In today’s Gospel, God begins the “Christ event” with
Mary, a simple Jewish girl who is at the very bottom of her people’s social
ladder; the God who created all things makes the fulfillment of his promise
dependent upon one of the most dispossessed and powerless of his creatures.
Yet God exalts her humility, her simplicity, her trust in his love and
mercy. God’s “favor” belongs the poor, the rejected, the abandoned and
the forgotten among us today.
In his becoming human in the Son of Mary, God enters human
history is show us how to live God-like, grace-filled, holy lives of
compassion, forgiveness and justice in our time and place in that history.
In the Advents of our lives, God calls us to bring his
Christ into our own time and place; may we respond with the faith and trust of
Mary, putting aside our own doubts and fears to say I am your servant,
O God. Be it done.
The mystery of the Incarnation is relived every time we echo
Mary’s “yes” to God’s call to bring his Christ into our world, when we accept,
as did Mary, God’s asking us to make the Gospel Jesus alive in our own time and
place.
Everyday annunciations
She had not talked to her friend for some time and wondered
how she was doing. She had heard that the family was going through a
tough time. One morning, she saw that a movie they both said they were
looking forward to seeing had opened. So she called her: “Hi.
Would you like to take in a movie this afternoon?” After a pause, her
friend said, “You know, that would be great. It would give us a chance to
talk.”
Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you.
The chair of the college’s education department asked her to
come in. “A downtown church is organizing an after-school program for
at-risk kids,” he explained. “They’ve asked if any of our students could serve
as tutors. You have a real gift for working with young kids and you’re
going to make a great teacher. So, I thought of you immediately.”
She asked a lot of questions; she wondered how she could work it into her busy
class schedule; and she didn’t have anywhere near the confidence in herself
that her professor clearly had. But, in the end, she said: “I’d love to
help.”
The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of
God will overshadow you. Nothing is impossible for God.
After her beloved father’s death from Alzheimer’s disease,
she began making an annual gift to the Alzheimer’s Association. One day
she received a call asking if she would help organize a “memory walk” for
Alzheimer’s research. As she talked to the volunteer, her eyes fell on
the photo of her Dad on her desk. “Yes, I’d love to help.”
I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done.
It may seem that annunciations only happen to Mary and
people in the Bible — but the fact is that God calls every one of us to the
vocation of prophet, the ministry of charity, the work of forgiveness.
Gabriel may come in the form of an invitation, a plea, a concern for another’s
well-being. Like Mary, we think of all the kinds of reasons why this
doesn’t make any sense or that it’s beyond us — but it is in these everyday
annunciations that God changes the course of history. In the Advents of
our lives, God calls us to bring his Christ into our own time and place; may we
respond with the faith and trust of Mary, putting aside our own doubts and
fears to say “I am your servant, O God. Be it done.”
2. From Fr. Tony
Kadavil:
11) “Mary did you know?” One of the most
beautiful of the modern Christmas songs was written by a man who is best known,
perhaps, as a comedian. His name is Mark Lowry. Lowry is also a musician of
some note. He performed for many years with the Gaither Vocal band. In 1984 he
was asked to pen some words for his local church choir, and he wrote a poem
that begins like this, “Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day
walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and
daughters?” A few years later guitarist Buddy Greene added a perfectly matching
tune and a wonderful song was born. “Mary, did you know that your baby boy has
walked where angels trod? Mary, did you know when you kiss your little baby,
you kiss the face of God!” Each of the little couplets touches the heart in a
wonderful way. “Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?” The
song’s been around now for nearly two decades. Listen for it on the radio. The
most popular version is sung by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AQM2rszMAfY)
“Mary, did you know . . . ?” How could Mary have known what was happening to
her with all that would follow when the angel Gabriel came to her long ago?
Only Luke tells this story, and we have it in today’s Gospel.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
2) Nothing is Impossible for God! Mrs. Marie
Norton of Elmira, New York, died in the fall of 1951, admired and praised by
all who had known her. Before she had any children, she was afflicted with
cancer, and physicians advised her against becoming pregnant. But Marie decided
to ignore advice and leave matters in God’s hands. She went ahead and brought
ten children into the world, and they were healthy children. When her
brother-in-law lost his wife, she took his children in, too. It was no easy
chore to keep house for such a brood, but she did it and was also her own cook
and laundress. Had Marie’s malady vanished? By no means. For thirty-five years
she was under treatment for malignancies and submitted to as much radium
therapy as her body could tolerate. Forty-two times she went under the
surgeon’s knife. After Marie’s death her son-in-law’s mother wrote a letter to
the paper in praise of Mrs. Norton. “As I observed her giving, besides
services, joy and sunshine … to us all, it has left me with a new reverence, a
feeling that I have witnessed something this sick world needs today… an
assurance that God does hear and answer those who love and trust Him.” Yes, He hears
and He gives us of Himself: the supreme Christmas gift is His beloved Son.
“… For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke, 1:37. Gospel of
the day). (Father Robert F. McNamara).
3) The FBI and the White House staff: The
FBI agents conducted a raid in a psychiatric hospital that was under
investigation for medical insurance fraud. After hours of reviewing
thousands of medical records, the dozens of agents were terribly hungry.
The chief in charge of the investigation called a nearby pizza parlor with
delivery service to order a quick dinner for his colleagues. Here is the
recorded text of the conversation: Agent: Hello. I would like to
order 19 large pizzas and 67 cans of soda. Pizza Man: And
where would you like them delivered? Agent: We’re over at the
psychiatric hospital, and we are all FBI agents, and since we have locked the
front door to help our operations, you will have to go around to the back to
the service entrance to deliver the pizzas. Pizza Man: A group of
FBI agents calling from the psychiatric hospital that I should come with 19
large pizzas and 67 cans of sodas through the back door? Agent:
That’s right, and it is very urgent. We’ve been here all day and we’re
starving. I have my F.B.I. checkbook right here. Will you show up soon? Pizza
Man: I don’t think so. Agent: Why? Pizza Man:
Because last week it was President Trump who ordered pizzas from that psychiatric
hospital for his White House staff! I shall ask your doctors to give you
stronger medicines to ward off your F.B.I. hallucinations and to help you sleep
well. Bye.” Click. Bzzz. The feeling that the Pizza Man had as he
participated in that conversation may have been something like what the
teenaged Mary felt at the beginning of her encounter with the angelic messenger
on the day of the Annunciation.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
4) “I’m the president of 7-UP!” Three men
were pacing nervously outside the delivery room at a hospital when the head
nurse came out beaming. To the first she said, “Congratulations, sir, you are
the father of twins.”
“Terrific!” said the man, “I just signed a contract with the
Minnesota Twins and this’ll be great press.”
To the second man the nurse said, “Congratulations to you
too. You are the father of healthy triplets!”
“Fantastic!” he said. “I’m the vice-president of 3-M
Company. This’ll be great P.R.!”
At that point the third man turned ashen and ran for the
door. “What’s wrong, sir? Where are you going?” called the nurse. As he jumped
into his car, the man shouted, “I’m dashing to my office to resign. I’m the
president of 7-UP!”
That’s exactly what Mary was feeling as she listened to the
angel spell out what God wanted of her: “Virgin birth?! Are you crazy? Who’s
going to believe that? I’ll be stoned to death as soon as the neighbors see I’m
pregnant! Dear God, what are you asking of me?” (Msgr. Dennis Clarke)
5) It’s also hard being a virgin:
Five-year-old Olivia, and her best friend, Claire, were participating in a
nativity play at school. Claire was playing Mary, and Olivia was an angel.
Before the show, a young boy was going around the dressing room repeating, “I’m
a sheep, what are you?” Each child responded politely, including Olivia, who
proudly declared she was an angel. The boy then turned to Claire, still
struggling into her costume with her mother’s help, and repeated the question
to her: “I’m a sheep, what are you?” Claire simply said, “I’m Mary.” Realizing
he was face to face with a lead character, he felt he needed to justify his own
role. “It’s hard being a sheep, you know,” he said with all the seriousness of
a 5-year-old actor with a big part. Claire’s equally serious response was
humorously profound. “Yes,” said Claire innocently, “but it’s also hard being a
virgin, you know.”
6) “Were you really born of a virgin?”
Television interviewer Larry King was asked if he could only interview
one person in history, who would it be. Larry said, “Jesus
Christ.” “And if you could only ask Him one question, what
would it be?” “Were you really born of a virgin?”
The reporter asked, “Why would you ask that question?”
King replied, “Because that would define history for me.”
3) Again, a Catholic president in the U. S.? When my Baptist
friend was a young teenager, President Kennedy ran for office. There was near
hysteria in some places about the dangers of having a papist in office taking
orders from the Vatican. Not long after the election, a little elderly lady was
at the post office to buy stamps. The clerk said, “What denomination?” She
adamantly said, “Baptist, but I didn’t think it would come.
7) Discerning vocation. The young man is discerning his
possible vocation, so he asks a friend which order he should join. His friend
answered, “How about maybe either the Dominicans or the Jesuits? Both orders
are filled with good and holy men.” “Yeah,” the discerner answered, “but, what
exactly are they? What’s the difference?” “Well,” said the friend, “the Jesuits
were founded in response to the threat of Protestantism. The Dominicans were
formed to combat the Albigensian heresy.” “Okay, but which one is better? “the
discerner demanded. “Well, I really couldn’t say” said the friend, “but how
many Albigensians ya got living in your neighborhood?”
19- Additional anecdotes:
1) From Anthony de Mello, a story on Emmanuel: “Excuse
me,” said a small river fish that happened to reach the ocean to a larger fish
he saw there, “You are older than I, so can you tell me where to find
this thing they call the ocean?” “The ocean,” said the older fish “is the thing
you are in now.” “Oh, this? But this is only salty water. What I’m seeking is
the ocean,” said the disappointed fish as he swam away to search elsewhere.
Today’s Gospel introduces God as Emmanuel, one living with us. Our Christmas
celebration should enable us to experience this God within us and all around
us.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
2) “My search is over.” I like the story about a
professor who sat at his desk one evening working on the next day’s lectures.
His housekeeper had laid that day’s mail and papers on his desk, and he began
to shuffle through them, discarding most to the wastebasket. He then noticed a
magazine, which was not even addressed to him but had been delivered to his
office by mistake. It fell open to an article titled “The Needs of the Congo
Mission.” Casually he began to read when he was suddenly consumed by these
words: “The need is great here. We have no one to work the northern province of
Gabon in the central Congo. And it is my prayer as I write this article that
God will lay His hand on one – one on whom, already, the Master’s eyes have
been cast – that he or she shall be called to this place to help us.” Professor
Albert Schweitzer closed the magazine and wrote in his diary: “My search is
over.” He gave himself to the Congo. That little article, hidden in a
periodical intended for someone else, was placed by accident in Schweitzer’s
mailbox. By chance he noticed the title. It leaped out at him. Chance? Nope. It
was one of God’s surprises. This morning we focus on one of the greatest
surprises that ever there was, the surprise that took place when the Archangel
Gabriel appeared to a young teenager, Mary. Gabriel piled one surprise upon
another. Mary and Joseph’s Christmas tree had more astonishing surprises than
any couple on earth had ever experienced.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) “What will we do with this baby Jesus?” Wade
Burton tells about a man who was riding a bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a
stop-over in Atlanta. While he was sitting at a lunch counter, a woman came out
of the ladies’ restroom carrying a tiny baby. She asked the man, “Will you hold
my baby for me, I left my purse in the restroom.” He did. But as the woman
neared the front door of the bus station, she darted out into the crowded
street and was immediately lost in the crowd. The man couldn’t believe his
eyes. He rushed to the door to call the woman, but could not see her. What
should he do? Put the baby down and run? When calmness settled in he went to
the Traveler’s Aid booth, and they soon found the real mother. The woman who
had left him holding the baby was not the baby’s mother. She had taken the
child, perhaps to satisfy a motherly urge to hold a child. The man breathed a
sigh of relief when the real mother was found. After all, what was he to do
with a baby? In a way each of us is in the same situation as this gentleman. We
are left with the question, “What will we do with the Baby?” Have we really
come to terms with the fact that this Baby is not simply extraordinarily
gifted, but that he is himself a gift from the heart of God? Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
4) “Didn’t you get my E-mail?” As a little girl
climbed up into Santa’s lap, Santa asked the usual, “And what would you like
for Christmas?” The little girl just stared at Santa with her mouth open and
horrified look on her face for a minute, and then she gasped: “Didn’t you get
my E-mail?” That had to have been the same sort of horrified look that Mary
must have had on her face when the Angel of the Lord appeared to her and spoke
to her about God’s purpose for her life.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
5) “You shall name him Jesus.” Some names are
unfortunate. I heard about a man who joined the Navy. His name was Tonsillitis
Jackson. The Navy couldn’t believe it, so they did a check on him, and
discovered that indeed his name really was Tonsillitis Jackson. What’s more, he
had brothers and sisters who were named: Meningitis, Appendicitis, Peritonitis,
and Laryngitis. A sense of identity, a sense of destiny, comes with the
conferring of a name. And that is the kind of name that was given to Jesus as
we read in today’s Gospel. It conferred upon him a destiny, a vocation that he
was to fulfill for us. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
6) “Do not be afraid!” It’s an obvious
understatement to say we live in a day of great fear. The language of “terror”
has become the motivating mantra of our day. I did a Google search for the word
“fear,” and I came up with a fascinating site called “The Phobia List”—pages of
phobias, A to Z. Everything from Alliumphobia—the fear of garlic and
Lachanophobia—the fear of vegetables to Zemmiphobia—the fear of the great mole
rat. It even lists Ecclesiophobia—the fear of church and, get this,
Homilophobia—the fear of sermons! You can even get a poster of the “Phobia
List” which will cover your entire wall. We all have our own phobia lists, and
the list can be as fresh as the morning papers: Daily bad news from the auto industry,
uncertainty about the present and future course of Covid 19 and its economic
repercussions, about the state of the economy or personal security. A
questionable course in Iraq, Afghanistan … wherever, with no clear sense of how
long all this will go on, when or how it will end. Fear of bird flu or bad
weather or a bitter diagnosis from the family doctor. Add to that,
fear-mongering TV preachers and politicians who use talk of terror for
political gain until the fear of terror becomes its own terror. And add to
that, panic-driven newscasters who can’t even give the weather without
fear-filled, bated breath. It all leads to what Jane Spencer in the Wall
Street Journal refers to as the “fear system” of our day. Into that
maze of fear, we have the audacity to read the word of the angel to Mary: “Do
not be afraid!”
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
7) “You are pregnant”: In January of 2002, a
hospital in London, England, mistakenly sent letters to over 30 unsuspecting
patients informing them that they were pregnant. The hospital’s computer
system, which normally is used to send form letters telling people that their
operations have been postponed, was in the hands of a clerical worker who hit
the wrong key. And so, instead of informing patients about a rescheduled
procedure, the computer sent identical form letters telling the recipients that
they were “great with child.” Among the recipients of the letters were six
elderly men. (“Hospital Tells Elderly Men They’re Pregnant,” Reuters, London,
(Jan. 10). Can you imagine the surprise of those six men? “Your doctor at
Such-and-Such hospital is pleased to inform you that you are expecting a baby!”
Quite a shock, to say the least! Some of the women were probably surprised as
well. “How can it be?” some of them may have asked. “That’s not possible! I
think I’m going to be sick!” There was possibly some high anxiety in the homes
of some women patients who received this letter. Don’t you think Mary, the
mother of Jesus, experienced troubling thoughts when the angel of the Lord
first appeared to her? Mary was a virgin engaged to be married. She had never
been with a man – even the man she was to wed.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
8) “Favored by God with stress points?”:
Years ago a psychologist named Thomas Holmes developed a scale for measuring
stress. He assigned numerical values to events that cause stress such as the
loss of job, moving to a new city, a new relationship. Dr. Holmes even included
Christmas on his stress list. He decided that just a normal Christmas was worth
a hefty 14 stress points. Some of you understand. You’re up to 15 or 20 stress
points right now. A writer by the name of Bridget Kuhns took Dr. Holmes’ scale
and applied it to Mary. Holmes calculated that any pregnancy earns 40 points:
an unwanted pregnancy, add 20 more. A change in living conditions (Mary stayed
three months with Elizabeth), earns 25 more. Marriage to Joseph: 50 points. A
change in financial status: 38 points. Surely there must have been words
between them when she discovered that he had not made reservations at the inn:
score 35 points for an argument with a spouse. And then the birth – 39 points:
16 for a change in sleeping habits; 15 for a change in eating habits. Not to
mention all those uninvited guests: shepherds and angels coming and going and
wise men from the East. Psychologist Thomas Holmes says that people get sick
when they reach 200 points on his stress scale. Ms. Kuhns calculates that
Mary’s ordeal earned her a record 424 points.
http://home.gci.net/~stjohn1/sermons/2001/dec23.01.htm.
— This, of course, does not even include the flight to Egypt. Or even more
important, the experience of watching her beloved son die as a common criminal
on a cross. Is this what it means to be favored of God? Evidently being favored
of God does not protect you from life’s bumps and bruises.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
9) “$500 for information on the missing cat.”
Remember the story about the guy who hated his wife’s cat? He just hated that
cat with a vengeance, but his wife loved the cat. One day, the cat disappeared.
His wife was grief-stricken, so the man put an ad in the newspaper: “$500 for
information on the missing cat.” His friend saw the ad and said to him: “Wow!
$500 for word on the cat that you hated…that’s pretty risky, isn’t it?” With a
sly, knowing twinkle in his eye, the man responded: “It’s not so risky when you
know what you know.” We know the end of the story. Life is not so scary
when you know what you know. We know God keeps his promises and sends a
Savior. We know Jesus comes and his name is called Emmanuel, meaning “God
with Us.”). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
10) “He’s out moose-hunting.” There was a story
years ago in the Canadian version of the Reader’s Digest of a
large moose that wandered into a residential area in Calgary, Canada. The moose
ended up on the lawn of a lady named Lorna Cade. A Fish and Wildlife officer
was dispatched to try to coax the magnificent animal back into the wild. After
two hours of absolutely no progress, the officer finally shot the moose with a
tranquilizer dart. The moose bolted down a lane and eventually collapsed on
another nearby lawn. The reporters who had been following this event interviewed
the lady at the house where the moose collapsed. They asked her what she
thought about the moose which had passed out on her lawn. “I’m surprised,” she
answered, “but not as surprised as my husband will be. He’s out moose-hunting.”
— Her husband had gone out looking for moose and a large moose had come to him.
That is the message of Christmas. While humanity spends its time seeking after
God, God comes to us in the Baby of Bethlehem.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
11) Remember Humphrey, the humpback whale? Humphrey
became a national celebrity in 1985 when he made his way into the San Francisco
Bay and headed up the Sacramento River into fresh water which, of course, could
have been fatal for him. Each evening a large local television audience would tune
in for the latest update on Humphrey’s plight. Then national media coverage
began and the whole country watched the ensuing story. None of the traditional
herding techniques were working and the world held its breath as Humphrey
appeared to be dying. His skin was graying and he was becoming more and more
listless. As a last-ditch effort, Dr. Bernie Krause, who had recorded the
sounds humpback whales made while feeding suggested using them as a possible
way to lure Humphrey out. No one knew if this would work, but it was their last
shot at saving him. A speaker was lowered over the side of a boat, the sounds
of other humpback whales were played, and everyone stood quietly while the
eerie songs reverberated through the hull. Suddenly, Humphrey emerged from the water
at the bow of the ship right where the speaker was playing, and gazed at the
startled crew. The Captain quickly started down the river with Humphrey
following close behind. As they approached the San Francisco Bay, and the water
gained in salinity, Humphrey was visibly excited and began diving deeply to
everyone’s delight and amazement. It was like the climax to a Hollywood film.
The air was filled with helicopters and the river banks were lined with
thousands of spectators all cheering Humphrey on to freedom. Don’t you think
that’s interesting? They failed using various methods to lure Humphrey to turn
around. Nothing worked until he heard the recorded sounds of other humpback
whales. I guess it takes a whale to talk to whales! — Now imagine God’s dilemma.
God sought to communicate His love and His purpose for humanity through the Law
and through the Prophets, through Scripture, and through the worship of the
Hebrew people in the Temple of Jerusalem. But still the people did not get it.
We did not know how much God loves us and that God’s ultimate plan was for us
to love one another. So God did the only thing left. God became one of us in
the Baby in the manger. God came to us when, intellectually, we could not reach
up to Him. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) “Somewhere, somehow, set things right.” On
the wall of the museum of the concentration camp at Dachau is a moving
photograph of a mother and her little girl being taken to a gas chamber at
Auschwitz. The girl, who is walking in front of her mother, does not know where
she is going. The mother, who walks behind, does know, but there is nothing,
absolutely nothing, the mother can do to stop this tragedy. In her
helplessness, she performs the only act of love left to her. She places her
hand over her little girl’s eyes so that at least she will not have to see the
horror which faces her. When people see this picture in the museum, they do not
move quickly or easily to the next one. You can feel their emotion, almost hear
their cries, “O God, don’t let that be all there is. Somewhere, somehow, set
things right.” — Luke’s word to us this day is that God hears those prayers,
and that it is into just such situations of hopelessness and helplessness that
the power of God is born. It is there that God invests His treasure, lifting up
the lowly and filling the hungry with good things — setting things right.
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14)”Have you found him?” Here is another Anthony
de Mello story. The young hermit (sannyasi) came to the master in hermit
robes and asked. “For years I have been seeking God. I have sought him
everywhere that he is said to be: on mountain peaks, the vastness of the
desert, the silence of the cloister, and the dwellings of the poor.” “Have you
found him?” the master asked. “No. I have not. Have you?” What could the master
say? The evening sun was sending shafts of golden light into the room. Hundreds
of sparrows were twittering on a nearby banyan tree. In the distance one could
hear the sound of highway traffic. A mosquito droned a warning that it was
going to strike…And yet this man could sit there and say he had not found God.
After a while the young hermit left, disappointed, to search elsewhere. Since
God can be found everywhere, we must continually look for Him and especially,
perhaps in the most difficult places. That is why in the first reading today;
God tells David that He cannot be contained in a man-made Temple. As
we prepare to celebrate the reality of Christmas, the feast of Emmanuel,
(God-With-Us), let us be prepared to recognize the God whose presence can be
known and experienced in the distressing problems of life. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
15) Partners in God’s great work of
salvation. A priest tells a story from the 1940s that illustrates this truth
particularly well. He was attending the funeral of the pastor of Holy Trinity,
then a national German parish, in Boston. In the vestibule he had met a gray-haired
layman and they got to conversing. The layman said to him: “This dead pastor
converted me, and yet I never got closer to him than any of the pews are to the
pulpit. “During the First World War, I was a government agent. Remember how we
were taught then to hate everything German? Even on the restaurant menus,
sauerkraut became Liberty Cabbage. “Anyway, I could speak German and I was
assigned to listen to the sermons here every Sunday morning. Somebody was
afraid that this pastor might be subtly sabotaging our war effort by taking sly
shots at patriotism. “I never heard one word that was unpatriotic. “But Sunday
after Sunday I heard a brief, clear, attractive presentation of some point of
Catholic doctrine. “I became more and more interested in the Catholic Church
and I decided to investigate further. “So I went to another rectory (I could
not go to this pastor, because I was practically ‘casing’ him) and took a
series of instructions. “I was baptized and have been a Catholic ever since.
“The man we are burying today never knew what I have told you, but when I read
about his death in the newspaper, I thought I should come to say thanks. He
doesn’t need it, but it makes me feel better.” So often, that’s how God works:
if we just faithfully fulfill His will for us each day, He makes us partners in
His great work of salvation. (“Ten Responsible Minutes” by Joseph Manton,
C.SS.R, p49/E- Priest.) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
16) Reminders that God is in charge: One
eloquent reminder is from the life of St. John Bosco, founder of
the Salesians, who died in 1888. He began a ministry for poor boys and orphans
that taught them a trade during the day and gave them school and Faith
instructions in the evening. Every day he would spend time with the
many boys in his school, and every morning he would hear confessions before
breakfast. It was a common occurrence for the saint to point out in the
confessional sins that the boys had forgotten or were afraid to confess. One
day in 1848 St John was celebrating Mass in honor of the Feast of the
Annunciation. The small church was filled with 360 boys and young men. When the
time came for Holy Communion, he went to the tabernacle to remove the Hosts. To
his great surprise he discovered that only 8 Hosts were reserved there – not
nearly enough for the large congregation. Many people present, including
Giuseppe Buzzetti [boot-SEHT-ee], who would later become one of the first Salesian
priests and who was the altar server during that Mass, saw John Bosco’s
predicament and wondered what would happen. The saint removed the 8 Hosts from
the tabernacle and began distributing Holy Communion. As the young Giuseppe
followed the priest with the paten, he was amazed to watch as the ciborium
continued to fill up with Hosts, miraculously allowing for everyone present to
receive Holy Communion. God sends miracles like these every once in a while to
boost our confidence, to remind us that nothing is impossible for him.(therealpresence.org]E-
Priest).
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
17) God’s House, God’s Housemaid: Three
stonecutters were involved in building work. When asked what they were doing,
the first one replied, “I’m breaking stones!” The second answered, “I’m earning
a living!” The third exclaimed, “I’m building a house for God!” Like the third
stone-cutter, in today’s first reading King David desires to build God’s House.
But, let’s ask: who really builds whose house? And ultimately, who is God’s
perfect housemaid? The symbol of “house” is significant in the first reading.
Since he is living in a palace while the Ark of the Covenant rests in a tent,
David tells Prophet Nathan of his desire to build God a House. However, God
asks, seemingly sarcastically: “Are you the man to build Me a House?” The Bible
says that it was David’s son, Solomon – not David – who was chosen to build
God’s House (see I King 5:2-5). Yet, reminding David of all the blessings he
received, God promises, “The Lord will make you a House.” (Francis Gonsalves in
Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
18)“Joy to the World”: In the prologue to his
book Joy, William Schutz tells how the birth of his son Ethan
inspired him to write the book. Ethan begins his life by giving joy to his
parents. The joy continues as Ethan sees, touches, tastes and hears things for
the first time. But something happens to Ethan as it does to all of us. Somehow
his joy diminishes with growth, never to return fully. Schutz wrote his book to
help readers recapture some of this joy. Like Ethan, Jesus, too, begins his
life by giving joy. Even before he is born his very presence brings joy to
people. –Even when we cannot achieve our full human potential in some of those
areas Schutz outlines, we can still experience a profound interior joy because
Jesus is in our midst. The power of his presence enables us to endure any
difficulty, transcend any trial or overcome any obstacle. His presence can
bring peace where there is anxiety, sharing where there is selfishness and
dreams where there is despair. Isaac Watts was right when he composed a
Christmas carol entitled “Joy to the World!” Indeed, there is real joy in the
world at Christmas time because the Lord is come. He is Emmanuel, God with us!
(Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
19) “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May
it be done to me according to your word.” A Persian legend
runs that a certain king needed a faithful servant, and two men were candidates
for the office. He took both at fixed wages, and his first order was to fill a
basket with water from a neighboring well, saying that he would come in the
evening and see their work. After putting in one or two bucketful’s, one man
said, “What is the good of doing this useless work? As soon as we put the
water inside the bucket with several holes, it runs out. The other
answered, “But we have our wages, haven’t we? Our master may have his
plans.” “I am not going to do such fool’s work,” replied the other.
Throwing down his bucket, he went away. The other man continued until he had
drained the well. Looking down into it, he saw something shining—a diamond
ring. “Now I see the use of pouring water into a basket with
holes,” he cried. “If the bucket had brought up the ring before the
well was emptied, it would have been found in the basket. Our work was not
useless.” — Christians must believe that their divine Master knows what is
best, and obey his commands, and in due time they will know and understand.
Mary understood this and obeyed God in all humility, starting in the
Annunciation. (Fr. Lakra).
3. From
Sermons.com
The greatest thing about Christmas morning is the surprises.
When else in life do you get to pile 10, 20, 30, 40 sometimes 50 surprises all
together and sit for an hour enjoying each of them? One after another, surprise
after surprise. Christmas Morning is wonderful in that way. I can remember
still today the way I felt as a child, the amazement, the astonishment of
Christmas morning.
Chuck Swindoll writes, "surprises come in many forms
and guises: some good, some borderline amazing, some awful, some tragic, some
hilarious. But there's one thing we can usually say -- surprises aren't
boring." Surprises are woven through the very fabric of all our lives.
They await each one of us at unexpected and unpredictable junctures.
I like the story about a professor who sat at his desk one
evening working on the next day's lectures. His housekeeper had laid that days
mail and papers at his desk and he began to shuffle through them discarding
most to the wastebasket. He then noticed a magazine, which was not even
addressed to him but delivered to his office by mistake. It fell open to an
article titled "The Needs of the Congo Mission".
Casually he began to read when he was suddenly consumed by
these words: "The need is great here. We have no one to work the northern
province of Gabon in the central Congo. And it is my prayer as I write this
article that God will lay His hand on one - one on whom, already, the Master's
eyes have been cast - that he or she shall be called to this place to help
us." Professor Albert Schweitzer closed the magazine and wrote in his
diary: "My search is over." He gave himself to the Congo.
That little article, hidden in a periodical intended for
someone else, was placed by accident in Schweitzer's mailbox. By chance he
noticed the title. It leaped out at him. Chance? Nope. It was one of God's
surprises.
This morning we focus on one of the greatest surprises that
ever there was, the surprise that took place when an angel by the name of
Gabriel appeared to a young teenager by the name of Mary. Gabriel piled one
surprise upon another. Mary and Joseph's Christmas tree had more astonishing
surprises than any couple on earth had ever experienced. Gabriel surprised Mary
with the following:
1. "The Lord is with you, do not be afraid."
2. "You will conceive in your womb, and bear a
son."
3. "He will be called the Son of God."
"Survivor" is a reality tv game show that has
proven to be one of the most successful franchises in television history.
Starting in 1992 as the brainchild of a British tv producer, Survivor has
spread throughout the world to play in over 50 countries as diverse as Chile
and China.
If you've watched CBS' "Survivor" with its
$1,000,000 prize, you notice how quickly the sixteen to twenty strangers
separate out into two groups, no matter how many "tribes" there are.
In one group are those who, in the face of the unexpected, meltdown, freeze, or
fold. In the other group are those who cope, manage, and overcome when the
unforeseen rears its head.
This difference in ability and mobility is less dependent on
the facts, and far more dependent upon faith. All "Survivor" stories
combine components of grace and good luck, grit and gumption. But at the very
base of those who "survive" in the face of surprising challenges, are
those who have faith. When it is just too hard to hang on, we need another we
can hang on to.
First century Palestine was not a particularly progressive
society. Jews and Gentiles, Jewish and pagan, iron-fisted Roman rulers and
oppressed subjects lived in an uneasy, unequal social equilibrium. In the first
century there were definite "haves" and "have-nots" - the
"who's who" and "who's not" lists that circulated locally.
Getting on one of these "who's not" lists had far more social,
political, and even "Survivor" repercussions than any Christmas
"naughty and nice" list.
In the 21st century it is hard for us to hear how the angel
Gabriel's "good news" sounded to Mary. In the 21st century it is not
a death sentence to receive a birth notice. It was then. That is exactly what
Mary heard at that moment of angelic visitation...
Consider the Impossible
f impossibilities. Consider the impossibilities Mary faced
in this story: She is a virgin and pregnant-she is having a child while she is
a virgin. Impossible! No way! Won't happen! Joseph has to follow through on the
marriage after he discovers Mary is pregnant. Impossible! Mary must avoid being
stoned to death when the neighbors hear the news. Impossible!
Consider the impossibility Elizabeth faced. She was well
past the childbearing age, and yet God says she is going to conceive and bear a
child. This impossible news left old Zechariah speechless. Impossible! No way!
Won't happen!
This is a story of biblical impossibilities. But, what are
the impossibilities in our world? What would you label "impossible"
in your life? Peace in our world. Impossible! No way! Won't happen! Christian
values returning to our nation, morality becoming the norm? Impossible! Our
church reaching our surrounding community and making our world different?
Impossible! Restoring relationships, healing past hurts in our lives. A
relative or friend entering a relationship with Christ. Breaking an addiction
and overcoming past hurts and disappointments? Impossible!
We find ourselves with the same troubled mind as Mary,
wondering over the impossible (v. 29). We even ask the same question Mary
asked, "How will this be?" (v. 34). To us it seems impossible! No
way! Won't happen! The real question for people today is "How can the
impossible become possible?"
Dwight Gunter, The Possible Impossible
_________________________
Speaking of a New Order
Men are strangely quiet in Luke's first chapter. Zechariah
is silenced. Joseph says nothing at all. What is the gospel writer up to here?
In the hush, our gaze is drawn toward two women-cousins who rush to greet each
other, females with wombs filled by miraculous cavorting babies, and spirits
set afire by the living God. Pure hysteria. I imagine that Plato would have
cringed at the rampant emotionalism of it all. And it's just getting started,
for after the raucous reunion, after the cousins bump their rounded tummies,
the women start to prophesy. They start to talk about how the world ought to
be. They make claims about what God wants of us. Their talk is full of typical
irrational stuff: you know, tyrants being thrown down; hungry people getting
food. They protest social inequalities. They speak of a new order.
Scott Black Johnston, Head of Household?
_____________________________
Tranquility in the Midst of Turmoil
Two artists were commissioned to paint their conception of
peace. A panel of distinguished judges would determine which artist had best
captured the idea. The winner would get a rich commission. And after they had
been painting for a long time, the judges assembled to view their work.
The first artist unveiled his painting, and there was a
beautiful, magnificent pastoral scene, with a farmer coming in after a hard day
in the fields. His wife was cooking, his children were playing around the
hearth, and all was at peace in this tranquil and beautiful farm.
"That's it," said the judges, "but we'll look
at the other rendering anyway." They removed the veil of the second
painting. Instead of a tranquil, pastoral scene, there was a raging waterfall
producing a mist which communicated hostility. But over on the side of the
waterfall was a tiny branch of a tree growing out of a rock, and on the end of
the branch was a bird's nest. And on the edge of the nest was a mother bird,
singing her heart out in the midst of the turbulence around her. The judges
thought for a moment, then said, "This is peace, tranquility and
celebration in the midst of turmoil."
We need a little Christmas right now, but the little
Christmas that we need is the courage that comes as the favor of God. We must
remember that the Christian community has done its best when it has gone
against the wind. William L. Self, Have I Got News for You!
________________________________
Expect Great Things
British missionary William Carey's famous quote,
"Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God" is very
meaningful to those who have received a special challenge or calling from God.
Like Mary and Joseph, we may be called on at any time to walk a path for Him
that has rarely, if ever, been walked before. We must teach our family not to
fear "surprises from heaven," but to face them faithfully and
obediently.
Ken Blackwood, Surprises from Heaven
__________________________
God's Grace at Work
Anne Lamott, author of the wonderful book Traveling Mercies
tells of how in her church babies get passed around the moment they're brought
into the sanctuary - everyone takes care of everyone else's babies. Every baby
instantly has more parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles than he ever
knew.
Imagine what that teaches children about Christian
community! What they learn about love even as infants! For the adults everyone
gets a chance to remember the miracle of birth, God's hand in our human
being.
If there is a heresy today it is that we're so preoccupied
with other things that we fail to pay attention to the fact of God's
spectacular grace at work in and through our humanity, God's miraculous
unmerited love in evidence around us. God's Son born to bring us Second Birth
while we labor under the assumption that we have to do it all ourselves.
Peter Buehler, With God Nothing Is Impossible
___________________
The New Age
Every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,
there is displayed, beneath the great Christmas tree, a beautiful eighteenth
century Neapolitan nativity scene. In many ways it is a very familiar scene.
The usual characters are all there: shepherds roused from sleep by the voices
of angels; the exotic wise men from the East seeking, as Auden once put it,
"how to be human now"; Joseph; Mary; the babe -- all are there, each
figure an artistic marvel of wood, clay, and paint. There is, however,
something surprising about this scene, something unexpected here, easily missed
by the causal observer. What is strange here is that the stable, and the
shepherds, and the cradle are set, not in the expected small town of Bethlehem,
but among the ruins of mighty Roman columns. The fragile manger is surrounded
by broken and decaying columns. The artists knew the meaning of this event: The
gospel, the birth of God's new age, was also the death of the old world.
Herods know in their souls what we perhaps have passed over
too lightly: God's presence in the world means finally the end of their own
power. They seek not to preserve the birth of God's new age, but to crush it.
For Herod, the gospel is news too bad to be endured, for Mary, Joseph, and all
the other characters it is news too good to miss.
Adapted from Thomas G. Long, Something Is About To Happen,
CSS Publishing
_____________________
Trust and Humility
Years ago, TIME magazine reported on a 2-foot-long, 40-pound
package that arrived at the post office in Troy, Michigan, addressed to a
Michael Achorn. The post office phoned Achorn's wife, Margaret, who cheerfully
went to accept it. As she drove the package back to her office in Detroit, she
began to worry. The box was from a well-known mail-order house, but the sender,
Edward Achorn, was unknown to Margaret and her husband, despite the identical
last name.
What if the thing was a bomb? Fearing the worse, Margaret
telephoned postal authorities. The bomb squad soon arrived with eight squad
cars and an armored truck. They took the suspected bomb in the armored truck to
a remote tip of Belle Isle in the middle of the Detroit River. There they
wrapped detonating cord around the package and, as they say in the bomb
business, "opened it remotely."
When the debris settled, all that was left intact was the
factory warranty for the contents: a $450 stereo AM-FM receiver and tape deck.
Now the only mystery is who is Edward Achorn and why did he send Michael and
Margaret such a nice Christmas present?
We live in a cynical age -- an age of terrorists and
corporate charlatans. Who can talk of angels and humble maidens and divine
revelation in the same breath to such a generation? Yet, on such a foundation
does our faith rest.
_______________________________________
The Future of the World in the Hands of Girl
"She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to
have a child at all, let alone this child, but he'd been entrusted with a
message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be
named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come
upon her. "You mustn't be afraid, Mary," he said. And as he said it,
he only hoped she wouldn't notice that beneath the great, golden wings he
himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung
now on the answer of a girl." Frederick Buechner
_____________________
Bring Peace
Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large
areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards
others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in
our troubled world.
Etty Hillesum, died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 29.
From An Interrupted Life, a compilation of her diaries and letters.
______________________
Humor: Mary vs. Eve
One week a Sunday school teacher had just finished telling
her class the Christmas story, how Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and how
Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. After telling the story the
teacher asked, "Who do you think the most important woman in the Bible
is?" Of course, the teacher was expecting one of the kids to say,
"Mary." But instead, a little boy raised his hand and said,
"Eve." So the teacher asked him why he thought Eve was the most
important woman in the Bible. And the little boy replied. "Well,
they named two days of the year after Eve. You know, Christmas Eve and New
Year's Eve."
We live in a world of efficiency, where talent counts and
where we are measured by what we can produce, what we can do, what we can
deliver. In business, if we prove ourselves, we are acknowledged, rewarded,
promoted, and given greater responsibility. While this is the norm in the
business world, we have to be careful that this norm does not affect our
relationships with people and more especially with God. God is no businessman!
Faith is not merited and grace is a free gift. Yet we keep trying to merit,
earn something from God, to do something for God.
In the first reading we see David has plans to build a
temple for God, so he tells the prophet of his plans to build a temple for God.
But the prophet tells David that God does not want a temple. Why does
God reject David’s plan? Firstly we cannot make God indebted to us. We
cannot take the initiative with God. He is always in charge, He takes the
initiative. Secondly, all through Israel’s history in the desert, God came to
dwell with them in the tent of meeting. The tent was not a solid structure, it
was a temporary dwelling place, the dwelling of the poor, of the traveller. God
chose to accompany the Israelites in a tent, with the poor, through the poor.
God is on the move and wishes us to move on and not settle down. We want to do
things for God, but God rather wants to do things for us. Let Him build the
house for us!
All for you Daddy!
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year
old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he
became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the
Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father
the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." He was
embarrassed by his earlier over reaction, but his anger flared again when he
found the box was empty. He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when you
give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside it?" The
little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy,
it is not empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy." The
father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for
her forgiveness. It is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for
years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and
remember the love of the child who had put it there. Anonymous
The Gospel focuses on Mary, who becomes the new ark of the covenant, the new
tent of meeting, the new dwelling place of God. Mary is great not because of
what she did for God but because of what she allowed God to do for her and in
her life. “Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you! Mary is highly
favoured not because she deserves it, not because she has earned God’s favour
but precisely because God has chosen her! God does not look at our capabilities
but our availability! God does not need our talents, He needs us! Mary is human
and so she is surprised by the announcement that she is going to be the mother
of Jesus. She asks: “How is this possible? How can this be?” We too sometimes
ask: How can this be possible? I have done nothing to deserve this. We are so
used to being chosen for our talents and capabilities that we think we have to
earn and merit what we get from God. The angel assures Mary that what will happen
is the work of grace, in and through the Spirit. With God the impossible
becomes possible! Mary’s response is a “Yes” to God’s plan. We see then a
contrast between David’s (our) plan for the way God should dwell with his
people and Mary’s openness to God’s plan to dwell in her life. We cannot give
God anything unless we have first received from Him. Love is an exchange of
giving and receiving. What is important is that we receive first what God has
to offer and only then can we meaningfully give in return. Christmas is a time
of gift-giving. Henri Nouwen once wrote: “When someone accepts a gift, he
admits another into his world and is ready to give him a place in his own
being… Ultimately a gift becomes a gift only when it is accepted.” Have we accepted
His gift?
What you did to the least
Tolstoy once told the story about an old cobbler, Martin,
who dreamt that Christ was going to visit him. All day he waited and watched
but nothing extraordinary seemed to be happening. While he waited he gave
hospitality to one person who was cold, to another who needed reconciliation,
to another who needed clothing. At the end of the day, he was disappointed that
Christ had not come. That night he had another dream, and all those to whom he
gave hospitality returned and a voice said, “Martin, do you not know me? I am
Jesus. What you did to the least of these you did to me.
Receiving graciously is also a gift!
They tell of a man in a small town in South Dakota who tried
to give some money back to the Social Security Administration, but could not.
At age 65 the man retired from his work as a farm labourer and moved into town.
His retirement house was extremely modest, sparsely furnished, and simply kept.
Most could not manage on his meagre minimum security cheque. At the end of the
first month of collecting on Social security, this humble man went to the bank
with five dollars in cash and told the teller he wanted to return some money
because the government had given him more than he needed. With that request he
“blew everybody in the bank away.” They explained to him that he couldn’t do
that, that the government could give out social security funds, but that there
was no set-up programme for taking any of it back! There was no category for
people who wanted to give any of their social security back to the government.
Application: To receive something graciously from another is as much a gift as
giving.
Gerard Fuller in ‘Stories for all Seasons’
Praying my way
Some years ago I was sitting by the bed of an elderly lady
who was very troubled because she couldn’t pray. I invited her to talk to me
about it. She spoke at great length about how she kept falling asleep, how she
was disappointed at not being able to complete a rosary, and how her mind
wandered all over the place when she watched the mass on television, which was
the only way of sharing in Eucharist within her limit at that time. I
continued to encourage her to speak, as she told me how important prayer had
always been in her life, and how it had sustained her throughout each day. She
spoke of how good God had been to her, and how she felt ungrateful now through
her inability to give him proper time and attention in her day. After listening
for some time, I made a suggestion to her. I told her that what she said was
beautiful and was, indeed, a prayer. I stood up from the chair, and I asked her
to imagine that Jesus was now sitting in the chair. As I left the room, I asked
her to keep talking to him just as she has spoken to me. Each day I called
after that, I always had a smile, as she told how she spoke quietly to the
chair even during her waking hours of the night, and how she was certain that
Jesus was there.
Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel Truth!’
God’s House, God’s Housemaid
Three stonecutters were involved in building work. When
asked what they were doing, the first one replied, “I’m breaking stones!” The
second answered, “I’m earning a living!” The third exclaimed, “I’m building a
house for God!” Like the third stone cutter, in today’s first reading King
David desires to build God’s house. But, let’s ask: who really builds whose
house? And ultimately, who is God’s perfect housemaid? The symbol of ‘house’ is
significant in the first reading. Since he is living in a palace while the Ark
of the Covenant rests in a tent, David tells Prophet Nathan of his desire to
build God a house. However, God asks, seemingly sarcastically: “Are you the man
to build me a house?” The Bible says that it was David’s son, Solomon – not
David – who was chosen to build God’s house (see I King 5:2-5). Yet, reminding
David of all the blessings he received, God promises, “The Lord will make you a
House.”Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
God breaks into our lives!
Yesterday I watched a huge flight of geese winging their way
south through one of those panoramic sunsets that colour the entire sky for a
few moments. I saw them as I leaned against the lion statue in front of the
Chicago Art Institute, where I was watching the Christmas shoppers hurry along
Michigan Avenue. When I lowered my gaze, I noticed that a bag lady, standing a
few feet away, had also been watching the geese. Our eyes met and we smiled
–silently acknowledging the fact that we had shared a marvelous sight, a symbol
of the mystery of the struggle to survive. I overheard the lady talking to
herself as she shuffled away. Her words “God spoils me” were startling. Was the
lady, this street derelict, being facetious? No. I believe the sight of the
geese has shattered, however briefly, the harsh reality of her struggle. I
realized later that moments such as this one sustained her; it was the way she
survived the indignity of the street. Her smile was real. The sight of the
geese was her Christmas present. It was proof God existed. It was all she
needed. I envy her.
Fred Lloyd Cochran in ‘Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable
Soul’
Joy to the World
In the prologue to his book Joy, William Schutz tells
how the birth of his son Ethan inspired him to write the book. Ethan begins his
life by giving joy to his parents. The joy continues as Ethan sees, touches,
tastes and hears things for the first time. But something happens to Ethan as
it does to all of us. Somehow his joy diminishes with growth, never to return
fully. Schutz wrote his book to help readers recapture some of this joy. Like
Ethan, Jesus too begins his life by giving joy. Even before he is born his very
presence brings joy to people. -Even when we cannot achieve our full human
potential in some of those areas Schutz outlines, we can still experience a
profound interior joy because Jesus is in our midst. The power of his presence
enables us to endure any difficulty, transcend any trial or overcome any
obstacle. His presence can bring peace where there is anxiety, sharing where there
is selfishness and dreams where there is despair. Isaac Watts was right when he
composed a Christmas carol entitled “Joy to the World!” Indeed, there is real
joy in the world at Christmas time because the Lord is come. He is Emmanuel,
God with us!
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
May we discover the joy of welcoming Jesus into our lives!!