
shining on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and guiding our feet into the way of peace.”
REFLECTION
“You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him.”
Like John, we are all called
to be heralds of the Lord.
We are meant to be signs of faith
and saviours of those who depend on us
to give sound to the silence of their cries.
We are meant to be the hands and voice of Jesus now.
The Nativity of the Lord
►1st Reading: Is 52:7–10
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those
who bring good news,
who herald peace and happiness,
who proclaim salvation
and announce to Zion: “Your God is king!”
Break into shouts of joy,
O ruins of Jerusalem,
for Yahweh consoles his people
and redeems Jerusalem.
Yahweh has bared his holy arm
in the eyes of the nations;
all the ends of the earth, in alarm,
will witness God’s salvation.
►2nd Reading: Heb 1:1–6
God has spoken in the past to our ancestors through the prophets, in many different ways, although never completely, but in our times he has spoken definitively to us through his Son. He is the one God appointed heir of all things, since through him he unfolded the stages of the world.
He is the radiance of God’s Glory and bears the stamp of God’s hidden being, so that his powerful word upholds the universe. And after taking away sin, he took his place at the right hand of the divine Majesty in heaven.
►Gospel: Jn 1:1–18
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him and without him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in him, life which for humans was also light. Light that shines in the dark: light that darkness could not overcome. A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him.
For the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but all who have received him he empowers to become children of God for they believe in his Name.
These are born, but without seed or carnal desire or will of man: they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.
From his fullness we have all received, favor upon favor. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made him known: the one who is in and with the Father.
REFLECTION
“The Word was the source of life and this life brought light to people.”
We look for fullness of life in many places–
money, power, self development.
The problem is that though all of them are good,
all of them themselves wear out, fade away, end.
All of them are of our own making, all of them, eventually, fail us.
Only the spiritual life, life in God, here and hereafter, remains.
Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
►1st Reading: Sir 3:2–6, 12–14
For the Lord established that children should respect their father; he confirmed the right of the mother over her children.
Whoever honors his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself.
Whoever honors his father will receive joy from his own children and will be heard when he prays.
Whoever glorifies his father will have a long life. Whoever obeys the Lord gives comfort to his mother.
My child, take care of your father in his old age, do not cause him sorrow as long as he lives.
Even if he has lost his mind, have patience; do not be disrespectful to him while you are in full health.
For kindness done to one’s father will never be forgotten, it will serve as reparation for your sins.
►2nd Reading: Col 3:12–21 (or 3:12–17)
Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God’s chosen people, holy and beloved of him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is any occasion to do so. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another. Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of God dwell in you in all its richness. Teach and admonish one another with words of wisdom. With thankful hearts sing to God psalms, hymns and spontaneous praise. And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as you should do in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not get angry with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, because that pleases the Lord. Parents, do not be too demanding of your children, lest they become discouraged.
►Gospel: Mt 2:13–15, 19–23
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him.”
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled: I called my son out of Egypt.
After Herod’s death, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.” So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
But when Joseph heard that Archilaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given further instructions in a dream, and went to the region of Galilee.
There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way what was said by the prophets was fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazorean.
REFLECTION
“Joseph got up, took the child and his mother,
and left during the night for Egypt.”
There are things in life
for which we cannot be prepared in advance.
Change takes us by surprise, circumstances shift.
Then we must understand that what it is, it is God’s will for us.
Then we must realize that God awaits somewhere else
and go, in that night, toward the light that is God.
John, Apostle and Evangelist
►1st Reading: 1 Jn 1:1–4
This is what has been from the beginning, and what we have heard and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, I mean the Word who is Life…
The Life made itself known, we have seen Eternal Life and we bear witness, and we are telling you of it. It was with the Father and made himself known to us.
So we tell you what we have seen and heard, that you may be in fellowship with us, and us, with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
And we write this that our joy may be complete.
►Gospel: Jn 20:1a and 2–8
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala ran to Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. And she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have laid him.”
Peter then set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter.
Then Simon Peter came following him and entered the tomb; he, too, saw the linen cloths lying flat. The napkin, which had been around his head was not lying flat like the other linen cloths but lay rolled up in its place. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and believed.
REFLECTION
“As yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.”
The tomb explains the birth of Jesus and all he stood for.
In fact, it is the tomb that puts the seal on all our lives.
The question is, then, what is my own life about?
And the answer must be that, like Jesus, it is about
proclaiming the Good News—whatever the cost.
It is the question that must be asked and answered daily.
Holy Innocents
►1st Reading: 1 Jn 1:5–2:2
We heard his message from him and announce it to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him.
If we say we are in fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we lie instead of being in truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we are in fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.
If we say, “We have no sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness.
If we say that we do not sin, we make God a liar, his word is not in us.
My little children, I write to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. He is the sacrificial victim for our sins and the sins of the whole world.
►Gospel: Mt 2:13–18
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him.”
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled: I called my son out of Egypt.
When Herod found out that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old or under. This was done in line with what he had learned from the wise men about the time when the star appeared.
In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled: A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation: Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted, for they are no more.
REFLECTION
“Herod gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem who were
two years old and younger.”
In Herod we see ourselves out of control, unable to cope
with competition or fearful of displacement or full of envy.
We remember again how easy it is to be full of resentment
and how important it is not to exaggerate our own importance.
Otherwise, we become the worst of ourselves
and obstacles to fullness of life for others.
5th Day in the Octave of Christmas
Thomas Becket
►1st Reading: 1 Jn 2:3–11
How can we know that we know him? If we fulfill his commands.
If you say, “I know him,” but do not fulfill his commands, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But if you keep his word, God’s love is made complete in you. This is how we know that we are in him:
he who claims to live in him must live as he lived.
My dear friends, I am not writing you a new commandment, but reminding you of an old one, one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard.
But, in a way, I give it as a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.
If you claim to be in the light but hate your brother, you are still in darkness.
If you love your brothers and sisters, you remain in the light and nothing in you will make you fall. But if you hate your brother you are in the dark and walk in darkness without knowing where you go, for the darkness has blinded you.
►Gospel: Lk 2:22–35
When the day came for the purification according to the law of Moses, they brought the baby up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice as ordered in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord. So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law.
Simeon took the child in his arms and blessed God, saying,
“Now, O Lord, you can dismiss
your servant in peace,
for you have fulfilled your word
and my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you display for all the people to see.
Here is the light you will reveal to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”
His father and mother wondered at what was said about the child. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes of Israel. He shall stand as a sign of contradiction, while a sword will pierce your own soul. Then the secret thoughts of many may be brought to light.”
REFLECTION
“Now you can dismiss your servant in peace.”
The purpose of life is to find God
and to grow into the mind of God more and more every day.
When we get to that point,
there is nothing left in life to want, nothing more to achieve.
Then we are ready to leave this life in order to become
what this life has prepared for us to be.
6th Day in the Octave of Christmas
►1st Reading: 1 Jn 2:12–17
My dear children, I write this to you: you have already received the forgiveness of your sins through the Name of Jesus. Fathers, I write this to you: you know him who is from the beginning. Young men, I write this to you: you have overcome the Evil One. My dear children, I write to you because you already know the Father.
Fathers, I write to you because you know him who is from the beginning. Young men, I write to you because you are strong and the Word of God lives in you who have indeed overcome the Evil One.
Do not love the world or what is in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world—
the craving of the flesh,
the greed of eyes
and people boasting of their superiority—
all this belongs to the world, not to the Father.
The world passes away with all its craving but those who do the will of God remain for ever.
►Gospel: Lk 2:36–40
There was a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God and spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew in stature and strength and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon him.
REFLECTION
“Anna gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free.”
Anna did more than simply recognize the child
as Son of God, as the One who was to come.
Anna took it upon herself to call the attention of the people
to the blessing His presence was to them.
When we enable others to find the love and mercy of God in us,
we, too, become prophets of his presence.
7th Day in the Octave of Christmas
Sylvester I
►1st Reading: 1 Jn 2:18–21
My dear children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist would come; but several antichrists have already come, by which we know that it is now the last hour.
They went out from us though they did not really belong to us. Had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. So it became clear that not all of us were really ours.
But you have the anointing from the Holy One, so that all of you have true wisdom.
I write to you, not because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you already know it, and lies have nothing in common with the truth.
►Gospel: Jn 1:1–18
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him and without him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in him, life which for humans was also light. Light that shines in the dark: light that darkness could not overcome. A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light.
For the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He was already in the world and through him the world was made, the very world that did not know him. He came to his own, yet his own people did not receive him; but all who have received him he empowers to become children of God for they believe in his Name.
These are born, but without seed or carnal desire or will of man: they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father: fullness of truth and loving-kindness.
John bore witness to him openly, saying: This is the one who comes after me, but he is already ahead of me for he was before me.
From his fullness we have all received, favor upon favor. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made him known: the one who is in and with the Father.
REFLECTION
“No one has ever seen God.”
We spend a great deal of life wanting to see God
as if God were a thing.
But God is not one vision,
God is creation in all its aspects–and more.
God is the essence of life, the energy of grace,
the reason for our existence and the purpose of our life.
It is in this God that we live and move and have our being.
