"COME AND SEE" : 1 Sam 3:3b–10,19; 1 Cor 6:13c–15a,17–20; Jn 1:35–42 (2) B

 

 

“COME AND SEE”

1 Sam 3:3b–10,19; 1 Cor 6:13c–15a,17–20; Jn 1:35–42 (2) B

Today’s reading from the Gospel of John immediately follows John the Baptist's testimony about Jesus and his identification of Jesus as the Lamb of God. Having been baptized by John, Jesus begins to gather his followers. The first followers sought out Jesus because of the testimony and witness of John the Baptist.

But then, it is Jesus who initiated the calling his followers by his very appearance. It is the divine initiative. It is always God who takes the first step. When the human mind begins to seek and the human heart begins to long, God comes to meet us far more than half way. God does not leave a man or woman to search and search until he or she comes to him. God goes out to meet the mankind as St. Augustine said, “We could not even have begun to seek for God unless he had already found us”. When we go to God, we do not go to one who hides himself and keeps us at a distance. We go to the one who stands waiting for us and who even takes the initiative by coming to meet us on the road.

Jesus asked the disciples, “What are you looking for?” We need to apply this question to ourselves. And it would be well if every now and again we are to ask ourselves: What am I looking for? What’s my aim and goal? What am I really trying to get out of life? Some are searching for material security. They would like a position which is safe, money enough to meet the needs of life. This is not a wrong aim, but it is a low aim, and an inadequate thing to which to direct all life. 

Some are searching for a career, for power, prominence, prestige, for a place to fit the talents and the abilities they believe themselves to have, for an opportunity to do the work they believe themselves capable of doing. If this be directed by motives of personal ambition it can be a bad aim. If it be directed by motives of the service to the poor and needy it can be a high aim. But it is not enough, for its horizon is limited by time and by the world. Some are searching for some kind of peace, for something to enable them to live at peace with themselves, and at peace with God, and at peace with others. This is the search for God. Jesus can only supply and help us to meet this aim.

The disciples asked, “Rabbi, where do you live”? Jesus said, “Come and see!”. His invitation “Come and see” is an invitation not only to come and talk, but to come and find the things that he alone could reveal to us. It is to see and experience the way to God the Father in him – the only way, the truth and the life, life eternal. Whoever comes to him and experiences him, can never return to the old way of life. Life becomes celebration in the storms and colors of life.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” (Ps 34:8)

 

The Lord has made known his Salvation

Is 60:1-6 Eph 3:2-3a,5-6 Mt 2:1-12 (Epiphany)

The word Epiphany means “manifestation” or “showing forth.”  We also commemorate the three kings - Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar who worshipped the Lord Jesus offering their gifts. The Church considers the gifts they offered as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ role in salvation. We believe the meaning of the gifts to be Christological. Gold is presented as representative of Jesus’ kingship. Frankincense is a symbol of his divinity because priests burned the substance in the Temple. Myrrh, which was used to prepare the dead for burial, is offered in anticipation of Jesus’ death. However, it is manifested that God has decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ. Our salvation is in and through Christ Jesus.

History shows that Herod and his family became Jewish in order to rule in Palestine under the protection of Rome. So, Herod was always suspected by the Jews as being a Jew in name only, but not committed to Yahweh. In 40 BC the Roman Senate declared that Herod was vassal king in Palestine, answering ultimately to Rome. Herod spent most of his reign trying to protect himself from being overthrown.

Herod and the magi offer a study in contrasts. Herod was a Jew in name but a pagan in all things. The Magi were pagans in name, but acted like sincere Jews seeking the One who was the summit of God's plan for mankind. St. John of the Cross, would reflect on his own life in a way that was similar to the lives of the ancient magi as well as the lives of all who seek the Lord. It is very clear in the words of the Psalmist, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God” (Ps 42:1).

The three kings represent the Gentiles’ search for the savior. Because the Magi represent the entire world. They also represent our search for Jesus. Were the three kings wise? The Scripture calls them wise. Certainly, they were wise, wiser than any other. Because they were willing to leave their lands, their comforts, and journey to find the great King whose birth was announced by the star. They were wise in as much as they were seeking the Savior of the world leaving the worldly pleasures and luxuries.

We journey to God leaving everything and considering God alone is everything. But where exactly are we going to find Him? We really don't know!! He is in all and countless more places. If we are wise, we will spend our lives seeking him here and now, wherever he is. Yes, at times, we might find ourselves seeking him in the wrong place, like king Herod. We must have started a career that is wrong for us. We may have to break a relationship that is unhealthy for us. But if we are attune to God's Word, he will set us straight and direct us to the course we need to follow and complete.

The wise men followed the direction of the Scripture and went toward Bethlehem, having neither convoy nor encouragement of any company. If we desire to seek Christ we must resolve to go after him alone. At times he will renew directions and encouragement as they stand in need like the star which for a time disappeared, and appeared again to the magi. God supplies correct directions. Today our directing star is nothing but the word of God. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. (Ps 119:105). For he alone knows plans for us, for omur well-being and not for destruction (Jer 29:11). The Holy Spirit will guide us through the Word of God to our destiny destined by God in the Savior.

HOLY FAMILY Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3; Heb 11:8,11-12,17-19; Lk 2:22-40

                                                                     HOLY FAMILY

Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3; Heb 11:8,11-12,17-19; Lk 2:22-40

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. The Gospel describes the presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple and shows Joseph and Mary as devout Jews, following the prescriptions of the Law of Moses. According to the Book of Leviticus, a woman after giving birth to a son, was considered to be ritually unclean for 40 days and giving birth to a daughter considered to be unclean for 80 days. In order to be restored to ritual purity, a Jewish woman needed to perform the appropriate rites of purification.

Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, in accordance with the Mosaic Law. And as the angel Gabriel gave the name, he was called Jesus. Mother Mary performed the appropriate purification rites and made her offering at the Temple on the 40^th day after Jesus’ birth. Luke presents Joseph and Mary as being poor could only offer from what they had.  Another Jewish rite referenced in this Gospel is the dedication of the firstborn son to God. In remembrance of the feast of Passover, when the firstborn children of the Israelites in Egypt were saved from death, the Law of Moses prescribed that all firstborn males of Israel should be consecrated to the Lord. In this tradition, Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus in the Jerusalem temple.

In the temple, Mary and Joseph encountered two devout Jews, Simeon and Anna, who recognized the infant Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s hope for redemption. In Simeon’s words we find a prediction of Mary’s witnessing of Jesus’ death on the cross. The Canticle of Simeon, also called by its Latin name, Nunc Dimitis, is prayed at night prayer, or compline, during the Liturgy of the Hours.

The second reading deals with the interrelationships of the family. Paul tells the Colossians and us to deal with each other out of kindness, to be patient with each other, to forgive each other continually. If we strive to live this way, then as a family we can pray together not just in Church, but in every aspect of our lives. “Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord.” Paul goes on to mention the roles of a family in his epoch. At that time the equality of women was not recognized. In the Roman empire women were seen as property that needed to be protected by their fathers or their husbands. The respect given to a woman was different from that given to a man. That's why we have the phrase, wives be submissive to your husbands. The heart of this reading is that husbands and wives must respect each other.

The first reading from Sirach says that children need to respect their parents. At first it refers to young children as it notes that mothers and fathers have their authority from God. Then it refers to older children when it says that children should take care of their parents when they age. Little children learn respect for their parents from the respect they see their parents giving each other and the respect their parents have for their grandparents. I have always believed that the way you treat your parents will be the way your children will treat you. If your relations with your parents are motivated by respect and love, and are evident in your kindness to them, your children will have learned this aspect of Christianity and will treat you the same way as your years mount. Children need to remember that the parents are co-creator of God. And God blesses us through our parents.

Tod

CHRISTMAS Christian, Remember Your Dignity Is 52:7-10; Hb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-5, 9-14 From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, Pope

 

CHRISTMAS

Christian, Remember Your Dignity

Is 52:7-10; Hb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-5, 9-14

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, Pope

Dearly beloved, today our Saviour is born. Let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life.

  

In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God’s wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind. And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this marvelous work of God’s goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?

  

Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation. Let us throw off our old nature and all its ways and, as we have come to birth in Christ, let us renounce the works of the flesh. Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.

  

Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.

 

Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

The Tabernacle to the Logos (ὁ λόγος) 2 Sam 7:1-5,8b-12,14a,16 Rom 16:25-27 Lk 1:26-38 – (B) 4

 

 The Tabernacle to the Logos (ὁ λόγος)

2 Sam 7:1-5,8b-12,14a,16 Rom 16:25-27 Lk 1:26-38 – (B)  4

On t

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, the liturgy shifts our attention from John the Baptist to Mary, the mother of Jesus. We read the story of the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about the birth of Jesus. The angel Gabriel’s announcement was the immediate beginning of the building of the holiest tabernacle for Jesus’ birth. The King David said, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent” (2 Sam 7:3). And the compassionate God said, “I will appoint a place for my people Israel and they may live…. and never be disturbed” (7:10). This is the promise of God for all the human family, the new Israel. The appointed place or holiest tabernacle was the womb of mother Mary. He appointed and prepared her womb “in the fullness of time” (Gal 4:4). This is his sure sign for the new Israel. And St. Paul reflects and strengthens our faith who says, “…so that all the Gentiles also might come to the obedience to the only one God …through Jesus Christ forever (Rom 16:27).

Mary was the holy place or living tabernacle for God to become man like us. Mary was given a choice. The mourning creation awaited for her answer to give birth to the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2). She could have refused to allow God’s plan to work through her. She could have agreed grudgingly to the plan, like Zechariah, father of John the Baptist in the Temple. Or Mary could have rejected God’s plan simply. Rightly St Bernard wrote, “The prince of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God, we came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life”. And Mother Mary was open to the Word of God. She allowed the Logos the Word to enter her and transform her from a simple maiden to the mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

All the creatures are subjects to their creator. The creator has the authority over his subjects but still he desired for the permission for him to work in Mary. An ambassador represents the king. When an ambassador represents bringing the king’s message, he brings the own words of the king. When Mary was greeted, “Hail Mary full of grace”, it was not the words of the angel but it was the greetings of God of the armies himself. He sought the permitting words of Mary, “Thy will be done” to bring forth his salvific plan in and through her.    

Today, the Word of God whispers into our ears and calls upon us to bring this divine presence within us to others. We do this by standing up for our faith. We do this by searching out for those who need his strength. So many people are hurt at Christmas time. People who have lost loved ones need special attention. People who are wandering need special care. People who are sick and elderly and wondering if this will be their last Christmas, need the assurance that God’s love will usher them an eternal Christmas. In the exemplary response of our mother Mary to God, can our hearts become the living tabernacles for Jesus? And can our bodies become the living temples for the Holy Spirit to lead his new Israel to God?

 

Called to be heralds of God's Presence (Jn 1:6-8,19-28)

Called to be Heralds of God's Presence

Is 61:1-2a,10-11; 1 Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8,19-28

Jesus quoted the passage from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The passage begins: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God”. 

We cry out to God for help when we suffer a crisis or a traumatic event. In the same way, many people all over the world are in continual crisis calling out to God. such as people who are oppressed, people who try to bring their children up in neighborhoods where crime and drugs rule, people who are physically or mentally challenged, people who suffer pain afflicted upon them by an unfaithful spouse, a dishonest business partner or a wayward adult child, people who are hungry for food that cannot be found or who need medicine for their children that they cannot afford. How many times do these people cry out to God? 

John the Baptist was sent to give testimony. The word testimony in the original Greek is marturios, martyr. He was the first Apostle and Martyr. He was the first one sent to proclaim the presence of the Christ. He was the first one to give testimony to the Truth of Christ. He paid with his life for his testimony to Truth. We are called to be like John the Baptist giving witness to the presence of Christ. The world deeply needs our witness to Christ. For many people Christmas has become a pagan celebration. Materialism is their god. They refer to Christmas as the gifting season or fat season with foods. They reject Christ and contort Christmas into a celebration of materialism. But they need the Messiah, where can they find him? The world that has rejected Jesus Christ needs witnesses to his presence. The world needs new John the Baptists to point to Jesus. 

We are called to be these witnesses. We are called to stand up before friends, families, working companions, or maybe just that idle acquaintance and say, “For me, the Life of Christ is more important than anything the world can offer.” If this reality is present in the core of our being, the Holy Spirit within us will convince others of the truth of our witness. We are the new heralds of the Kingdom. We are sent by God. We are the new apostles. We are the new witnesses. We are the new martyrs. We are the new John the Baptists. We have a responsibility to the world around us to reflect the presence of Christ. Like that of organizations such as Catholic Relief Services or charities throughout the world, proclaim the presence of God in the charitable works with a far greater efficacy then preaching only with words. So many people are hurting. So many people are searching for some sort of meaning to the madness of life. They need us to be heralds of God's presence. 

The third Sunday of Advent is also called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete, a Latin word which means “rejoice,” is taken from the entrance antiphon for Sunday’s Mass. This theme is echoed in today’s second reading from the first Letter to the Thessalonians. It is a reminder that Advent is a season of joy because our salvation is already at hand. We are called upon to assume the role of John the Baptist, proclaiming a new way of life, a new kingdom.

Repentance Implies Change of Mind and Life (Mark 1:1-8)

Repentance Implies Change of Mind and Life

2nd Advent Sunday (B)

Is 40:1-5,9-11; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8

A certain captain of a ship at sea discovered that by some mistake the steersman was steering the ship directly towards the rocks. How the danger needs to be avoided? By scrubbing the decks or setting the men to the pumps? No! these things are good enough in their own time. But if the ship was to be saved, one thing must be done – the course or the direction of the ship must be changed. Rightly, the captain uttered a few quick words, and the ship turned and fastened away from the danger. In the same way, John the Baptist’s preaching is a call to humankind to turn from the dangerous rocks of sin and to make a way only towards haven. Repentance results in change of action. Just as the whole ship turns in obedience to the captain, so the change of mind produces a change of life. 

John the Baptist was last of the OT prophets and first preacher in the NT. He practiced a life of self-denial. He denounced luxury, soft clothing, sumptuous fare, and he was a living example of the austerity. And how many preachers have been prompted to imitate him! Saints like Martin and Dominic, Anselm and Borromeo have themselves worn the same externals of severity, as the surest way of recommending the self-denial. And though such asceticism is deprecated in the nineteenth century, history bears abundant witness to its power in the past. It was from a hard life in the desert that saints like Gregory Nazianzen and Basil, and Pachomius came forth to preach with such success.  The kings burdened with imperial cares, were eager to seek counsel and direction from a lonely and austere monks and prophets.

Repentance, and self- denial helps us to have a change of mind. Such life leads us to God. It attests the beginning of a new life. John the Baptist is presented to us as a model during Advent. We, too, are called upon to prepare a way for the Lord. Like John the Baptist, we are messengers in service to the one who is greater than we are. 

We are invited to prepare the path for Christ in out hearts. All the valleys of the unspiritual habits and bad values and all the mountains of the prides and spiritual prides should be levelled. The ground in our heart should be levelled well and made it holy for the Messiah to be born in our hearts and he should be able to travel from us to others that they could cherish his Divine presence. The change of mind in repentance will help us deny ourselves and pleases him to be born in us.