Advent 3rd Week: Dec 15-20:
Dec 15 Monday: Mt 21:23-27:23
The context: After casting out the
animal-merchants and moneychangers from the Temple immediately after the Palm
Sunday procession, Jesus started teaching in the Temple courts. Hence, the
chief priests and elders of the people approached Jesus, challenging his authority
to enter the city in a triumphal procession, allowing the children to acclaim
him, curing the sick, casting out the merchants and moneychangers and teaching
in the Temple area. It was a trap. If Jesus claimed Divine authority as the
Messiah, they would bring a charge of blasphemy. Jesus could not claim only
human authority without denying His very Being as Son of God as well as Son of
Man. But even if He could, His arrest as a mad Zealot would give scandal,
another sin, and would damage the simple Faith of the people present in the
Temple and what it stood for, destroying Jesus’ whole Messianic Mission. So,
Jesus refused to answer, unless they would first answer His counter-challenge —
were the mission and message of John the Baptist from God or man? Was the
source of John’s vocation and message Divine or human? If they answered Divine,
the questioners would be asked to explain why they had not accepted John’s
message and his witness-bearing that Jesus was the Messiah. If they answered
human, they would have to face the anger of the crowd who had accepted John as
a prophet. Hence, they, too, kept silent, opting for a shameful
self-humiliation.
Life message: In religious matters we should not
ask the question whether our stand is safe, politically correct, or useful.
Instead, we need to stand for God’s truth and obey His commandments with the
courage of our Christian convictions even if it costs us our lives. (Fr. Tony)
(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 16 Tuesday: Mt 21:28-32:
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 challenged him, demanding hs provide
his credentials to teach. Jesus used the parable of two imperfect and 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 responsible
Christian lives, 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” Mt 7:21). 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 17 Wednesday: Mt 1:1-17:
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 was 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. 2) We need to appreciate our membership in the Divine family of
God through Baptism and behave as holy children of a Holy God.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 18 Thursday: Mt 1:18-25:
The context: Today’s Gospel focuses on the story
of the Virgin Birth, which is at the heart of our Christmas celebrations. It
focuses also on the person and role of St. Joseph. In today’s Gospel, Matthew
sees in the passage from Isaiah one of the most descriptive and definite
prophecies foretelling that the future Messianic King, Christ, will be born as
a descendant of David. In order for Jesus to fulfill this promise, Joseph had
to, and willingly did, accept Jesus as his son, making Jesus a descendant of
David because Joseph was a descendant of David. Matthew makes it clear that
Jesus was not the biological child of Joseph. But because Joseph was the
husband of Mary at the time Jesus was born, Jesus was legally the son of Joseph
and, thus, a descendant of David in his royal line. Luke tells us of Mary’s
obedience (Lk 1:38), and Matthew shows us Joseph’s obedience. Luke tells the
story of the angel’s appearance to Mary (Lk 1:26-38), but Matthew tells us only
that the child was from the Holy Spirit.
God’s message through His angel: This is the
first of four* occasions on which an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. The
angel commands Joseph to take Mary as his wife. Mary’s role is to bear a son,
and Joseph’s role is to name him. By naming him, Joseph makes Jesus his son and
brings him into the House of David. Joseph’s hallmark is obedience — prompt,
simple, unspectacular obedience. Joseph’s obedience allows Jesus to be adopted
as a true Son of David; it is Mary’s free consent to the will of God that
allows Jesus to be born Son of God. In the end, Joseph takes Mary as his wife,
in spite of his fears, and he claims her son as his own by naming him. In spite
of his earlier decision to divorce this woman quietly, Joseph nurtured and
protected and watched over and loved both Mary and her child.
*[The other three angelic vision-encounters are:
2) the message to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt and stay there, until 3) the
angel comes to tell them to come home again, and then
4) to settle in Galilee instead of Bethlehem or Jerusalem.]
Life messages: 1) Like Joseph, we need to trust
in God, listen to Him and be faithful. Like Joseph and Mary, we are called to
be faithful, to trust in God as we do His will. Let us talk to Him and listen
to Him speaking through the Bible. 2) Let us try to imitate Joseph and Mary,
the humblest of the humble, the kindliest of the kindly, and the greatest-ever
believers in God’s goodness and mercy, and welcome Jesus into our hearts and
lives not only at Christmas but all year long.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 19 Friday: Lk 1 5-25:
The context: We recall two advents and two
angelic messages during the Advent season, namely, the advent of John the
Baptist and the Advent of Jesus. The first is preceded by the Archangel
Gabriel’s informing Zechariah the aged priest that a son, whom he is to name
John, will be born to him and his barren, aged wife. The second is preceded by
the Archangel Gabriel’s message to Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, asking
her consent to become the mother of Jesus. Today’s Gospel describes how
Zechariah receives the Divine message from the Archangel Gabriel in the Holy of
Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem while making the offering of incense.
Zechariah was one of the 1800 priests serving the Temple of
Jerusalem. They were divided into 24 groups of 75 each. Thirty priests of each
group were to serve the Temple for worship services each day and only one of
them got the yearly chance of offering incense in front of the hidden Holy of
Holies. It was while performing this priestly function that Zechariah received
the vision of the angel who told him that his long-prayed-for son would be born
of Elizabeth, that Zechariah was to name the boy John, and then described in
detail how that child was to be raised and what he would do. Disbelieving,
Zechariah demanded a sign of the angel who responded, “I am Gabriel,
who stand in the Presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring
you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until
the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their time” (Lk 1:19-20.
Life messages: 1) We should not take our small
misfortunes as big tragedies. We should imitate Zechariah who remained
optimistic, continuing in prayer and service in the Temple. 2) We need to get
rid of the barrenness of our heart, cleanse it daily, liberate it from evil
attachments, and prepare it for the rebirth of Jesus. 3) We need to be good
parents and grandparents, offering incessant prayers for our children and
grandchildren.
(Fr. Tony) (https://www.frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 20 Saturday: Lk 1:26-38:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the story
of the Annunciation, explaining how God began to keep the promise He had made
to King David through the prophet Nathan, that David’s descendant would rule
over the world as its Messiah. The Archangel Gabriel’s salutation to Mary: “Hail,
full of grace,” reminds us of God’s words to Moses at the burning bush (Ex
3:12), and the angel’s salutation to Gideon, (Jgs 6:12). Mary is described
as “full of grace,” filled with God’s favor and graciousness.
She is to be the new Ark, a tent and temple. God will be in her, literally and
physically, and thus she will be the greater House God promised to David.
Mary’s believing question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” is
natural. That is why Gabriel reminds Mary, “For with God nothing will
be impossible.” God will “empower” her (“the Spirit will come upon
you“) and “protect” her (“overshadow you“). Luke’s narrative points
out that the Child will not only be a distant grandson of David — He will be
God’s own Son. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His ancestor
David.” Mary does not require confirmation but responds in obedient,
humble Faith: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me
according to your word” (Lk 1:38) . She agrees to carry out the Word
Gabriel has addressed to her.
Life messages: 1) We need to be humble
instruments in the hand of God, trusting in His power and goodness. St.
Augustine reminds us that God Who created us without our permission cannot save
us without our active cooperation. Hence, let us cooperate in the fulfillment
of God’s plan for us with Mary’s trusting Faith and humility. 2) Like Mary, who
brought God to us as Jesus our Savior, it is our duty to carry Jesus everywhere
and bring Jesus to the lives of others around us through love, mercy,
forgiveness, and service. “Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you
to magnify the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one to exult in Christ.” (St.
Ambrose). 3) We should treasure these words of the Gospel and use them often,
for example, by practicing the Christian custom of saying the Angelus every day
and reflecting on the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. (Navarre Bible
Commentary).
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
