January 1^st 2017. Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

GOSPEL: Luke 2:16-21

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known the message 
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of God. The title “Mother of God” is not only a description of Mary: it expresses the essential mystery of the incarnation of Jesus. He was not simply God; nor was he only a super-talented human. Jesus was true God and true man, and this fact is of immense significance for our life of faith. Like Mary, each one of us is called to be a generator of divine life. How do we do that? First of all, let us consider the obstacles we face! Our modern world has become a very infertile place. This is manifested not only in the unprecedented unwillingness to nurture and defend life. Our entire culture emphasizes independence and autonomy. The fulfilment of our desires, the satisfaction of our own ambitions and the pursuit of sensuality are all considered legitimate behaviour for a mature adult. If I live my existence from one moment of self-gratification to the next, then how can I be fecund in any meaningful sense? God calls me to be a source of life, not the end goal of life! We are so preoccupied with our own physical endowments, but consider for a moment that Mary remained a virgin and yet became a source of life! She is our example and model. It was not her personal capacities that made her the generator of divine life but her radical openness to the action of God. The divine life that she generates is then laid in a manger and becomes food for the world. Jesus does not ask for anything but offers himself in a feeding trough as bread that is broken for us. Each one of us can follow the example of Mary if we cease looking for what we want or think we need. We can escape from our infantile state and become mature Christians if we bow low like Mary and say “Yes!” to God. Then the Lord can work through us and achieve wonderful things.

Mary’s title “Mother of God” is a title that helps us to maintain a correct understanding of who Jesus really was. He was not simply God, nor was he only a super-talented man. The mysterious fact that he was both human and divine achieves our salvation and enables us to share his divine life.

The liturgical feast that is always celebrated on the first day of the year is that of the maternity of Mary. In Greek the term for “Mother of God” is Theotokos. This title was approved and transmitted by the early fathers of the Church who wished to protect the integrity of our faith. For them the title expressed a profound truth that had to be conserved. Why was it so important to retain that Mary is the mother of the only-begotten Son of God? Surely it is contradictory to say that a creature generated God? But here we encounter that novelty that continues to surprise us. If Jesus was simply God, then his life would not have the same relevance for us. His self-giving would have been something done by God and would remain something impossible for any of us to accomplish. On the other hand, if Jesus was only a man, then his existence would simply have been that of a super-endowed human being and would have finished there. The title of Theotokos protects the truth that Jesus was true God and true man. Mary is a woman and - from her human flesh - the Son of God is mysteriously generated. The mystery of the Incarnation cannot be grasped by logical or mathematical descriptions.

The divine motherhood of Mary is not just a matter for philosophical debate. It is something that is at the heart of our faith. Along with Mary, each one of us is called to be mothers, sisters and brothers of Christ. But how do we do that?

The fact that Mary is truly the mother of Jesus, and the fact that Jesus is truly divine, might seem to be a problem of a purely philosophical sort. Instead, it is an urgent problem of faith that we confront this question in the correct manner. On the very first day of the year we are presented with this capacity of Mary to generate God. And it is a capacity that is extended to each one of us! In Luke’s Gospel there is a passage in which Jesus is told, “Your mother and brothers are waiting for you outside” (“brothers” was a generic term in those days for “relatives”). Jesus replies: “Who is my mother? Who is my brother? The one who listens to my Father’s word and puts it into practice is my brother and sister and mother.” In other words, we can accomplish the same thing as Mary. Just as Mary allowed Christ to be generated in her, so we too, as brothers and sisters of Jesus, have the potential to permit the glory of God to emerge from our works. We, according to the plan of God for each one of us, can become genuine conduits through which the greatness of the Lord is transmitted to the world.

The modern world ceases to be fecund to the extent that it emphasizes the importance of autonomy, gratification, and the centrality of my own feelings. I am called to be a source of life, not the end goal of life! How can I nurture life in the world if I am fixated with the frivolous satisfaction of my own bodily life? Mary conceives virginally, highlighting the point that it is not our physical capacities that count. God can generate wonderful life from me, regardless of my incapacity, once I say “Yes! to him

However, there is a particular problem with our times which obstructs our capacity to generate divine life. To be the Mother of God requires, first of all, to be a mother. In order to be the source from which the works of God are generated, it is necessary that we have a certain fecundity. There is no doubt that we have the potential to be children of God and children of humanity at the same time. Our baptism endows us with this divine dimension and it is manifested in the lives of many holy people. But the problem of our time is the unprecedented unwillingness to be mothers and fathers, a closure to the kind of fecundity that is so evident in Mary. It is not only the common reluctance to generate children, and a negation of the duty to defend and protect new life, but a deeper problem with human identity itself. The delirium of independence and the ideal of individual autonomy has brought each one of us to the point of solitude. We are in love with ourselves, our own rationalisations, our own feelings, and our sensuality. The superficial fixation with self-gratification, the attempt to live life from one moment of pleasure to the next, destroys our fecundity. I am called to be a source of life, not the end goal of life! I am invited to generate new life, not make my life into its own final purpose! I am challenged to nurture life, to become a fount of light and good. Mary is the model and image of every Christian and is the mother of God, permitting the splendid action of the Holy Spirit in her. The fact that Mary conceives virginally highlights the essential point that our own natural capacities are not the central issue. What makes her a mother is her openness, her saying “Yes!” to God.

Jesus lies in a manger because he has come to offer himself to us as food. Like Mary, we become generators of divine life when we cease asking for what we want and instead offer ourselves to the Father so that he can transform the world through us

The shepherds go to look upon a child in a manger. He does not consider himself as a mouth to be fed but as bread for the nourishment of others. A manger is not a suitable place to lay a child in normal circumstances, but this child has come to give himself to us as bread. He has not coming looking for glory in human terms. He does not seek to be the centre of attention, to have dominion over the existence of others. He comes as bread broken for us and we adore him to the extent that we appreciate his hidden beauty and generosity. Jesus is not pretentious. He does not look for something from us: he comes to give. We are called to be children of our heavenly Father following the example of Mary, not as people who make demands, preoccupied with their own rights. Mary responded by offering herself, not by asking for something. All of us have something to offer. All of us have much to give. We are freed from our infantile state when the centre of our attention ceases to be fixated on what we want and need. The feast of the maternity of Mary: the feast of each one of us and our potential to be sources and origins of what is good.

December 25^th 2016. The Nativity of Our Lord

GOSPEL: John: 1:1-5; 9-14

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: John: 1:1-5; 9-14

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 
to those who believe in his name, 
who were born not by natural generation 
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision 
but of God.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The Gospel for Mass on Christmas Day is from the Prologue of St John. This poetic passage speaks of “word”, “light”, “darkness”, “life” and “creation”. Is it some kind of abstract philosophical treatise? No! The central verse tells us that our God has become flesh and has lived in our midst, giving us the opportunity to encounter this concrete person and behold his “glory”. But what is his “glory”? Glory - kabod in Hebrew - refers to someone’s real value. St John tells us that he has “beheld his glory”. When and where did St John behold the glory of Jesus? He saw it when Jesus was hanging from the cross. And we see it too when we contemplate Jesus on the cross and behold his self-giving love. The fact that God has become one of us helps us to realize the incredible dignity we have as human beings. Sometimes there is a tendency to think that our bodies and our materiality are something to be disparaged. But Jesus incarnation, death and resurrection teaches us that creation has been redeemed and that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We can live the LIFE that Jesus lives. When I contemplate the fact that Jesus became human, then I begin to appreciate how wonderful it is to be human, what an opportunity it is to be human, what infinite potential I have as a human being. If Jesus can be a child of the Father in the fullest sense even as a human being, then I too, with and through Jesus, can live the LIFE of a true child of the Father.

This poetic passage speaks of “word”, “light”, “darkness”, “life” and “creation”. Is it some kind of abstract philosophical treatise? No! The central verse tells us that our God has become flesh and has lived in our midst.

The Gospel on Christmas Day comes from the marvellous Prologue of St John’s Gospel. This poetic hymn is an interpretative key for reading the entire Gospel. This Sunday we have the option of reading the full eighteen verses or following a shorter form. Here we will follow the shorter form which contains the more salient points for celebrating the feast of Christmas. The passage speaks of the Word who was with God in the beginning and who is the mediator of everything. All things were created through him and he is the substance of everything that exists. He is life and this life is the light of humanity. These beautiful notions of light, life and creation – are they abstract concepts that we are expected to exercise our intelligence in trying to understand? Is the language being used here some sort of coded message that we need to interpret? Hardly! The central verse is absolutely concrete and is the one we focus on at Christmas: “The Word was made flesh and made his dwelling among us”. The Word is no abstraction if he becomes flesh! He is not something distant from us but actually comes to live in our midst. The original Greek says that he “pitched his tent among us”.

We encounter this concrete person and have the possibility of beholding his “glory”. But what is his “glory”? Glory in Hebrew refers to someone’s real value. We see the glory of Jesus when he is hanging on the Cross. It is then that we fully behold his self-giving love.

The passage tells us that “The word became flesh”. From this we can make three points: firstly, he is a person, not some kind of myth; secondly, he is not simply spirit, but is also flesh like us; thirdly, he dwells not in some other place distant from humanity, but among us. All of this points to the fact that we have the possibility to encounter this concrete person and contemplate his glory. “Glory” does not refer to something spectacular or ostentatious. In Hebrew the word for glory is “kabod” and signifies the weight or true value of something. The glory of God refers to his authentic value. To contemplate the glory of God is to appreciate something of how he really is. It does not refer to something that is flamboyant or visually impressive. When someone dies we often see his “glory” in this sense; we discover who he is in reality. It is in moments of difficulty that we see people’s real mettle; how they are inside comes to the surface. When St John says, “We have seen his glory”, what is he referring to? He is referring to the moment that the disciple turns his face to Christ on the cross and contemplates who Jesus really is. And this knowledge is brought to completion when the disciple sees him again after the resurrection.

The fact that God has made himself so banal for us entails that we have the opportunity to encounter him in this material world. Our bodies and our materiality are not something to be disparaged. Rather, creation has been redeemed and our bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit.

In this passage at Christmas, we discover that God has made himself visible and tangible. The first letter of John refers to what “our eyes have seen, our ears have listened to and our hands have touched”. Christmas announces that God is within arm’s reach, that he is not a distant figure, that he made himself flesh. We recall the experience that the apostles and early Christians have transmitted to us of their direct encounter with him. All of this tells us that God is not a concept to be understood; he is a child that has been born in a humble state; he has lived our life and therefore our life is the place that God manifests himself concretely. This means that it is possible for us, strange as it might seem, to see the glory of God. Our existence is not something that must be rescued from its materiality. Rather, our existence, materiality and all, has been redeemed. Our bodies have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is not just that we will contemplate the glory of God in the future if we make it to heaven: we can already meet God concretely here on this earth and have a genuine experience of him. Christianity is not a system of values: Christian values are derived from a personal encounter. Each one of us does not have to make an arduous search to encounter Jesus Christ. The shepherds found him in the most banal of conditions. A child with his mother. Leaving aside the sentimental visualisations of this scene, the picture of a child with its mother is the most concrete of all situations.

When I contemplate the fact that Jesus became human, then I begin to appreciate how wonderful it is to be human. I begin to see that I too, like Jesus, can become a child of the Father.

If I understand the flesh of Christ, I understand my own flesh. If I see his glory, then I begin to realize the relevance of my own life. If I appreciate the extent to which God has emptied himself for me, the efforts he makes to associate with me, then I begin to comprehend who I am. Through seeing him, I come to know my own dignity. It is not simply that the incarnation helps us to grasp the generosity of God. It is something that helps us to discover the dignity of our own nature. If the one who created the galaxies and the cosmos has made himself nothing in order to meet us, then we start to ask “Who are we that he has taken us so much to heart?” Christmas announces that I can live the life of a child of God. To see his glory and to welcome him is to be transformed into a man or woman who is capable of living fully his grace, to receive his grace and his truth. Jesus comes to us full of grace and truth. How many wrong ideas we have about God! How far off our impressions are at times! This Christmas, let us just look at him and see how he is. Let us recognise how humble he is, how tangible he is, how available he is, how complete a gift he is from God. Let us rejoice in this gift which is utterly for us. Let us rejoice that God has made himself flesh. How significant it must be to have flesh! How relevant it is to have a body, to be alive! As John Paul II said, if it was not beneath God to become human, then it must really be something special to be human.

December 18^th 2016. Fourth Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 1:18-24

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 1:18-24

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The Gospel story tells us of the dilemma facing Joseph. He knows that Mary is pregnant, but what should he do? The Law demands that he renounce her and hand her over to possible stoning. He does not want to do this because he knows the character of the girl who is engaged to him - he cannot easily accept that she has been unfaithful. But neither can he ignore her unexplained pregnancy and do nothing. So he decides to take the middle way: renounce her, but keep it all secret. This problem of discernment reminds us a bit of the malady of the modern world. The fabric of our society is so relativistic that people have difficulty discerning right from wrong. We encounter people of forty years of age that have difficulties making life decisions of a fundamental sort. As well as that, there is a general malaise that afflicts males in particular, and that is the reluctance to make commitments and take responsibility. As a result, the modern man lacks virility and fecundity. Instead of doing the things that he ought to be doing, which involves firm decision making, he sits on the fence trying to keep his options open and everyone satisfied. The solution for this modern affliction is the very same solution that presented itself to Joseph. While Joseph was sleeping, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him to overcome his fear and take Mary to be his wife. It was when Adam was sleeping that God removed a rib and gave him his spouse. Sleep represents a state of impotence and openness before God. It is when we are still that God is able to intervene in our lives. And a dream represents something that is beautiful and extraordinary. Openness to God and a willingness to believe in the dream is what each one of us needs if we are to permit the extraordinary intervention of God in our lives! We cannot maintain a marriage, follow a religious vocation, build up the church or do anything worthwhile in the world unless we believe in the dream, and open ourselves to the extraordinary power of God to act in our lives. If, instead, we insist on acting using our own logic and our own efforts, all we will achieve is the mediocre solutions and “middle ways” that lead nowhere.

The Gospel is a story about discernment. Joseph is in a predicament and must do that most human of things – make a decision

Following Matthew’s genealogy, which shows how Jesus is rooted in the history of Israel, the Evangelist goes on, “This is how the birth of Jesus came about”. The story of how the Saviour is born is then recounted. “When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.” Though we are being presented with the stupefying fact of the Incarnation of the Son of God among us, the Gospel recounts the story in a simple way, from the point of view of an act of discernment of Joseph. This passage, in fact, is a passage about discernment. Joseph must come to a decision. Decision-making is an action that is distinctively human. Our lives every day are made up of a succession of decisions. Life is the business of successively opting for certain things in the place of others. Some of the decisions that we make can have dramatic significance. Joseph is presented with a decision of this sort. What should he do with this pregnant girl? If it was simply a matter of pregnancy, then his way would have been clear: he would be obliged to reject her. But she is his betrothed and he already knows the kind of girl she is. He cannot simply accept that she has been dishonest.

Joseph has two options, but neither one seems right. How often today our young people find themselves caught between two options! They find it difficult to choose either one because the relativistic fabric of our society has dissolved the parameters of right and wrong.

Often our decisions are not simply between an evident good and an evident evil. Often we must decide between two things that seem equally good, or in this case, two things that seem equally bad. It does not seem right to condemn her and to expose her to the risk of being stoned to death. Neither can he ignore the fact of her pregnancy. Joseph seems to be caught in a genuine predicament with no means of escape. Real problems of discernment are often of this sort. In today’s world we encounter many young people who take endless amounts of time to come to a life decision. They lack the parameters by which to make a decision because the fabric of our society has become so relativistic. People no longer know how to tell good from evil. They fear things that are not risky in the least and they give credence to ideas that are not the slightest bit plausible. Nowadays we find people of thirty, thirty five or forty years of age that cannot make up their minds about basic things.

Joseph looks for the middle way. Our generation of males is a bit similar in that it is a generation that is sitting on the fence, a generation that lacks virility and abdicates its responsibility to make clear and firm decisions

Joseph is supposed to get married, and this text is principally about matrimonial discernment. The decision to marry is something that is daunting for the human being even in normal circumstances. Here, Joseph finds himself in an even more difficult situation. The Gospel tells us that he was a righteous man. The word “righteous” is a technical term, and refers to someone who was obedient to the Law. To the extent that he was obedient to the Law, he would be expected to denounce Mary in this condition. But the word “righteous” has a double sense, and also refers to the fact that he was a man who wanted to do what was right. He could not denounce Mary without feeling that he was making a mistake. Was there a middle way that he could take? This is how we tend to respond to situations of the sort. We want to take both decisions at once and keep everyone happy. So Joseph decides to reject Mary but to do it in secret so that she does not have to suffer the consequences. Our generation of males is a bit like this. Men want to keep all their options open and keep everyone (especially themselves) happy, but in the end this means that they do not exercise their virility in the proper manner. They end up failing to be truly fecund, abdicating their responsibilities to be husbands in the true sense of the word. Instead of doing what they ought to be doing, they remain in the stagnant state of not making a commitment of any sort.

Joseph’s dilemma is resolved by the action of God. While he is asleep God works in him through a dream. The estate of sleep represents a state of complete impotency, a state of openness to God. When we place ourselves before God in this way, then he is permitted to act, and then we no longer have need of our “middle ways”, the mediocre solutions that are of our own making.

How does Joseph escape from this quandary? How does the modern male escape from the dilemma that besets his contemporaries? Joseph has a dream in which an angel of the Lord appears to him. During sleep we may be impotent, but do not forget that it was in sleep that Adam had his rib removed so that when he awoke he discovered that he finally had a companion. It is a curious thing, but to allow God to act it is necessary to be quiet, to be in a receptive state, to be available to the point of total weakness. The word “dream” is also used for things that are idyllic, things that are the fruit of our imagination. In dreams we often exhibit the most incredible imaginations. To believe in the content of a dream is often to believe in beauty. Joseph escapes from his dilemma by believing in something that is the most beautiful, most good, most noble and most supernatural of all. He is to overcome his fear and welcome Mary into his home. Mary is to be “his” and he is to take possession of her. He is told that it is through the Holy Spirit that this situation has come about, and that what is happening does not simply regard the narrow life of Joseph: this child will do nothing less than save his people from their sins. All of this will fulfil what the prophet Isaiah foretold: that a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son - the extraordinary response of God to our poverty.

To do anything worthwhile – to maintain a marriage, to pursue a religious vocation, to build up the church – each one of us must be like Joseph and believe in a dream, believe in the extraordinary intervention of God into our affairs once we allow him to come in.

From mediocre solutions to believing in the eruption of God into history! Joseph tries to make a choice between two options, but discovers that he achieves nothing until he opens himself to the intervention of God. He must awake and be obedient to a dream. It takes courage to conform one’s life to something that is so irrational, something that goes beyond our human parameters. But how can any marriage survive if the spouses are not obedient to an ancient dream that they once shared? How can someone be true to a religious vocation if they are not obedient to an instinct in their hearts that is immensely noble? How can we build up the church if we do not believe in something supernaturally sublime? How can we hope to do anything worthwhile in this world if we do not believe in goodness – in fact, if we do not believe in the supreme Good? Using logic and rationality alone, no matter how much effort we expend, all we can achieve will be small and mediocre things. All we will manage are compromises, like the decision that Joseph took when he resolved to renounce Mary in secret. But look at what happened once Joseph opened himself to the extraordinary! We are on the threshold of Christmas, the threshold of the appearance of the extraordinary among us. The extraordinary has a power of its own. All we need to do is to be open to it and let the Lord act according to his own designs. This does not mean that we do not need to use our intelligence. We must use our head in order to appreciate its limitations.

December 11^th 2016. Third Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, 
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, 
“Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply, 
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: 
the blind regain their sight, 
the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, 
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, 
“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you, among those born of women 
there has been none greater than John the Baptist; 
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . On this “Gaudete” Sunday, what reason do we have to be joyful? The passage from the Gospel answers this question in a clear manner. John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if he really is the Messiah or not. John was living a frugal life of prayer and penance. His message to the people was that they must change their behaviour and live righteously. Perhaps John was disconcerted to find that Jesus was doing things in a different way? Maybe he had begun to wonder if Jesus was really the Christ after all? Jesus responds to the question in a surprising way: he tells John’s disciples to go and tell him what they have witnessed – that the blind see, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed and the dead are raised to life. John was telling people to change their behaviour but Jesus was transforming people from the inside. This is the reason that we rejoice on Sunday. The Good News is not about a Saviour who lines us all up and demands obedience under threat of punishment. Jesus saves us in a completely different way. He draws us to him by his integrity and by his fidelity to the Father. He does not demand rote actions from us but he relates to us personally and heals us within. I am the blind man who cannot see the glory of God, cannot hear what the Lord has to say to me. I am the lame man who does not move beyond myself. I am the leper who lives in isolation from others, the dead man who cannot be raised by human means. Jesus acts on me from within and heals my vision, my ability to listen. He cleanses me of my impurity and brings me into communion with others. He raises the dead man within me. The key is that I must be the poor man who knows how to rejoice in the Good News. While I remain with the attitude of the rich, I will be so full of myself that I cannot accept this message.

This Sunday we are confronted with the notions of “surprise” and “joy”. God surprises us in disconcerting ways. Even John the Baptist was shaken by the approach of Jesus. But in the end the Lord is leading us to a joy that is much greater than we could ever have expected.

The third week of Advent begins with the “Sunday of Joy”. The theme of the liturgy is that the joy we receive from the Lord far exceeds our expectations. John the Baptist is in prison and is about to embrace martyrdom, about to sacrifice himself for the truth. The last act in his ministry is recounted in the Gospel and that is the joining of his mission with that of Jesus, with the future that he (John) had prepared. John had heard of the works of the Lord and he sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one that everyone has been waiting for. We can think of this question in two ways: it can be understood as a simple request for information, or it can be understood as an attitude on the part of John to place himself in front of the facts and allow those facts to say who Jesus is. Let me explain myself better! If the Lord is to come, then we need to be ready to abandon our own schemes, our own ways of thought and action. We all have our personal schemes. Even John the Baptist had his expectations, and he too was shaken when confronted by Jesus. Last week we heard the austere preaching of John. It was a preaching that focussed on calling people to just and righteous action. But Jesus’s approach was different, and this should not be surprising because God always comes in a way that is different to what we expect. How many times in history has God intervened in human affairs through means that we had discarded! The imagination of God, and his plan of salvation that regards all of humanity, often touches our existence in ways that are surprising.

John demanded righteous behaviour, but Jesus does something else. He transforms people. He opens our eyes, gives us the ability to listen, the capacity to move forward. He cleanses us of our inner leprosy and brings us into communion with the Church. He raises the dead man within us and brings us to true life.

What John finds surprising is that the mission of Jesus does not focus on making demands on people’s behaviour, but instead is centred on healing, on the transformation of the person. Jesus tells the Baptist’s disciples to go and tell John about what they have witnessed: the blind see, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed, the lame walk, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. And this is the central point of this Sunday of Joy. The Good News is a work by which we are transformed. The Messiah is not someone who puts all his disciples in a line and forces them to obey, punishing those who fail to conform. Rather, the Messiah is someone who takes man in his condition of incompletion and transforms him for the better. A blind person is someone whose humanity is wounded by his loss of one of the five senses. The lame are those who have difficulty moving forward. The lepers are those who are impure. In the Old Testament there is an entire language dedicated to the lepers and their inability to live in society. They were isolated and cut off from the community. Only purification could enable them to be with others. The deaf are those who are unable to receive what others say. All of these conditions represent a kind of death in man. Or to say this differently: consider our life and its challenges. Each of us has difficulties to face. Some of us have great traumas to confront. And we all have our own solutions in mind, but the solution that the Messiah brings is that of the healing of man. It is not that the situation must be changed; rather what is required is that I be healed. It is not that the times must be changed, it is that my attitude towards the times is mistaken. I suffer from a certain blindness in front of the glory of God, a certain inability to walk the path of conversion, a certain isolation with respect to the Christian community, a certain inability to listen to that which we need to hear. In other words, death lives within me but, never fear, I am the poor man to whom the true Good News is announced! John the Baptist was preparing the way for something greater and more beautiful than he expected! Something that changes things from the inside.

Do we think we can change humanity by changing political structures? The only way man can be transformed is by becoming the poor man who listens to the Good News and is transformed from within by Jesus Christ.

We tend to look for changes on a material or structural level. The grand ideologies of the twentieth century that led to so much bloodshed tried to change humanity by creating new structures. But you can place a man in a wonderful structure, make him live in a beautiful house, and give him the perfect job, but if he remains blind, lame, deaf, afflicted by leprosy and dead within, then he will destroy everything. Humanity needs to be healed in a personal way. At the end of the prayer vigil at World Youth Day in Brazil, Pope Francis said that we must change the world and achieve many wonderful things, but this can only begin from me and you. The Lord always begins from the healing of our inner being. Maybe it is time we faced up to an unpleasant fact of life. If a particular material problem gets sorted out, other problems will come our way before long. If we get cured of one illness, another illness will arrive. Not many people die in good health! Sooner or later we will all come face to face with the limits of human existence. The Good News that Christ brings is that things have been transformed from the inside. There is no need to get rid of the illness or the tribulation. The Lord can open my eyes in a lasting way. He can teach me to listen, show me how to move forward. He can cure me of my isolation and raise me to life. All that I need to do is to be the poor man who embraces the Good News when it is preached to him. If I remain with the attitude of someone who thinks he is rich, then I will be unable to receive the Gospel. Someone who is full of himself cannot be disposed to listen and embrace the message.

Jesus now asks why John the Baptist drew such great crowds. It wasn’t because he adapted himself to the thinking of others, nor because of his fine appearance. What attracted people to John the Baptist was his integrity and utter fidelity to God. With Jesus the attraction is even greater. Paradoxically, the humiliation and self-annihilation of the cross has become the spectacle that draws all of humanity.

In the second part of this Gospel, Jesus asks, “What did you go out into the desert to see?” John the Baptist wished to understand who Jesus was, but here Jesus explains who John is. Who is this person whose mission it was to prepare us for the transformation that the Lord brings? The people had flocked to John in the desert, and what did they see? A reed shaking in the wind? In other words, did they find a person without substance who wavered at the slightest wind of doctrine? Did they go to admire someone dressed in great finery? Are we attracted by people who are of attractive external appearance? It is a curious thing but history shows us that it is people who have lived lives of penance and lived in a state of sanctity that have the most magnetic attraction for others. There is something beautiful in the human heart that resounds when it sees someone take God seriously. We are struck by Pope Francis and fascinated by him because he demonstrates a beauty and radicalness. The same was true of his predecessors. They had an inner beauty about them that was attractive to others. Do we think that we can draw other people if we waver like reeds in the wind? If we adapt ourselves to the ideas and behaviour of others? Do we think we can draw others by paying extra attention to our looks? By making ourselves more physically presentable? No! These emphases only draw disdain or jealousy. What is really attractive is integrity and obedience to the Gospel! What draws people powerfully is when a person shows himself to be the bearer of a serious and valid message. If we approach young people and try to entertain them with something light and frivolous, what result can we hope to have? But if we propose to them something valid and radical, then young people are drawn willingly. What we must propose is something that is greater yet than that which is born to woman. John drew a lot of followers, but Jesus even more. His cross and humiliation have become the spectacle towards which all of humanity is oriented, the unveiling of love to its very core.

December 4^th 2016. Second Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 3:1-12

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair 
and had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves, 
‘We have Abraham as our father.’
For I tell you, 
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit 
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, 
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor 
and gather his wheat into his barn, 
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In this week’s Gospel, John the Baptist is preparing for the coming of the Messiah. This, we are told, involves “straightening the ways of the Lord”. In our narcissistic world, there is a tendency to think that “conversion” involves straightening out my personal problems, sorting out my issues until I feel comfortable with myself. But this is not what John the Baptist is talking about at all! He asks that the ways of the Lord be straightened! We have a tendency to domesticate God. We try to get him to conform to our ways, to bless our initiatives. We don’t pray to discover what God wants with us, but pray that God will bring about what we want. This is how we make the ways of the Lord crooked! And we only make his ways straight when we renounce our own will and place ourselves before him in humility to try to discover his will. John the Baptist challenges us by pointing out that our neglect of the Lord’s ways will lead to painful consequences. This is not to make the Lord a “wrathful” God, but simply to acknowledge that evil is not trivial, that the Lord defends the innocent by permitting our maltreatment of others to result in painful consequences for ourselves. This Advent the Lord is coming! Maybe we would prefer if he didn’t come so that we could go on living our ambiguous lives? But he is coming all right, and he comes to us every day in the holy providence of God which challenges us to rid ourselves of the useless chaff, to simplify our lives and return to the simple and clear ways of God.

When people speak of “conversion” they sometimes think of a process by which they get the mess in their own lives straightened out. But John the Baptist is not asking us to straighten our own lives out – he is asking us to straighten out the path ways of the Lord! This Advent we need to return to the simple things, opening ourselves to the intervention of God in our lives, allowing the Lord to enter with his transforming power

In this Sunday’s Gospel, John the Baptist is preparing the people for the visitation of the Lord. It is good to be ready for someone’s visit. When a guest arrives at our house unexpectedly, our welcome can suffer as a result. To fail the welcome the Lord adequately is a great pity because we miss out on the grace, beauty and salvation that he brings. John the Baptist gives some advice on how to welcome him well. He says: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Today true repentance is difficult because we live in an age that is so imbued with narcissism and the pursuit of ourselves. Nowadays, when people speak of “conversion” they are often speaking of something that is directed towards their own personal wellbeing, their own feelings of contentment with themselves. No! The preparation that John the Baptist calls for is the preparation for someone else, it is not a preparation that is focussed on self-contemplation! John tells us that the kingdom of heaven is near, the kingdom of someone else, the splendid situation that prevails when the Lord is finally my king. The reference from the prophet Isaiah to the “voice of one crying out in the desert” was an announcement of the return from exile of people of Israel. It was time to prepare the way of the Lord, to make his paths straight. When we think of conversion and consider these lines from Isaiah, we have a tendency to think that we need to get our act together and get ourselves sorted out, that we need to straighten the mess in our own lives. But Isaiah was not talking about straightening out our ways! He was speaking about straightening the way for the Lord to come! In the Old Testament, references to the “ways of the Lord” were allusions to the Law of God. John the Baptist, in his preaching, was also calling for a return to an authentic form of obedience - a rejection of the tendency of humanity to domesticate the ways of the Lord, the propensity to cut from our own cloth a comfortable interpretation of the will of God. This is how we make the ways of the Lord crooked! We stand before God and domesticate him, making him follow our ways instead of we following his. We turn him into our personal chaplain who is expected to bless our initiatives. John the Baptist calls us to make straight the Lord’s ways. The word “prepare” means to place oneself in front of something, to confront it in anticipation. We are asked to place ourselves in front of the ways of the Lord. How in love we are with our own thoughts! It is time to open ourselves instead to the thoughts of God.

We have domesticated God. We have twisted him so that he conforms to our crooked ways. This Advent, part of the process of making straight the ways of the Lord involves placing myself before God in humility and asking myself what is the will of God for me.

The prophet Isaiah goes on: “My ways are not your ways”. This is a challenge to reconsider the will of God for each one of us. A noble question that perhaps we do not pose often enough is: “What is the will of God for me? What is his plan?” Many of our brothers and sisters in the faith are surprised by this question and react: “What are you saying? God has a plan for me?” The whole character of John the Baptist is one that radically places us before this question. His clothing of camel hair and his diet of locusts and wild honey demonstrate that he is a man who has returned to the origins, to the time that Israel was in the desert and was being called by God. During the time in the desert, the Lord spoke to his people and showed them his ways. For each of us, there have been moments in our lives when we felt close to God and felt that he was speaking to our hearts; a time, perhaps, when we were more open, and we felt that the Lord was showing us the way. But then we began to complicate things and learned the art of domesticating God.

It is essential to reflect on the fact that our bad actions lead to painful consequences. This is not to turn the Lord into a “wrathful” God. It is to acknowledge that evil is not trivial, that the Lord defends the innocent, that he wishes us to be awoken from our negligence towards others.

John the Baptist speaks out against this twisting of the ways of the Lord. When he sees the Pharisees, he cries out, “Children of snakes! What made you think you could flee from the wrath that awaits you!” All of us have fallen into the tendency of thinking that we do not have to consider the consequences of our actions. We forget that there is a sacred wrath of God that is directed towards our errors. The “wrath” of God should not be understood in a negative sense. Actions have consequences. When things are done wrong, they give rise to pain. God loves all his creatures. If I do wrong to another person, do I think that God does not love that other person? Do I think that the Lord will not defend that person? There is a mechanism in reality whereby the painful consequences of evil serve to waken us out of our illusions about the wrongs that we have committed. John the Baptist refers to this when he asks the religious leaders if they think they can do wrong and not suffer the consequences. Do I think that there are no ill consequences for my utter neglect of what is good? Do I think I can lie and no harm results? This is not true at all.

The Messiah is coming all right. He comes to us every day through the holy providence of God. He purifies us and rids us of our useless baggage, showing that the ways of the Lord are straight and clear.

This is a time to straighten the ways of the Lord. And the ways of the Lord are straight! They are simple and clear. They are non-negotiable because the ways of evil procure suffering. If we continue to be negligent in the way we treat ourselves and others, then it will lead to consequences, and the consideration of consequences helps us prepare for the coming of the Lord. It prompts us to face up to our weaknesses. We are told that the one who is coming “has a winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” In other words, this redeemer will purify things, ridding us of that which is not good and which does not save. Some people would prefer to continue living ambiguous lives. Some people might rather if the Messiah did not come. But the Messiah is on his way, he is coming, he comes many times through the changing circumstances of our lives. The holy providence of God is challenging us daily to free ourselves from this useless chaff, this dross that we carry around with ourselves, but which does not lead us anywhere. To prepare the way of the Lord means to become simpler and more humble. The time of Advent is a wonderful time to wake up and remember the goods that we have received, a time to detach ourselves from evil, a time to return to our true selves.