I have mentioned before that I am reading Fr. James Martin’s book, Jesus, A Pilgrimage. In one chapter he describes a trip through the desert. He wants to assure us that if we are imaging a desert in the Holy Land, perhaps even the desert referred to in the Gospel today, we should not imagine the American southwest with colorful cactus and picturesque rock formations. He describes something more desolate and threatening.

The presentation of the incident of Jesus’ time in the desert begins with noting the role of the Holy Spirit in the venture. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert following the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ baptism. So Jesus’ desert experience, during which He would be tempted, was marked by His active unity with God. The event became an occasion of public affirmation from Jesus that He had come to do the Father’s will and He could do so because of His confidence in the presence of the Father, with whom He is united as Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. The event is an important testimony to the power of faith in God in order to do God’s will.

Faith and affirmation of God’s power is the key element in the other readings that are assigned to accompany this Gospel. In our first reading Moses was giving instructions to God’s people as they were preparing to conclude their Exodus journey under God’s guidance and settle in the land that God was giving them. The offering made to the priest would be a gesture of gratitude for what God had done and a gesture of faith in what God would continue to do for His faithful people.

Our psalm was a prayer of confidence and petition in a God who seeks to protect His people. It includes the line quoted by the tempter used against Jesus when He was tempting Jesus to somehow demand that God prove Himself through some special intervention. St. Paul brings the message of the importance of faith to its high point by expressing the fundamental Christian belief that it is our faith that Jesus is Lord that brings us salvation.

The Gospel outlines the temptations of Jesus that cover the vast array of temptations that come along to tempt any one of us to falter in our faith and commitment to doing God’s will. The temptation for Jesus to respond to His physical hunger by using His supposed divine powers just to feed Himself represents all the ways that our appropriate use of material things can be skewed to the point of selfishness or disorder that harms ourselves or others. We are tempted to use things in a way that is contrary to God’s will instead of using them in a way that helps us better do God’s will. The temptation to let Satan provide some sort of power and glory represents all the ways that we might seek to glorify ourselves, place ourselves above others and seek to use our abilities, our powers to exercise manipulate or use other people. The third temptation relates to, as it were, testing God by demanding God serve us rather than that we serve Him. It encompasses all the temptations to seek to try to know and relate to God entirely on our own terms as if He were our own creation. It is the temptation to give God access to our hearts only when it is convenient for us.

Lent is our own journey into a desert of sorts. Rather than into a place of desolation it is a desert away from some of the ordinary distractions of life. Perhaps it is more challenging because we do so even as we live our normal lives of work and family. It is note the desert to expose us to temptation but the desert to refine our ability to resist temptation. The recommended Lenten exercises can especially deal with our own vulnerability to falter in our true faith in God. When we engage in self-denial we test and refine our freedom to control our appetites, our desires, rather than be enslaved by them. The giving of alms has us look at others as objects or our charity and not our control or use. And the renewed efforts of prayer refine our relationship with God in Jesus Christ so that we truly make Him our Lord. We hear Him call us to fidelity and we find the promised strength to practice self-denial and give alms.

Jesus, in His desert prayer, provided a model for all of us. If we use Lent to dispose ourselves to greater union with God, we will discover the ways that God truly does want to provide for us. As with Jesus our Lenten journey does not remove all future challenges it simply makes us stronger to face those challenges. As we conclude our Lent with Easter celebrations we remind ourselves that whatever sacrifice is made in resisting temptation aligns us to Jesus who gloriously rose after the most dramatic experience of sacrifice, the sacrifice of His life in the pain of the cross.

The Gospel today ends with a simple little note that after the temptation Satan departed from Jesus “for at time.” Indeed Satan will again return when Jesus would experience His agony in the Garden before His arrest. Once again, He would affirm His desire to do God’s will.

It is the gloriously obedient Jesus, now reigning gloriously in heaven, whom we seek to grow closer to this Lent. He is the God who promises to remain at our side so that we resist all temptations to ignore or resist God’s will. We are not alone in the desert. Jesus, the victor over temptation is with us, as is His Father and the Holy Spirit.

For better or for worse, we are in the election season, which seems to get longer all the time. One of the charges that is leveled from one politician to another, no matter what their particular stripe, is that the opponents adjust their message to their audience to the point of contradicting messages. As we read the Gospel today we are reminded that Jesus was no politician.
Last week we read the description of Jesus’ reading and the attentiveness of the people to Him. Then He went to make the statement that begins this week’s Gospel. His statement was a bold introduction of His role as the fulfillment of the old testament prophecies of a future servant and Messiah. He knew to whom He was speaking. He knew He was speaking to people who had watched Him grow up. They knew Him as a local carpenter. They knew Him as a faithful participant in their synagogue worship. The incident described in the Gospel probably was not the first time He spoke in the synagogue. The people of Nazareth were familiar with Jesus. While there was most likely some respect for Jesus, there was a familiarity that bread contempt at least among some. To honestly identify Himself as He did in the synagogue included a risk of rejection, even hostile rejection, on the part of some. Jesus heard their question. He further read the hearts to see their doubts that would contemptuously want Him to prove Himself with miracles they heard He did elsewhere (if He could). When He confronted their doubt they responded with rejection to the point of near violence.
The rejection Jesus experienced in Nazareth set the stage for the rejection He would experience later at the hands of individuals and groups. It was the eventual rejection that led to His arrest and crucifixion. It was the rejection that old testament prophets experienced as well. Our first reading reminds us of the prophet Jeremiah hundreds of years earlier. He was warned as the Lord called him to service, that people would fight against him, but not prevail. When Jeremiah spoke a challenging truth to God’s people, Jeremiah indeed experienced rejection and persecution, but God’s plan prevailed, most importantly eventually in the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. And with Jesus Christ God would prevail through suffering and death to deliverance in resurrection. Jesus Christ is therefore the source of our hope that we can prevail through experiences of rejection when an honestly proclaimed and lived faith is challenged by people around us.
As we do seek to witness to fidelity to Jesus Christ, in word and deed, we are inviting others to come along to meet and follow Jesus as well. But we do so as imperfect people, and some people will try to silence our witness because of our imperfection. While we may be prudent in how we witness to Jesus Christ, we shouldn’t be silent. But we should witness with the attitude of humility and gratitude for the mercy that God continually shows us. Even if our witness is with confidence, it is not to be with arrogance or personal judgment. (We must indeed judge actions, but hold back in judging the motives or heart of the person who acts.)
The awareness of our imperfection as follower of Jesus leads to what I consider the other part of the message of today’s Gospel. It is the message that we should be aware of our own vulnerability to reject Jesus. It is not some outright and total rejection of Jesus. It might simply be rejecting one element of Jesus’ teaching or another. I think if we are honest, and take a few moments we could probably jot down our favorite teachings of Jesus and those we prefer to ignore, or excuse. That is, if we have a complete knowledge of all that Jesus teaches in the Gospels. (I recall on the way to discerning my vocation the experience of reading the Gospel of Matthew in its entirety. While I don’t remember the specific passages that challenged me the most, I do recall the bottom line of realizing that following Jesus could not be a halfway measure.)
Once again, I would point to the spiritual exercise of making use of the Rediscover Jesus took throughout Lent. I am sure that all of us will find chapters to cheer and chapters to, well, not cheer so much. I want to suggest a great Lenten exercise, as we read, pray and share in an effort to deepen our knowledge and relationship with Jesus. Pick out some point of Jesus’ teaching, some expectation from His Gospel that you are most enthusiastic about. Then think of some particular way you can live that teaching more effectively. Think of some teaching that really challenges you, perhaps even to the point that you have excused yourself from that challenge. Then identify some concrete way you can change your approach to that teaching. It might be an effort of prayer, and effort of learning and most importantly an effort of action. And whatever personal challenge there may be in this effort, we trust that God will give us the grace to fulfill His desire that we be more fervent and effective disciples of Jesus Christ.

During my years as a priest I have participated in many weddings. I know it takes a lot of effort to prepare for the great wedding reception or banquet, as well as the ceremony, not to mention the married life itself. In many weddings it is the reception or banquet that requires the greatest effort and expense. And I am sure every effort is made so that no bride or groom finds themselves in the situation of the couple at the wedding feast in Cana described in the Gospel.
The Gospel account of the wedding feast at Cana has a number of layers of meaning. There is a certain complement of marriage itself in the fact that Jesus’ first great sign in John’s accounting occurs at a wedding feast. Jesus is helping a newly married couple have a more joyous celebration. There is the interesting dialogue between Jesus and Mary. She intercedes. Jesus responds as if her request is not to be fulfilled, yet she, in confidence expects something. She tells the waiters to do whatever He says. It is the message that anyone with a devotion to Mary should hear as they seek her intercession.
The meaning that the Church would like us to notice is in reference to the relationship between God and His people. That is why the passage used as our first reading was specifically paired with the Gospel. The passage from the book of Isaiah directs the prophet to cheer up God’s people as they were returning from exile to a destroyed Jerusalem and temple. God wanted His people to know that He was restoring His relationship with them, and as in other Old Testament passages nuptial or marriage imagery is used to describe that relationship. God is as the groom and His people, collectively, the bride. God approaches His people with commitment and fidelity. He seeks union and intimacy with His people. As Christian we see the promise of restored relationship fulfilled in Jesus Christ, God coming into the world, to save those who have separated themselves from God through sin.
The wedding feast at Cana then is the first alert that a greater wedding feast, a greater celebration of marital union is coming. It is the union between the bridegroom Jesus and the bride which is His Church. The restored relationship is accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The perfection of the restored relationship is, however, to be found in heaven. And fittingly the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, describes heaven in terms of a great wedding celebration. It is the wedding feast of the Lamb. It is the wedding feast of the groom, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, with all those whom He has saved. It is the celebration of the perfect and eternal union of God with each and all of those who believe in Him and have accepted His gift of salvation.
The Second Vatican council document on the liturgy describes the Mass as the foretaste of the heavenly liturgy, described as the heavenly wedding feast. Every Mass celebrates what has been accomplished in establishing a new union between God and His people. It always anticipates the time when that union will be perfect and eternal in heaven. And in fact, more than anticipation there is a co-incidence of the earthly liturgy here at Mass and the eternal heavenly liturgy. Every Mass provides the strength to moving to that perfection through the special presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Word and in sacrament.
At Mass however we are not simply guests, we are not passive bystanders at someone else’s wedding, someone else’s celebration of unity and love and commitment. We are the ones celebrating our own union with and love of God through a relationship in which the commitment should be mutual. We are like the bride (or groom) at any wedding concerned that the celebration be the best one possible. Everyone should be coming to Mass prepared to work. Each one of us shares in the responsibility to make the experience of the Mass as fruitful as possible for everyone else who joins us.
I have addressed this in other homilies. I have written about this in bulletin articles. I have created tools to assist this effort, most especially the Mass personal preparation card. I address the work of liturgy again in this week’s bulletin. It addresses some specific work or roles in the liturgy over and above the common and universal task of being the best worshipers possible.
This week’s letter notes the need for more liturgical ministers. I want to notch up our participation in special liturgical ministries by increasing the numbers and refining the sense of commitment and responsibility. My starting point was noting that recently the use of cups with the Precious Blood was dropped because there simply weren’t enough minsters identified. Some months ago I noted the inappropriateness of scrambling for drop in ministers to fulfill the awesome task of the distribution of the Body and Blood of Christ. Often the posted schedule has replaced names with open. (I have found “open” to not be a very committed minister. When I addressed this in a previous bulletin article I noted how no bride waits to see who will show up in order to fill the very special positions such as brides maid.) Other times the assigned minister doesn’t show up. So, as I note in the bulletin, I am reviewing so that we can refine as necessary the process of scheduling and communicating. Nevertheless we do need additional ministers to continue to enrich our liturgical celebrations.
The insert form calls for volunteers to serve as Communion ministers, readers, altar servers and ushers (who are also greeters). I ask that everyone prayerfully consider whether they can serve in one of these special ministries even as we all continue to refine every aspect of how we participate in the liturgy: praying, singing, listening, supporting and loving.

Like many of you, the ferry plays a big role in my life. I don’t ride it every day, but I do every week. Often I like to stay in my car, but to do so I have to make myself comfortable. I lower the seat back, slide it backward, lay back and (this time of year) cover myself with my car blanket. No matter what we are doing I think we all like to be comfortable. So there is something inviting about the opening words of our first reading from the book of Isaiah. It quotes God speaking to the prophet telling him to comfort, to give comfort to God’s people. The broad meaning of word encompasses relief, consolation and strength.
The reason that the people were in need of being comforted was that many of them had been removed from their homeland by their conquerors. Jerusalem and the temple were being destroyed. While the message that was to bring comfort had many elements, it was essentially about being delivered from guilt by God who was going to come among them in a new and powerful way. It is interesting to note that as the message of comfort is spelled out it speaks of the coming of the Lord with power and a strong arm, but it also describes the Lord as a shepherd, one who feeds, one who gathers in His arms and carries His people in his bosom.
The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist marks an important manifestation of the presence of God in fulfillment of that ancient promise. The baptism in the Jordan marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. With the exception of one incident, Jesus’ being lost in the temple at age 12, we know nothing of Jesus’ youth or work as an adult. The scriptures tell us He was a carpenter. At any rate they were years in which His divinity, His manifestation of God’s presence was hidden. But with the baptism that changed. And the event itself included a symbolic representation of the presence of Holy Spirit and most importantly the voice, the declaration of the heavenly Father that this Jesus was His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.
The ministry of Jesus proceeded from there. It is a ministry described by St. Paul today in our second reading as “saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.” And further Paul noted how Jesus gave Himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and cleanse for himself a people as His own, eager to do what is good.” God has great expectations of us. And finally, St. Paul noted that He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what John the Baptist meant when He spoke of the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. We were initiated into this beautiful life through our own baptism, our bath of rebirth that made us children of God and members of His Church.
So why was Jesus, God in human flesh, He who was like us in all things except sin…why was He baptized? This event that marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry went to the heart of the purpose of His ministry. Jesus had no need of John’s baptism of repentance. But He wanted to affirm His decision to be present among us, to be one with us, even though we are sinners. Jesus thus laid the groundwork for one day saving us from our sins. Additionally, His stepping into John’s baptism, as it were, made holy the water that would one day be used for His new baptism.
As I noted we all entered into the life described by St. Paul when we were baptized. It is a life which must be constantly maintained, formed and informed by grace and truth. It is a life that must be continually witnessed in our interactions with others. Daily we seek to encounter the Lord of power and a strong arm. The power of the Lord, the power of the truth, however can sometimes be challenging. It may accuse us of wrongdoing and calls us to change. That strong arm of the Lord which is the command to extend charity toward others takes commitment and work. So at the same time we must seek out the shepherd who feeds us with Eucharist. It is the shepherd that gathers us in His arms in reconciliation when we start to wander and are in trouble. In our daily prayer and reflection we seek the intimacy of an embrace at the bosom of the shepherd who is Jesus Christ.
Celebrating baptisms is one of my most joyful duties. But it is one that carries great responsibility as well. I have the joy of knowing that I am facilitating Jesus’ reaching out to wash someone’s sins away and pour the new life of the Holy Spirit into them, making them God’s children and new members of His Church, our spiritual family. But I am reminded of how important it is that as adults they have been prepared for the commitment to live their new life. With infants I am reminded of the Church’s charge to me that if I baptize I must have a founded hope that the child will be raised in the Catholic Faith. This is dependent on the parents. And throughout the baptismal ritual there are questions, gestures and directions that remind parents of their responsibility.
I noted that the new life transmitted in baptism needs to be maintained. And our baptismal commitment, perhaps first made by our parents, should be renewed now and then. Renewal of baptismal promises is part of the ritual for the sacrament of confirmation. And in every Easter Mass as a congregation we renew our baptismal promises. But in every Mass, especially when we come forward to receive Holy Communion we are renewing our baptism. Our Amen at Communion says: “Yes Lord, I know that you have saved me from my sins. You have given me new life and now you nourish me so that I can better live that life. And that should make us very comfortable in heart and mind and soul.

The Gospel describes a scene that is popularly presented on Christmas cards even while it is captured in the nativity crèche in most Churches. It is the familiar site of the Holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, gathered in a Bethlehem stable shortly after the birth of Jesus, as they are joined by the visiting shepherds. However, perhaps an even more popular and poignant religious image of the Christmas season is the Madonna, the image of Mary holding the infant Jesus. In fact it is an image that is less restricted to the Christmas season as Mary is depicted holding a child of a variety of ages even beyond infancy. Our own statue of Mary depicts her holding her Son, presenting Him for all of us to see. The Madonna and child has long been a staple subject of the great artists over many centuries. In recent years classical artistic representations of the Madonna have been used for Christmas stamps. Although in more recent years the Holy Family and the Magi have been used.
These pictures of Mary and Jesus vary, but all bring out the unique intimacy between this Mother and child. Each captures the unique intermingling of human and divine. The image of Mary with the child Jesus held in her arms is a great statement of the obvious. Mary had a relationship with Jesus unlike anyone else. Consequently, she has a relationship with God, unlike anyone else.
Today we celebrate the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It is as on last Sunday’s feast of the Holy Family another affirmation of the mystery of the incarnation, made manifest with the birth of Jesus. In choosing to become incarnate, in choosing to dwell among us in the flesh, He chose to be born like any other human. He chose to be dependent on the pre-birth nurturance of a woman for the nine months in the womb as well as in the years of infancy and childhood. St. Paul, in our first readings, makes a point of noting that when God sent His Son, He was born of a woman. St. Paul then went on to note that the Son accomplished a ransom on behalf of those who would believe, it is a ransom from the debt that sin brings. It is a ransom that allows us believers to become children of God, to have the Holy Spirit within our hearts so that indeed we, children of God, can call upon God as Father with the endearing title of Abba.
It is important to note, however, that as profound as this is, as profound as the gift of the Holy Spirit that binds to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we must note, that Mary enjoyed an even more intense fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Because of her yes when God called upon her to cooperate in His plan of salvation, the Holy Spirit entered her heart, her entire being in such a way that within her flesh, God took flesh. The Holy Spirit acted deep within her womb to enable her to call God not only Father but Son. As we profess in the apostle’s Creed, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Today’s feast helps us to prolong the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ as it moves us into a New Year according to our secular calendars. The New Year is a great time for making new beginnings, new efforts, new resolutions. Perhaps no greater resolution can be made than to recommit ourselves to our own relationship with Jesus Christ. The intimacy between Jesus and Mary that is so beautifully pictured in the various artistic representations is an intimacy that Mary wishes to share. She does want us to know and love and cherish her Son, just as she did. And while we can never carry an infant Jesus in our arms, we can embrace His truth, with all its beauty and power, in our minds and hearts. And we can move forward into a new year holding Him up and outward in our interactions with others.

The older I get the more appreciative I become of my now deceased parents and how much I value the opportunity of having grown up within a particular family, with a certain structure, but most importantly clear values and expectations. Looking back I can’t recall a time when I did not equally identify my existence as a member of a particular earthly family, and that family which is the Church, the family of God. We were raised with the expectation that we would work hard to succeed in education and eventually in some professional work, but equally there was the overriding sense of responsibility before God.
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Family the scriptures remind us of our twofold status as members of particular families as well as members of the family and household of God. At the heart of the feast is the reminder that in becoming man, God in human flesh, Jesus Christ, grew up under the direction of an appointed Mother, Mary, and a foster Father, Joseph, since his conception was accomplished with no human Father. The Father who gave Jesus life in human flesh is only the divine Father, God the Father, the first person of the Blessed Trinity.
The Gospel passage gives a glimpse of the puzzling tension of a God in human flesh, a divine person with a full human nature. We don’t have absolutely precise answers regarding the interplay or Jesus’ humanity and divinity as He grew and learned in His humanity. Nor do we know exactly how Mary understood how the life of her divine Son would play out. And so the Gospel incident described today plays both sides of the tension. Jesus’ parents were legitimately concerned about his being left behind. His response to their finding Him was direct but not a rebuke. It was a reminder of His special place as God’s Son; He would have a special work to do, even though it would not be fully engaged for perhaps another 18 years. And indeed, after this brief introduction to His future, He went home with them, where He was obedient to them, and He grew in wisdom, in age and favor before God and man.
The Feast of the Holy Family, the reminder that Jesus was nurtured within a particular family, is a punctuation mark on the mystery of the Incarnation. It further affirms God’s plan in creation for the fundamental role of the family, a loving relationship between a man and a woman through which new life is cooperatively brought into the world and nurtured. While we know that many children are nurtured without the full benefit of an intact family with both a loving mother and father, it remains fundamental to God’s plan. We must endorse that plan and stand ready to help those unable to enjoy the richness of God’s plan for the loving intact family.
The specific direction of this year’s scriptures assigned to the feast is that two-fold family membership, the human family and the divine family. The Gospel demonstrates Jesus two fold obedience to His heavenly Father and His assigned earthly parents.
The Old Testament presents the example of Hannah, who after petitioning God, was blessed with the birth of her son Samuel. While she rejoiced in the gift of her child, she recognized that he belonged to God as well, and so she eventually took him to the shrine of God in Shiloh where he would be raised for a lifetime of service to God.
The vocation of parents today is somewhere in the middle. Parents are not entrusted with care of God incarnate. Nor are parents literally expected to turn their children over to the Church for a life of fully dedicated service. However, parents are entrusted with nurturing their children to become children of God in baptism, and further raising them to appreciate what that means. Parents are entrusted with the task of raising their children to realize that whatever choices their children make, they are called to serve God in the world as members of His Body the Church.
John reminds us that our becoming “children of God” was a great act of love by the Father. Indeed, we are only able to become children of God because the Father sent His Son to redeem us, have our sins washed away and have the new life of the Holy Spirit planted in our souls. And it is this reflection of God, grace and the Holy Spirit that must be maintained throughout one’s earthly life. And that is so, as John reminds us, we become that greater being that gets to see God as He truly is in heaven.
The formation of children in faith, good character and right moral behavior is the special vocation of parents. But as we are all together in the family of God, which is the Church, we all share in that formation. We participate by all we do to encourage and assist families, especially as we do so through our education, service, spiritual and social activities that comprise our school and our parish faith formation program. We can support parents in their work by our own example of faithful and prayerful living, especially as we gather alongside families still working to form their young children as worshipers. And most importantly we pray for them. We pray for the families of our own parish, even as we pray for those families of our children, grandchildren and other friends and family.

I am currently reading Fr. James Martin’s Jesus, A Pilgrimage. The book describes his self-created pilgrimage through the places where Jesus lived and worked, indeed where He was born. Beyond a mere description of the places visited, it includes his spiritual experiences and the lessons he learned at each step on the way. He includes reflections based on the scripture passages associated with each place he visited.
I hoped his words about Bethlehem and the shrine that commemorates Jesus’ birth would give me help with my homily. He was actually disappointed. And so was I, at first. He was disappointed with the actions of the others who were visiting the shrine. In addition to the pushing and shoving of the large crowds he noted more of a tourist environment than one in which people were marveling to be at the place where Jesus was born. While trying not to judge people’s hearts, he expected to witness a more reflective environment.
I returned to the table of contents to look for another pilgrimage location that may have been more inspiring. I found it in the chapter on his visit to the place of Jesus’ resurrection. The control and order imposed by those responsible for the shrine helped. Only several people at a time were allowed to the little space within the church identified as the burial and therefore resurrection spot. The sound of monastic chanting filled the church. Fr. Martin described a much more profound religious experience at this shrine. During his brief time at the place of resurrection he closed his eyes and had a vivid image of Jesus rising to sit upright upon the stone slab. He was moved to tears. After exiting into the main church he found a place for a two hour period of prayer.
So what do I think is at play here? The image of child born I Bethlehem is simple, it is peaceful and in itself is not too challenging. There is a challenging depth when we remind ourselves that this is almighty God in human flesh come to us an infant. The picture itself does not demand that. Infants are not all that demanding in general. Oh, yes, they need to be cared for. They need food, but they don’t have fussy tastes. They need clothing, but clean and warm is enough, there are no concerns about fashion or finery. They like to be held, but will not pass judgment on the holder. They respond to soothing voices, but not with rejection or argument. All of that comes later.
In contrast the image associated with the resurrection is more challenging. The picture of a man risen from the death, still showing the wounds that remind one of his previous suffering points to power and divinity. The inference of that divinity and power directs us to the challenge of taking seriously all that He said and did, especially why He died and rose.
This year we are gifting every family who comes to Christmas Mass with the Rediscover Jesus book. It is an invitation and a tool to rediscover Jesus in whatever way we can. It is an invitation to rediscover the Jesus of the peaceful and quiet scene of Bethlehem as well as the Jesus resurrected and glorious, in divinity and power. It is a rediscovery of the Jesus of everything that happened in between, especially the three years of Jesus public ministry. For many of us our relationship with Jesus began when we were perhaps at the age of the child pictured in the nativity crèche in our baptism. And like the young life depicted in the creche, our relationship with Jesus needs to grow through continuous efforts that nurture that relationship.
The book contains 40 short chapters. It is meant to be used for daily prayer and reflection. Beyond reading a few pages it disposes one to reflect and speak and listen to Jesus. The forty chapters will fit well with the upcoming Lenten season. And we will use this book as the basis of Lenten small groups. But one does not need to wait until Lent.
A couple of weeks ago we began the special holy year of mercy called by Pope Francis. And some concerted effort to grow in our knowledge of and relationship with Jesus is appropriate for the year of mercy. Mercy is at the heart of the person and ministry of Jesus. He offers us mercy and he expects us to be merciful to others.
This takes me back to Fr. Martin’s visit to Bethlehem. He did note the impact of having to crawl through the small entry into the church which houses of the shrine of the nativity. It struck him as a gesture of humility and so it reminded him of the extraordinary act of humility on the part of God to come into the world not just in human flesh but in the dependent and vulnerable state of an infant.
Humility, the willingness to realistically adjust our opinion of ourselves, is a necessary ingredient for all three elements of mercy. First is forgiveness of sin. As a familiar carol reminds us God sent His Son to save us all from Satan’s power when we have gone astray. We must be humble enough to acknowledge that we do go astray. It takes humility when someone may offend us and we choose to replace just reaction with silence, forgiveness and moving on. Finally, it takes humility to look on others in spiritual and material need and assist them rather than judge them or dismiss them as someone else’s problem.
As we move on to our Christmas celebrations with family and friends, grateful for God’s merciful treatment of us, may we be patient and calm about in response to what others may say and do. And being reminded of our material bounty, may we still find ways to reach to assist those in need.

As I was preparing my homily I did some quick research about amazing facts on the human body. I will explain the connection in a minute. For instance: If the human brain were a computer, it could perform 38 thousand-trillion operations per second. The world’s most powerful supercomputer, can manage only .002% of that. An adult is made up of 7 octillion atoms. Nerve impulses travel to and from the brain at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour. The human eye is so sensitive that if the Earth were flat, you could spot a candle flickering at night from up to 30 miles away.
What got me going on that? In our second reading today, the author describes Jesus, the Messiah, having spoken to His heavenly Father and saying “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” The Church has placed this passage before us on this final Sunday of Advent to help underscore the reality of the incarnation, God became man in Jesus Christ. He took on a real human body with all its amazing detail to fulfill His mission of the reunion of all humanity with God. God prepared a body, became incarnate, by taking on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity.
The Gospel today beautifully underscores the reality of the incarnation with the description of an act of kindness from one pregnant woman to another. It is the event we traditionally call the visitation. The young Mary had already conceived a child by the Holy Spirit, a child who was to be the savior. She had also been told that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was expecting a child, and so she went to help her. The interaction that is described is certainly a testimony to the reality of those two bodies, ultimately and originally prepared by God, that were alive and growing within the wombs of Mary and Elizabeth. The meeting describes an extraordinary perception and sensation in Elizabeth’s unborn John the Baptist as he reacts to the presence of the unborn Jesus. Elizabeth herself had a religious experience that allowed her to make a statement of faith about her Lord whom she believes to be growing, unseen within the Virgin Mary. God indeed had prepared a body for His Son Jesus.
In our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews we get a further explanation of why God prepared a body for the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God. It was because in the work of restoring and enriching the relationship between God and His human creatures, the sacrifices and the offerings of the Old Testament were not enough. Those were offerings of mere animals or even grain. The offering that was needed was the self-offering of doing the will of God. And it would be in human flesh that the Son of God could and would most effectively express obedience to the will of God. And, in fact, that total obedience to the will of God would include the offering of that body, that human flesh, in a sacrifice that would have all the earmarks of the traditional but imperfect sacrifices of the past. In all the Old Testament sacrifice the one offering the sacrifice was offering something else, and it was only as good and effective as the willful obedience of the one doing the offering. Only in Jesus would there be a perfect and total obedience. Only in Jesus would there be a total and perfect sacrifice. He would make the offering and He would be the victim offered.
As Christians we believe that we are created by God. In every act of human procreation we believe God has a hand. In so doing God has prepared a body for each one of us. St. John Paul II presented the Church’s teaching on marriage and sexuality by innovating a theology of the body. At the core of this theology is an appreciation of how our bodies are gifts. In and through the body with all its amazing parts we express good or ill. The human person is not simply a being who makes use of the human body with all of its amazing detail. The human person is integrated in a human body. All of the fascinating aspects of the human body are elevated by a soul, a spirit that is destined for eternal existence. The power, beauty and giftedness of the human body is captured in our belief that we are made in the image of God. And it is through the body that we effectively image God or not.
Unlike the body that was prepared for Jesus, the Messiah, our body was not made for the perfect sacrifice that would redeem the world. Our bodies, however, were prepared for us so that our lives would be constantly marked by the spiritual sacrifices that are united to the sacrifice of Jesus, especially every time we gather to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass. It is the spiritual sacrifice of the good we have done in the past week, at home, at work and in the community. It is the spiritual sacrifice of our time in prayer. It is the spiritual sacrifice of acceptance of personal suffering. It is the spiritual sacrifice of our good intentions for the week ahead. It is the spiritual sacrifice of our efforts to join in the worship today.
This week we continue our final preparations to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the incarnation, God’s taking on of humanity including the human body. We remind ourselves that as amazing as the embodied human person is, for the infinite and almighty God the incarnation was a step down. The scriptures speak of God humbling Himself in becoming man. However it was a concession that makes it possible for us to be elevated. Because of the coming of the Messiah and His perfect sacrifice our amazing humanity became open to the infusion of grace, adoption as God’s children sharing in divinity and becoming an abode of His Holy Spirit. That may seem like a lot to live up to. Fortunately when we do gather here to unite our spiritual sacrifice to the sacrifice of Jesus, He nourishes us in heart, in mind and even in body so that we can move forward and do amazing things in His name.

It is never easy to live in an environment where one’s values and religious beliefs are not shared and supported by others. Sometimes one simply presses forward, perhaps enduring frustration, ridicule and even persecution. Sometimes people learn to compromise or at least be silent. This is a longstanding problem. It was a problem throughout the history of our spiritual ancestors, God’s chosen people, the Jews. Throughout most of their history they lived among people who did not share their beliefs and they were people who often exercised power over them. It is to just such a people that our first reading from the prophet Zephaniah is addressed. It is before the Kingdom of Judah had been conquered by the Babylonians, but was nonetheless surrounded by hostile forces. For the Jews who wished to remain faithful the challenges came not only from pagan foreigners but from their own people, often their leaders, who compromised religious fidelity in order to get along. So the prophet, in the midst of corruption and infidelity addressed those who would want to remain faithful. He offered this great prayer of hope. It noted that God was present for His faithful people, and wanted to rejoice over them and renew them in His love. The reminder of God’s presence was to encourage them in their struggles. Of course what the prophet was ultimately speaking about was the future when God’s presence would be manifest in a new and powerful way with the coming of the Messiah, a mighty savior.
The mission of John the Baptist was to likewise build up a faithful remnant among God’s people. Many people had to be returned to fidelity, and the pathway to hope for enjoying the presence of the coming Messiah was repentance the response to God’s invitation that His people would accept His gift of mercy. So powerful was John’s presence and preaching some thought he might be the Messiah. However in today’s Gospel he noted the limits of his baptism with water. He announced the coming of the mightier one, the mighty savior, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. And as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus we rejoice that the mightier one did truly come and through redemption and His Church we have experienced that new baptism with the Holy Spirit. With the presence of God, in the flesh, in Jesus Christ, came that new presence of God that would dwell in our very souls. We are called to always rejoice because we can enjoy the presence of the Messiah in our midst in this new and powerful way.
To remain joyful, to remain faithful, amidst challenges, we must keep welcoming and celebrating the presence of God, Jesus Christ alive and active through His Church. To help prepare ourselves for most joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus we are called upon to renew our awareness and appreciation of that presence of Jesus in our midst. We are also reminded that our rejoicing the presence of Jesus should rub off on other people.
I am struck with the way John the Baptist responded to those who were accepting his message of repentance. They asked him: “What should we do?” His response to each of the groups was two fold. First it was the message to change their lives. Stop doing those things that you know are wrong. It isn’t enough to feel sorry and ask forgiveness, repentance means changing your behavior. Secondly, and more specifically, the changes John specified had to do with how people treated other people: being less selfish, to be less grasping of material things especially at the expense of others. This is a great message to hear as we begin this special year of mercy. Looking at mercy in the big picture: it begins with our coming to grips with how generous God is in wanting to forgive us for our sins rather than punish us. He looks on us as a loving Father knowing we can do better. Then in gratitude we are ready to extend that mercy, first in patience and forgiveness for those who wrong us. But then it is time to look out to others in one sort of need or another and look for ways we can be more self-giving. These are captured in our traditional list of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
There is a special value in the various ways we are called to be more generous to those in need in preparation for Christmas. And this community is responding to them well. That is a way to bring joy or enjoyment to others. Our spirit of rejoicing that leads to sharing becomes not simply a prayer of hope but a gesture of hope. Others can experience that things can be better in their lives.
I want to suggest a particular work of mercy, although I am not sure where it fits in the list. And it would be what we might John the Baptist or Jesus might say to us if we were to ask: “What should we do?” Each of us ought to think of just one person in their sphere of relationships. That could be one’s spouse, a sibling, a co-worker or a neighbor. In many such relationships we can all think of at least one way in which fail in word, deed or attitude in regard to that person. So we might specify one specific change in the deed, the word or the attitude we will direct to that person, in order to bring them some new experience of joy, as subtle as it may be.
St. Paul beautifully exhorted the Philippians (and us as well) Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again: rejoice.” And what does he say next: “Your kindness should be known to all.”

The day after the horrible killing of 14 innocent people in California there was a newspaper headline that stated: “God is not fixing this.” The headline was in response to some people who responded to the tragedy with references to prayer. Some interpreted the headline as a mockery of God and prayer. So I read the actual article to see what the headline writers were really saying. They weren’t mocking God or prayer, in general. It was actually a politically pointed message about some who were offering prayer, but not, according to the author, doing enough to help reduce the possibility of such tragedies.
While not an indictment against God and prayer, it does raise the question as to what one expects from prayer in the face of tragedy or in any case.
With regard to the power of prayer, I do believe that God can intervene in the world and our lives in any way He wishes. And He doesn’t need us to tell Him what needs to be fixed. But we have a rich legacy of prayer and the command and example to calling out to God, in need or otherwise. It runs through the Old Testament. It was affirmed by Jesus, most poignantly in giving us the Lord’s prayer. And our second reading today from St. Paul reminds us of his constant prayer for those to whom he ministered. So without completely understanding the how of prayer, prayer is always an expression of trust and faith in the God who tells us to pray. And we don’t know exactly how God uses our prayer in the dynamic of His spiritual outreach to His people.
I frequently remind people that the most important object of our prayer is the enrichment and the working of our relationship with God. Every prayer in need is a statement of our limitations and our recognition of the greater power of God. It is a statement of faith that God matters and somehow if anyone who is suffering can be awakened to that by one’s prayerful wishes that is great. And authentic prayer, prayer that really believes in and trusts in the presence and effectiveness of God will be open and listening for and even expecting God to touch the one who prays with some consolation or inspiration to do something that would help fix things.
Our first reading from the prophet Baruch is a prophetic description of a completely fixed world. The words are addressed to God’s people in the midst of the destruction of their city, their temple, their life as a people. We see these descriptions in a two-fold manner. With their reference to glory and unity they describe the eventual perfection of heaven. They also refer to of the coming of the Messiah who would initiate in a profound way greater movement of God’s people toward that state of perfection. Those who come to know and believe in the Messiah Jesus Christ will participate in the earthly anticipation of heavenly perfection and begin to experience its joy.
The first reading included a reference to mountains being made low and depths and gorges being filled. Similar references are found in other Messianic prophecies, such as the one from Isaiah quoted by St. John the Baptist in the Gospel. That prophecy and St. John’s preaching do point to the work of those who receive the message. It is the people of God who are to fix things, to fill valleys and lower mountains. And John further relates this work to repentance for the forgiveness of sins. There is some personal fixing that must take place to prepare for the Messiah Jesus. In repenting and seeking forgiveness for sin we help fix the path between ourselves and Jesus. And thus we are able to help others approach Jesus as well.
This divine-human partnership is dramatically expressed in the Incarnation that we are preparing to celebrate in a special way at Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’ birth. To restore the lost relationship between God and His people He did not choose to reach out and spiritually zap and fix every one of us individually. He took on human flesh. He walked among us. He preached a message. Eventually He suffered and died, but rose to affirm the fruitfulness of His sacrifice. And He set into motion the process by which He would continue to reach out to fix the world in an incarnate way, through human flesh. It is the human flesh of the Church. It is the human flesh of each one of us reborn in Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit.
So in this Advent season, as we prepare to celebrate God’s coming among us, first as a newborn child, we should heed the message of John the Baptist. We should review our own life, to see what forgiveness we need, what changes we can make so as to smooth the pathway between God and each one of us. Then we can better incarnate the love of God through our own prayerful efforts to fix things.
Returning to the issue that prompted the provocative headline, the issue of violence. There is certainly a need for fixing. It is a need that Bible tells us goes back to Cain and Abel as described in Genesis. Dealing with the particular act of terrorism in California last week has its own challenges, but there are a number of elements that come to play as people choose to harm human life through violence. And so there are a number of areas where people can choose to help fix things. There are issues of mental health procedures, criminal justice and incarceration, the gathering of personal information, access to weapons and the fundamental moral education that seeks to affirm the dignity and sanctity of every human life as made in God’s image. There is no shorter of avenues to work to fix things, to make them better.
Many efforts involve activity within the civic and political arena. And in these various areas there is disagreement about what to do or not do. So fixing will involve honest, patient and respectful communication. There will be need for sacrifice and compromise. One rarely gets exactly what they want all the time exactly in the way they want it. In the political arena compromise takes humility and courage. And in these God can be a great help.
Indeed it may seem overwhelming. It is like this old house that I am gradually fixing to prepare for my eventual retirement. The family built it in segments over 40 years. Sometimes when I am in my chapel, looking around, I am distracted as I begin to think about jobs and strategies. Is that a distraction or is God working with me on the fix? I often have to revise my plans as one thing or another doesn’t work so well. If I sat down and calculated all the things I need to do to fix the house, there may not be time to get it done. But I have to keep doing something. And each little fix bears its own particular fruit.
In every seemingly impossible task, we have to do something. And we are wise to invite God along to give us wisdom and courage.