And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.

 THE HOLY FAMILY - Luke 2:41-52

Immediately after Christmas, we celebrate de Holy Family, that is Jesus’ family. Here we speak of the nuclear family constituted by Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Like most families in western countries, it was a small family, with one child only. However, Jesus did not grow up alone and isolated, centred on himself, as it is the common case today. He belonged to an extended family and to a community in which he felt loved and cared for. Nowadays, in families with only one child, this child is treated like a prince or a princess. Thus, they grow in a narcissistic way, as if they are the centre of the world and everything must be at their service and fall at their feet.

Luke summarises Jesus’ growing up saying that he “increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.” Such harmonious growth is possible only with a loving family that nurtures the young person and enables him to grow in responsibility feeling at peace with oneself. We are in need of such families. And Jesus’ family is a role model which all can look at.

In these modern times, families are being hammered on all sides, as if people are intent on destroying them. A family implies a loving, committed and covenanted relationship between a man and a woman, from which new life comes forth. A child needs the love of a mother and father who love each other. Growing up, a young person is in search of his self and in a continuous effort of self-affirmation. He (she) may have a question for each we do not have answers or give answers that leave us puzzled. That happened with Jesus. His mother reproached him because he had caused unnecessary worries and then did not understand Jesus’ answer. They were looking for him and, on the third day, they found him in Jerusalem, in the Temple. Jesus’ answer: “Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?” is the key for his life; it indicates the whole purpose of his life. He came to be at his Father’s service and to do his will. That is and will be the only motivation that will guide him. God’s will is paramount and everything else comes behind. To God and to God alone belongs the first place and no human claim may deviate us from doing His will. And God’s will may be different from what we expect or think. Mary had to learn that; that’s why she “stored up all these things in her heart.”

Let us pray for our families. May God protect them and strengthen their love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH THE BABY JESUS' BLESSINGS

 

To all my readers and friends, I wish a Merry Christmas, as we celebrate God’s gift of life and salvation

and sing with the angels: Gloria in excelsis Deo.

THE SON OFFERS HIMSELF TO DO THE FATHER’S WILL

IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Hebrews 10:5-10

In the gospel of John, in the dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus told him: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16). The Father sent the Son to come and reconcile us with Him. However, in the letter to the Hebrews, we are told to look at the Son’s incarnation from a different perspective. In the passage, which is read on this last Sunday of Advent, we are told that the initiative came from the Son himself. The sacrifices of old did not purge us of our sins and did not bring about reconciliation with God.

In some of the prophets, God had already shown his displeasure with the sacrifices:

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.” (Is 1:11)

In most cases, the sacrifices represented more an attempt at manipulating God than an effort to please Him and do his will.

The letter to the Hebrews presents Jesus making the words of the psalmist his own words:

“In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.” (Ps 40:6-8)

The Son presented himself before the Father with a plan and a request: he is ready to come into the world and live among people to offer himself as a true sacrifice, pleasing to the Father and worthy of his glory and majesty. He comes to do the Father’s will and that is the sacrifice acceptable to God, the only one that brings about the forgiveness of sin, thus reconciling us with God.

Jesus’ coming into the world is an act of love and his obedience to the Father comes from the same act of love, That is the mystery which we celebrate at Christmas: 

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14).

The gospel presents the unfolding of this mystery through the actions and the words of Mary and Elisabeth. Having received the message of the Angel about God’s will for her, without delay, Mary goes and takes the message to her relative, Elisabeth. And both of them, guided by the Holy Spirit, can recognise God’s saving plan, accepting their role in that plan. Mary is proclaimed blessed of all women because she believed and put herself at the service of God. And that is the way to blessedness and salvation.

I TRUST, I SHALL NOT FEAR

III SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Luke 3:10-18

During this special season of Advent, we are presented with the figure of John the Baptist and are called to listen to his preaching. Bold and fearless in speaking the truth, John was a man of integrity, faithful to his call, honest and outspoken, not afraid of calling a spade a spade. He paid with his life for his daring courage in denouncing Herod’s behaviour. And people from all walks of life went to him in search of answers. Touched by his message, people recognised the need for conversion and asked for his advice: “What must we do?”

Recognising the need for change in preparation for an uncertain future, all of us ask the same question: What must we do? What is the way forward? How can we find purpose and meaning in our lives? We may remember that someone went to Jesus with a similar question: What must I do to have eternal life? (Mt 9:16). Jesus’ answer was straightforward: Keep the commandments. And the commandments lead us to focus on our relationships with God and with others. Our destiny depends on that. Then, it is not surprising that John leads our attention in the same direction: We must pay attention to the needy, being compassionate and sharing with them what we have. If we are preparing for the Kingdom of God, then we must stay away from exploitation, oppression and violence. Wealth, power and glory cannot be the values that determine what we do and the way we live. In the end, we will be judged by the way we treated the poor and the suffering. We are called to be merciful as the Father is merciful (Lk 6:36).

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul reminds them that  “I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord”. (Phil 4:4). Indeed, Jesus wants his disciples to find joy since he wants “that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (Jn 15:11). We are called to rejoice because the Lord is coming to bring salvation. Christians live in the hope of salvation and they look forward to the future with a joyful heart. Even if we go through difficult times, “there is no need to worry” (Phil 4:6); we may approach the Father with confidence, asking “with prayer and thanksgiving” for what we need. Then, we will find peace in our hearts, the peace that comes from God.

“Truly, God is my salvation,

  I trust, I shall not fear.

For the Lord is my strength, my song,

  he became my saviour.

With joy you will draw water

  from the wells of salvation.” (Is 12:2-3).

PREPARE A WAY FOR THE LORD

II SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Philippians 1:4-6,8-11

Due to his own experience, Paul was well aware that human beings are in a process of growing. Certainly, we grow old and as we grow old, we should grow wiser as well, with a deeper understanding and more profound commitment to God and the others. As Christians, we are called to look forward to a better future and, filled with the hope that comes from the Lord, we gain the strength to press forward on the road to salvation. However, time and again, we are forced to realise that we cannot do it alone.We can proceed forward only by the grace of God. It is Him who enable us to reach perfection and completion. That’s why Paul prays for the Philippians: “Every time I pray for all of you (…), certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes”. God will finished the work of salvation which was initiated in us. The work of salvation is being done in us by Jesus Christ. He is our role model, our teacher and our guide. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is our Redeemer and our Saviour. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has set us free, reconciling us with the Father and opening for us the gates of heaven. For  the fruits of salvation to be present in us, we must accept Jesus Christ and enter into a relationship of love with him. In our lives, salvation is a process, a journey that accompanies the journey of life. In this process, we must grow in love, and a love that is made manifest in  the way we live. And Paul prayed for that:

“My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always recognise what is best.”

And little by little, the Lord will guide us and lead us to perfection:

He, trough improving our knowledge and perception, “will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.”

STAY AWAKE, PRAYING AT ALL TIMES

I SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Luke 21:25-28,34-36

The Lord is coming. That’s why we have this time called Advent because the Lord is coming. This is a time marked by hope and expectancy because the Lord is near. At the end of the book of Revelation, we can hear the echo of the first Christians’ prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20). And with them, we go on praying: “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Through Jeremiah, the Lord God had promised a time of salvation, when his people may “dwell in confidence” because there will be “honesty and integrity in the land.” (Jr 33:14-16). Jesus will bring in that time, establishing God’s Kingdom.

In the passage of Luke’s gospel read in this first Sunday of Advent, Jesus speaks about the end of times and his second coming. Humanity will go through a time of crisis when “the powers of heaven will be shaken”. As a consequence, people will be terrorised and men will die “of fear as they await what menaces the world”. We may say that throughout the history of the universe people have gone through many catastrophes, remaining bewildered and uncertain as to their future. Nowadays, there are prophets of doom, announcing that the end of the world is at hand due to global warming, preaching that we have passed the point of no return. Meanwhile, we go on living as before. We protest and demonstrate but don’t change our way of life. Our protests are no more than noise and empty words. With his speaking about the end of times, Jesus makes a final call to repentance and conversion. According to Jesus, we should not allow ourselves to be possessed by fear, because the Son of Man is coming “with power and great glory” and he comes to complete his work of salvation. So “when these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high because your liberation is near at hand.” We must face the uncertainties of the future with hope. God is on our side. 

Jesus advises us to be prepared and the alert; otherwise, we may lose the way and be caught by surprise.  Jesus proposes two fundamental attitudes: 

1. Don’t let “your hearts be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life”;
2. “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.”

If we live as children of the light, we will not be subjected to the powers of darkness and we will “make more and more progress in the kind of life that you (we) are meant to live: the life that God wants”. (1 Thes 4:1).

TO HIM BE GLORY AND POWER FOR EVER AND EVER

XXXIV SUNDAY - CHRIST THE KING - John 18:33-37

In a short time, Jesus went through two trials. Before the Sanhedrin, Jesus is accused of blasphemy for pretending to be the Son of God (Mt 26:63). Then, before Pilate, he was accused of pretending to be the King of the Jews. In both the religious and the political trials, Jesus is condemned for presenting himself as the Messiah.

According to Jewish expectations, the Messiah should be a Prophet, a Priest and a King. He should play a religious and a political role. Through him, people should find salvation and liberation. The Messiah was expected to establish the kingdom of God, bringing in a time of peace. However, the elite class considered Jesus an impostor that was putting the whole nation in danger. To them, the only way to avoid that danger was to get rid of him. Thus, before Caiaphas, he was condemned as a false prophet who deserved to die. Then, they took him to Pilate, the Roman governor, for him to sentence Jesus to death for the crime of high treason.

In the Roman courts, the accused should be questioned and had the right to defend himself. In this Sunday’s gospel, John presents the dialogue that took place between Pilate and Jesus. Without delay, Pilate went straight to the point: “Are you the kings of the Jews?” The question sounds laughable. What kind of claims did he have to be a king? A carpenter from Nazareth, who had become a travelling preacher, surrounded by a small group of unarmed people would not present any kind of threat to the Roman army or even to the Jewish authorities. And, with a great deal of freedom, Jesus hinted at that, when he answered: “Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?” Pilate distances himself from the Jewish quarrels or even from Jewish culture and traditions. He is not a Jew. Again, Pilate speaks in a straightforward manner: Your people brought you here. “What have you done?” And Jesus gave a clear answer. Indeed, he is king, but his kingdom is not of this world. He has no army or personal guard. He does not live in a palace surrounded by the noble, the rich and the powerful. He has no claim to any territory and he does not demand taxes from people to sustain his empire. Jesus is very clear: “My kingdom is not of this kind.” He is not a threat to Caesar, to Pilate himself or any kind of ruler in this world. But he is King and he comes to establish the Kingdom of God. The searchers of truth come to him since he bears witness to the truth. It is with them that he is going to set up the Kingdom of God, where there will be justice, freedom and peace. “All who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.”

Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness, the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:5-6)