And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas | USCCB

On this Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas, we hear in the gospel two important things regarding our faith in Jesus Christ. First is that Jesus is not only fully human, but fully God.

In the gospel we hear: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) John, the writer of the Gospel, is making it clear that Jesus, the Word, was not only with God, but was God. And then John goes on to say that Jesus, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. This is a clear teaching that Jesus is True God and True Man.

The second important thing in today’s gospel was the fact that John the Baptist was pointing out the importance of Jesus to his followers. John was the forerunner of Jesus Christ and was sharing the good news that Jesus Christ was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. In today’s gospel we hear John say, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” (John 1:15) John had a large following. Those followers of John, at first, believed that he was the Messiah. John, in his humility, pointed out he was not the Messiah, but rather Jesus Christ was the long-awaited Messiah. From the time John leaped in the womb of Elizabeth during the visitation of Mary, acknowledging the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb, to the time John was baptizing people for the repentance of sin in the Jordon, John was always directing everyone to believe and to follow Jesus as the Messiah.

We are to be imitators of John the Baptist. We are to share our faith in the fact that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man, and that He came to our world to suffer, die, and rise from the dead, in order to bring us salvation.

As followers of Jesus Christ, let us always point towards Jesus Christ to all our friends and relatives that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savor for all of us.

And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

 

The scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph | USCCB

Today, the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. In our gospel for today I can fully understand the anxiety and worry of Mary and Joseph over not finding the child Jesus amongst their friends and family upon returning home from the celebration of Passover. As a parent I have had that worry many times over my children whenever they were sick, or if they were going through a problem that seemed to be difficult to resolve. Parents also know full well that worry for their children never stops, even when the children are grown and are adults.

Further, I can understand their relief upon finding Jessus back at the temple and asking that question, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” (Luke 2:48) Most parents have asked their children similar questions due to the worry of the parents over whatever issue may have been happening. The Lord answered with something that confused Mary and Joseph: "Did you not know that I mut be in my Father's house?"(Luke 2:49))   Jesus would then return home with them and was obedient to them.

As I was praying the Office of Readings this morning, the 2nd reading was from Pope Paul VI. A few quotes that stood out for me are: "Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ's life was like and even to understand the Gospel" and "How I would like to return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is Nazareth! How wonderful to be close to Mary, learning again the lessen of the true meaning of life, learning again God's truth." But the one that stood out most for me was, "First, we learn from its silence. If only we could again appreciate its great value. We need this wonderful state of mind, beset as we are by the cacophony of strident protests and conflicting claims so characteristic of these turbulent times. The silence of Nazareth should teach us to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to God's inner wisdom..." Times haven't changed much since these words of Pope Paul VI were written. We're in a world that is noisy and distracting and is constantly taking our attention away from our focus on God and the true meaning of who we are as a People of God. It's important to make that quiet time to be alone with God and to attempt to live out a life of peace and obedience to God. 

I know for myself, one of my new year's resolutions is to make more quiet time in order pray and meditate on God's Word in scripture and to attempt to hear what he is His calling me to do in this world full of "noise" and "distractions". I invite everyone to do the same, and maybe we can make this world more of a place that is centered on Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, and thus have a more peaceful and joyful world.

For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord

 

Scripture readings for Midnight Mass can be found at The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) | USCCB

We've come upon the most beautiful celebration of our church year: the Birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem. The 2nd person of the Most Holy Trinity humbled himself by taking on human flesh and became like us in all things except sin. 

In the account of our Lord's birth, in the gospel of St. Luke, chapter two, we hear of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem for the required census taking place and were unable to find room at the Inn. And then, at what seemed to be a most inconvenient time, Mary went into labor and had to go to a stable in order for Our Lord to be born.

In a most unclean area, and surrounded by the livestock living there, the creator of the universe came into this world as a child. This king of the universe, the Savior of the world, was born in the humblest of surroundings. In all humility, Jesus Christ was born for us and our salvation.

Then, the first people to find out about the birth of Jesus weren't the kings or nobles of that time and place, but rather simple shepherds out in the field tending their sheep. The Angels appeared to them, and, at first, they were frightened by the appearance of these angelic beings. The angel responds, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord." (Luke 10:11-12)

The shepherds were privileged to see the newborn King, and then they took that good news to those other people in their lives. "All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds." (Luke 2:18)

We, as Catholic Christians, have the chance to meet Jesus each time we attend Holy Mass. There are things that happen in our lives that we don't expect, but we, like Mary and Joseph, know that the Lord is present in all situations. And like them, we are to offer up all our issues and problems to God. It is then that the Lord Jesus is born in our hearts, and it is then we are to find that peace that can only come from a loving God. Let us learn from the Shepherds by sharing this good news about Jesus Christ, our Savior, with those other people that are in our lives. Then we can share that peace that comes from Jesus Christ in a world that so much needs the peace and love that only God has to offer. 

Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Third Week of Advent | USCCB

In our gospel for today, we hear of the long genealogy of Jesus Christ, tracing him back to Abraham and to King David.

By giving us this list of names Matthew is emphasizing, especially to the Jews of his day, that Jesus’ lineage goes back to the very beginnings of Israelite history beginning with Abraham, the father of the nations, and including David, Jesus’ kingly ancestor. Throughout this list of people that is mentioned in the gospel, there are people that are great and attempted to do God’s Holy Will, and then there were those who were sinful. Yet God worked through them all to bring the Messiah into the world to redeem us from sin and bring us salvation.

We hear of Abraham in the Book of Genesis, and the covenant that God made with him. In Genesis chapter 17 verse 5, we hear God change his name from Abram to Abraham, “No longer will you be Abram, your name will be Abraham,for I am making you the father of a multitude of nations.” Abraham first questioned God as to how this can be since he was a hundred years old and his wife, also elderly, would not be able to have children. But God fulfilled His promise and Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had Isaac.

With David we recall that famous story of him killing Goliath, the Philistine, in the first book of Samuel, chapter 17. Eventually he would go on to become King, which we read in second book of Kings, chapter 2. David’s hometown was Bethlehem, and it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born of David’s line, in Bethlehem. The great sin that David committed was that of adultery, having relations with the wife of Uriah and fathering a child with her. David then arranged to have Uriah killed in battle just to hide these facts. But David was unable to hide these sins of adultery and murder from God.

But through Abraham and David, and all the others mentioned in the genealogy, God was able to bring about the Messiah and Salvation into the World. God was able to accomplish His will even through the sinful actions of those he chose to be in leadership.

In the same way, God works through us in all our situations, whether we’re open to His Will or not. Though we are sinful, God is always calling us into relationship with him. All we need to do is to turn to God with an open and repentant heart to seek His forgiveness, and to allow His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, into our lives to bring about our own spiritual healing and forgiveness.

As we approach Christmas next week, let us make to time to go to the Sacrament of Confession to seek forgiveness of our sins. In this way we will not only celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, but we can also have him be born in our hearts and receive that love, peace and forgiveness that can only come from a loving God through Jesus Christ.

Let it be done for you according to your faith

 

Scripture for today's reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest | USCCB

In our gospel today from St. Matthew, we hear of the healing of the two blind men. They had heard of all the great things Jesus was doing and developed that trust and faith in Jesus and believed that He can heal them. They were persistent in their desire to have Jesus heal them. They followed Jesus into the house, and they humbly approached him to ask for healing and the restoration of their sight. “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us.” (Matthew 9:27) Jesus asks, “Do you believe that I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28) When they respond with a “yes”, he touches them and says, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” (Matthew 9:29) and they were healed.

Central to all the healings that Jesus does in the gospels is that of faith on the part of those being healed. Where are we in our relationship with Jesus? Do we have the same faith in Jesus that these men had? These blind men we hear of today were physically blind and found healing and then went about sharing the good news of Jesus with everyone they met. We need to ask ourselves “Where are we blind and need healing?” These men discovered the Lord and once healed, share their faith with other people.

Like the men in today’s gospel, we need to realize our dependance on Jesus in our lives. We need to be persistent in our prayers to Him for all our needs and concerns. They had the faith they needed in order to be healed. Nothing else mattered to them. Their whole trust was in Jesus and his power to heal them. And Jesus answered their request based on their faith in him to do it for them. We need to be able to put our whole trust in Jesus in the different problems we face each day, or the issues we may face in our families. We need to bring our troubles to the Lord and ask for healing.

Putting our trust in Jesus in our lives is important, and, in all humility, we need to realize that Jesus will respond to our prayer requests according to what He feels is best for us. These men were able to receive their sight back and were able to preach Jesus to those in their lives. For each of us Jesus will respond in a way that is best for us. It may not be in the way we ask, but in the way we need. Jesus knows our needs better than we do. All we need to do is to place all our cares into the loving hands of Jesus and know that He’ll respond to us in a way that’s best for us and those we pray for.  As you approach the altar for Holy Communion, pray the words of these blind men, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” You will then receive the healing and peace that you need that can only come from Jesus.