Dec 12 Monday: Our Lady of Guadalupe:
Most of us know the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. On
December 9, 1531, an elderly Indian man named Juan Diego (57) had a vision of
Mary, the mother of Jesus, at Tepeyac, a poor Mexican Indian village outside
Mexico City. Mary directed Juan Diego to tell his Bishop to build a Church in
Tepeyac. The Spanish Bishop, however, dismissed the Indian’s tale as mere
superstition. But to humor Juan Diego, the Bishop demanded that the visionary
bring some sort of proof. Three days later, the Virgin Mary appeared again and
told Juan Diego to pick the exquisitely beautiful roses that had miraculously
bloomed amidst December snows, and take them as a sign to the Bishop. When Juan
Diego opened his poncho (tilma) to present the roses to the Bishop, the flowers
poured out from his poncho to reveal an image of the Virgin Mary painted on the
inside of the poncho. That image hangs today in the Basilica of Guadalupe in
Mexico City and is venerated by thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.
This apparition occasioned the conversion of nine million Indians to
Christianity in twenty years. Saint John Paul II, who in 1979 became the first
pope to visit the shrine in Mexico City, described the Guadalupe event as “the
beginning of evangelization with a vitality that
surpassed all expectations. It is estimated that ten million pilgrims visit the
Basilica every year. The original Church was built in 1533 at la Villa de
Guadalupe, the second in 1556 and the third in 1709. The 488-year-old (in 2019)
Guadalupe apparition is not only one of the earliest Marian apparitions, but
also the only time in history that Our Lady has shared her portrait. Our Lady
not only appeared as an indigenous woman, but she also recruited an indigenous
native from Cuautitlán to proclaim her message. The Virgin of Guadalupe was
declared the Patroness of Latin America by Pope St. Pius X (1907).
In 1945, the year that World War II ended, Pope Pius XII looked at the
suffering, fragmented world and declared Our Lady of Guadalupe
patroness of the Americas. Pope St. John XXXIII (1961) and Pope St.
John Paul II (1979) called her Mother of America and Star
of Evangelization.
Life messages: 1) The story of the apparition
tells us how Jesus, as Emmanuel, and Mary his mother, want to be among us,
especially among the poor, the downtrodden and the marginalized in society who
have neither voice nor political or social influence. That is why Our Lady
appeared to a poor Indian in a village, not as a white woman but as a
brown-skinned Indian princess, speaking his native Nahuatal language,
and why Mary did not appear to any of the Spanish overlords. God wanted the
Basilica in honor of Jesus’ mother built in the village, not in the city. 2)
The vision challenges us to listen to the ordinary people who do not look or
act like important people and to treat them with reverence. While it is true
that God loves each and every one of us, there is a special place in God’s
heart for the poor and the powerless – God’s preferential option for the poor.
So, the feast challenges us to see and serve Jesus in the poor and the
broken-hearted in our communities. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 13 Tuesday: St. Lucy, Virgin, Martyr:
The context: Jesus entered Jerusalem, which was
to be the scene of all the Passion events he had predicted. After he had
cleansed the Temple with prophetic indignation and had started teaching in the
Temple area, the priests and the elders approached him and asked for his
credentials to teach. Jesus used the parable of two imperfect and disobedient
sons to give them a wake-up call. Through this parable, Jesus gave them the
warning that, because of their pride and their refusal to obey God’s call to
repentance, they would exclude themselves from God’s Kingdom, while the
tax-collectors and sinners would repent of their sins and would be accepted
there.
In the parable, a man who has two sons tells both to go out
to work in the vineyard. The first says he will go but he does not. The second
says he won’t go, but later regrets his refusal and goes to work. The second
son who first refused to go to work in the vineyard represents the tax
collectors and sinners, while the first son who agreed to work but did not go
represents the scribes and the Pharisees. The parable gives us the warning that
it is our final decision for or against God that is most important, because we
are rewarded or punished according to it. The message of the story is crystal
clear. There are two very common classes of people in this world. First, there
are the people whose profession of Faith is much better than their practice.
Second, there are those whose practice is far better than their profession. The
ideal son for this parable would be a son who accepted the father’s orders with
grace and respect and who unquestioningly and fully carried them out as Jesus
did his Father’s will.
Life messages: 1) We need to lead a responsible
Christian life, saying “yes” to God. We should become men and women who profess
our Faith in word and deed, knowing that, “Not all those who say to me,
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but those who do the will of my
Father Who is in Heaven.” 2) The Christian way lies in performance,
not just promise, and the mark of a Christian is obedience, graciously and
courteously given. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 14 Wednesday: St. John of the Cross, Priest,
Doctor of the Church:
The context: John the Baptist sent a few of his
disciples to Jesus to clarify whether he was truly the fiery Messiah John had
described, then introduced to the people. Jesus encouraged John the Baptist to
cast away the popular expectations about the Messiah and simply to accept
Jesus’ healing and preaching ministry as the fulfillment of the Messianic
prophecy of Isaiah.
Explanations by Bible scholars as to why John sent his
disciples to Jesus: 1) John knew that Jesus was the Christ and, as a prisoner,
he wanted his disciples to follow Jesus as their new master. Jesus told them a
prophecy from Isaiah to help them understand the purpose of his healing
miracles. 2) John began to doubt Jesus’ identity as the promised Messiah. The
silent healing, preaching, saving, and empowering ministry of Jesus was a
surprise to John and to those who expected a fire-and-brimstone Messiah. Nor
did Jesus conform to popular Jewish beliefs about a wealthy, warrior-politician
Messiah who would bring political, social, and economic deliverance to Israel.
Instead, Jesus pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and
peacemakers (5:1-11). Jesus called the disciples to love their enemies
(5:42-48). Furthermore, Jesus moved away from Jerusalem, the home of the Temple
and the center of religious authority and began preaching and healing in
Galilee among the common people (4:12). John had proclaimed the power of the
coming Messiah to bring in a new age, and instead, he found himself imprisoned
in the dungeon of Herod’s prison fortress at Machaerus, southeast of the Dead
Sea, wondering why the expected Messiah was not setting him free as Isaiah
(61:1) had predicted.
Life messages: 1) We need to learn how to
survive a Faith-crisis: If John the Baptist, even after having had a direct
encounter with Jesus the Messiah, could come to the point of question, doubt
and revision of his Faith, then so can we. 2) Let us remember the truth that
all our Christian dogmas are based on our trust and Faith in the Divinity of
Jesus who taught them. It is up to us to learn our Faith in depth and to remove
our doubts. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 15 Thursday: The context: Since Jesus’ ministry,
as reported to John the Baptist, did not match with his expectations of a fiery
Messiah, John wanted to clear his doubts. When he sent his disciples for this
purpose, Jesus encouraged John the Baptist to cast away the popular political
expectations about the Messiah and simply to accept his healing and preaching
ministry as the fulfilling of the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah. When John’s
disciples had left, Jesus, paid the highest compliments to John the Baptist as
his herald and the last of the prophets, and to the courage with which John had
proclaimed his prophetic convictions. John completed the cycle of prophets
begun by Elijah (Mt 11:13-14). He had the moral courage to criticize the
immoral life of Herod the king with prophetic conviction. He convinced the Jews
of his time that they needed to repent and renew their lives to receive the
long-expected Messiah into their midst. Then he introduced Jesus as “the
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world“ (Jn 1:29), or the true
Messiah who would redeem mankind from the bondage of sin. But Jesus declares
that his followers are greater than John the Baptist, because by Baptism we are
made children of God, heirs of Heaven and temples of the Holy Spirit.
Life messages: 1) We have the same mission as John
the Baptist, namely, to bear witness to Christ the Messiah by our exemplary
Christian lives in a world controlled by agnostic and atheistic media, by
liberal and leftist politicians, and by liberal judges. 2) Hence, we, too,
require grace and the courage of our Christian convictions to live a Sacramental
life, and exercising a spirit of prayer. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 16 Friday: .
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus is
concluding his keynote address, recorded in John 5:19-30. Jesus challenges his
doubting Jewish opponents. He presents three witnesses who confirm his identity
and Divine authority.
First, Jesus presents John the Baptist, whom many Jews
considered a prophet, as his human witness and compliments him, calling him a
burning light radiating the light of God. Second, Jesus presents the miracles
he works, the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies, as his witness. They
prove that the holy Scriptures are his witnesses. Third, Jesus brings God the
Father as his witness because Jesus preaches and works signs as instructed by
his Heavenly Father. He works signs to fulfill the Scriptures and in obedience
to his Heavenly Father. Thus, John the Baptist, Holy Scriptures and his
Heavenly Father are Jesus’ witnesses proving his Divine identity and authority.
The implications of our text for today are both comforting
and challenging. That Jesus is the final and ultimate revelation of God by
which we may judge all other revelation gives Christians confidence. The
witnesses to Jesus mentioned in this text are all still available to us: The
witness of the Old Testament is obviously still present, but so is the witness
of the Baptist and the words and works of Jesus. The latter three come to us in
the New Testament, not least in the Gospel of John. In addition, Christians
have the witness of the Holy Spirit, who has enabled the Church to understand
the revelation of God in Jesus. Faith in Jesus gives believers confidence, joy
and peace because of Who He is – the unique Son of God, equal with God.
Life messages: 1) We should rejoice in all that
God gives us in Scripture, in the Church and in natural revelation. But to
benefit from these gifts of God, we must be humble before God. Let us make real
effort to hear and grasp the message of these witnesses to Jesus, understanding
the true significance of the Old Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus’ own
words and works. (Fr. Tony)
Dec 17: Saturday:
The context: Starting with a genealogy was the
Jewish way of beginning a biography because the Jews gave importance to the
purity of the lineage which made them part of God’s Chosen People. For a noble
Jew, the line must be traceable back through five generations, and for a Jewish
priest traceable back to Aaron. Matthew presents Jesus’ human ancestry,
indicating that salvation history has reached its climax with the birth of the
Son of God through Mary by the working of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish
genealogies followed the male line. Hence, Joseph, as the husband of Mary, was
the legal father of Jesus, and the legal father was on a par with the real
father regarding rights and duties. Thus, it is through Joseph, His legal
father, that Jesus became the descendant of David. Since the Jews generally
married within their clan, the early Fathers of the Church believed that Mary
also belonged to David’s family. As a legal son of David, Jesus is the
fulfillment of prophecies. The genealogy of Jesus Christ in today’s Gospel is
carefully arranged into three groups of fourteen generations each. The three
groups are based on 1) the rise of Israel to a great kingdom under David and
Solomon, 2) the fall of the nation in the Babylonian exile and 3) the raising
of the nation after the exile. The three groups symbolically represent the
creation of man in God’s image, the loss of man’s greatness in Adam’s sin and
the regaining of greatness through Christ Jesus.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept and support, lift up, and correct the bad members of our family, acknowledging the truth that every family has some black sheep. Jesus’ genealogy mentions a harlot named Rahab, an adulteress named Tamar and a Moabite Gentile woman named Ruth. We need to remember that God can bring good out of the worst persons and circumstances. We need to appreciate our membership in the Divine family of God by Baptism and behave as holy children of a Holy God. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
