A Homily – The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

First Reading – Isaiah 7:10-14

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©

Second Reading – Romans 1:1-7 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 1:23

The Gospel According to Matthew 1:18-24

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God is not a politician; the divine spirit does not engage in the machinations of human dynasties. The creator of the universe is not a kingmaker. God does not give victory in battle; God does not appoint winner and losers. God, Immanuel, the God of Jesus Christ, God is with all people, at all times, in all places…“from the depths of Sheol to the heights above.”

Know this:

God loves each and every one of us as a parent love’s their child; we are God’s children, and God’s love is without measure, flowing out from the divine source of all being and sustaining everything.

God stands with all people, whether or not any of us stand with God; God’s presence is constant regardless of how we may waiver and fail. All things and person have their being in God who is the foundation of all that is, without whom there is nothing…and in nothing there is not even the possibility of being.

If you wish to climb the mountain, if your desire is to find God, do it; God desires to be found. However, the path to God is closer than you might think; simply turn to your neighbor, whoever they are, wherever you are, and you may see God reflected in their face.

God is there; behold the face of God, and in the presence of the divine give thanks; give thanks for your neighbor, with your neighbor give thanks. Demonstrate God’s faithfulness to you, demonstrate the faith living in you, by trusting in the divine and exemplifying it through love.

There is no other way.

Reflect on the teaching of the apostle and do not repeat the errors of Paul who was nakedly concerned about his own state of holiness; do not worry about holiness, such pretensions have no pertinence to the task before us. Rather, believe that God loved you before the creation of the world, when only the possibility of you existed, know that even then you were loved and desired…for who you are and the contribution you make to the collective experience of us all, for without you the rest of us are not…believe that this is true of all things and beings, just as it is true of you, for this is true of everyone; everyone is loved by God, everyone is a vessel of holiness.

The apostle was not chosen; but rather he chose to preach the Gospel, the good news; he was not passively converted, he actively converted, undergoing kenosis and metanoia, a turning around in repentance followed by the recognition of God’s loving embrace

Believe that this is true.

If you seek God’s blessing you will find it in the service you provide to your neighbor, to your mother and father, to your sister and brother; know that God desires to see you blessed and that you find God’s blessing in this way. If you seek to do justice, to be justified or justification in anything, find it in humility and practice it in mercy.

Remember.

God is not confined to the pages of a book, to inked scratching’s on parchment or vellum or the printed word on paper, neither is God bound by the history and mythology of a single people. We may look to such histories and traditions for glimpses of God and remembrances of past encounters with the divine, but if you seek the living God you must find God in the beating hearts of living beings…for God is alive in us.

In the mythological space of the Garden of Eden, when the first parent walked with the creator, there was no talk of kings, and no talk of God finding glory through victory in battle…let us return to those metaphors now, written simply in the light and warmth of growing things.

Consider the Gospel reading for today:

Jesus descends from David through his father Joseph (if he walked the earth at all). Jesus was a human being…this is a simple truth; he was not a lord or king. Jesus rejected those titles, and even though he did words to that affect were hung on the cross to mock him.

Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Joseph, was a Jew of the diaspora; he was rabbi (which means that he was a pharisee), he was a teacher and a healer; that is how the story goes…

The record of his life speaks of a man whose works provide an unparalleled example of goodness and the fullness of grace. He was not a conduit of grace, he was a manifestation of grace…the providence of God emanating from the seed of the divine planted at the core of his being (God in God’s fullness), the same seed that lies dormant within all of us but was germinated and came to fruition in Christ.

Jesus’ mission was not to confer on human beings something which they lacked, but to activate in them something innate, the inherent capacity for good and a receptivity for God’s love.

Understand this:

Mary was betrothed to Joseph and Joseph was of the House of David. Mary became pregnant before their wedding according to the design God put in place for the propagation of all human life, with no other intention behind it.

Matthew depicts Joseph as having second thoughts about his betrothal when he learns that Mary is pregnant; this would be especially true if the child were not his, but even if he knew that the child was his, a man of his time might still have second thoughts about being a father, it would be reasonable for such a man to consider breaking his promise to her by setting her aside. He did not have to take her into his house…but then, after an examination of his conscience and by listening to the spirit of grace within him, Joseph made a choice; he embraced the truth and accepted responsibility for his child who he named Joshua after the great hero of the Exodus.

If Joseph had succumbed to his fear and weakness and rejected Mary when she was with child (a real possibility in that time and place), Mary would have been destroyed; she would have become an outcast with no standing in her community, she and her child would have gone into servitude and likely would have perished after much suffering.

The narrative shows that Joseph was humiliated by his weakness and humbled by his moment of doubt, but he came through that moment having learned what it means to truly love. He choose good and rejected evil…if you believe it.

First Reading – Isaiah 7:10-14

The Maiden is With Child

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’

Then Isaiah said:

‘Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too?

The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign.

It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel,

a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

  the world and all its peoples.

It is he who set it on the seas;

  on the waters he made it firm.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

  Who shall stand in his holy place?

The man with clean hands and pure heart,

  who desires not worthless things.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord

  and reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the men who seek him,

  seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

 

Second Reading – Romans 1:1-7 ©

Our Apostolic Mission is to Preach the Obedience of Faith to All Pagan Nations

From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.

This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 1:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 1:18-24

How Jesus Christ Came to be Born

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

 

The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

 

A Homily - The Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

First Reading - Isaiah 35:1-6, 10 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 145(146):6-10 ©

Second Reading - James 5:7-10 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

The Gospel According to Matthew 11:2 - 11 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

Isaiah has written a prayer of hope, do not mistake this poem of praise as the literal truth or the historical record of anything. This is not a recounting of events, or a foretelling of the future; it is a discourse on joy, whose central message is: do not be afraid.

This is a prayer from the school of Isaiah, it is a prayer for healing and restoration, it is a prayer for salvation: a blessed state of being that God, the creator of the universe, intends for everyone to achieve, though not in this life.

This prayer is not a promise concerning the expectations we should hold for this world. It is a prayer reflecting our hope for what we will attain in the next, divine deliverance, not from present peril, but from the material condition altogether.

Isaiah’s reflection highlights the fundamental choice before us:

We may choose to live our lives as if we believe in the things we hope for; the belief in what we hope for is an extension of trust in the divine spirit guiding us through time and space, this mode of trust is the essence of faith, which is not a thing you can possess, nor a state of being, it is an action that is best expressed in its imperfect form…never-completed in the continuance-present.

In the reality we shall experience in the world to come we will witness the entirety of the created order lifted-up in exultation of God; this will not be a state of mindless adulation, it will not be a grand and endless glorification…that is not the way of the divine, who expresses jubilation in direct relation with us…just as we do with one another, in thanksgiving and humility according to the simple—endless bounty of God’s love.

I am with the school of Isaiah when it expresses the hope that we, both as individuals and as the corporate whole, that we will face our fears and watch them disappear; I am with those who teach us to have courage in the present moment, to have patience in the here and now as we engage in lives of service to one another.

I am not with Isaiah when he petitions God for vengeance in pursuit of retribution, noting that most (nearly all) human beings have limits as to what they can endure and those writers in the school of Isaiah, or its editors certainly delineated theirs. Rather, I am with Jesus who took no enemies to himself, even from among his persecutors; he forgave those who betrayed and hurt him, making his final prayer one of reconciliation, which he issued with his final breath from the cross…forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Isaiah’s prayer is a prayer for universal healing, asking each of us to take this prayer and find in our own hearts the will to heal everyone...to be healed ourselves; if you take up this prayer in the present moment you will experience a foretaste of the world we hope for in the here and now.

Meditate upon the wisdom of the psalmist who instructs us to praise God with words and song, praise the author of our salvation. Praise God and set aside the trust you give to princes and kings, and all of the other little-lords of the church and the world. Listen to the psalmist and be wary of his words, knowing in your heart that these are true: God is not a king, and kings are not gods.

Look up on the life of a human being, think about the many years that we have walked the Earth; look down that long arc of time and then reflect on it brevity. Our window of life is but a spark in the night. We are born, we breathe for a time, then we are gone; the Earth itself will not survive the dying of our sun and even our galaxy will vanish in the cold and dark.

Consider these things and consider how happy are those whose who devote themselves to God in furtherance of mercy and justice.

Lift up the oppressed, wherever they are: feed the hungry, free the prisoner, teach the ignorant. Pray for your own faults to be forgiven, your own blindness lifted…accept it when it is given. Advocate for those who need an advocate, care for those who cannot care for themselves. Find those who are lost and bring them home

Be mindful of the teaching of the apostle; if we think of the second coming of Jesus as an actual return, we are mistaken. Jesus will not return in the flesh; we know this because that would be against nature, and Jesus, like all human beings, had just one life to live on planet Earth.

If we think of Jesus returning to Earth as God, descending from the heavens to issue judgement and about the end of time, to draw down the curtain on our drama as if it his was the final scene in the final act of some tragic play; we are mistaken. God will not intervene in the life cycle of our planet, of our solar system, of our galaxy or the universe as a whole…God does not do that, and we know this because we understand that the order of creation, as well as we who dwell in it,  are absolutely free from divine coercion.

Accept these truths and you must know that the apostle was wrong to engage in idle speculation about the end of the world; be mindful of this error; it is poetry not prophecy, do not repeat it as if it were true.

Be patient, live a good and loving life; even in the midst of turmoil; when we fulfill the promise of the way, the way becomes the reality of our lives…at least for a moment.

Praise God, and pray for God’s servants wherever they are, knowing that when the will of God is done, the message is clear and the mission is pure…love one another, as God loves you.

Consider the Gospel reading for today:

John came before Jesus; the lore tells us that they were cousins, but the evidence for this claim is scant. It is said that James, the apostle and bishop of Jerusalem was Jesus’ brother, but that notion has long been rejected by the Church; there is no way for us to know the veracity of these claims…it does not matter.

John came before Jesus and for a time the two of them worked as contemporaries, they were cousins and they were both called to the same mission. It is said that they met at the river Jordan where John was carrying out his ministry of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ritualized by the baptism of restoration.

John baptized Jesus when they had this meeting, the moment is depicted in the Gospel for today as a passing of the torch from the older to the younger, as when Isaac surpassed Ishmael, or Jacob his brother Essau, as able was set to do before Cain slew him.

There is no way for us to know if this event ever even happened, or if it did that John and Jesus viewed their meeting that day as such...but it does not matter, because the historical realities behind this narrative have been transcended by the allegory and metaphor in which John prepares the way for Jesus, just as the Gospel indicates today. He passes the torch to Jesus, he was arrested shortly thereafter, and shortly after that they cut off his head. 

John and Jesus belonged a movement of the people, the am haaretz, a movement of the people, for the people, a movement that called for justice, unity and the salvation of everyone. They saw their work as something connected to prophetic traditions like the School of Isaiah, to Amos and Hosea, and Zecariah. These two cousins were reformers, they were people whose preaching synthesized the sacred texts, who were able to boil the law and commandments down to their essence, returning them to the people in the simplest form:

Love God, with all your strength and all your heart, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

That is the whole of the law and all the words of the prophet are summarized therein.

Many of John’s followers became followers of Jesus after John’s death. The leaders in John’s group became leaders among Jesus’ disciples, but not all who had followed John came along, and it is to them that the Gospel for today is pointed.

It was written to remind all new Christians: that first there was John, then there was Jesus. It is a political screed. It is a message to the holdouts among John’s group, expressing love and pride in John’s work, while telling them in no uncertain terms that the way, if they should choose to take it, that the way is now with Jesus.

This is the beginning of Church politics and as with all such actions it closed the divide between the two groups in some ways, while exasperating it in others…because that is how we are.

First Reading - Isaiah 35:1-6, 10 ©

God Himself is Coming to Save You

Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult, let the wasteland rejoice and bloom, let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil, let it rejoice and sing for joy.

The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.

Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees and say to all faint hearts, ‘Courage! Do not be afraid.

‘Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.

They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 145(146):6-10 ©

Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,

  who is just to those who are oppressed.

It is he who gives bread to the hungry,

  the Lord, who sets prisoners free,

Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,

  who raises up those who are bowed down,

the Lord, who protects the stranger

  and upholds the widow and orphan.

Come, Lord, and save us.

It is the Lord who loves the just

  but thwarts the path of the wicked.

The Lord will reign for ever,

  Zion’s God, from age to age.

Come, Lord, and save us.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading - James 5:7-10 ©

Do Not Lose Heart; the Lord's Coming Will Be Soon

Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains! You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon. Do not make complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates. For your example, brothers, in submitting with patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

Alleluia, alleluia!

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 11:2 - 11 ©

'A Greater than John the Baptist Has Never Been Seen'

John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’ Jesus answered, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’

As the messengers were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces. Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: he is the one of whom scripture says:

‘Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way before you.

‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.’

 

A Homily - The Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)