Born for Us and for Us Given

 

The First Mass of Christmas

St. Dominic, Canton

 

Gloria in excelsis Deo! Glory to God in the highest!

        The grace of God hath appeared to all men, instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires… looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ… that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable… (three quotes picked out of the full text of our Epistle from St. Paul to Titus)

        When I was quite young, maybe already in elementary school or somewhere into young adulthood, I used to think that perhaps the reason Christmas was considered more popular by many Catholics than was Easter had to do with the sentimental character of everything surrounding Christ’s Nativity. You know: all the Christmas Carols, the beautiful crib scenes? Now that I am older, I know better.

        The profound truth is that the Star of Bethlehem leads those among us who are truly wise by way of Bethlehem to the Cross and to the glory of the Resurrection. The life of the Son of God, born among us as a Man, from beginning to end is God’s great work for the salvation of the world. The Savior’s total outpouring to save us from our sins begins with the Incarnation, with God becoming Man, And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger… Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy…  

        Now, I am saying this not because I want to deny or correct sentiment which fills our hearts in this winter night, but because I want to affirm it. Our emotion and affection are rightfully there both in the stable at Bethlehem and at the foot of the Cross on Calvary. Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross should tear us up inside and move us to renounce sin, entrusting every aspect of our living to the God Who gave Himself up for all of us, And you, when you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he hath quickened together with him, forgiving you all offences: Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross. And despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath exposed them confidently in open shew, triumphing over them in himself. [Col. 2:13-15] The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version (p. 3144). Catholic Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.

        But Christmas should move us just the same. The work of our salvation begins in earnest at the Crib, away in a manger… as the carol goes, where we contemplate that poor little Baby, our True King, our One and Only God! In the Credo and in the Last Gospel of St. John at Mass we bend the knee at the words ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST, and the Word was made Flesh. At the Name of Jesus, spoken by us or by others in our stead, we bow our heads.

Our proper names are not earned but rather given to us, and so was it with Jesus as well. The Archangel Gabriel, at the Annunciation, told Mary the Name of her Child. Joseph too heard His Name before Christ’s birth. Matthew 1:20-21: But while he thought on these things, behold the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version (p. 2625). Catholic Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.

        ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST: The Incarnation is always there present. Christmas is always there at every Mass, just as surely as the Sacrifice of Calvary is there in its unbloody renewal. At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, for He was destined to save His people from their sins. I suppose you could say that the sweet wood of the manger is no less precious to us than is the sweet wood of the Cross.

        Rejoice in the feast! Bow your head and bend your knee before the great work of our salvation accomplished for us in Jesus, born for us and for us given!

Gloria in excelsis Deo! Glory to God in the highest!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

Behold I send My angel before Thy face

 

2^nd Sunday of Advent

4 December 2022, Canton

Epistle: Rom 15,4-13

Gospel: Matt 11,2-10

 

Praised be Jesus Christ!

This Sunday we recognize Saint John the Baptist as being very much in the forefront of our Advent reflection. This Sunday’s Liturgy does not give us a complete picture of Christ’s Precursor, however. Elsewhere in the Gospels the Lord speaks of the Baptist as the greatest man born of woman. In other places we read of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan and of his martyrdom in prison at the order of King Herod, who could not bear the Baptist’s witness to the truth.

Here in this Sunday’s Gospel, the Lord renders John high praise, but He does more. By focusing on John He draws His listeners’ attention to Himself. What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? In the words of Jesus, in presenting us this particular passage about John in prison from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Church is teaching with the same heart and mind of Christ to explain to us what the Savior taught about Himself. The Church does so as Jesus did by speaking about the mission and ministry of St. John.

We can see also on this occasion that the Lord Jesus did not hold back but spoke openly to all. In the words of St. Matthew: Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John. On this occasion, the Lord spoke not just to His chosen disciples but to all who would hear Him. He spoke to the multitudes, as the Gospel says. Jesus in His public ministry spoke to everyone, and he spoke clearly: But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet. In speaking of St. John the Baptist, Jesus is speaking clearly of His own person and mission: For this is he of whom it is written, Behold I send My angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.

Fair or not, let me characterize one of the crises of Catholicism, especially in the course of the last century and in particular in the western world as a crisis of faith in Who Jesus truly is, a failure to take the Christ at His own word. Too many in the Church have been ashamed to accept Jesus and speak of Him as He did of Himself, whether in His “I am” statements, in which He laid His cards on the table and clearly spoke of Himself as God’s Anointed One, as the Messiah, as the Son of God, the Son of the Eternal Father, or whether He did as here, What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? The Lord clearly identifies John as His Precursor, the one who was to go before the Christ to prepare His way. Jesus points to John’s confession of Him as the Lamb of God and makes it His own.

We need to keep in mind that the Lord Jesus is always and everywhere unmistakably clear about who He Himself is. His reference to John the Baptist amounts to a complement about the Lord’s own clear and unambiguous statements about Himself. Jesus in His humanity did not need to discover His nature as God. We know that already in the first words the Gospels record of Him at age 12, when after Mary and Joseph found Him among the elders in the Temple. The boy Jesus knew Himself to be the Son of God and He knew His mission for the salvation of the world. He explained His behavior to His Mother and foster father Joseph in St. Luke’s Gospel (Lk 2,49): And he said to them: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business?” [The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version (p. 2771). Catholic Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.]

Let it be clear too that this lack of faith in Christ as the Messiah, the Savior of the world, is not limited to the Church in our day. We need but think about what happened when the Lord pronounced the Bread of Life discourse recorded in John’s Gospel Chapter 6 (Jn 6,61-70). 

Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: This saying is hard; and who can hear it? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: Doth this scandalize you? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe and who he was that would betray him. And he said: Therefore did I say to you that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father. After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that thou art the Christ, the Son of God. [The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version (pp. 2873-2874). Catholic Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.]

These days again, during Advent, I have had occasion to ponder what must be interpreted as hostility toward the Church and toward Christ and His teaching, born of hatred for our Catholic faith and ultimately for Christ Himself. I know, in our lukewarmness we get very uncomfortable about that word “hatred”, especially when it comes up in Jesus’ ultimatum about discipleship (Lk 14,26-27), “If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” [The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version (p. 2816). Catholic Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.] Like it or not, we cannot straddle the fence, like St. John we are called to decide for Christ and His Truth.

While we need to challenge ourselves with the words of Jesus about Himself, maybe at least for this Sunday and for this 2nd Week of Advent, we can take a cue from the Lord and let Saint John the Baptist set the tone and be our challenge to embrace fully and live out consequently our faith in the Lord Jesus Who comes to save us.

In my private chapel at home in Sioux Falls, on the wall above the altar, I have an image of St. John the Baptist. He’s not one of my patron saints but the Baptist, more than any other saint I guess, represents for me, yes, a penitential lifestyle preparing the way of the Lord, but also and primarily a fearless and unflinching adherence to the truth. Join me especially this Advent in trying to find the humility and the courage to look St. John straight in the eye and ask him to help you embrace his faithful witness even unto prison and death for love of our Savior. We cannot put off deciding for Christ as we do not know the day or the hour of our death. The actuary tables showing our life expectancy are not a guarantee that we will make it past tomorrow.

Would that Jesus will be able to say of me and of you on judgment day what He said of John! For this is he of whom it is written, Behold I send My angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

O Come, Emanuel!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI