Claire Smith

Scripture:

Hebrews 1:1-6
Mark 1:14-20

Reflection:

Mark’s gospel has no Christmas story, no manger or shepherds in Bethlehem, no Magi or star to lead them.  And yet, the Christmas narrative is embedded within this gospel.  It begins with the words: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  The word “gospel” had a double meaning in Mark’s time.  “Gospel” or “good news” was used in secular circles to announce an important event such as the birth of an heir to the Roman emperor.  Mark with Spirit-filled inspiration announced the good news of the birth of the true king, Jesus the Christ, the promised Messiah.  He embraced Isaiah’s use of “good news.”  Centuries before, the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isaiah 52:7).   In today’s gospel, Jesus Christ is fulfilling Isaiah’s prophetic words. Jesus is announcing peace, bringing good news and salvation. 

But Mark first throws cold water in our face.  He writes these jarring words: “Now after John was arrested.”  Only then does Mark complete his sentence: “Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news’” (Mk 1:14-20 NRSV).  Mark is telling us that Jesus lived in dangerous times.  But that did not deter him from proclaiming the good news.

We live in a broken world.  Today, it is a world of a polarized society, of illness and unemployment, of loneliness and homelessness. The gospel never denies the reality in which we live. But the gospel also tells us that the world is filled with more, is charged with God’s grace and presence.  Jesus reminds us of this truth with his good news. 

Jesus invited his first disciples to follow him in proclaiming that good news – a time of peace and salvation in the midst of illness and darkness.  Peter, Andrew, James, and John left everything to follow Jesus.  They left behind emotional, social, and economic security.  Jesus challenged them to let go of everything they were familiar with in order to join him in a journey of spiritual growth and self-awareness.

Christ calls us too; right now.  The time – kairos time, God’s time – is fulfilled.  This is our decisive moment.  This kairos time divides our past from our future.  Christ invites us to new life.  It is time to repent, time to leave behind our old lives, time to drop those nets that tangle us in false security and detachments.  Only then can Jesus transform us into fishers of people by proclaiming the good news. 

The kingdom is near, the kingdom is among us.  In Jesus Christ, the kingdom has entered our time and place and circumstances.  It is time for us to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ – as the Apostle Paul tells us “in season and out of season.”  Today, we find ourselves in the “out of season.”  Nevertheless, this present reality is the place where Christ meets us.  Here is where he beckons us: “follow me.”

Today, this kairos time.  God is very much with us in these times.  And yet, for us, the good news is also this: with Jesus Christ, in us, we proclaim the good news.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Acts 10:34-38
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Reflection:

I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. -Luke 3:16

A centuries-old question has circulated about why Jesus, born and living his entire life without sin, chose to be baptized.  While teaching adult Baptism classes at our local parish, I have long pondered what circumstances had occurred in Jesus’ life before his appearance at the Jordan to be baptized by John?  Remember that Jesus came to John to be baptized voluntarily.   John was seemingly not immediately cognizant of what was happening.

The events Luke records when Christ was twelve reveal several fascinating facts. They tell us that Jesus fully understood, at a young age, that God, not Joseph, was his true Father.  He also became aware, through scripture, prayer, fasting, meditation and dialogue with his mother about the circumstances of his birth, that the purpose of his life was to give his life for the salvation of all.  “And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’  But they did not understand what he said to them.  He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”  (L 2: 49-52)

The Catholic Catechism teaches that all sacraments are covenants with God.  They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church.  We are quite familiar with the multiple covenants that God entered with his chosen people in the Old Testament.  If indeed sacraments are covenants with God, is it not likely that Jesus, after 30 years of prayer, fasting, meditation and dialogue with His mother about the circumstances of his birth would enter into a covenant with His Father before he began his ministry?  His covenant might have gone something like this: “Father I will give up my life for our people, if you grant them salvation from their sins.”

Such a covenant could indeed have been sealed at the hands of John in the Jordan river. 

Scripture relates several immediate responses to Jesus’ baptism:

• “John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed him.”  (Mt 3: 14-15)
• “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.  And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”  (Mt 3: 16-17)
• “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”  (Mk 1: 9-13)

In the context of salvation history, would it not appear obvious that Jesus entered into his ministry, passion and death with a determined and agreeable spirit and approval of his Father in Heaven?  He had spent 30 years preparing for this monumental moment in human history. His baptism was something significantly more than a chance encounter with John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

Bill Berger has had a lifelong relationship with the Passionist Family.  Bill and his wife, Linda, are currently leaders of the Community of Passionist Partners (CPPs) in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

1 John 5:14-21
John 3:22-30

Reflection:

When John the Baptist declared of Jesus, “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3.30), he meant that for others to know Jesus, John must move to the background. The Baptist’s words also revealed two inseparable truths: If Jesus is to increase in our lives, we must decrease. For one to happen, the other must occur. These two realities are dependent on each other.

And if we somehow missed the message, the Baptist comes at it from another angle. He describes a wedding procession. Everyone waits in anticipation at the bride’s house for the bridegroom to come and lead his bride back to his own house, accompanied by her bridesmaids, family, and friends. When the best man hears the bridegroom’s voice and the nuptial procession has arrived, he announces that the wedding celebration may now begin. His duty has been completed. John, the best man, makes Jesus known to Israel, the Lord’s covenantal bride. With Jesus’s arrival, the Messianic wedding celebration may begin. In this relationship, too, the bridegroom increases, and the best man decreases.

We may mistakenly believe the way to magnify Jesus is through our worth, our success, and importance, but not through our weakness or brokenness. Yet, this is how God chooses to magnify his worth to us and the world. Mary, a humble girl from an obscure village, proclaimed this truth in her Magnificat: “My soul proclaims the greatness the Lord…” (Lk 1:46.) So too did the Apostle Paul understand this paradoxical truth when he declared, “…when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12.10.)

Only when the best man fades to the background, only when the Baptist decreases, is he prepared to announce – in the present tense – that his joy is now full. But he doesn’t stop there. Like all good prophets, he points to us, challenges us to decrease, so that Christ may increase and assume his place at the center of our lives.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

1 John 5:5-13
Luke 5:12-16

Reflection:

My much younger friend recently vented about how overwhelming her life as a working parent can seem. I remember being the primary parent of three young children because my husband worked long hours and was often away. I truly loved each child and would willingly die for them, but some days I wanted to scream! I didn’t want to nurse the baby again, or comfort the toddler, or be constantly asked to play. I didn’t want to resolve one more dispute, or load whining children into the car to head to soccer practice and then basketball practice. I didn’t want to cook and clean up endless meals, wash sheets, clean floors, do laundry, run errands, and serve my family with every breath I took. Some days I just wanted to go for a walk by myself, read a book, call a friend without someone clinging to my legs, or even just go to the bathroom undisturbed!

How much greater the pressure on Jesus had to be! Imagine the crush of people vying for his attention, clinging to him, and begging him for very legitimate needs. Repeatedly, his compassionate heart reached out to heal, comfort, and include them, making sure that each one felt seen, heard, and loved. It’s no wonder he had to withdraw to deserted places to be by himself and pray! Even the son of God needed concentrated time with God for comfort, nurture, and strength to be effective in his service to others.

Why, then, do I think I can do it on my own? Why am I so quick to assume that something is wrong with me if I don’t feel sufficiently strong, wise, competent, or lovable to do it myself? Who taught me those lessons? It certainly wasn’t Jesus! He taught about the Godhead not as separate and independent beings, but as a union, a circle of ever-flowing love and sustenance between them. He relied on that love and sustenance, returning again and again to the Source. Why should I be different?

As we continue through the Christmas season, I resolve to let go of the world’s lessons of ideal self-contained competence and instead focus on Jesus’ invitation into the Divine flow of love. Even in this resolution, I know I will “fail”. But we never fail in God’s eyes, except when we don’t show up. So I will doing my best to continue my Advent practice of increased time for prayer, both in stillness and in the activities and necessary chores of my daily life. Will you join me?

May every breath of our lives be in service to God!

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

1 John 4:19-5:4
Luke 4:14-22a

Reflection:

May You Enjoy Your Christmas Gifts

Do you have a gift yet to be delivered, one under the soon-to-disappear tree sitting unclaimed? Could there be a gift yet to be purchased for the person who lives at the furthest orbit of where your Christmas comet passes each year? Gift-giving is so much more complex than our commercials lead us to believe.

At Christmas, we speak of the great exchange. (Not returning unusable or ill-fitting gifts). God has given us a gift, the Beloved Son. In the fullness of time, in the perfect moment in God’s planning, the Word became flesh. That is a gift that transforms all of us and all of creation. We share the love of God with one another; we offer to God our response to the gift of love that we have so generously received.

This Thursday of the final week of the Christmas season, the week after the Epiphany, continues to be a time of gift-giving! All late gift givers pay attention!

We have celebrated that the Father’s love promised to Abraham and to his children forever is given. To the Chosen People, a long-awaited messiah has come. And we see that this gift is given to all people, all of creation is touched. The Holy Ones of Israel, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph, Anna and Simeon stand before us giving God the gift of their trust; magi who come from the other ends of the earth and who do not know the God of Israel bring their gifts, and we must imagine that all creation wants to bend itself to Jesus the Word. Surely, a cherry tree can bow down at Joseph’s request, or a star can serve its maker as a celestial guide.

This week’s liturgy reverberates with joy and thanks for the gifts of God that we see in Word and manifestation! See how Jesus looks upon us with compassion, with loving mercy. This love sees the apostles tossed on the stormy sea, confused and then afraid. What would Jesus like to have done? He ends up climbing in the boat with his friends, ‘It is I. Do no be afraid!” That was what he could do, for the time being enough. Jesus shouts an affirmation of desire to the leper, “If you will do so, you can cure me.” “I do will it. Be cured.” And we learn that Jesus is the groom. Can we experience God’s love with the intimacy of our greatest human love? These are all gifts of the Word this week. And we have been fed with the 5,000 and cured with the people of Nazareth.

Maybe this year we will see an unopened gift somewhat hidden in the debris left behind from our Christmas celebration. Could it be the readings of this week? Gift-giving is complex! We might even be the person on God’s gift list this year who is at the utmost end of where that comet of Christmas celebration will end? And as the lights go out we hear God’s word, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me…to announce a year of favor from the Lord.” …and they marveled at the appealing discourse which came from his lips. What a gift to hear and to marvel. Is that what happened to Andrew and John when Jesus said to them, “Come and abide with me.”? Check the debris, ask Our Lord, is there perhaps one more small gift you would like me to have?

Fr. William Murphy, CP, is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.