JESUS-EMMANUEL: Mary's Christmas Gift to Us

 

Deacon Dave · Jesus-Emmanuel

Catholic Homily for the Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, Jan 1, 2023. The Gospel of Luke 2:16-21. Theme: Jesus-Emmanuel, Mary's Christmas Gift to us

January 1 is a spiritually rich multi-themed day in the Catholic Church. First, it is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. We celebrate the unique vocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called to give flesh and blood to the Incarnate Son of God. Her virginal motherhood proclaims the mystery of who Jesus is: God comes as one of us, fully human yet also fully divine. This is so important that our celebration is called a "Solemnity" and is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. 

January 1 is also the Octave Day of Christmas. Many Jewish celebrations were highlighted for 8 days to show their importance. One of these was the circumcision and name-giving of boys on the 8th day after their birth. Through this ritual they entered into Israel’s Covenant with God. It would be rather comparable to Baptism for us Christans. And so in today’s liturgy we celebrate the 8th or Octave Day of the Lord’s Nativity as we commemorate the circumcision and naming of Jesus. 

Choosing a name for a child is a big part of getting ready for its birth, but God himself selected Jesus’ name and revealed it to Mary and Joseph in the beginning of her pregnancy. An angel said to both of them at different times, “His name will be JESUS.” Actually, he would have been called Yeshua in their native language and that's how Mary & Joseph would have addressed him. We would call him Joshua in modern English, however, Christians long ago chose to use the Latin form of his name in Greek (Ieosus) in order to preserve and proclaim his utter uniqueness. But in any case and in every language the name means “God saves” and that was and still is that Holy Child's mission on planet Earth as the angels first said to the shepherds: “the Savior has been born for you.” 

However, the Scriptures also give us what we might call Jesus' nickname. As we all know, a nickname typically expresses some characteristic that really stands out in a person and Jesus' nickname was EMMANUEL which means, "God is with us". That is what makes him most unique, and when we put the two names together we get the full picture of who he is and why he came among us. When we put those two names together we arrive at the true sacred mystery of Christmas: the birth of Jesus-Emmanuel or in English, of the God who saves, the God who has come to be with us as one of us. 

It is precisely through this union of the human and the divine in Jesus that God embraces and kisses our human nature, so to speak, and transforms us from the inside out. By the Savior being both human and divine he elevates our dignity and status from being simply creatures of God to that of adoption as the very children of God and heirs of Heaven. Through his total sharing of our humanity with us he injects into it the supernatural power of grace which enables us to rise above our selfishness and sinfulness. This power of grace resides in us through the indwelling of the Spirit and is increased within us by prayer, acts of mercy, and reception of the sacraments. And it is Mary’s motherhood that has made all of this possible, which is why it is so fitting that we celebrate both of these mysteries on the same day. 

But we need to remember that transformation is a partnership that doesn’t happen automatically. Jesus never violates our freedom by forcing himself upon us because the decision to reach out to him as Savior and begin being transformed rests upon our free choice. And again, Mary as the Blessed Mother comes into the picture for us, showing us how to use our freedom as she did, surrendering herself to God so that he could bring about her unique intimate relationship with Jesus her Son. 

In today’s Gospel Mary teaches us to ponder who Jesus is and reflect on what he wants to be for us. Pope Francis repeats over and over again that it is extremely necessary for us to read and meditate on Jesus in the gospels and reflect on these things in our hearts like Mary . The gospels hand on to us what Jesus the Savior really did and said when he lived on earth, so there can be no such thing as truly knowing and becoming familiar with him without turning to these Scriptures. 

Today’s Gospel also shows us that Mary was open and welcoming to the shepherds, thus allowing them to personally encounter Jesus. The Blessed Mother prays for us and wants us to draw spiritually and personally close to her Son as well. We can do this by spending time with Jesus in the interpersonal conversation that we call prayer. Prayer is simply speaking with him heart to heart about our day, our fears, our hopes, our dreams. 

Finally, just as it was only through Mary that the Savior became flesh in Bethlehem, so it is only through the Mass that He becomes flesh for us today. He comes as heavenly food for our spiritual hunger and makes his dwelling within us through the Holy Communion. No other spiritual exercise or devotion can take the place of our personal attendance at Mass because it is at the Eucharist that we can most wonderfully receive and enjoy Mary’s Christmas Gift to us, the gift of her Son Jesus the Savior, who through this blessed sacrament forever remains Emmanuel, God-with-us.

They Need to Know and We Need to Remember

 

Deacon Dave · Why We Celebrate Christmas

Christmas Homily for December 25, 2022. Gospel of Luke 2:1-20. Theme: They Need to Know and We Need to Remember 

In celebrating Christmas, we Christians bow down in adoration before a manger- an animal’s feedbox - which God chose as his crib when he first came to live among us. The humility of God in coming to earth overwhelms us and the condescension of God in becoming human humbles us every time we look at that Baby in the manger. However, many people don’t experience this sense of religious awe and spiritual wonder. Instead, they try to find some meaning in the trappings of Christmas: the gifts and parties, the sights and sounds of the season. Perhaps they were never told - or maybe they’ve just forgotten - what that Baby in the manger means and the three main reasons why we celebrate Christmas? 

The first reason is because Christmas is the celebration of God sending us a Savior. The very first thing that the Christmas angels revealed to the shepherds of Bethlehem was that the Newborn Child was their Long-Awaited Savior! This was the very first clue given to the world as to who that Baby in a manger really was. The word Savior means Healer. Jesus heals the spiritual wound of sin that resides deep within us and he bestows upon those who trust in him the precious gift of reconciliation with God and one another. The word Savior also means Rescuer. We need him to liberate us from our destructive behaviors and selfish tendencies, to transform us day by day, bit by bit, from the inside out. Everytime we celebrate Christmas we are reminded that the Baby in the manger is our Savior and Deliverer, whose healing touch and rescuing grace brings wholeness and healing into our lives. 

Secondly, we celebrate Christmas because it holds out the hope of peace to the world. When the angels announced the Savior's birth to the shepherds, they also proclaimed a promise of peace, something that the world desperately needed then and needs even more so today. They spoke of peace for those upon whom God’s favor rests, which means upon those who open their hearts to God and accept the Gift of his Messiah, his only Son. This Son taught us that the way to world peace is to first of all begin with peace in our own hearts by being reconciled with God because we cannot give what we do not have. Then, by God’s grace we can radiate peace by intentionally living as instruments of love, forgiveness, faith, hope, light and joy. By doing this we can start a ripple effect of peace in our surroundings that will eventually reach out to encompass the whole world. The message of Christmas, then, teaches us that peace on earth begins with our personal decision to open our hearts to the Baby in the manger and to follow him who is called the Prince of Peace. 

Third and finally, we celebrate Christmas because Jesus is Emmanuel, which in Hebrew means “God-with-us.” We rejoice over Christ’s birth because he is a God who did not want to remain far apart from us in Heaven, but was not afraid to roll up his sleeves, so to speak, and get dirty in the messiness and busy-ness of being human. He desired to live like us and be like us in every way except for sin. And so he came into this world as we all do, from a woman, a mother, born into a family. Whether people realize it or not, this is precisely why Christmas has always held such an honored place among all of our holidays. We magnify its celebration precisely because the human heart cannot ignore an almighty God who has chosen to give up power and glory to become a newborn baby lying helpless and vulnerable in a manger. Who among us, no matter how far we might be from God, could refuse to reach out to such an inviting non-threatening Savior? Every year, Christmas calls us to draw near to the Baby in the manger to see flesh and bone proof of how much God loves us. This is why Jesus became Emmanuel, God-with-us. 

So, you see, we just have to share the Good News of why we celebrate Christmas and who that Baby in the manger really was with those who do not know or who may have forgotten. The need to hear that the Baby in the manger is the Savior who wants to heal their wounds and rescue them from living in hopelessness. That the Baby in the manger is the Prince of Peace who wants to bring serenity to their hearts and families and through them to the whole world. That the Baby in the manger is God come in the flesh who understands what it's like to be human and who wants to walk with them through the ups and downs of daily life. They need to know - and we need to remember - that the Baby in the manger is God’s Christmas Gift to each one of us, the gift of his only Son, sent into the world so that those who trust in him may not perish but have eternal life. 

Joseph's Angel Dream

 

Deacon Dave · Joseph's Angel Dreams

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent, Dec. 22, 2019. Gospel of St. Matthew 2:18-24. Theme: Joseph’s Angel Dream 

Many people find today’s passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel a bit confusing. Since it clearly states that Mary is Joseph’s wife they wonder why her pregnancy would be an issue with the townsfolk of Nazareth? Why would Josep[h have to divorce her quietly so that she avoids shame? To really grasp what’s really going on here we need to know a bit about Jewish marriage customs of the time. 

Ancient Hebrew marriage had two parts: Betrothal and Wedding. A couple became "betrothed" (a much different and stronger bond than our engagement) and the marriage contract was signed. They were committed to one another with no way out except for a few very serious exceptions. But they did not live together until the groom completed the necessary preparations to bring his wife into his home. And so the actual Wedding proper was also called the "Home-Taking". 

Between betrothal and wedding they were morally obligated to not engage in sexual relations. So, when Mary was discovered to be pregnant, she was in a very precarious situation. And so, of course, was Joseph. For a woman to become pregnant before the actual “Home-Taking” meant one of two things for her: at best, she would be shunned by family and villagers and at worst, she could be stoned to death. 

And thus, we arrive at poor Joseph’s dilemma. For him, it meant trusting Mary’s word and believing the unbelievable. For the people, it meant that Mary was unfaithful and should be publicly rejected by Joseph to preserve his own dignity and reputation. But Joseph knew Mary better than anyone. He knew her virtue, her integrity, her goodness and obedience to God’s Law. It just could not be possible that she had either been unfaithful or that she had lied to him. There had to be another answer. We can imagine the tossing and turning, the sweating and kicking of blankets that accompanied his fits of sleep that night! 

But then God, through the angel dream, came to the rescue and showed Joseph a third way. A way that saved Mary from gossip or death, but would instead cast a dark shadow upon his own goodness, virtue and reputation. But not only is he to take Mary as his wife, but he is to publicly declare himself to be the legal father of her Child, the Messiah, the Savior. You see, in ancient Hebrew culture, if an adoptive father was the one to ceremonially name the child then he was publicly declaring that child to legally be his own son. 

However, if he did this without public explanation, then people would assume that he, Joseph, was the one at fault, and not Mary. They would assume that he was the one who could not wait until the “Home Taking”, but had jumped the gun with Mary, so to speak, with disregard for Jewish custom. They would assume him to be the father of the child. And Mary would remain innocent, and would even be pitied instead of shunned, for the villagers would see her as simply one more espoused girl who had been coerced into pre-marital intimacy. 

 It was Joseph’s perfect solution. Or rather, it was God’s perfect solution! Joseph awoke with a new way of thinking, a new way of embracing the situation as God’s will for his life, ready and eager to take Mary into his home as his wife and be father to her holy Child. This message from God was indeed, as one of our popular Christmas carols puts it, tidings of comfort and joy for St. Joseph! 

This Gospel shows us that Joseph was a man who lived for others more than himself. He sacrificed himself for Mary and Jesus right from the beginning. He is such an example of a love so unselfish, so great and deep, that it is willing and able to take the fall for the sake of the one he loves. This is why I think the story of Joseph’s Angel Dream gives us the best example of how we should live, not just now in Advent as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Mary’s Child, but every day as Christians.

The One-Who-Is-To-Come Has Come!

 

Deacon Dave · The "One Who Is To Come" Has Come!

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 11, 2022. Isaiah 35:1-6, 10; Gospel of St. Matthew 11:2-11. Theme: The One Who Is To Come Has Come! 

For over a thousand years before the birth of Christ, God’s people awaited the arrival of the Messiah. The prophets foretold that this “One-Who-Is-To-Come” would work great signs and wonders to show that God’s Kingdom was breaking into human history. We heard one of these prophecies in our first reading today from the Book of Isaiah. This is why in response to the question put to him by St. John the Baptist’s disciples, Jesus simply handed them his resume, so to speak. And this resume contained the unmistakable signs of God’s presence and power: the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead are restored to life. 

But you know, these amazing deeds of the One-Who-Is-To-Come have never stopped. Every year, literally hundreds of miracles are reported that confound science and astonish medicine. The Vatican has experts who study these phenomena and they say that these miracles go way beyond natural explanation. But we who believe know the reason why even today the blind see, the crippled walk and the dead are restored to life. We know it is because the One-Who-Is-To-Come has come, and he gives proof that he has never left us! 

For example… Gemma Di Giorgi was born in Sicily. A beautiful baby girl. But minutes after her birth her mother noticed that something just didn’t look right…indeed, Gemma had been born without pupils in her eyes. She had been born blind. When she was 7 her grandmother took her to be prayed over by a holy priest named Padre Pio. He asked the Risen Lord Jesus to give little Gemma the gift of sight. And that’s exactly what happened even though to the astonishment of science and medicine, she still lacked pupils! How could this be? Because The One Who Is To Come has come and so the blind can see! 

Serge Francoise recently completed a 1,000-mile walk, a pilgrimage along the famous Camino of St. James in Compostela, Spain. Now, there’s nothing unusual about making that pilgrimage as thousands do so every year. But, before this trek Serge had been confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed and unable to walk. But one day while at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, Serge attended Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Right when he was being blessed with Jesus truly present in the Consecrated Host, he felt heat enter into his pelvis and fire radiate down his legs and out through his toes. Suddenly, he felt compelled to stand up and leave the wheelchair behind. His 1,000-mile walk was a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the Messiah who set him free! How could this be? Because The One Who Is To Come has come and so the lame can walk! 

In Peoria, a mother was in labor and although the pregnancy had been perfectly normal, the child was stillborn. No pulse. No respiration. No movement at all. Imagine that shock and the grief! The doctors and nurses tried frantically to force life into the child by all known medical means. The boy’s dad, who was very devoted to the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, began to storm heaven with prayers. He begged Archbishop Sheen to ask the Risen Lord to give life to his lifeless son. After an hour had passed the attending physician told the parents that he had to call it quits and officially declare the baby’s death. Just as he began to fill out the death certificate little James Engstrom, stillborn 61 minutes earlier with absolutely no medically detectable signs of life, began to cry and kick and scream! Today he is a perfectly fine and normal little boy. How could this be? Because The One Who Is To Come has come and so even today the dead are restored to life! 

Even with such miracles and countless more all around us, there are still those who live and think and act as if the One-Who-Is-To-Come never came. Perhaps instead of seeing and hearing what the Messiah has done, they choose to remain blind and deaf because they know that believing will lead to changing. And change can be a very scary thing for many people, including we who already believe. But Advent is a good time to identify whatever in ourselves needs to experience the transforming power of the Messiah. His miracles are signs of the greater wonders he wants to work within us so that he can bring healing to the wounds of our hearts and restore life to the dead places of our souls. 

The Good News that the Church proclaims in today's liturgy of Joyful Sunday is that the One-Who-Is-To-Come has indeed come, and is still among us, especially in the Eucharist. He is ready and willing and able to reach out and touch those who trust in him; who are honest enough to open their minds to the truth about WHO he really is; who are sincere enough to open their eyes to the evidence of WHAT he can do; and who are brave enough to welcome his powerful Presence into their lives.

More Than Just a Name

 

Deacon Dave · More Than Just a Name

Homily for the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 2022. Gospel of St. Luke 1:26-38. Theme: More Than Just a Name 

On February 11, 1858 a 14 year old uneducated girl in a small French town was gathering firewood along a river when she saw a bright light shining out of a rocky cave. Intrigued, she drew closer and beheld the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, dressed in dazzling white with a blue sash belt and a gold rosary in her hands. The Lady would appear to her 17 more times and on one occasion when asked who she was, she replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” 

That teenage visionary is now known as St. Bernadette. The small French town has been transformed into the international Marian shrine of Lourdes with its miraculous healing water. And the Lady was, of course, the Blessed Mother. But isn’t it interesting that when asked who she was, she didn’t use her name of Mary? Instead, she identified herself as the Immaculate Conception, meaning she was untouched by sin from the very first moment of life in her mother’s womb. 

And I find it very interesting that in today’s Gospel the angel Gabriel didn’t address Mary by her first name, either. Instead, he called her, “Full of Grace”, which is another way of saying, “Immaculate Conception”. It just approaches it from a different angle. You see, Immaculate Conception means both realities: that Mary is free from sin as well as filled with God’s grace. It’s really just two sides of the same spiritual coin. And that made me think that there must be something more to the words “Immaculate Conception” than simply a name or title. 

I thought a lot about this and found an answer in the words of Pope Francis. He says that the Immaculate Conception is indeed more than just a name. It proclaims a gift specially given to Mary and a promise made specially to each one of us. He follows the ancient Christian tradition which says that what Mary is, we her children and disciples of her Son are called to become. The gift that God gave to Mary was freedom from sin and total holiness because she was to become the Mother of his Son. And the promise he makes to us is that we, too, can become like “spiritual immaculate conceptions” because by Baptism we are set free from original sin and filled with grace. 

Although Mary’s gift and ours are not exactly the same in degree, they are nevertheless very much connected. Pope Francis says that the path for becoming more and more “holy and immaculate” like Mary is found in developing the discipline to say 'no' to evil and 'yes' to God. It means we follow Mary’s total openness to grace and place our freedom in the service of God and others. To succeed in this endeavor he tells us to turn to Mary Immaculate, to learn from her example and lean on her spiritual support. I think that this insight can help us expand the Immaculate Conception from being just a holy day on the Church calendar and apply it as something that has a real meaning in our lives. 

This was the precisely the teaching of one of our great modern saints, Maximilian Kolbe, who died as a martyr at the hands of the Nazis. He dedicated his entire priestly ministry to promoting this link that we have with Mary, the Immaculate Conception. He saw the spiritual connection that we have with Mary as the way for us to most quickly grow in love for God and neighbor and to reach great depths of holiness. And so everywhere he went throughout the world he called Christians to honor Mary as the Immaculate One and to place themselves into her spiritual care, to learn from her example, and trust in her maternal intercession. He called this relationship with the Immaculate Conception “consecration”.

Inspired by St. Maximilian’s insight and devotion, I would like to close with a prayer from Pope Francis about living out our relationship with Mary, the Immaculate Conception: “Take me by the hand, Mother, guide me: with you I will have more strength in the battle against evil; with you I will rediscover my original beauty. Mary, I entrust my life to you, I entrust my family, my work; I entrust my heart and my struggles. I consecrate everything of myself to you”. Amen.

History, Mystery & Majesty

 

Deacon Dave · History, Mystery & Majesty

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, December 4, 2022. Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12. Theme: History, Mystery & Majesty 

In today’s Gospel St. John the Baptist tells us to avoid thinking that we’re all fine with God simply because we observe the external rituals of religion. It’s pretty easy - and I think even kind of common - for us Catholics to fall into this kind of spiritual trap. We might be tempted to think, “I‘m baptized and confirmed. I go to Mass regularly and say my prayers. It’s all good. I’m home free.” But St. John is saying that the solid proof of real religion is not found in the rituals we carry out but shown in the way we think, the way we act and the way we live. He says that the evidence of interior conversion is found in changed exterior behavior. 

This call to interior conversion is a fundamental message of Advent. We prepare for the Savior by doing some personal remodeling of the inner room of our heart. And for me one of the most cherished holiday stories that dramatically illustrates this is the classic work by Charles Dickens entitled, A Christmas Carol. I am sure you are all familiar with the tale of how on bleak and cold Christmas eve, the greedy miser Scrooge is converted into a generous Christian man by means of the three visitations he experiences from the Ghosts of Christmas-Past, Christmas-Present and Christmas-to-Come. 

Well, you know, it wasn’t by accident that Dickens thought up this plot. He lived at a time that Christianity permeated culture and was borrowing the threefold meaning of Advent as the basis for his story: Advent-Past when Jesus was born in history; Advent-Present where he comes to us in mystery; and Advent-to-Come when we will meet Jesus in his majesty. If we learn from this triple meaning of Advent and put its lessons into practice, we can hope to experience what Ebenezer Scrooge experienced come Christmas Day: a genuine conversion of heart which shows itself in a generosity to others. 

Advent-Past is when we recall how Jesus burst into human history, giving up his divine power in taking up our weak human nature. He did this to share our lives, to live as we live, and even to suffer and die as we do. This amazing truth of God-come-in-the-flesh was documented for us by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And so we embrace and live Advent-Past by reading and reflecting upon the Gospels they wrote where we find Christ’s teachings and follow his example. Encountering Jesus in the Gospels frequently is how Advent-Past can help us work towards conversion of heart. 

Secondly, we have Advent-Present, when Jesus comes to us in Mystery. The Lord comes to us here and now, through our conscious contact with him present in the Eucharist and in the persons of the needy poor. We cannot understand how this happens and so we call it a “mystery”. We profess our belief in this reality of Advent-Present at every Holy Mass when we proclaim “the Mystery of faith” to Christ present among us in the Eucharist. We honor Christ’s presence in the suffering persons of the poor when we minister to their needs with compassionate mercy. Seeing and serving Jesus in both the Eucharist and the poor is how Advent-Present can lead us to conversion of heart. 

Finally, we have the third meaning of Advent, Advent-to-Come. This was the most effective part for old Mr. Scrooge’s conversion and perhaps it will be most effective for ours as well. Advent-to-Come makes us face the fact that life is both short and temporary; that our time on planet Earth will end but our existence will not end. And then what will happen to us when we come before Christ in his glorious majesty? Where will we go to spend our eternity? Keeping alive within us this awareness of our mortality and our eternal destiny is how Advent-to-Come helps us move towards conversion of heart. 

So this year let's try to live Advent to its fullest, Past, Present and To-Come. Let’s keep in mind the history, mystery and majesty of Christ and observe Advent to the best of our ability. And let’s pray that Christmas will find us as changed and transformed as was old Mr. Scrooge, who found such joy in his new way of thinking, his new way of looking at life and his new way of living.