Holy Family

What Makes a Family Holy?

I recall reading an article entitled “Family: They Mess You Up”. It was all about how the miserable lives of children, in all of their dysfunctions, and how they could be traced back to bad parenting. Now, it can certainly be true that bad parenting can result in children facing a whole host of challenges in adulthood, but what is subject to debate is what constitutes “good parenting”.  As Christians, good parenting always involves nurturing the child to grow strong in one’s faith, and represent this faith going out into the world.

As Christians, the spiritual heroes of parenting are, of course, Mary and Joseph.  Mary is honored for her submission to God’s will and her devotion to her son, while Joseph’s role, though less recorded, was his obedience to the angel’s admonition not to abandon Mary. In addition, one can imagine the difficulties Joseph must have endured given Jesus’ public ministry. What is clear from today’s readings is Jesus’ family ‘s obedience to the Torah and their relative poverty (they offered doves for sacrifice). The real story today begins with the presentation. 

Jesus’ presentation, though, is really more of a sacrifice, resonating with the dedication/sacrifice made of Old Testament figures such as Samuel to serve God as prophets.  Jesus’ ritual presentation prefigures the sacrifice he would later make on the cross. John Paul II called Simeon’s speech a “Second Annunciation” since he lays out the very difficult road ahead for Jesus as the “light to enlighten the nations and the people of Israel”.  What is clear is that leaving the Temple, Mary and Joseph must have been filled with a sense of great joy as well as anxiety over the prospects of their child’s life. What is telling is the summation at the end of the reading that reveals that “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” This is all canonical scripture tells us about Jesus’ youth. What is apparent, however, is that the foundation for Jesus’ ministry was rich with the close ties to his cousin John, and the freedom with which his mother and father afforded him in his growing ministry. As all families must do, Jesus’ family stepped into the background to contemplate the mystery of God’s gift not only to them but also to the world.

At some point, every family must let go of the gift given to them by God, their children. As with all spiritual and temporal gifts, they are never fully owned but only given to further God’s grace and the outpouring of love into the world.. For parents who cling too tightly to their children, attempting to form them into their own image, are years of regret for a loss of intimacy between parent and child. For in order to fully love one’s child, the parent must ultimately allow the child to become someone apart from them; however, the lasting bond between parent and child is not broken but rather strengthened. Such is God’s gift of love revealed in the freedom of choice for us. This freedom is our gift to our children.

 The dynamics of this freedom are fruitful in that they are built strongly on the foundation of love and mutual respect. St. Paul’s admonition in today’s reading from Colossians to  “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. . . .” When this love is manifested in the relationship between the parents, the ultimate lesson of love is learned, and more importantly, passed on.

—Fr. Todd

Christmas

"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. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

 I want to begin this Christmas season by focusing on the call of the shepherds rather than moving right to the Nativity.  In fact, if you follow the various gospel readings that the Church offers, you would find the vigil Mass (afternoon of the 24th) through the daytime Mass (Sunday mid-morning) you would find the Christmas story and the theology of the Christ across three of the four gospels--quite a rich fare which few, unfortunately, experience.

Back to the shepherds, then.  Shepherds were a despised lot in Jesus' time. You can lump them in with tax collectors, prostitutes, and Samaritans.  Of course, as we have seen throughout God's interaction with humanity, this makes them prime candidates for a special grace.  So, it was to them the invitation was extended.  The much discussed "wise men" or magi, come later (probably didn't arrive until a year or so after the birth).  

So, as the story goes, as with all angelic visitations, it begins with fear.  It takes a lot to scare a shepherd who defends his flock from any number of hazards; they are a grizzly lot.

But, as the gospel records, "...they were struck with great fear".  The appeal of the angel not to fear is based upon the message of a savior that will "be for all the people."  This is followed by a "multitude of the heavenly host" singing "Glory to God in the highest."  Quite a night for the shepherds, and some essential truths about the nature of God and salvation for us tonight.

Like God's appointing David as king (the least likely candidate), God's favor rests on Mary, Joseph, outsiders like the Magi and shepherds.  Notice the absence of anyone really important like Temple priests, scribes, Pharisees, important legates or even the chief priest.  God's dealing once again with the complete outsiders, widely believed to be outside of salvation history.  How ironic, then, that these were the people most intimately associated with God's arrival as the Christ.

If Advent has sharpened our senses for seeking justice and finding a place with the poor to be in the right place; this visitation of the shepherds remind us that we are now in the right place at the right time---with the poor, alone, late in the night. Dismal.

But it is with the outcast, far from the comfort of daylight, deep in the night, that God's greeting arrives proclaiming joy and salvation.  Like so much of what God has done in his relationship with humanity: "Who woulda thought?"

In your deepest moment of darkness and doubt,  when your prayers are bouncing back off of the ceiling, ridiculing your attempt to reconnect with God after seemingly failing every time, I want to remind you that those prayers that you think mock your devotion made it through.  They were in God's heart before they ever left your lips. Like the shepherds, the most unlikely folks in the most unlikely place, God finds us.  Search no further than your need, your loneliness, your feelings of being left out. For the still small voice of God speaks to you here, now, inviting you to come home and find the sign of God being with you in the most humble of circumstances.  Join with Christians worldwide to not give up following the light until it rests over the manger where Christ is to be found---in the most unlikely place, at the most unlikely time. 

Third Sunday of Advent

St. John the Baptiser and Our Mission

In the third week of Advent, our focus shifts to John the Baptizer's admonition to "make straight the way of the Lord'" in Jesus' first coming. John prepares for the first coming of Christ, while we are now preparing for the Second Coming!

This Sunday is Gaudete, or Praise Sunday. What are we praising? We are joining with Isaiah and Mary and proclaiming "In my God is the joy of my soul!".  Both Isaiah and the Magnificat are the responses to a praiseworthy God. Isaiah's praise is a good place to start to see our role in "making straight the way of the Lord".

For us, it is not how will but how is the "glory of the Lord" revealed. One key aspect is "bringing glad tidings to the poor". It is more than simply meeting the financial needs of those less fortunate financially than ourselves, though that is an excellent place to start. It is about establishing community with the poor, of accompanying the poor and identifying with them as fellow seekers who value them as fellow travelers. While we may eagerly, and too often temporarily, provide material support, we are called to enter into their poverty with our blessings of grace which we have experienced in our journey. The poor come in all areas of our lives. It is the poverty of social isolation where we find ourselves the center of attention and can see others on the sidelines longing for inclusion. It can be the person who is in need of an attentive ear to vent frustration and anger. It can even be one who is angry with us who believes we have not treated them justly that means, for us, entering into the poverty of asking for forgiveness. All of the "poor" require our immediate attention, our wakefulness, to remind us that God found expression best with humanity, his creation who left the riches of Eden for the poverty of isolation.

Isaiah also speaks of "proclaiming liberty to captives". Our liberation from the alienation of sin is a great place to start. As we proclaim God's grace as a great liberation, we are likewise to extend that grace to everyone. Forgiveness isn't a single act but a way of life, living in the receiving of forgiveness for those whom we have offended and rejoicing in their mercy (all mercy, ultimately, is God's mercy) and extending to those who have offended us reconciliation that isn't conditional upon them asking for our mercy.

Our lives as Christ-bearers, light in the darkness, smooth pathways through rough terrain, enable us to join Mary in declaring "My soul rejoices in God my savior" because though poor, he has brought me glad tidings.