Thirty-three years ago today, December 31, 1978, during the first few months of his pontificate, Pope John Paul II delivered this homily of thanksgiving for the end of the year in the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. It is worth our time to re-read and reflect upon today.
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As 2011 quickly draws to a close, I would like to leave you with this quote from today’s Office of Readings. Pope St. Leo the Great is the author, and I am translating from the Italian text I read.
… what can we find more suitable, among all the gifts of God, than peace, that peace announced for the first time by the song of the angels at the birth of the Lord? Peace begets children of God, nurtures love, creates union; it is the repose of the blessed ones, the dwelling of eternity. Its proper work and its particular benefit is to unite to God all those leave the world of evil.
Those therefore who, not by blood nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but by God are born, offer to the Father their filial hearts united in peace…. The birth of the Lord is the birth of peace, as the Apostle says: “He is our peace, he who made of two people, one alone.” (Eph. 2: 14)
I wish you all the peace of our Lord Jesus throughout the new year, about to dawn upon us.
St. Joachim Catholic Church
Lockeford, California
This is the first quiet time I have had in the past week as my entire family was home for several days. It was so good to see them all and to be able to have them in our modest home here near the Mississippi River in southeast Minnesota.
The calendar year ends with such a display of feasts: Christmas, St. Stephen, St. John, the Holy Innocents, St. Thomas a Becket, the Feast of the Holy Family, and finally little-known Pope St. Sylvester. Then we launch into 2012 with the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God and the Epiphany. What a glorious couple of weeks.
Drink it all in slowly, folks. Enjoy it. It is so rich you don’t want to take it all in too quickly!
Peace to all of you!
The Holy Father today has named Greg Erlandson, President of the Catholic Press Association, a member of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications.
Many of you are probably familiar with Mr. Erlandson’s great work in our country in this field of evangelization. He will be a splendid voice added to an already notable group of consultors available to the Pope.
Congratulations, Greg Erlandson!
John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter (www.ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic) wrote an article on December 23 studying Christianity and Catholicism across the globe. It is an interesting read, and I would suggest you take the ten minutes or so to do so at the link above.
In the middle of the article is a piece on the persecution of Christians in the world – and the absence (for all intents and purposes) of any outcry against it. He suggests that the reason most Christians have a hard time getting worked up about this is because few of us have ever lived as a religious minority, nor have we ever really suffered persecution for our faith.
Frankly, I think he may have a point. I also think that in the not too distant future those who faithfully live out their faith will experience persecution – even in the United States. The Church’s teachings on life, marriage and family, justice and the economy are truly counter-cultural nowadays (although they were not in any way contrary to culture only a few decades ago) and for any of us to publicly teach and live out those teachings will require great courage and strength.
That is why we need to read about the martyrs of the faith, both past and present. That is why we need to identify with those outside of our immediate environment. We must come to know those who are suffering in other countries for knowledge is the first step toward charity.
Today is the feast of St. Stephen, called the protomartyr as he was the first martyr of the Church. He was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel, not long after Christ’s death. He was also one of the first seven deacons of the Church ordained by the Apostles.
I was kidding with my pastor yesterday that I thought the Feast of St. Stephen should be a holy day of obligation…. being a deacon and all. He only kindly smiled.
Here is what the Holy Father had to say about St. Stephen today during his Angelus address:
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, deacon and the first martyr of the Church. The historian Eusebius of Cesarea defined Stephen as the “perfect martyr” (Die Kirchengeshichte V, 2.5: GCS II, 1, Lipsia 1903,430), because it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, “Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great works and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). St. Gregory of Nyssa comments, “He was an honest man and full of the Holy Spirit; with goodness of heart he carried out his mission of feeding the poor and with the freedom of the word and the power of the Holy Spirit he closed the mouths of the enemies of the truth” (Sermon on St. Stephen II: GNO X, 1, Leiden 1990, 98). A man of prayer and of evangelization, Stephen, whose name means “crown,” received from God the gift of martyrdoml. In fact, he “full of the Holy Spirit… saw the glory of God” (Acts 7: 55) and while he was stoned, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7: 59). Then, have fallen to his knees, he begged forgiveness for his accusers, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them” (Acts 7: 60). Because of this, the Eastern Church sings the hymn, “The stones have become for you hailstones and stairs rising to heaven… and you have drawn close to the glorious and festive gathering of the angels” (MHNAIA t. II, Roma 1889, 694.695).
To all my brother deacons of the world: Happy Feast Day!
To all who stumble upon these pages, my wife, family and I wish you a
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
BUON NATALE!
FELIX NAVIDAD!
May we rejoice today and always in the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation and the coming of the Lord in history, in mystery and in glory!
A sincere diaconal blessing on all this day.
Deacon Bob
Each year at Christmas, the pope gives his Urbi et Orbi message (the name means: to the world and the city).
For English readers, here is the official translation:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world!
Christ is born for us! Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to the men and women whom he loves. May all people hear an echo of the message of Bethlehem which the Catholic Church repeats in every continent, beyond the confines of every nation, language and culture. The Son of the Virgin Mary is born for everyone; he is the Saviour of all.
This is how Christ is invoked in an ancient liturgical antiphon: “O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver, hope and salvation of the peoples: come to save us, O Lord our God”. Veni ad salvandum nos! Come to save us! This is the cry raised by men and women in every age, who sense that by themselves they cannot prevail over difficulties and dangers. They need to put their hands in a greater and stronger hand, a hand which reaches out to them from on high. Dear brothers and sisters, this hand is Christ, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary. He is the hand that God extends to humanity, to draw us out of the mire of sin and to set us firmly on rock, the secure rock of his Truth and his Love (cf. Ps 40:2).
This is the meaning of the Child’s name, the name which, by God’s will, Mary and Joseph gave him: he is named Jesus, which means “Saviour” (cf. Mt 1:21; Lk1:31). He was sent by God the Father to save us above all from the evil deeply rooted in man and in history: the evil of separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is good and evil, to be the master of life and death (cf. Gen 3:1-7). This is the great evil, the great sin, from which we human beings cannot save ourselves unless we rely on God’s help, unless we cry out to him: “Veni ad salvandum nos! – Come to save us!”
The very fact that we cry to heaven in this way already sets us aright; it makes us true to ourselves: we are in fact those who cried out to God and were saved (cf. Esth[LXX] 10:3ff.). God is the Saviour; we are those who are in peril. He is the physician; we are the infirm. To realize this is the first step towards salvation, towards emerging from the maze in which we have been locked by our pride. To lift our eyes to heaven, to stretch out our hands and call for help is our means of escape, provided that there is Someone who hears us and can come to our assistance.
Jesus Christ is the proof that God has heard our cry. And not only this! God’s love for us is so strong that he cannot remain aloof; he comes out of himself to enter into our midst and to share fully in our human condition (cf. Ex 3:7-12). The answer to our cry which God gave in Jesus infinitely transcends our expectations, achieving a solidarity which cannot be human alone, but divine. Only the God who is love, and the love which is God, could choose to save us in this way, which is certainly the lengthiest way, yet the way which respects the truth about him and about us: the way of reconciliation, dialogue and cooperation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, on this Christmas 2011, let us then turn to the Child of Bethlehem, to the Son of the Virgin Mary, and say: “Come to save us!” Let us repeat these words in spiritual union with the many people who experience particularly difficult situations; let us speak out for those who have no voice.
Together let us ask God’s help for the peoples of the Horn of Africa, who suffer from hunger and food shortages, aggravated at times by a persistent state of insecurity. May the international community not fail to offer assistance to the many displaced persons coming from that region and whose dignity has been sorely tried.
May the Lord grant comfort to the peoples of South-East Asia, particularly Thailand and the Philippines, who are still enduring grave hardships as a result of the recent floods.
May the Lord come to the aid of our world torn by so many conflicts which even today stain the earth with blood. May the Prince of Peace grant peace and stability to that Land where he chose to come into the world, and encourage the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. May he bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much blood has already been shed. May he foster full reconciliation and stability in Iraq and Afghanistan. May he grant renewed vigour to all elements of society in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East as they strive to advance the common good.
May the birth of the Saviour support the prospects of dialogue and cooperation in Myanmar, in the pursuit of shared solutions. May the Nativity of the Redeemer ensure political stability to the countries of the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and assist the people of South Sudan in their commitment to safeguarding the rights of all citizens.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us turn our gaze anew to the grotto of Bethlehem. The Child whom we contemplate is our salvation! He has brought to the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace. Let us open our hearts to him; let us receive him into our lives. Once more let us say to him, with joy and confidence:”Veni ad salvandum nos!”
For Italian readers, here it is in that language:
Cari fratelli e sorelle di Roma e del mondo intero!
Cristo è nato per noi! Gloria a Dio nell’alto dei cieli e pace in terra agli uomini che Egli ama. A tutti giunga l’eco dell’annuncio di Betlemme, che la Chiesa Cattolica fa risuonare in tutti i continenti, al di là di ogni confine di nazionalità, di lingua e di cultura. Il Figlio di Maria Vergine è nato per tutti, è il Salvatore di tutti.
Così lo invoca un’antica antifona liturgica: “O Emmanuele, nostro re e legislatore, speranza e salvezza dei popoli: vieni a salvarci, o Signore nostro Dio”. Veni ad salvandum nos! Vieni a salvarci! Questo è il grido dell’uomo di ogni tempo, che sente di non farcela da solo a superare difficoltà e pericoli. Ha bisogno di mettere la sua mano in una mano più grande e più forte, una mano che dall’alto si tenda verso di lui. Cari fratelli e sorelle, questa mano è Cristo, nato a Betlemme dalla Vergine Maria. Lui è la mano che Dio ha teso all’umanità, per farla uscire dalle sabbie mobili del peccato e metterla in piedi sulla roccia, la salda roccia della sua Verità e del suo Amore (cfr Sal 40,3).
Sì, questo significa il nome di quel Bambino, il nome che, per volere di Dio, gli hanno dato Maria e Giuseppe: si chiama Gesù, che significa “Salvatore” (cfr Mt 1,21;Lc 1,31). Egli è stato inviato da Dio Padre per salvarci soprattutto dal male profondo, radicato nell’uomo e nella storia: quel male che è la separazione da Dio, l’orgoglio presuntuoso di fare da sé, di mettersi in concorrenza con Dio e sostituirsi a Lui, di decidere che cosa è bene e che cosa è male, di essere il padrone della vita e della morte (cfr Gen 3,1-7). Questo è il grande male, il grande peccato, da cui noi uomini non possiamo salvarci se non affidandoci all’aiuto di Dio, se non gridando a Lui: “Veni ad salvandum nos! – Vieni a salvarci!”.
Il fatto stesso di elevare al Cielo questa invocazione, ci pone già nella giusta condizione, ci mette nella verità di noi stessi: noi infatti siamo coloro che hanno gridato a Dio e sono stati salvati (cfr Est [greco] 10,3f). Dio è il Salvatore, noi quelli che si trovano nel pericolo. Lui è il medico, noi i malati. Riconoscerlo, è il primo passo verso la salvezza, verso l’uscita dal labirinto in cui noi stessi ci chiudiamo con il nostro orgoglio. Alzare gli occhi al Cielo, protendere le mani e invocare aiuto è la via di uscita, a patto che ci sia Qualcuno che ascolta, e che può venire in nostro soccorso.
Gesù Cristo è la prova che Dio ha ascoltato il nostro grido. Non solo! Dio nutre per noi un amore così forte, da non poter rimanere in Se stesso, da uscire da Se stesso e venire in noi, condividendo fino in fondo la nostra condizione (cfr Es 3,7-12). La risposta che Dio ha dato in Gesù al grido dell’uomo supera infinitamente la nostra attesa, giungendo ad una solidarietà tale che non può essere soltanto umana, ma divina. Solo il Dio che è amore e l’amore che è Dio poteva scegliere di salvarci attraverso questa via, che è certamente la più lunga, ma è quella che rispetta la verità sua e nostra: la via della riconciliazione, del dialogo, della collaborazione.
Perciò, cari fratelli e sorelle di Roma e del mondo intero, in questo Natale 2011, rivolgiamoci al Bambino di Betlemme, al Figlio della Vergine Maria, e diciamo: “Vieni a salvarci!”. Lo ripetiamo in unione spirituale con tante persone che vivono situazioni particolarmente difficili, e facendoci voce di chi non ha voce.
Insieme invochiamo il divino soccorso per le popolazioni del Corno d’Africa, che soffrono a causa della fame e delle carestie, talvolta aggravate da un persistente stato di insicurezza. La Comunità internazionale non faccia mancare il suo aiuto ai numerosi profughi provenienti da tale Regione, duramente provati nella loro dignità.
Il Signore doni conforto alle popolazioni del Sud-Est asiatico, particolarmente della Thailandia e delle Filippine, che sono ancora in gravi situazioni di disagio a causa delle recenti inondazioni.
Il Signore soccorra l’umanità ferita dai tanti conflitti, che ancora oggi insanguinano il Pianeta. Egli, che è il Principe della Pace, doni pace e stabilità alla Terra che ha scelto per venire nel mondo, incoraggiando la ripresa del dialogo tra Israeliani e Palestinesi. Faccia cessare le violenze in Siria, dove tanto sangue è già stato versato. Favorisca la piena riconciliazione e la stabilità in Iraq ed in Afghanistan. Doni un rinnovato vigore nell’edificazione del bene comune a tutte le componenti della società nei Paesi nord africani e mediorientali.
La nascita del Salvatore sostenga le prospettive di dialogo e di collaborazione in Myanmar, nella ricerca di soluzioni condivise. Il Natale del Redentore garantisca stabilità politica ai Paesi della Regione africana dei Grandi Laghi ed assista l’impegno degli abitanti del Sud Sudan per la tutela dei diritti di tutti i cittadini.
Cari fratelli e sorelle, rivolgiamo lo sguardo alla Grotta di Betlemme: il Bambino che contempliamo è la nostra salvezza! Lui ha portato al mondo un messaggio universale di riconciliazione e di pace. Apriamogli il nostro cuore, accogliamolo nella nostra vita. Ripetiamogli con fiducia e speranza: “Veni ad salvandum nos!”.
Here is the homily the Holy Father delivered just a few minutes ago in the Vatican at Midnight Mass. (The English translation provided by the Vatican website.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to Titus that we have just heard begins solemnly with the word “apparuit”, which then comes back again in the reading at the Dawn Mass: apparuit – “there has appeared”. This is a programmatic word, by which the Church seeks to express synthetically the essence of Christmas. Formerly, people had spoken of God and formed human images of him in all sorts of different ways. God himself had spoken in many and various ways to mankind (cf. Heb 1:1 – Mass during the Day). But now something new has happened: he has appeared. He has revealed himself. He has emerged from the inaccessible light in which he dwells. He himself has come into our midst. This was the great joy of Christmas for the early Church: God has appeared. No longer is he merely an idea, no longer do we have to form a picture of him on the basis of mere words. He has “appeared”. But now we ask: how has he appeared? Who is he in reality? The reading at the Dawn Mass goes on to say: “the kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed” (Tit 3:4). For the people of pre-Christian times, whose response to the terrors and contradictions of the world was to fear that God himself might not be good either, that he too might well be cruel and arbitrary, this was a real “epiphany”, the great light that has appeared to us: God is pure goodness. Today too, people who are no longer able to recognize God through faith are asking whether the ultimate power that underpins and sustains the world is truly good, or whether evil is just as powerful and primordial as the good and the beautiful which we encounter in radiant moments in our world. “The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed”: this is the new, consoling certainty that is granted to us at Christmas.
In all three Christmas Masses, the liturgy quotes a passage from the Prophet Isaiah, which describes the epiphany that took place at Christmas in greater detail: “A child is born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace. Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end” (Is 9:5f.). Whether the prophet had a particular child in mind, born during his own period of history, we do not know. But it seems impossible. This is the only text in the Old Testament in which it is said of a child, of a human being: his name will be Mighty-God, Eternal-Father. We are presented with a vision that extends far beyond the historical moment into the mysterious, into the future. A child, in all its weakness, is Mighty God. A child, in all its neediness and dependence, is Eternal Father. And his peace “has no end”. The prophet had previously described the child as “a great light” and had said of the peace he would usher in that the rod of the oppressor, the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood would be burned (Is 9:1, 3-4).
God has appeared – as a child. It is in this guise that he pits himself against all violence and brings a message that is peace. At this hour, when the world is continually threatened by violence in so many places and in so many different ways, when over and over again there are oppressors’ rods and bloodstained cloaks, we cry out to the Lord: O mighty God, you have appeared as a child and you have revealed yourself to us as the One who loves us, the One through whom love will triumph. And you have shown us that we must be peacemakers with you. We love your childish estate, your powerlessness, but we suffer from the continuing presence of violence in the world, and so we also ask you: manifest your power, O God. In this time of ours, in this world of ours, cause the oppressors’ rods, the cloaks rolled in blood and the footgear of battle to be burned, so that your peace may triumph in this world of ours.
Christmas is an epiphany – the appearing of God and of his great light in a child that is born for us. Born in a stable in Bethlehem, not in the palaces of kings. In 1223, when Saint Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas in Greccio with an ox and an ass and a manger full of hay, a new dimension of the mystery of Christmas came to light. Saint Francis of Assisi called Christmas “the feast of feasts” – above all other feasts – and he celebrated it with “unutterable devotion” (2 Celano 199; Fonti Francescane, 787). He kissed images of the Christ-child with great devotion and he stammered tender words such as children say, so Thomas of Celano tells us (ibid.). For the early Church, the feast of feasts was Easter: in the Resurrection Christ had flung open the doors of death and in so doing had radically changed the world: he had made a place for man in God himself. Now, Francis neither changed nor intended to change this objective order of precedence among the feasts, the inner structure of the faith centred on the Paschal Mystery. And yet through him and the character of his faith, something new took place: Francis discovered Jesus’ humanity in an entirely new depth. This human existence of God became most visible to him at the moment when God’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. The Resurrection presupposes the Incarnation. For God’s Son to take the form of a child, a truly human child, made a profound impression on the heart of the Saint of Assisi, transforming faith into love. “The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed” – this phrase of Saint Paul now acquired an entirely new depth. In the child born in the stable at Bethlehem, we can as it were touch and caress God. And so the liturgical year acquired a second focus in a feast that is above all a feast of the heart.
This has nothing to do with sentimentality. It is right here, in this new experience of the reality of Jesus’ humanity that the great mystery of faith is revealed. Francis loved the child Jesus, because for him it was in this childish estate that God’s humility shone forth. God became poor. His Son was born in the poverty of the stable. In the child Jesus, God made himself dependent, in need of human love, he put himself in the position of asking for human love – our love. Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light.
Francis arranged for Mass to be celebrated on the manger that stood between the ox and the ass (cf. 1 Celano 85; Fonti 469). Later, an altar was built over this manger, so that where animals had once fed on hay, men could now receive the flesh of the spotless lamb Jesus Christ, for the salvation of soul and body, as Thomas of Celano tells us (cf. 1 Celano 87; Fonti 471). Francis himself, as a deacon, had sung the Christmas Gospel on the holy night in Greccio with resounding voice. Through the friars’ radiant Christmas singing, the whole celebration seemed to be a great outburst of joy (1 Celano 85.86; Fonti 469, 470). It was the encounter with God’s humility that caused this joy – his goodness creates the true feast.
Today, anyone wishing to enter the Church of Jesus’ Nativity in Bethlehem will find that the doorway five and a half metres high, through which emperors and caliphs used to enter the building, is now largely walled up. Only a low opening of one and a half metres has remained. The intention was probably to provide the church with better protection from attack, but above all to prevent people from entering God’s house on horseback. Anyone wishing to enter the place of Jesus’ birth has to bend down. It seems to me that a deeper truth is revealed here, which should touch our hearts on this holy night: if we want to find the God who appeared as a child, then we must dismount from the high horse of our “enlightened” reason. We must set aside our false certainties, our intellectual pride, which prevents us from recognizing God’s closeness. We must follow the interior path of Saint Francis – the path leading to that ultimate outward and inward simplicity which enables the heart to see. We must bend down, spiritually we must as it were go on foot, in order to pass through the portal of faith and encounter the God who is so different from our prejudices and opinions – the God who conceals himself in the humility of a newborn baby. In this spirit let us celebrate the liturgy of the holy night, let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped. Let us allow ourselves to be made simple by the God who reveals himself to the simple of heart. And let us also pray especially at this hour for all who have to celebrate Christmas in poverty, in suffering, as migrants, that a ray of God’s kindness may shine upon them, that they – and we – may be touched by the kindness that God chose to bring into the world through the birth of his Son in a stable. Amen.
For our meditation today, the day before the Nativity of the Lord, I suggest this excerpt from St. Augustine’s Discourses (my translation of the Italian text I read):
Awaken, O man, for God is made man for you, O you who sleep! Awaken from the dead and Christ will illuminate you! (Eph. 5:14). For you, I repeat, God is made man.
You would have been dead forever if he would not have been born in our time. He would not have freed our nature from sin if he had not assumed a nature similar to that of sin. You would have possessed a perpetual misery if he would not have handed to you such mercy. You would not have been given again new life if he had not encountered your same death. You would have become less if he would not have come to your assistance. You would have perished if he would not have come.
Prepare to celebrate with joy the coming of our salvation and redemption; to celebrate a festival in which the great and eternal day came from his great and eternal day into this our passing and so brief of a day. He has become for us justice, sanctification and redemption because, as is written, he who boasts may boast in the Lord. (cf. 1 Cor 1: 30-31).
The truth as sprouted from the earth (cf. Ps 84:12): Christ, born from the Virgin; Christ who said “I am the Truth” (cf. Jn 14: 6). Justice has shown itself from the heavens (cf. Ps 84: 12). The man who believes in Christ born for us does not receive salvation from himself but from God. Truth has sprouted from the earth because “The Word was made flesh” (Jn 1: 14). Justice has appeared from the heavens because, “Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above” (James 1: 17). Truth has sprung from the earth – flesh from Mary. Justice has appeared from heaven because man receives nothing if not given to him from heaven (cf. Jn 3: 27)…….
Let us rejoice therefore in this grace that our glory may give witness to a good conscience. We do not glory in ourselves but in the Lord. It is said, “You are my glory and you raise my head” (Ps 3: 4). What greater grace of God has shown upon us? Having an only begotten Son, God made him the son of man and thus, vice versa, has rendered the son of man the son of God. Search for the merit, the cause, the justice of this and see if you find anything else but grace.
The bishops of Iraqi are canceling midnight Masses this year out of fear of violence to Church goers. Such is the sorry state of that country. Many have been martyred for their faith.
Let us not forget them, our brothers and sisters, who continue to suffer much because they are Christians. We have no idea, really, what they endure.
Let us pray for them this weekend.
Antara News’ website (www.antaranews.com/en/news/78607/after-missing-for-seven-years-tsunami-victim-finds-way-home) reports today of an Indonesian girl, who was swept away from her mother in the tsunami of 2004 and presumed dead, has found her way back home.
Her name is Mary Wati Yuranda; her grandfather is Ibrahim, her mother is Yusinar and her father Yusuf. Mary was only eight years old when the tsunami hit, and she was clinging to her mom and siblings when the waves hit. They proved too strong, and she was wrested from her mom’s grip, went under and not seen again. They presumed her dead.
She is a teenager now, and had been trying to find her home for years. She had forgotten her parents’ names, but not her grandfather’s. A friend of Ibrahim saw her in the provincial city of Meulaboh and brought her to him who subsequently took her home to her parents.
They call it a Christmas miracle seven years in the making.
God is good, isn’t he!
I was asked to preach last night at Mass, one of those times when you rely on the Holy Spirit and the grace of Orders to accomplish your task.
As you probably know, the Gospel was about the Visitation. The part I focused on was how John the Baptist “leaped for joy” when Mary greeted Elizabeth.
Leaped for joy, even before his birth.
John must have been one active man…. even before he was born, he was jumping around pointing out the presence of the Lord in our midst. Later in life, of course, he really made a scene with his camel’s hair shirt, his shouting and carrying on, confronting the king about his unlawful wife (can you imagine what would happen today if one of our bishops publicly told one of our politicians that the woman he was living with was not his wife, but his brother’s), eating honey and locusts, etc. Yes, John wasn’t afraid of making a scene if it had to do with preparing someone for the coming of the Lord or pointing out the Lord’s presence.
I asked the people last night this question, “What makes you leap for joy when it comes to your religion?”
We are to be a people of joy, are we not? We are to pick up where John left off by recognizing the Lord in our midst, pointing him out to others and leading them to him.
What makes your heart leap?
Here is the challenge I put forth last night, and I extend to you: Set aside a certain amount of time each day during which you make a conscious decision to open your heart to God’s presence. Then wait. Wait for as long as it will take… God alone knows how long. Someday, though, if you keep doing this, your heart will leap; there will be a flutter inside you; there will be a fleeting flush of joy that you will experience.
Your heart will leap for joy in the presence of the Lord.
Take up the challenge and see for yourselves.
Cathedral of the Annunciation
Stockton, California
