christmas

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 30 NOVEMBER 2025: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

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Pilgrim Traveler, Matthew 24, “Stay Awake!”

(Jesus said to his disciples) Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.     Matthew 24:42.

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The presence of the Advent wreath up at the altar today and the lighting of one candle of the four tells us immediately that Christmas is around the corner, and that we have four weeks or so to prepare for it. The tradition of the Advent wreath started with our Lutheran brothers and sisters in northern Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern had the inspiration when working with poor children in Hamberg. He must have become so fed up by the children constantly asking “Is it Christmas yet?” (the 19th century version of “Are we there yet?”) that he created this:

Recollections, Advent and Johann Hinrich Wichern, November 2017.

Not quite what we see today. The original wreath, with a base in an old cartwheel, shows all the days of Advent leading up to Christmas, with white candles indicating the Sundays. Quite elaborate compared to the present-day version! It’s a sort of 3D version of the Advent calendar!

This Sunday begins a new church year and with it our hopes and prayers for a year of peace and justice, of happiness and rejoicing, of goodwill among all people. Isn’t that what Christmas is supposed to be? Isn’t that what the angels themselves sang to the shepherds in the fields abiding? But as ever, we mustn’t get too carried away, with today’s gospel telling us to stay awake in a season when excess and collapse are more likely to be found than quiet reflection and attention. But we do have this season of Advent when we can do exactly that! Now is the time when we can reflect on the wonder of this season, when the almighty majesty of the Eternal Godhead took frail flesh and was born not into fame and glory but into a stable sheltering ox and ass! What a wonder, what an example; what a lesson. That we commemorate such a humble event 2000 years later is itself a wonder. It was, I believe, the culmination of God’s plan for us the human race and with whom, Genesis tells, God was “very pleased”. How so?

The greatest gift we have is free will. Unlike the beasts of the field, locked into the basics of getting through the day, we have choices. For whatever reason, we might forgo having a meal for some reason greater than responding to hunger. We might go and climb Mount Everest simply because “it is there”. We can create artwork to strengthen the beauty around us. Animals seem to have no idea or ability to do such. Only we can. But (as always) this greatest gift began to be used for the wrong purpose. We can cause grief, hatred, evil simply because we can. That was why, I believe, God entered human life. Ancient Canaan, the land promised to Abraham by God, practiced child sacrifice at that time. Even worse, the Canaanites thought they were doing the right thing. If they needed something tremendous, such as relief from famine, or the threat of invasion, such big requests of the gods (Moloch in particular), demanded a big price (which reflects normal human experience). But in this case it was child sacrifice. And I believe it was this that caused our God to intervene in human history. Abram/Abraham heard a tiny voice, believed it to be holy and obeyed it (Genesis 12). In that way, God found a believer, sent him into the heartland of this abomination, and so began the history of God’s people, beginning with the elimination of that terrible practice  (which took a long time). For about 2000 years God slowly revealed the divine nature: God was found to be  loyal, powerful, forgiving, a listener, merciful, a lover of freedom and open to relationship. With that finally established, God’s Son arrived and displayed those identical qualities in his lifework. Being fully human, Jesus showed us how to be fully human, acting and behaving in the way God has always wanted us to behave. And everything Jesus did in his ministry we can too, given the gifts which God has provided for all of us, without exception. And Christmas marked the arrival of this man who showed us the true meaning of being human utterly and completely. We can all be like him, he using his gifts, we using ours. 

And so how about an Advent resolution? To be as truly and completely human as Jesus was. So we can never excuse ourselves with the plaintive “I was only human” to explain a fault. No – had I been truly human I would never have done/said/thought the thing I should not have. It is to betray our humanity if we excuse ourselves in that way. To be completely human is to get as close to the Lord as we can, the One who made us human, and to ask guidance or forgiveness when we have failed, that is, become less than human. In this way we will be in great shape when the Great Day arrives, when Pastor Wichern gave a sigh of relief, and we sing Adeste Fidelis!

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Navan, County Meath, Republic of Ireland.

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SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2025: THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD.

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Adoration of the Magi, Baptistry of Florence Cathedral c.1250-1330, Pinterest.com.

They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.    Matthew 2:11.

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Today’s gospel is one of the most famous, and fascinating, events in the life of the Lord. First of all, who on earth were the Magi? That word itself is not Greek (in which all our Christian scriptures are written). It is written μάγος (magos) but that word comes from Old Persian “magosh” meaning priest. But back then that meant one versed not only in the holy scripture of their religion (whatever it was) but also in divination and astronomy. Our own word “magic” comes from this root word. They might well have been Zoroastrians, a very ancient religion, with belief in One God, predating Christianity, and still practiced today. And note also that there is no mention of how many visitors there were to the stable. The three gifts and their value have led to the tradition of three kings. So this whole episode is a mysterious part of the story of Jesus. Scholarly tradition has it as the initiation of the Gentiles into the Lord’s mission, even as a new born. The shepherds represent the Hebrew people into whom Jesus was born, poor, like them, and the wise men are the Gentiles, recognizing him almost at the same time, but much more wealthy with their precious gifts. This is the message in the second reading today. Here was Jesus, even in his first days, welcomed as the apostle to the whole world, in the original sense of the word, as a plenipotentiary sent with the full power of the one who sent him (Hebrews 3:1). And clearly, judging from today’s first reading, this event was considered to be the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah, with the telling omission of myrrh. That “treasure”, as today’s gospel puts it, was used in those days, among other things, for embalming a dead body. 

Ah yes, those three treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What did they symbolize? Clearly they are not traditional Christmas gifts! The gold would be quite welcome by anyone of course, but those other two…. Most Catholics are familiar with incense, that substance placed on burning coals in the thurible during Mass or Benediction, producing a strong fragrance, the most spectacular of which can be seen here. Among other things, it is symbolic of our prayers rising to heaven and to God. So it is priestly. Gold, of course, is symbolic of power and wealth, such as that of a king. But myrrh is different. It is still used in a variety of ways today, mostly in support of good health. But 2000 years ago this gum resin from certain trees was also employed in lessening suffering from ill health and also embalming the dead, which possibly was the symbolic reason it was presented to the infant Jesus. Hence King, Priest and Suffering Servant were the symbolic meanings of these three gifts. They summed up the entire mission of the Savior even at his birth. And it was the Gentile visitors who gave them.  

These 12 verses in Matthew, the only gospel to mention the Wise Men, have given rise to an array of speculation and argument, even to the extent of naming them: Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar! And the name of this special, unique event is the Epiphany, or the recognition, the manifestation, of God in the newborn Jesus to the Gentiles. As mentioned, many scholars suggest they were possibly Zoroastrian priests, known for their ability to interpret divine meaning from celestial events (which would explain them following the Star). There was much admiration of them in the Roman world, and the East was often considered to be rich in wisdom and knowledge, which admiration can be found even today. But it also seems that most scholars look upon the entire story as somewhat mythological, and that any serious effort to identify them as real will end in career death. The Wise Men, according to most scholars therefore, should be taken as symbolic rather than real. There are some exceptions, but that is the opinion of most scholars of the New Testament. Be that as it may, Matthew clearly thought it important that it be clearly stated that the Lord had been born for all peoples in all places. That cannot be denied and is as true today as the day he wrote it. Jesus is for all people and all time, the Savior and the Lord of all.

Shrine of the Three Kings 1180-1225, Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Cologne, Germany.

HAVE A HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR 2025!

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SUNDAY 29 DECEMBER 2024: FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH.

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The Holy Family, Kristyn Brown n.d.

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.      Luke 2:51-52.

(Apologies for this late posting; I was visiting family in London and control of the website is a challenge from a distance. I will keep this posting up until Friday, then publish the reflection on next Sunday’s Epiphany on that day)

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The family can be considered to be the primal human society. It is there that we each begin, totally dependent on someone else, helpless and utterly vulnerable. We learn slowly and hesitantly how to manage our own bodies and begin to examine the world around us. The hope is, of course, is that this world is a world of unconditional love. That will become the solid foundation on which we will stand for the rest of our lives. And our perfect model is the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (or, as they would call themselves, Y’shua, Miriam and Yosef). In some respects it is my opinion that this is, in many ways, a reflection of the Holy Trinity itself, the burning source of all love and life. There is a father figure present and there is a child of God, and Mary is in some ways a representation of the Holy Spirit of God. Remember that in Hebrew and Aramaic, Jesus’ language, the words spirit and wisdom are feminine. John tells us that God is love (1 John 4:7-12), and so the holy family can be considered to be the essence of love in practice. It is our perfect model of family life and love. We all tend to be reflections of our parents for better or worse. If that reflection is founded in love, we are set for a very happy life; if not, then challenges await. But the Holy Family is a perfect model of love in action, even if the actual described events are scarce. Joseph is super protective, responding positively and immediately to the warnings concerning the threats to the life of the newborn by King Herod. And the child was not even his own! Mary accepted God’s will by accepting the miracle conception of her son, then showing her generosity and concern for Elizabeth her kinswoman. And Jesus in today’s gospel shows the earliest response and acceptance to God’s will for him. So here we have a model of what family life should be like. Considering the adult Jesus and the way he conducted his life, we may safely assume that his childhood gave him a solid grounding in compassion and acceptance which he showed under all conditions.

The other two readings seem to reflect on parents and their attitude to God and the children’s respect for their parents. Mutual support and understanding are called for with children taking care of parents even if their minds fail. “Kindness to a father will not be forgotten” Sirach says. “Heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” is encouraged between couples, which must also include forgiveness. And then of course, “put on love, that is, the bond of perfection”, according to Paul. So, adding all this together, we have a recipe for a happy, long-lived devoted family, each one looking out for the others. All of which is appropriate for a Sunday dedicated to the Holy Family. Each and every member of the family has obligations and expectations all grounded in God’s will. When all that is functional, then God’s will is obeyed and the result, according to today’s holy scripture, is the profoundest happiness any one of us can expect in this life. Indeed, it is a reflection of the eternal happiness of heaven. So when each of us finds that perfect other, and accepts the full consequences willingly, happily and with gratitude, and when the other gives themselves totally to us, then we may expect a happiness in this world that looks forward to a happiness which is eternal, beyond all imagining. The Holy Family went before us; and we follow in love and faith, and with the hope that we leave this world (and this year) a little bit better than we found it. Amen.

The Holy Family, Bohemian Beachcomber n.d.

a very happy and holy NEW YEar 2025 TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

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SUNDAY 22 DECEMBER 2024: THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT AND THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

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The Visitation, Ghirlandaio 1491, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.

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Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.    Luke 1:41-42.

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You might recall that when the three wise men, following the star, arrived in Jerusalem they enquired of King Herod where the newborn King of the Jews was to be found (Matthew 2:1-2). Herod, feigning friendly co-operation (because Herod was psychopathically protective of his rôle as king and would do anything to protect it) enquired of the priests where the Messiah was to be born according to the prophets and tradition. The answer is today’s first reading from the book of the Prophet Micah: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel…” Remember also that David was a shepherd boy in Bethlehem, he who became the King of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1). So Bethlehem was always known as the “City of David”. Remember also that according to Luke, Joseph was of the house or tribe of David. In obedience to the order of the Emperor Augustus, a census was to be taken and everyone had to be registered in the place they were born, which for him was Bethlehem. It turned out, of course, that the house of David was far bigger than the city of David, hence the Holy Family had to find shelter wherever they could find it, all the inns being overwhelmed, they who had traveled from Nazareth. But presumably before they knew all that, Mary had learned from the angel Gabriel not only that she was to bear the Son of God, but also that her relative Elizabeth was also pregnant and in her sixth month. That meant of course, that daily activities would be becoming more  challenging, and that help would be gratefully accepted. So in that way. “The Visitation”, the second mystery of the Rosary, took place somewhere in the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:26-38). That, by the way, is roughly 90 miles to the south of Nazareth, perhaps more than 5 days on foot. This is the legendary Middle East hospitality taken to an extreme level! 

These readings are all preparation for the glorious day commemorating the birth of Jesus. Cousin Elizabeth seems to have been the first to recognize and respond to Mary as “the mother of my Lord” and presumably from that she knew she was in the unborn presence of God. All the prophets had foreseen this moment, and the Letter to the Hebrews, today’s second reading, says of Christ, ““Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second.” So we are here, all of us, to follow where he led, to do the will of God, seen firstly in the birth of Jesus and our acceptance of that as a fact, then in his life, obeying God’s will in every way, and his death by refusing to betray that trust and accepting death, then in the Resurrection. And there is the model for us all. And it began all those years ago.

Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis!

Angels Garlanding the Infant Jesus, Ann Macbeth n.d., Private Collection.

A Very Happy, Blessed and Holy Christmas

to You and Your Family and Friends!

Gloria!

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SUNDAY 1 DECEMBER 2024: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

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Be Vigilant at All Times and Pray, The Lay Institute of Divine Mercy, California, USA. 

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“Be vigilant at all times and pray….”    Luke 21:36.

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You know of course that our Christian scriptures were originally written in Greek, not Latin. So today, as we welcome the first Sunday of Advent, note that the word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”. This Latin word is a translation of the original Greek word “parousia”, παρουσία, which more often than not in the New Testament means the second coming of the Lord at the end of time. Perhaps this should be the word used in today’s gospel as it is so focussed on that specific moment when Jesus will return in all his glory. But it certainly trains our sights on the whole intent of Advent – the arrival of the Lord. We would normally mean this as a preparation for Christmas Day, but today’s readings remind us that there is a much greater meaning here. We should never forget that we are all on a much greater journey, one which will conclude with each of us standing before the Lord of Light, either when we are called from this life, or on the Last Day, should we be witness to that. 

So there are, it seems, three possible arrivals in mind here. First, of course, is the 25th December (or January 7 for our Orthodox and some of our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters), the commemoration of the arrival of Jesus in our midst, poor, laying in a food trough for animals and visited by the shepherds, the poorest of the poor in that society. It is hard to imagine a more challenging start to anyone’s life! Then there is the certainty of each of us being called to judgment when we leave this world. We should be prepared for that moment. As today’s gospel says, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap”. Good advice for the Christmas season. Although this refers to the Second Coming, it can easily be applied to the last moments each one of us has on earth: are we ready, even if at Christmastide? But we should not forget that the reading’s intent is to remind us of the promise of the end of time, the parousia, the return of the Lord in majesty and power, to judge us all. Well, I know which one of those I am most comfortable with! The presents are being readied, the decorations are about to be put up, the special foods purchased, and on and on. As the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” 

But these days everyone complains that the whole season is commercialized beyond imagination. Consider, for example, the humble Advent calendar on sale in many places. Some are “luxury” editions, with expensive gifts behind every day-gate. And that is just in anticipation of the day! Can’t help thinking that a donation to a favorite charity would be money better spent. Shouldn’t that be an automatic part of the season for all of us? I do remember that, as a child, Advent seemed endless, a long, long time waiting for Christmas to come. Perhaps there’s a lesson there too. It gives us time to prepare what’s in our mind and heart and set up the decorations to welcome the Lord into our very soul, the innermost me – you – us. The baby Lord should find there something better than a shabby dwelling in a cattle shelter, adequate to the need, but not suitable for the arrival of the King of the Universe, as last Sunday’s celebration says. Something beyond spring cleaning is called for here. So be it – let the preparation begin!

Christmas enacted in St. Patrick’s Church, North Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

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