SUNDAY 1ST FEBRUARY: THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.

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The Sermon on the Mount, Rosselli c.1482, Sistine Chapel. Vatican City State.

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When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying……   Matthew 5:1-2.

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Thus begins Jesus’ central, most important teaching in Matthew, known as the Sermon on the Mount. It incorporates his central message, with all its demands and challenges. The traditional name for this central teaching is “The Beatitudes”, namely the actions and thoughts that would make us worthy in the eyes of God. “Do this”, Jesus seems to say,“and heaven is yours”. Beatitudes is an interesting word. First, “blessed” is the translation from the original Greek word μακάριος,  makarios. (Remember that all our Christian scriptures are translations from Greek originals). So for most English speakers today, “blessed” means, basically, very holy: the Blessed Mother, the Blessed Sacrament, and so on. But if we dig a little deeper into the original word μακάριος, we find more layers of meaning which perhaps elude us in the Latin and English translations. The root of the Greek word “μάκαρ” or makar, is poetic. It can mean, for example, divinely bestowed happiness, coming from the gods themselves. One is deeply happy when that has happened. When Our Lady, in her great hymn of praise called the Magnificat, says: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed…” there is no self-glorification there (though I have heard something along those lines in the past), but rather a statement of pure happiness in the Lord! Following the Lord has been, she seems to say, the happiest, best thing that has ever happened to her! So Jesus must be saying in this central message that if you follow this teaching, the Beatitudes, the most profound contentment, satisfaction and happiness will come upon you, even when things seem to be at their worst. And the only way of proving that is to put them all into practice! So it would be quite acceptable for today’s reading to say, for example, “Happy are they who mourn…” which upturns all we might expect from such a sad, painful situation. But there it is, loud and clear from the lips of the Lord! But remember the second half: “for they will be comforted”. He might well be saying that the beloved and departed one might well now enjoy life eternal with the All-Happy, All-Blessed and All-Good Lord of all, and we should stress that among those of us who remain, to bring at least a little comfort into a grim situation. 

If anything, the readings today strongly advocate humility at the very deepest level. Look at Paul’s words to the Christians in Corinth: “Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God…. ‘ Can you even imagine a politician saying anything like that today? It would mean instant political death! Yet there it is, Paul talking to the new Christians in the rough port city of Corinth. Who would want to be called not wise, not noble, but foolish, weak, lowly, despised, counting for nothing? It is simply incredible, but there it all is in today’s second reading! We must assume that Paul does not intend to insult every new Christian in Corinth, but must mean something much deeper, very positive. It might mean, for example, that there is hope for us all! Even if each of us, reluctantly and regrettably agrees to such a description, Paul is saying in that case we are not far from God! Compared to the Lord, for example, who are we to even imagine we can stand next to him as worthy of praise? But… but.. this is the man who died that we might live! His supreme example of utter humility is the touchstone of all Christian life and love. We, like the Lord, are here for each other.

So our lives must be an example of how we serve others. If we ask the Lord how much does he love us, the answer is the cross – that’s how much he loved us! And some might add that such represents the deepest level of foolishness and stupidity imaginable. But not when it is done for others. When we live, it is for the Lord we live; when we suffer it is for the Lord we suffer, when we die it is for the Lord we die. All must be focussed on the Lord, and all the beatitudes state that. The focus is very clear; in every moment of life, good bad and indifferent, it should all be done for the Lord. If we can live up to that standard, then we live for the Lord and we will not be betrayed. After all, we each have a guardian angel…..

 

My Guardian Dear, Turning to Our Guardian Angels in Times of Need October 2024, Catholic Women in Business.

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SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2026: THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.

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Fishing in the Sea of Galilee, Library of Congress: Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph Collection, between 1898-1914.

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“As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, (Jesus) saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.       Matthew 4:18-20.

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Today’s gospel comes from the fourth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, so it is early in Jesus’ mission following the revelations at his baptism. He had emerged from his 40 days and nights in the desert with a much clearer idea of what God wanted him to do, what God’s vocation for him was. He was aware of the prophesy in Isaiah, today’s first reading, that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing…” – in the land north of Jerusalem. He possibly moved from Nazareth to Capernaum in order that the “light” he was to bring them would shine on more people there! It is estimated that Nazareth in his time had a population of maximum 400, whereas Capernaum was estimated at about 1000-3000 strong. His new message would certainly reach a larger number of people there. Also, perhaps he thought there was a greater likelihood of finding those who would become his faithful followers, which turned out to be the case. His message clearly required a close-knit set of apostles….. And remember that Jesus’ experience of Nazareth later in his ministry was bitter. Perhaps he anticipated that right at the beginning of his mission and moved elsewhere in anticipation. Additionally, it is thought that Capernaum had a mixed Jewish/Gentile population, and Jesus’ message would have been heard by both groups. Although he clearly aimed his message to a Jewish audience, it was not long after his ascension that Gentiles began to be attracted to it. Perhaps one last thing should be noted. Fishing has always been, and still remains, a very dangerous activity. In other words, the men who worked on that Galilean shore were brave, persistent and and strong, all qualities that would be needed in the life Jesus was calling them to. The Lord knew exactly the type of people he was looking for, and he found them!

So Jesus’ mission began in Capernaum, not Nazareth. Indeed the floor of the synagogue where he most certainly walked is still there:

The remains of the synagogue in Capernaum, 2018. The dark large stone level is thought to have been the floor of the synagogue in Jesus’ day. 

And that theme of faithful followers is clearly taken up in today’s second reading. Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Corinth addresses that concern directly. He focusses clearly on the goal of the early Christians – to direct all attention to the Lord and him alone. There is a strong human attraction to create competing teams to see who is “the best”. We have it in sports teams, in car races, in horse racing and even countries. Paul says quite definitely, “no!” to all that. The aim and the goal is simply to be that person the Lord, and no-one and nothing else, wants us to be.

So perhaps the lesson today is to re-examen our priorities and ensure they are correct. Are we still faithful to Christ to the end? Do we have the strength, especially inner strength, to face the challenges that we will meet if we insist on doing the right thing, as taught by Jesus, even if those around us accuse us of being a Holy Joe or something equally insulting? Do we have the inner strength to explain quietly and from conviction that we wish to do the right thing? 

Additionally, is there anything or anyone else standing in the way? Are our own worries such that we exclude the very one who could bring us peace and clarity? Returning to roots, what are our priorities today? What makes life good, rewarding and stable? Where does the Lord fit in there? Is God the central focus of our life so that the way we react to and with others reflects God’s goodness? Jesus had to adapt all his feelings, message and reactions to that simple goal. Can each of us do the same? Can we be fishers of those around us?

Coming to Light, Christian Living Devotionals.

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SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2026: SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.

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The Lamb of God: Triumph and Salvation, Stained Glass Inc., Greenville, Texas, USA.

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John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.      John 1:29.

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The Old Testament is very clear about the sacrificial offerings to be made to the Lord. Among many other instructions, every day, one lamb, spotless, without blemish, was to be offered in the morning, and one to be offered in the evening. On the Sabbath, two were to be sacrificed in the morning, and two in the evening. The lamb was chosen presumably symbolizing purity and innocence, offered as an atonement for the sins which we humans have committed. Originally these sacrifices were to be made outside the Tent of Meeting during the 40 years wandering in the desert, then in the Temple in Jerusalem (which was discontinued after its destruction by the Roman army in AD70). Certainly there is something about lambs gamboling about in the joy of life. They are an expression of innocence and vivacity! It is entirely possible that the  crucifixion of the Lord took place at the time when the Passover lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple, preparing for the Passover celebration… So, for John the Baptist to have declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God certainly has a depth of meaning which is astonishing. Jesus, like the lambs, was utterly innocent of any crime or misdemeanor yet underwent a death as brutal as can be imagined. We Christians say that he was punished for our sins in order for us to be liberated and live as the children of God. We have no excuse in that case for any sins we might commit; in a sense we add to the suffering of the Lord when we sin. That thought should at least give us pause before entering upon a sinful pathway. So, instead of lambs being offered as atonement for our sins, God’s Only Son offered himself in their place. The wages of sin are death; Jesus dying for us in a sense changed that – we now can enter heaven when we leave this world having followed his teaching and, especially, his example. After all, he conquered death itself! And that echoes the blood of the lamb marking the homes of the Hebrews in Egypt when the 10th plague was visited upon the country, the death of the first-born sons. Those homes with the blood of the sacrificed lamb were spared death – so the sacrificed lamb’s blood meant life. So imagine, how much more, the blood of Christ, the Anointed One, THE Lamb of God, allows us to live lives pleasing to God, with sins forgiven and our soul’s life spared.

John the Baptist, in today’s gospel, states that he was witness to the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism, and that was, indeed, the very reason he had been called by God – to bear such witness to the arrival of God’s Son, the longed-for Messiah. Isaiah’s teaching in today’s first reading is, as it were, a premonition of that event. That Jesus was, indeed, the light to the nations, and that God’s message would be extended to all the nations of the world, even to the Gentiles. And today’s second reading, to the Christians in Corinth, was one of salvation: “called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” quite a message to a rough and ready port city. Typically ports at all times and places were, and are, not exactly places of peace and quiet but are often rough and ready places of vice of every kind. The message and power of Christ took root even there! There is something to be said of peace, hope and the happiness of clean living!

The Lamb of God, AI Generated, unknown provenance.

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SUNDAY 11 JANUARY 2026: THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD.

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The Baptism of the Lord, Fra Angelico c.1440, Convent of St. Mark, Florence, Italy.

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.”    Matthew 3:16-17.

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The baptism of the Lord marks the beginning of his ministry, the reason why God, his and our Father, had sent him to earth. It is possible that Jesus until then had no real idea what God expected of him. He was probably a carpenter as was the man who had adopted him; that would be normal. But on hearing the activities of John, the wild one living on “locusts and wild honey” both specifically permitted in the book of Leviticus 11:22: “All kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers” and Leviticus 20:24, and God’s promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, he and many others had traveled into the wilderness to see what this man was all about. But it was all unusual, even then. So I imagine that people became intrigued at this strange man, and came just to see what all the fuss was about, perhaps even Jesus (after all, John was his cousin!). Some must have thought John was the promised Messiah, as he was so intent on making sure that they did NOT think that by saying “I am not the Messiah” (John 1:20). But some did indeed follow him even down to today, an ethno-religious group called the Mandaeans. But Christian scripture is quite clear that he was not the Messiah, but all this does suggest that he did have a following. Into this mix of the curious came Jesus from Nazareth. And when John baptized him, everything changed, as you can see above, in the quotation from Matthew, today’s gospel. Two things happened. God’s Holy Spirit descended on him “like a dove”. And there came a voice from the heavens proclaiming that this man was “My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” Two events then, each highly significant. The Spirit of God anointed Jesus. In Hebrew the word is Messiah, and in Greek the word is Christos, both meaning “Anointed One”. Jesus therefore received his Vocation at that moment – he was the Messiah! Now it was his vocation to fulfill all the prophecies concerning the Messiah as proclaimed down through the centuries. The Messiah had, at last, appeared. Not only that, but the Voice from Heaven, clearly God’s voice, declared him to be his Son… Jesus then received his Identity. He was God’s Son clearly with the powers of God prove it! Not surprisingly Jesus had to figure out what had happened to him and what it all meant, hence the desert experience of 40 days and 40 nights. 

Among the thoughts and feelings and revelations and realizations that he must have gone through at that time, today’s first reading from Isaiah must have become real:

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

– today’s first reading. And all the other prophecies must have presented themselves to him, including those of the Suffering Servant also in Isaiah. The glory and the suffering, the challenges and the fulfillment are all to be found in Scripture, and for a man tutored in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, such as Jesus, he would now apply them all to himself. His identity and vocation, both given to him by his Father and confirmed by the Holy Spirit, were  clear. 

One further revelation was present at Jesus’ baptism, that of the Blessed Trinity. Until that moment God was thought of as a single Omnipotent Being clearly responsible for all creation. At the moment of Jesus’ baptism, three clear elements, or persons, appear, utterly unknown until that time: Father (the Voice from heaven), Son (declared to be such by the heavenly Voice, hence had to be the Father) and the Third Person, “as of a dove” descending upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit of God, anointing him as the Messiah. Thus began two thousand years of debate, controversy and argument as to the Nature of God following this event and the other allusions to it in Jesus’ history. Suddenly, God was revealed to be Three Persons, yet One God. This was an utterly new reality, unique in Judeo-Christian thought, rejected by the other Abrahamic faiths, but completely intelligible, though challenging, to Christian reality. The God of Love was at last revealed, the all-powerful generative essence of the Father and Spirit showing forth forever in the Son. This revealed Almighty God as the essence of Love. And we are, each and every one of us, is invited to respond in kind.

The Holy Trinity, ©LPi

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SUNDAY JANUARY 4 2026, THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD.

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The Three Magi, J.C. Leyendecker, Success Christmas 1900, Diocesan Library of art.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?   Matthew 2:12.

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The question which might spring to mind today could be: “Who or what on earth are Magi”? Every year on this feast day we might well ask the same question. That word never seems to come up in any other context except today’s feast. You might think that today is the only time such a question arises. But that would be technically wrong. The word “magic” comes from the same source! The word crept into English through a complicated history. The origin is not Latin or Greek; it comes from an ancient Persian word maguš, pronounced magus, or, some scholars say, mayus. It originally referred to the priestly caste in the ancient religion called Zoroastrianism, currently called Parsees, possibly carrying a meaning of power or ability.  Read all about that here. So it seems as if the event of the Three Wise Men has been taken from an eastern tradition of wisdom and, as with many things centuries ago, astrology. Certainly with them following a star which rested above the stable where Jesus was born, strongly suggests a thorough knowledge of astronomy and the sky at night, plus a tradition of interpreting it all to a contemporary audience. And this may or may not be part of the “Three Kings” story in the Gospel. But clearly there was an expectation, which exists to this day, of “wisdom from the East” and, incidentally, to the clear, uncanny and evident skill of a good magician, able to do things which are apparently impossible and point to a skill and talent not often met with. And note in all this there is no mention of kings! That seems to have come from the apparent cost and quality of the three gifts (from which also comes the tradition of three visitors to the stable but again not actually mentioned in the Bible, and as for their gifts, look here. One more point; the visitors were clearly not Jewish and scholars have linked this to the universal message of Christ, open to all and inviting to all, from the very moment of his birth, from the best educated, the wise men, to the lowest station in society, the shepherds. No-one is excluded from the message of the Lord!

These themes are echoed in the other readings today, from Isaiah:

Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar….

to Paul’s letter to the Christians in Ephesus, that God’s grace….

has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

So all are welcome at the table of the Lord, no exclusions, no conditions, from the illiterate to the brightest in the land! It is an open invitation, but it does need those of us who cherish this life-saving call of goodness to spread the Word. We can do this above all by the example we set in daily living, in what we  say, in what we do and in being generous and open to all. If you want magic today, that is the way to do it, but not through trickery, but by the real demonstration of goodness in our life. And we are never alone in doing that. We have the Lord at our side, the Lord in our mind and heart, and in the strength we show in living as He wants us to live and gives us the strength to do it.

Anne Rice Quote: “People who cease to believe in God or goodness altogether still believe in the devil. I don’t know why. No, I do indeed know why. Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.”

Anne Rice.

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SUNDAY 28 DECEMBER 2025: FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH.

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Divine Harmony – The Holy Family, Sanctified Souls, Etsy.

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[Joseph].…..departed [from Egypt] for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean.      Matthew 2:22-23

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Family: A very common word in English. It has come down to us from Latin (familia) and then French (famille). In fact most western European languages are based in this Latin root: familj in Swedish, familie in German. So clearly there was something about this word which resounded true through many different types of people, at least in that area. And guess what; the root meaning comes from a word for servant or slave (famulus). And that, interestingly, has to resound with the Christian idea of service, each member of a family serving the others, and the youngest learning to do the same. Remember those words of Jesus: “I came to serve, not to be served” (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17). And we can take the example of Joseph, the head of the household where the child Jesus lived. He clearly took his divine vocation very seriously, seen in today’s gospel. He now devoted himself to his new vocation, protecting his young (foster) son from Herod’s son Archelaus. King Herod had died and this, his son, became ethnarch (that is, leader of a people) at age 18. It soon became clear that this was not an improvement in the running of the state. In the first year of his reign there was a slaughter of 3000 people within the Temple precincts. You can find out all about that here. It becomes very clear why our Joseph wanted to be very wary of this man. Nazareth was in Galilee where Herod Antipas, one of Herod’s younger sons, had been made tetrach (ruler of a smaller land), outside the rule of his brother Archelaus. Hence Nazareth was seen as a much safer place than, say, Jerusalem. So Jesus became Jesus of Nazareth. Now today’s gospel says this was in fulfillment of the prophecy “He shall be called a Nazorean”. Interestingly, there is no such prophecy in Scripture! Scholars have labored over this, and again look here to see what they say about this whole episode. 

And so the Holy Family settled in Nazareth in Galilee for Jesus’ childhood and early adulthood. Joseph’s care is seen in today’s gospel. Mary’s love was certainly evident in the episode when she and Joseph, returning to Nazareth from pilgrimage to Jerusalem, realized he was not with the usual crowd of youngsters and rushed back to the city to find him with the elders in the Temple: “Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously” she exclaimed, clearly expressing her relief, frustration and upset almost all of us can recognize from our own moments of childish mishaps. It was a community of love in which our Savior grew up. 

And it is that thought I want to leave you with. Do you recognize this:

“A bell is not a bell ’till you ring it. A song is not a song ’till you sing it. Love in your heart isn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love ’till you give it away.”

They were written by Oscar Hammerstein II, he the lyricist of Rogers and Hammerstein. It is said they were written for the actress playing Maria in The Sound of Music on a piece of paper by Hammerstein himself, presumably in rehearsal. Do you agree with the sentiment? It seems to talk of potential – we all have the potential for love, but it’s not love until another receives it, and returns it. For Jesus it was clearly his Father in Heaven – everything he said and did was for God his Father, following God’s clear desire that he act always and in every way as the Son of God. That is not to say he ignored everyone else. Hardly. It was the will of his Father that he show his love in every conceivable way, even on the cross itself, forgiving his murderers and the thief next to him, and even ensuring his mother was entrusted to St. John. We believe he is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. With the Holy Spirit (who in Scripture is on almost every occasion of which I am aware, represented by feminine nouns in Hebrew) the Father’s and Spirit’s love eternally generates the Son. The Trinity is the ultimate sign of love, and it is out of that love that each one of us exists today. How on earth could a single god ever love us into existence if that god did not have it to give? Love isn’t love ’til you give it away…. And that same God gave us his most precious gift of all – his Son. That is the great mystery we celebrate in these days. And so we say ευχαριστώ, eucharistō, eucharist – “Thank you” in Greek… 

About My Father’s Business, Stained Glass Inc., Panel #5251.

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SUNDAY 21 DECEMBER: THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT AND THURSDAY 25 DECEMBER: THE SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (CHRISTMAS).

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Joseph’s Dream, Gandolphi c.1790, Private Collection.

…the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”   Matthew 1:20-21.

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This is the first mention of our Savior’s name in the gospel, and it was a frequent and  acceptable name for a boy. In the original Hebrew/Aramaic that Jesus spoke, his name is יֵשׁוּעַ transliterated to Yeshua (Ioshua or Joshua in English). Our name Jesus comes through the Greek, in which the entire New Testament is written. Yeshua becomes Ἰησοῦς or Iēsous, as the “sh” sound is unknown in Greek. The nearest equivalent was “s”, from which we get Iēsus in English. I and J are historically close in English; the first edition King James version of the Bible called him Iesus and even Shakespeare originally called his play Romeo and Iuliet. However, the consonant I became J at that time, hence Jesus. The name means God Saves. In today’s gospel, Joseph had discovered that Mary was pregnant and was about to separate from her quietly, hence the heavenly messenger. That changed everything, as Joseph was prepared to accept the unique situation he found himself in and act accordingly. He possibly thought that this had been prefigured in the 7th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, read at today’s Mass: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel”. Hence he accepted his role in the fulfillment of this prophecy, and responded to God’s call fully and without hesitation. It is interesting that biblical scholars note that prophecies might have had at least two meanings, one dealing with the immediate time and place it was proclaimed, and then another, such as here, centuries later. 

So this 4th Sunday in Advent would seem to be an occasion of prophetic fulfillment. Isaiah talks of the maiden giving birth to a son, Paul talking about the Son of God descended from David long promised by the holy prophets, and the gospel emphasizing the Isaiah prophecy once more, as if to underline the fulfillment of those words in Mary, to be protected and supported by Joseph. In other words, the birth to be celebrated this week is the culmination of centuries of waiting and centuries of prophetic utterance at last to be realized. 

The Nativity, Domenico Ghirlandaio c.1492, Vatican Museums, Vatican City State.

THURSDAY 25TH DECEMBER 2025: THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (CHRISTMAS).

 

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And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.   John 1:14.

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And so, on this wondrous night, the heavenly angels sang, the shepherds were overwhelmed, and the unbelievable happened: the Son of God became flesh. After 2000 years of preparation, the Hebrew people found in their midst the Son of God, born of a Virgin, yet in poverty. His cradle was a feeding trough, the witnesses humble shepherds of the fields and beasts stabled in a barn. Yet here was the baby whose birth was to transform the world, give it hope, inspire countless millions to aim for perfection and adopt a lifestyle of care for others. From the time of Abraham, the Hebrew people, who originally had no idea who and what God was like,  had become aware of a God who was powerful, from the very beginning seen in a very old Sarah giving birth to Isaac at the age of 90. God was revealed to be loyal, even to Hagar after she was expelled from Abraham’s camp (Genesis 21:9-21) ; forgiving even to Jacob who cheated his way to getting his father’s blessing meant for Esau; a listener who heard the cries of the Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt arranged for their release. God revealed mercy, seen when the Hebrews, wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and complaining and moaning about their lot (they had been released from slavery in Egypt, hence revealing that God was also a lover of freedom) were still protected by God, and eventually arriving in the Promised Land which was to be their home. And above all, something which separated Israel’s God from all others, the God of the Hebrews was open to relationship, seen in the mutual pact between God and Moses at the Burning Bush. So by the time of the birth of Jesus, the Jewish people knew a great deal about God, but in the ups and downs of their history needed to know how to live the life which reflected all those qualities. Indeed they might have thought it was impossible to live such a life! And hence the arrival of the Lord, who did exactly that. He showed us all how to incorporate all of God’s qualities in our own life, and gave us the Holy Spirit as the ultimate source of strength to accomplish that. And this day saw the start of the final story, with Jesus, the Son of God preparing the way for the Spirit of God to guide us down to today. Alleluia! May God bless us, every one. Have a very merry and blessed Christmas.

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SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER: THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVEnt: GAUDETE SUNDAY.

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St. John the Baptist, Matia Preti c.1665, de Young and Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA.

Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John…. “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”   Matthew 11:7, 11.

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First, a word about today’s special designation. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for “Rejoice”, and it is in the imperative: we must rejoice! There is even a song  which was recorded in the 1970s in Latin which became very popular. Incredible as it might seem, it comes from the Middle Ages and is based on that same word: Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus ex Maria Virgine, gaudete! (Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is born of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!). There is much more here. Even the priest at Mass today has the option of wearing rose vestments to emphasize the joyful feeling, that Christmas is near! This is today’s opening antiphon at Mass (which is usually not said if there is an opening hymn):

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! Indeed, the Lord is near”. 

So clearly the theme here is to be excited at the approach of Christmas, that moment when the Savior of the World entered into that world as a helpless babe, utterly dependent on those around him. And yet, looking at today’s gospel, this was the one who would enable wonders to be performed that the world had never seen before, and have the good news proclaimed. In a nutshell, this was Jesus’ vocation laid out before him, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 35:5–6, today’s first reading: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf cleared. Then will the lame leap like a stag, and the mute tongue will sing”. Jesus sent this message to John the Baptist who was, at that time, in prison for criticizing King Herod, but had heard that it seemed these prophecies were being fulfilled there and then. And John had been preaching that this would be the sign that the Messiah had arrived. Indeed he had. So John, in the eyes of us Christians, was the last prophet of the Old Testament, announcing the arrival of the Messiah, the Anointed One (Χριστός – Christos – in Greek) when he actually had arrived. That explains why Jesus said that John, of all those born of women, none was greater than John the Baptist. But as he could not benefit from becoming Christian (he was executed shortly after), “the least in the kingdom of heaven (that is, Christian) is greater than he” as he was not present at the Descent of God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurating the age of Christianity. We are  therefore more fortunate than John! We are God’s adopted children, taught by the Son of God and guided by God’s Holy Spirit and powered by God’s love of us: what could possibly be better than that? Hence our joy today. But, as ever, we have to be just a little patient. Just as our ancestors were waiting for the Messiah, we await the Second Coming, but we wait in the presence of the Lord. We do not walk into that night alone; we have a guide who is strong, one whose foot is sure, who can lead us directly into heaven if we follow him. In the meantime, however, we have an intermediate goal – commemorating the arrival of that child in swaddling clothes, warmed by a beloved mother. It is almost time…. And here is a sample of one glorious Christmas Hymn composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych.

The Nativity, Ghirlandaio c.1492, Vatican Museums, Vatican City State.

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SUNDAY 7 DECEMBER 2025: THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

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Spur Pruning Pinot Noir Vineyards Without Losing Crop Yield, American Vineyard, October 2019.

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“John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’“        Matthew 3:1-2.

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In 2023 I was in the Sonoma Valley visiting a friend. It was in April, and as I looked out at the many vineyards in that part of the world, I saw a very similar sight to the one above. Those poor vines looked like they had been trimmed down – pruned – to almost nothing! I thought it would be miraculous for any of them to produce anything! That shows how much I know about vines: nothing! Had I returned to Sonoma later that year, before the grapes are harvested, this is what I would have found:

St. Francis Vineyards 2025, Sonoma Valley, California, USA.

Why this sudden interest in vineyard husbandry, or viticulture? Advent! What if we did all that pruning to our own life during this holy season, cutting our lives down to bare essentials to look like the pictures above? That would give us the chance to grow once more into the children that God wants all of us to be. The pictures above show the difference over perhaps three seasons of one year. We have four weeks. 

Alright – where to begin? Today’s first reading could be the start: “…a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.” It could almost have been written with viticulture in mind! The “stump of Jesse” ties in well with the pruned vines above: it suggests an absolute start. We could begin with a simple goal, to clear one’s mind, to concentrate for a moment on what is essential to our lives, and what isn’t. People are essential! How have I treated those nearest and dearest? Could it be better? And we are off and running. Let us all hope we can trim our lives down the absolute essentials, and grow from there.

It might help to remember that tomorrow, December 8, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and is a holyday of obligation, despite being a Monday. This feast is in recognition that Our Lady was conceived without stain of original sin, the only person so blest. Pope Pius IX declared this to be dogmatically true in 1854, meaning that all Catholics must accept this teaching as true. Hence Mary was prepared perfectly to receive God’s Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God. It is a teaching that goes back even to the 2nd century. Early writers compared Mary to Eve, one obedient to the will of God, the other disobedient. Remember that the angel greeted her as one “full of grace” which we say with every Hail Mary, meaning that Mary was full of the presence of God. The Eastern Church was the first to acknowledge this as a feast in the 7th century. Many years later Pope Pius formally declared this to be a true teaching of the church in 1854. Something intriguing happened just a few years later in 1858. In that year Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes in the French Pyrenees. This young girl had difficulties learning, was often sickly, and yet claimed a beautiful lady had appeared to her several times. Bernadette was asked time and again to find out the Lady’s name. Eventually the Lady said “I am the Immaculate Conception”, which Bernadette did not understand, but insisted that was the Lady’s answer. It went a very long way in convincing the church authorities that Bernadette was telling the  truth. There was no way this peasant girl would have been aware of the Pope’s declaration four years earlier or even understood it if she had! The resulting miracles which the church has recognized in Lourdes could be considered confirmation of all that. Although we all have not been perfect in the eyes of God, we can ask for guidance and strength in this Advent season to return to the beginning and like those pruned vines, start again. So – can we conceive of a life better, purer, more attuned to God’s will than our own, and in so doing become a stronger, better Child of God?

The Coronation of the Virgin, Velazquez 1635, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

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