Why the Word became Flesh

Although the average person is probably not aware, there are actually four different sets of readings for, The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas). There are readings for the Vigil, for Mass during the night, for Mass at dawn and finally Mass during the day. I would like to comment on the readings for Christmas Mass during the day (John 1:1-18).

St. John tells us, “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory” (John 1:14).

As Christians if we get past the Holy Jolly Christmas images, we see the scene in Bethlehem, with the infant Jesus born of the Virgin Mary in a simple manger.

Meditating on this scene, might ask why God became a child. Why was the incarnation necessary?

While St Thomas Aquinas admits that God could have saved us and revealed himself to us in a different manner, the incarnation is the most fitting manner for him to have accomplished his goal.

As St Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, because we are part of the visible creation, God has chosen to reveal invisible things through the things we can see in creation (Romans 1:20).

God did not despise our human weakness but chose to reveal his goodness, wisdom, justice and power through the incarnation. God has condescended to reveal his goodness in the manner most understandable to us. By joining human created nature to Himself, in that one person of Christ, God reveals his goodness in the most easily understood manner.

It was necessary to do so in order to save us. God sent his Son to save the world from sin. As St John reminds us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

St Thomas reminds us “it was necessary for man’s salvation that God should become incarnate” (STh., III q.1 a.2 s.c.–resp.), but this necessity must be understood not in an absolute sense as the only possible way to accomplish our salvation. We must admit that God in his infinite power, could have chosen a different way.

Yet we can say the incarnation was necessary as the best and most convenient way to accomplish our salvation. In God’s infinite wisdom, it is the best way to accomplish our salvation even if other ways are possible. As St Augustine reminds us, “there was no other way more fitting, and no other needed for healing our misery” (On the Trinity, 13.10.13)

We receive five benefits through the incarnation.

Faith

Firstly, we may increase our faith because we see God himself speaking.

St Augustine notes, “

“It was in order to make the mind able to advance more confidently toward the truth that Truth itself, the divine Son of God, put on humanity without putting off His divinity and built this firm path of faith so that man, by means of the God-man, could find his way to man’s God.” (De civ. Dei 11.2).

As St John reminds us in our Gospel, Jesus “...was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus is “The true light, which enlightens everyone.” Yet it is only by faith that we accept him. The world did not accept this light and even his own people did not accept him.

In the light of faith, however, St John tells us, “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.”

Hope

Jesus also came to inspire hope.

As St Augustine notes,

“For what was so necessary for raising our hopes and for liberating the minds of mortals… than to show how highly God esteemed us and how much He loved us?” (De Trin. 13.9.12). 

What could be a greater proof of God’s love, than for our Savior, while remaining fully God, to take on our nature, without detriment to His own divine nature, and in order to enter into fellowship without our nature?

As St Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Charity

Finally, by his incarnation Christ has greatly enkindled our charity. A St Augustine notes,

 “What greater reason is apparent for the advent of the Lord than that God might show His love in us, commending it powerfully, inasmuch as “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”? (De Catech. Rudit. iv.).

An Example to Imitate

By becoming man, Jesus also gave us an example to follow. It is much more difficult to follow an unseen God than to follow the God-Man Jesus Christ. This is also the very essence of discipleship. Instead of focusing on classrooms and book learning, discipleship was much more of an apprenticeship. It is very fitting then, to have a living example to follow as a disciple. Disciples are called to imitate the life and teachings of our master.

Partakers of the Divine Nature

Finally and most importantly, the true reason for the incarnation was to help us “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). By entering into communion with the Word, we receive divine sonship, and become sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:29, Galatians 4:6).

As St Athanasius famously put it, “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” This saying is echoed by St Thomas, “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods” (Opusc. 57: 1–4, as quoted in CCC 460).

Obviously, this language could be misunderstood. By our union with Christ, we become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This occurs through our participation in the life of the Blessed Trinity, yet we will remain finite beings. It is God’s eternal desire that we share in his divine life by becoming “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

As the Catechism reminds us, “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (CCC 261, cf. 234). In order to accomplish the mission of revealing the mercy and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the incarnation became necessary as the remedy for our sinful state.

In the mystery of God’s plan, we become something more through the incarnation of God’s only Son. We are now able to participate in a deeper way in the life of the Most Holy Trinity. We are a new creation, and live under a new covenant, through the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit. God has made all of this possible, through the incarnation.

God is With Us

I wanted to begin by sharing a personal passion of mine. I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy talking to people about their faith. In the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to talk with someone who had almost no background in faith whatsoever. Today it is popular to call such people “nones.” People who say they have no faith.  

When I shared about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and about Jesus being fully God and fully man, this person was not shy to say, “That sounds completely incredible!” They challenged me, “Do you really believe that?”

This reminded me of something that occurred to me forty years ago. I was working as summer student for a government agency, and we were going to live in a remote location in large trailers. When we picked up the trailers from the yard, everything was in working order except the propane-powered refrigerators. So we visited a repair shop, the repair technician gave us a secret method to get them working. We had to remove the units and then lay them on the ground and rotate them through a series of very specific, but strange maneuvers—almost like physiotherapy.

The repair technician said, “I know this method sounds really weird, but trust me it works!” Sure enough, after following his method, the units came back to life. It struck me that the words he said might apply to our Gospel this week.

“I know this idea sounds really weird, but trust me it works!” You see faith is about trust.

As we reflect on our Gospel, once again we see that God became a little child. We call this the incarnation.

This week we and learn three things from our readings. We learn, who Jesus is; secondly, why our belief about Jesus matters, and finally, what our response to this truth should be.

Jesus is God

First, Jesus is God. The child growing in the virgin Mary’s womb was, as we confess together “conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph is not literally Jesus’ father. God is the father of this child. Not in the normal manner of course, but by the Holy Spirit.

St Matthew then quotes Isaiah noting, “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and you shall name him Emmanuel” The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” Perhaps this is as puzzling today as it was to the original Jewish audience. How can a child be God with us?

Not only are the ideas of God becoming man and the virgin birth puzzling, but in the mind of many, this claim also makes Christianity too exclusive.

While other religions claim to make you good, and lead you to God, we are claiming instead that God came to us. God took the initiative. As St Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Yes, we do search for God, but he came to us first.

When we come to realize just how radical this claim is, it is impossible to believe that Christianity is just one-good-religion-among-many at the religious buffet.

Think about his for a moment, if Jesus is not God as we claim, then our faith is a lie. Jesus cannot be merely a good man, or a great teacher, or a prophet, although of course he is all those things, he also claims to be God.

Why Our Belief about Jesus Matters

So I might ask you all, why is this important? Not only is Jesus God, but we are told “He will save his people from their sins.” Following Jesus as his disciple is not merely a good way of life, but the way to salvation. As Jesus himself says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Living a good life is admirable, but we must remember that we cannot save ourselves by our good works.

As St Paul forcefully reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9). We are saved by Jesus death on the cross—a free gift of God’s grace, which we receive through faith, not by our own good works. And of course, this is the constant teaching of the church.

What our Response Should Be?

So then, I might ask you, how then should we respond to this truth?

First, we must make a choice. Jesus claims to be God, and this calls for an all-or-nothing response from us. Is he truly the Lord (as he claims), or instead perhaps he is a liar, or maybe even a lunatic? If he is not the Lord, then he cannot be good.

If we have come to believe that Jesus is God, we must then demonstrate our faith. As St Paul just told us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith”

What does it mean to be saved “through faith”?  

In our second reading, St Paul calls each one of us to “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). The fathers of Second Vatican Council point out that the obedience of faith is not, as the word obedience sounds, merely following the rules, instead something from the heart. We engage our through commitment and trust. “The obedience of faith” then is the complete submission of our heart and will to God. Our tradition calls this an act of faith. Our cooperation in an act of faith is the necessary beginning, and then of course, our life and actions change as a result. It all starts however, in the heart.

How does this work? Perhaps as we read Sacred Scripture, or hear it preached, the Holy Spirit moves our hearts, and opens our minds to see the truth. God intends this inspiration to lead to our joyful assent, to our “yes” to God. Yet this does not take away our freedom. We still have a choice.

In fact, the obedience of faith or making our own act of faith is the goal of our joyful expectation in Advent.

Many of us prepare a manger scene in our homes at Christmas to remind us of the Nativity. I invite you today to imagine that this manger is your heart. As we sang in our psalm response, "Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory."

We need to prepare our heart to receive our savior. WE have had many opportunities in the past few weeks for Confession. Preparing our hearts might also require prayer, or perhaps meditating on Sacred Scripture. Above all, it means our “yes” to God in our hearts.

Perhaps some of you feel your heart is unworthy to receive the King? Yet even a humble manger in a stable was his resting place that day.  We must remember that God proved his love for us while we were still sinners. The truth is, none of us is worthy to receive him, but out of love, he comes to each of us, if we will open our hearts. 

Once again, this idea might still sound weird to some people, but trust me it works!  This Advent may each of our hearts sing, “O come, O come, Immanuel.”

“O Come, O Come, Immanuel.”

Our Gospel this week has a lot to say about Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. I would like to begin by quoting the most important thing Joseph says in Scripture. Ok, wait for it ……. In fact we do not have a single word spoken by Joseph recorded in the Bible.

I’m sure you have heard the expression, “actions speak louder than words.” Joseph speaks volumes, but we don’t know a single thing he ever said. Yet we see a man of profound integrity, a merciful and gentle man, but most of all we see obedience.

We can certainly understand how he would be conflicted and puzzled by news of Mary’s pregnancy. Yet after the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, we are told, “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home” (Matthew 1:24). The Angel informs Joseph that this child was conceived through the Holy Spirit and then quotes from the prophecy in our first reading, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

As we reflect on our Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Matthew 1:18-24) we are confronted once again with God himself taking flesh and becoming a child. We call this the incarnation. We might ask, what is the big deal? Why do we need an incarnation?

We learn three things from our Gospel. We learn who Jesus is; secondly, why our belief about Jesus matters, and finally, what our response should be.

Jesus is God

First, Jesus is God. The child growing in Mary’s womb was “conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph is not literally Jesus’ father, nor is any human father. God is the father of this child.

Furthermore, the angel tells Joseph, “to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). In last week’s reading from Isaiah 35, God himself saves his people. [1]

Yet, the angel says Jesus “will save his people from their sins.” This clearly implies that Jesus is acting in the place of God. Jesus, who is God, will save his people.

To make the point crystal clear St Matthew quotes Isaiah 7, “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” This is not a spoiler alert for us today, but to St Matthew’s Jewish audience this was a big deal! How can the child Jesus also be God with us?

Yet the idea that Jesus is God is also a problem for some modern people. Does this claim make Christianity too exclusive and give it a kind of all-or-nothing character. No other religion makes the claim that God became man.

While other religions claim to make you good, and lead you to God, we are claiming that God came to us. God takes the initiate. As St Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is not of course to deny some goodness in other faiths, but no other religion has an incarnation.

When we come to realize just how radical this claim is, it is impossible to believe that Christianity is just one good religion among many at the religious buffet.

Think about this for a moment, if Jesus is not God as we claim, then our faith is a lie. It is actually a delusion. If Jesus is a liar, he is not good. We cannot sit on the fence about this. We must decide either for or against Jesus claim to be God. Jesus cannot be merely a good man, or a great teacher, or a prophet, although of course he is those things, he also claims to be God.

Why Our Belief about Jesus Matters

Not only is Jesus God, “He will save his people from their sins.” Following Jesus as his disciple is not merely a way to a good life, but the way to salvation. As Jesus himself says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”  (John 14:6). 

Someone might say, “I don’t think doctrine is important, I think it is enough to just live and good life, and be a good person.” Of course living a good life is admirable, but we must remember that we cannot save ourselves by our good works.

As St Paul forcefully reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9). This is the constant teaching of the church.

Jesus saves us by his sacrificial death on the cross. In fact, even the power to live a good life comes from God’s unmerited grace.

 

What Our Response Should Be?

First, the truth of the incarnation calls us to make a choice either for or against Jesus. Jesus claims to be God, and this calls for an all-or-nothing response from us. Once we have assented to the belief that Jesus is God, we must demonstrate our faith. In our second reading, St Paul calls each one of us to “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5).

The “obedience of faith” means the complete submission of our heart and will to God. [2] This fundamental act of saying “yes” to God is necessary for our cooperation with God’s grace. This full submission of our heart allows us to receive his unmerited forgiveness.

How does this work? The Holy Spirit moves our hearts, turning them towards God, and opens our minds to see the truth. God intends this inspiration in our hearts to lead to our joyful assent, our “yes” to God, and an ever-deepening relationship with him. Yet God does not force anyone to believe.

Jesus Christ became a man to bring about the obedience of faith in each of our hearts. This is the goal of our joyful expectation in Advent.

Many of us prepare a manger scene in our homes a Christmas to remind us of the Nativity. I invite you today to imagine that this manger is your heart. We need to prepare our heart to receive our savior. 

Do you feel your heart is unworthy to receive the King? Even a humble manger in a stable was his resting place that day. None of us is worthy to receive him, but out of love he comes to each of us, if we will open our hearts. “O come, O come, Immanuel.”

_________________________

[1]     “Here is your God, he comes with vindication;

With divine recompense he comes to save you” (Is 35:4). 

[2] This is the meaning of the act of “faith” or the “obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals.” (Dei Verbum, 5) As the fathers of Second Vatican Council put it,

To make this act of faith, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes of the mind and giving "joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and believing it." To bring about an ever deeper understanding of revelation the same Holy Spirit constantly brings faith to completion by His gifts. (Dei Verbum, 5)

Joy: The Fulfillment of All Desire

Today we celebrate ‘Gaudete Sunday.’ Gaudete means ‘Rejoice.’[i] We often see our clergy wearing rose-colored vestments and we light a rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath, the candle of joy. As we journey with Our Lady towards Jesus' Nativity, we pause to celebrate the joy of this expectation.

In our first reading, Isaiah promises that when the Lord’s Servant comes to vindicate his people, he will strengthen the weak and calm the hearts of those who are frightened. His salvation will include opening the eyes of the blind, causing the deaf to hear, the lame to leap, and the mute to sing. They will enter Zion singing. The Lord will crown his people with everlasting joy. Sorrow and morning will flee, when the Lord pours out his joy and gladness upon his people. 

Joy is an affection of the soul, closely linked with the emotion of delight or the satisfaction of our desires. Joy is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and an effect of the theological virtue of charity. Psychologically the emotion of joy is a feeling of delight or extreme gladness. Even psychologists view joy as an “exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.”[ii] Joy can be a passive sense of tranquility or an active desire to share this feeling with others.  

We can distinguish between natural joy in created things and spiritual joy which comes from a reflection on the Divine good[iii] which arises from hope. [iv] Although spiritual joy arises from hope it is also reflexive, when we are joyful, we experience greater hope. We can also experience supernatural joy as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, Romans 15:13).

As I reflect on the notion of joy, I can ask myself do I experience joy in my faith? I need to be honest with myself. A joyless faith is defective. God promises us joy!

I don’t know about you, but ‘Gaudete Sunday’ is a good time to examine my heart on my experience of joy.

Our Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11) continues to highlight John the Baptist. St Matthew tells us that when John the Baptist heard from prison, about the mighty works and miracles that Jesus was performing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (11:3). 

We each need to ask ourselves this same question. In today’s world, we cannot assume that everyone understands who Jesus is. Is Jesus the one? Do we truly believe he has come to satisfy our desires?

In answer to John the Baptist’s question, Jesus understands himself as the spirit-anointed Servant from Isaiah (11 and 61). Jesus answers John’s disciples by pointing out his fulfilment of a number of key passages from Isaiah about the Suffering Servant. Both our first reading from Isaiah 35 and our Psalm (146), highlight a number of these fulfillments. Jesus has come to proclaim a new age of the Spirit (Isaiah 61:2), a year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:2). This coming of the Spirit will bring God’s people comfort, joy and gladness of heart (Isaiah 29:19; 35:10; 61:1). 

Jesus’ mission from the Father is to be the fulfillment of all desire. This is joy! While it includes natural joy, he is primarily wanting to inspire spiritual or supernatural joy in our hearts by relationship with him.

The coming of the Spirit will bring about a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) and a New Law written on our hearts. The Holy Spirit now guides us from the heart, rather than merely by following an external checklist of rules. God’s forgiveness is not a contractual matter. In fact, it is impossible to earn God’s favor by being good. 

Through God’s infinite mercy, we all become adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. We are brought into communion with Christ and the Holy Spirit especially though Baptism and Holy Communion (Ephesians 3:20). God’s act of forgiveness invites us into a relationship with him, or into communion with him.

How can we build this relationship and open our hearts to receive joy?

Many saints have told us about the power of prayer. St. John Chrysostom says that “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.”  

Likewise, our namesake, St. Thérèse of Lisieux notes, "It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God's grace, for no sooner have we thanked Him for one blessing than He hastens to send us ten additional favors in return.”  

We must begin with the realization that God loves us, and we are his children. He desires our happiness. He will not necessarily protect us from suffering but will ultimately bring us joy. 

Yet we might ask how can we say God desires to give us joy if we end up suffering? How can Jesus be the fulfillment of all desire and yet allow us to suffer. Perhaps only those who have accompanied Jesus in the mystery of suffering can rightly bear witness to this joy. He is with us always. We are joined to him in our sufferings. He brings meaning to our sufferings.

As humans, we learn to trust in little steps. Perhaps we can begin by truthfully asking ourselves. Am I happy? Have I found joy in this life? On a spiritual level, have I tried to find joy and peace in my prayer with Jesus? I would invite you today to take a small step on this journey. 

I believe that Jesus came to bring us joy and the fulfillment of all desire! This is his promise.

I challenge each one of you to prove him wrong. If your heart is not yet ready to trust in him completely … take the first step! Open your heart in prayer. Pour out all your desires before him and let him enter your heart. 

For a longer and more detailed version of this post see The Joy of the Gospel.

____________________________________
NOTES:
[i] The original Latin introit or entrance antiphon for this Mass, sings the words of Philippians 4:4 -- Gaudete in Domino semper: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
[ii] APA Dictionary of Psychology, https://dictionary.apa.org/joy
[iii] St Thomas, STh., II-II q.9 a.4 resp.
[iv] STh., II-II q.20 a.4 obj. 2

 

The Joy of the Gospel

Today we celebrate ‘Gaudete Sunday.’ Gaudete means ‘Rejoice.’[i] We often see our clergy wearing rose-colored vestments and we light a rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath, the candle of joy. As we journey with Our Lady towards Jesus' Nativity, we pause to celebrate the joy of this expectation.

In our first reading, Isaiah promises that when the Lord’s Servant comes to vindicate his people, he will strengthen the weak and calm the hearts of those who are frightened. His salvation will include opening the eyes of the blind, causing the deaf to hear, the lame to leap, and the mute to sing. They will enter Zion singing. The Lord will crown his people with everlasting joy. Sorrow and morning will flee, when the Lord pours out his joy and gladness upon his people. 

Joy is an affection of the soul, closely linked with the emotion of delight or the satisfaction of our desires. Joy is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and an effect of the theological virtue of charity. Psychologically the emotion of joy is a feeling of delight or extreme gladness. Even psychologists view joy as an “exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.”[ii] Joy can be a passive sense of tranquility or an active desire to share this feeling with others.  

We can distinguish between natural joy in created things and spiritual joy which comes from a reflection on the Divine good[iii] which arises from hope. [iv] Although spiritual joy arises from hope it is also reflexive, when we are joyful, we experience greater hope. We can also experience supernatural joy as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, Romans 15:13).

As I reflect on the notion of joy, I can ask myself, do I experience joy in my faith? I need to be honest with myself about this becasue, a joyless faith is defective. 

I don’t know about you, but ‘Gaudete Sunday’ is a good time to examine my heart on my experience of joy.

Our Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11) continues to highlight John the Baptist. His life is part of the family history of Jesus and shows us the fulfillment of the Old Testament. St Matthew tells us that when John the Baptist heard from prison, about the mighty works and miracles that Jesus was performing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (11:3). 

We each need to ask ourselves this same question. In today’s world, we cannot assume that everyone understands who Jesus is. Is Jesus the one? Do we truly believe he has come to satisfy our desires?

In answer to John the Baptist’s question, Jesus understands himself as the spirit-anointed Servant from Isaiah (11 and 61). Jesus answers John’s disciples by pointing out his fulfilment of a number of key passages from Isaiah about the Suffering Servant. Both our first reading from Isaiah 35 and our Psalm (146), highlight a number of these fulfillments, but the complete fulfillment relates to at least four sections of Isaiah.

"Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; cf. Psalm 146), the lame walk (Isaiah 35:6), lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear (Isaiah 35:5; cf. Psalm 146), the dead are raised (Isaiah 26:19), and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Isaiah 29:19; 61:1)” (Matthew 11:4-5). 

Jesus is not citing a single passage but showing how he fulfills Isaiah’s entire prophecy of the coming spirit-filled Servant of the Lord. In fact, he fulfills all of Scripture. Jesus has come to proclaim a new age of the Spirit (Isaiah 61:2), a year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:2). This coming of the Spirit will bring God’s people comfort, joy and gladness (Isaiah 29:19; 35:10; 61:1). 

Jesus’ mission from the Father is to be the fulfillment of all desire. This is joy! While it includes natural joy, he is primarily wanting to inspire spiritual or supernatural joy in our hearts by relationship with him.

The coming of the Spirit will bring about a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) and a New Law written on our hearts. The Holy Spirit now guides us from the heart, rather than merely by following an external checklist of rules. God’s forgiveness is not a contractual matter. In fact, it is impossible to earn God’s favor by being good. 

Through God’s infinite mercy, we all become adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. We are brought into communion with Christ and the Holy Spirit especially though Baptism and Holy Communion (Ephesians 3:20). God’s act of forgiveness invites us into a relationship with him, or into communion with him.

The overall theme of Advent is a time of joyful expectation and of preparation for the Lord’s coming. The person and preaching of John the Baptist invite us to prepare our hearts by repenting and renewing our commitment to the coming King. While this sounds difficult, God promises us joy!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the crowds, “What did you go out to the desert to see?” 

Why did all those people go out to see John the Baptist in the desert? In today’s world, perhaps it was John’s new fad diet. Eat the John the Baptist diet, and I guarantee you will lose twenty pounds in one week. Forget the Keto diet, just eat bugs! Joking aside, Jesus says they went out to see a prophet.

John the Baptist called the people to first renew their faith as God’s children and then to respond by a baptism of repentance. Joy comes from the heart. If we separate morality from relationship and a conversion of the heart, we end up with mere joyless rule-following. We reduce the faith to duty and legalism. I promise you this is not joy!

Those who try and fail at following the rules, turn away in discouragement. Those who appear to succeed in following the rules wrongly fill themselves with pride and see themselves as ‘better rule followers’ in comparison to others. The truth is rules without relationship leads to rebellion and discouragement. It leads to a joyless faith.

Many Catholics seem to think our faith is mostly about following the rules, but again this is a joyless life. 

Alternatively, someone else might approach his or her faith like driving the speed limit on the freeway. They go as fast as they think they can get away with, without getting caught, or punished. Have you ever heard some might say, “It’s only a venial sin, it’s no big deal!”

The Catechism reminds us that God's New Covenant requires a New Law. What does this mean? The Catechism notes, “The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operating through charity” (CCC 1983). The New law operates in our hearts from within. 

In case I have made someone nervous, we are not tossing out the Ten Commandments, we are instead bringing them to perfection in a new way. The new framework is personal relationship with God and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. God calls us not to mere duty but to the joyful pursuit of happiness in relationship with him and in the power of the Spirit. Our happiness is linked to God’s own goodness. 

How can we build this relationship and open our hearts to receive joy?

Many saints have told us about the power of prayer. St. John Chrysostom says that “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.”  

Likewise, our namesake, St. Thérèse of Lisieux notes, "It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God's grace, for no sooner have we thanked Him for one blessing than He hastens to send us ten additional favors in return.”  

We must begin with the realization that God loves us, and we are his children. He desires our happiness. He will not necessarily protect us from suffering but will ultimately bring us joy. 

Yet we might ask how can we say God desires to give us joy if we end up suffering? How can Jesus be the fulfillment of all desire and yet allow us to suffer. Perhaps only those who have accompanied Jesus in the mystery of suffering can rightly bear witness to this joy. He is with us always. We are joined to him in our sufferings. He brings meaning to our sufferings.

As humans, we learn to trust in little steps. Perhaps we can begin by truthfully asking ourselves. Am I happy? Have I found joy in this life? On a spiritual level, have I tried to find joy and peace in my prayer with Jesus? I would invite you today to take a small step on this journey. 

I believe that Jesus came to bring us joy and the fulfillment of all desire! This is his promise.

I challenge each one of you to prove him wrong. If your heart is not yet ready to trust in him completely … take the first step! Open your heart in prayer. Pour out all your desires before him and let him enter your heart. 

____________________________________
NOTES:

[i] The original Latin introit or entrance antiphon for this Mass, sings the words of Philippians 4:4 -- Gaudete in Domino semper: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

[ii] APA Dictionary of Psychology, https://dictionary.apa.org/joy

[iii] St Thomas, STh., II-II q.9 a.4 resp.

[iv] STh., II-II q.20 a.4 obj. 2

Joyful Expectation

This Advent, as we journey with Mary to Bethlehem, and she approaches her time to give birth, we become part of her family.  Together with Our Lady we wait in joyful expectation of her son’s birth. This is the meaning of Advent. It is a joyful time of preparation and waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the King of David.

Our first reading from Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1–10) is hopefully familiar to those who have been through Confirmation as it is our source for the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 11:2). Notice, however, that even when discussing the fear of the Lord, Isaiah tells that the Spirit of Lord resting on us will bring us joy or delight. Isaiah tells us, “And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” We are not to think of God looking down on us disapprovingly with a big stick saying, “be good, or else.”

God desires to impart his good news to us. He offers us happiness and delight. To receive this spirit-filled joy, however, we must allow our hearts to be prepared and to accompany him as disciples. This requires our cooperation with his grace. 

God calls each one of us be good for goodness’ sake. We must believe that God loves us and desires to share with us what is best for each one of us. It is only through God’s goodness that we discover true happiness and fulfillment, and genuine freedom. This comes about as the Holy Spirit changes from us within.

To understand our Gospel passage (Matthew 3:1–12) we must enter the world of the Bible. Today when we hear the word ‘Gospel’, we immediately think of the four “Gospels” of the New Testament and when we say ‘Scriptures’ we think of a Bible with 72 books. At the time of Jesus, the clever idea of creating a stack of rectangular pages and then sewing them together on the spine, is something that was still unknown for centuries. Our reading from Isaiah would have been on a scroll 145 feet long!

Fragments of the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran

When the earliest Christians preached the good news or the “gospel” about Jesus Christ, they did so from the Old Testament Scriptures. The very term “preaching the good news” comes from the important second part of Isaiah 40–66 (especially 40:9; 52:7; 60:6; 61:1). The early Christians often used Scripture texts concerning the good news about Jesus, citing from Isaiah and the Psalms.

The second part of Isaiah (40–66) begins by talking a about a variety of ‘servants’ who will call all nations and peoples to return to Jerusalem and to submit to God’s reign and rule or kingdom on the earth. Soon, however Isaiah moves on to discuss one special Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–11; and 52:13–53:12). Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is the Suffering Servant who “took away our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matt 8:17 citing Isa 53:4). Matthew identifies the mission of Jesus with Isaiah 42:1–4 (Matthew 12:17–21).

Even our first reading from Isaiah 11 refers in part to the coming Messiah, who is “a shoot … from the stump of Jesse” upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus identifies his mission with the sprit-filled Servant found in Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:14-30). Later in his mission as the Lord’s Servant, Jesus shares the promise of the Holy Spirit with his all his disciples (Acts 1:5, 2:4).

With this background in mind, Matthew tells us that a final messenger or forerunner will come to prepare the way for the Messiah. “John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1). John’s message of repentance is the same message that Jesus will preach at the beginning of his ministry (Matthew 4:17).

The ministry of John the Baptist was foretold in Isaiah 40:3–5,

It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths (3:3).

John the Baptist’s clothing and strange eating behavior identified him as a prophet like Elijah. The Catechism notes, “St. John the Baptist is the Lord’s immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. “Prophet of the Most High,” John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last.” (CCC 523). John the Baptist’s birth and martyrdom are part of the Advent Liturgy’s presentation of ancient joyful expectancy of the Messiah (CCC 524).

John administered a baptism of repentance in which people acknowledged their sins and began to live a new life. Although perhaps experiencing a similar the process of conversion, Christian Baptism instituted by Jesus, was completely different from John’s earlier baptism of repentance. John acknowledges this in our Gospel reading. He notes that Jesus will baptize the Holy Spirit and fire (3:11). In Christian Baptism, we receive the grace of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus sacrifice on the cross (Acts 2:38), by the Holy Spirit and are joined to Christ and made part of his body (Galatians 3:27; Roman 6:5) and are adopted into his family.

Once again, the season of Advent is a time to celebrate the ancient family traditions of Jesus and recount the story of salvation history found in Sacred Scripture. Let us prayerfully join once again in Mary’s joyful expectation of the birth of the Messiah. We must prepare our hearts to receive him.

As we do so, let us pray with the church,

Lord our God,
help us to prepare for the coming of Christ your Son.
May he find us waiting, eager in joyful prayer.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.– Amen.

Advent is for Vigilance in Prayer

Our Gospel readings this Sunday (Matthew 24:37-44) urge us to begin our Advent with a particular attitude. On this First Sunday of Advent, our readings lead us to contemplate an attitude of humble vigilance towards our Lord. We must ‘stay awake,’ ‘be prepared,’ (Matthew 24:42, 44) and ‘make no provision for the desires of the flesh’ (Romans 13:14). St Paul tells us to “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:14).

Is Advent then a penitential season? Following the reforms of the liturgy at Second Vatican Council, the General Norms (39) of the Roman Missal remind us that Advent is a period of "devout and expectant delight." Strictly speaking, it is not a penitential season but rather a season of joyful anticipation. In this season, the church recounts the whole salvation history of Christ, beginning in the Old Testament, until Christ’s incarnation leads us all to Easter.

Advent comes for the Latin adventus. Christ’s Advent or ‘coming’ has a dual meaning; referring to the first coming of Christ in the incarnation, and later to the second coming of Christ at the end of the age.

If we focused purely on Christ’s second coming in judgment, we might view this season in a negative light and miss the joy implied in this message.

Advent is a season of joyful anticipation preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ, first in his Nativity, and then his second coming at the end of time.

Advent has a different character than Lent. Perhaps an apt metaphor for Lent would be training for an athletic competition. We place ourselves under a discipline to improve our performance. We might say, no pain no gain.

Unlike this, the metaphor for Advent is maternity. Yes, pregnancy involves watchful discipline and a degree of difficulty but the goal of new life makes this a time of joyful anticipation. During this season the church invites us to journey toward Christ's Nativity and to practice watchful anticipation, but always with a sense of joy.

Instead of being primarily a season of penance like Lent, it is a season of illumination and deeper conversion. The church invites us to join the family of Christ and celebrate his saving history leading up to the Nativity. The means of conversion is prayerful watching, and learning the family history of Christ in Sacred Scripture.

We need to go deeper in our understanding of the spirituality of this season. We are not waiting in lugubrious penance for the return of our Lord in judgment. We are not fearfully thinking “be good or else.” We are instead preparing our hearts for conversion, and for a definitive encounter with God who became a man. This conversion leads to the joy of the Spirit.

It is only thorough our understanding of the Incarnation that our hearts are prepared for his second coming. If we are not careful, it is easy to be distracted by the proverbial “holly jolly Christmas” celebrations which seem to start earlier every year.

The celebration of Advent invites us to enter deeply and prayerfully into the saving history of Christ offered in the readings. It is by first meditating on the Incarnation and Nativity that we look forward to and prepare our hearts and minds for Christ’s Second Coming in glory. The readings for Advent weave together both aspects of Christs two fold coming. By doing so we experience devout and expectant delight.

The discipline of preparing our hearts is our true penance. This involves prayer, reading Scripture and being truly present in the midst of the liturgy. Jesus in our Gospel readings calls us to have vigilance.

This theme of vigilance in prayer leads us to consider some difficulties people may face in their prayer life.

Distractions

The first is distractions in our prayer life. A certain amount of distraction in our prayer is inevitable. Some of the greatest saints who taught on prayer, such as St Teresa of Avila, faced almost constant distraction in her prayer. St Teresa always took the Scripture or some spiritual book with her in her prayer to help her concentrate. One time honored method of prayer involves reading from Scripture , then talking to God about what you have read, then spending a few moments in silence listening. In order to pray longer, the cycle is repeated over again.

Dryness

At times we can experience spiritual dryness in out prayer, where we fell like our “heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones” (CCC 2731). The Lord may allow this from time to time to test our resolve, or it may be due to some areas of our life that we have not fully submitted to God. We may require a deeper conversion.

Lack of Faith

The Catechism note, “the most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith” (CCC 2732). It is not that we directly doubt the truths of the faith, but we allow our preferences and cares to vie for our attention. We chose to pursue what we think are other more pressing matters. We tell ourselves, “I’m too busy, don’t have time to pray.” Or we chose to reward ourselves with some other activity which we think will bring us more joy or distraction.

Acedia or Lukewarmness

Finally, spiritual writers have identified a kind of spiritual depression that can occur when someone is very lax in the practice of their faith. They spiral down into a state where they lack vigilance, and become carelessness of heart (CCC 2733). Both Jesus words in our Gospel and the reading from St Paul warn us against this problem.

Jesus compares his second coming to that of the time of Noah. At the time of Noah, people were living life and we not prepared. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away (Matthew 24:39).

Many people live life assuming they have many years to come to make amends, but none of us knows the hour of our death. It may well be sooner than we think, and it may be unexpected. We need to live each day as though it were our last, and to be ready at any time to meet our Lord.

Jesus tells us to ‘stay awake’ and ‘to be prepared!’ Advent is a season of conversion, which calls each one of us to a deeper journey with our Lord. Come Lord Jesus!

 

Is Advent a Penitential Season?

​

Is Advent penitential? On first blush the answer seems to be “no”! 

In the history of the development of the liturgy, the focus of the early church was first on Easter and a solemn preparation for this feast we now call Lent. This makes complete sense. If we do not understand the suffering, death and resurrection into glory of Christ, then in the words of St Paul, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Nothing could be more important to our faith than this.

Liturgically, the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season was a “Johnny come lately.”  Advent (Latin adventus) is the translation of the Greek, parousia (παρουσία) or “coming”. In Matthew, Jesus says, “So will it be also at the coming (parousia) of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:39). Parousia usually refers to Christ’s own, “Messianic Advent in glory to judge the world at the end of this age” (BAGD 781).[1]  

In church tradition this term has taken on a dual meaning, referring to the first Advent of Christ in his nativity, and then to his second coming at the end of time. Matias Augé notes that, “In the ancient Roman sacramentaries, the term [adventus] is used both for the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, the Adventus secundum carnem, and his coming at the end of time.”[2]

Advent is a season of joyful anticipation preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ, first in his Nativity, and then his second coming at the end of time.

Advent has a different character than Lent. Perhaps an apt metaphor for Lent would be training for an athletic competition. We place ourselves under a discipline to improve our performance. We might say, no pain no gain.

Unlike this, the metaphor for Advent is maternity. Yes, pregnancy involves watchful discipline and a degree of difficulty but the goal of new life makes this a time of joyful anticipation. During this season the church invites us to journey toward Christ's Nativity and to practice watchful anticipation, but always with a sense of joy.

Instead of being primarily a season of penance like Lent, it is a season of illumination and deeper conversion. The church invites us to join the family of Christ and celebrate his saving history leading up to the Nativity. The means of conversion is prayerful watching, and learning the family history of Christ in Sacred Scripture.

Everything in Christ’s life from his birth to his eventual ascension into heaven in glory is part of the mystery of salvation (CCC 512). As the Catechism reminds us, “Though already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled 'with power and great glory' by the king’s return to earth” (CCC 671). There is an already-but-not-yet tension in the unfolding of Christ’s kingdom upon the earth.

Following the reforms of the liturgy at Second Vatican Council, the General Norms of the Roman Missal remind us that Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight,

39. Advent has a twofold character, for it is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of Christmas, in which the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered, and likewise a time when, by remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight.[3]

Advent is a season of joyful anticipation. In this season, the church recounts the whole salvation history of Christ, beginning in the Old Testament, until Christ’s incarnation leads us all to Easter. Only then, by remembrance of this, do we look forward and prepare our hearts and minds in hope of Christ’s Second Coming in glory. The readings for Advent weave together both aspects of Christs two fold coming.

It is not difficult to find Catholics who miss the joy implied in this message. We need to go deeper in our understanding of the spirituality of this season. We are not waiting in lugubrious penance for the return of our Lord in judgment. We are not fearfully thinking “be good or else.” We are instead preparing our hearts for conversion, and for a definitive encounter with God who became a man. This conversion leads to the joy of the Spirit.

We are not saving ourselves through our works of penance. In love, God took the initiative. As St Paul notes, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is why we can offer him “devout and expectant delight.” We must receive the joy of the Gospel.

Having said this, a prayerful meditation on the salvation history of Christ must indeed lead us to ongoing conversion as we grow in deeper surrender to our Lord. And yet we need to admit that many people are distracted by the proverbial “holly jolly Christmas” celebrations which seem to start earlier every year.  

The question is what is the most effective way to promote the joy of the Gospel?

Pope Francis has rightly complained about Christians who are joyless pickle faced “sourpusses” (Evangelii Gaudium, 85) who succeed in turning people away from the truth by their negative attitudes. Is being grumpy about how early someone put up his or her Christmas tree, really an essential truth of the Gospel?

If various spiritual disciplines and penances help you to focus more on the salvation history of Christ, and lead you to a deeper anticipation of his coming, they receive that blessing. It would seem to me; however, that encouraging people to read prayerfully the salvation story of Christ found in Scriptures would be infinitely more powerful.

Is advent a penitential season? Maybe, to a degree. It would be better to say it is it is a season of conversion, awakening, and joyful anticipation.

Matias Augé notes,

The second coming of Christ, a recurrent theme especially in the first weeks of Advent, is closely connected with the first coming. The certainty of the coming of Christ in the flesh encourages us as we wait for his glorious final appearance, when the messianic promises will be finally and completely fulfilled. In fact, in the birth of Jesus the ancient promises are fulfilled, and the way to eternal salvation is opened. [4]

This Advent, as we join in the joyful celebration of the Incarnation, let this celebration be the lenses through which we see the return of our Lord in judgment at his Parousia. In faith, hope and charity, may the work begun in his first coming be our life, our strength and our joy. In faith, we surrender to him. In joyful hope, we anticipate him, and his love will not disappoint us.

 ______________________________

[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 781.

[2] Matias Augé, “The Liturgical Year in the Roman Rite,” in Liturgical Time and Space, ed. Anscar J. Chupungco, trans. David Cotter, vol. V, Handbook for Liturgical Studies (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2000), 201.

[3] The Roman Missal: Renewed by Decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Promulgated by Authority of Pope Paul VI and Revised at the Direction of Pope John Paul II, Third Typical Edition (Washington D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), 114.

[4] Matias Augé, Ibid., 327–328.

“You will be hated by all because of my name”

In our Gospel reading for this Sunday (Luke 21:5-19) Jesus gives a prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple that took place later in 70 AD.

In popular Jewish understanding, there was an expectation of “a prophet like Moses” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) who would appear at the end of the age. Jesus as a type of New Moses is a theme in the Gospels, especially in Matthew. Jesus' words are taken seriously, and the crowds ask him, "Teacher, when will this happen?”

Jesus warns the crowd “not be deceived.” He warns, "…many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.'” He tells them, “Do not follow them!” Prayer and discernment are necessary.

Jesus' answer, however, does not seem to be limited to the destruction of Jerusalem. Later in this same chapter, Jesus speaks more specifically about fleeing Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-24) but then moves on to describe a later time when the world and the powers of heaven will be shaken (Luke 25-28). In the book of Revelation, we see a series of prophecies concerning the return of Christ at the end of time, and these prophecies cycle and repeat each time getting more intense.

Jesus' words apply both to the imminent crisis in Jerusalem, and in a fuller way to the final persecution or ‘the great tribulation’ at the end of time. Jesus tells us in Matthew's gospel, this will be a “great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be” (Matthew 24:21; Cf. Revelation 7:14).

The belief that Christians will face this final “great tribulation” is a matter of faith. Yet, how are we to respond to this teaching?

Some of you will no doubt remember the children’s fairy tale Chicken Little. The main character, Chicken Little (Henny Penny in some versions) is a hen on a farm, who is hit on the head with an acorn. Puzzled by this, she concludes that ‘the sky is falling.’ Chicken Little then runs around the farm sounding the alarm, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” The moral of this tale is that we should not believe everything we are told.

Many times in history, popular teachers have predicted that the end is near. Some have argued that we can use the calendar for our predictions, such as the end of the first millennium, or the end of the second millennium. Perhaps the sign will be some crisis involving wars, or world powers. Perhaps some other unpredicted modern event such as the so-called Y2K crisis in the year 2000.

I knew a priest right before the Y2K event who combined fears about this crisis with the teachings of unapproved apparitions, and rumors of an approaching comet, to predict the end was near. He was literally buying guns and gold to prepare. I knew another family who sold their family home and moved to a remote cabin in the wilderness. Of course, Y2K turned out to be very disappointing event. The lights did not even flicker.

In our gospel reading, Jesus warns us, “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end” (Luke 21:9). He then promises us that in the midst of life threatening persecution and martyrdom, “I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute”(21:15).

This is a special grace for this moment in time. In ordinary times, St. Peter reminds us, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for the reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15-16).

It seems that in many periods of history, persecution is the norm. As Jesus reminds us, “You will be hated by all because of my name” (Luke 21:17, Cf. John 15:18-20). Yet as Tertullian reminded his persecutors in the second century, “Yet, your tortures accomplish nothing, though each is more refined than the last; rather, they are an enticement to our religion. We become more numerous every time we are hewn down by you: the blood of Christians is seed ” (Apology 50.13)[1]

Many Christians in our world today still face persecution for their faith. Yet we only rarely hear about this in our news headlines. One application of today’s reading would be to pray for persecuted Christians around the world. Especially for those Christians in Africa, India and Asia. While we stand in solidarity with them, we should also realize that this is a tremendous time of grace, resulting in many new conversions.

The second thing we can take to heart, is the fact that we should expect opposition for our faith. As our nation rapidly moves towards a post-Christian culture, we should not be surprised that our culture rejects our views as outdated and even harmful. As Jesus reminded his disciples, “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first (John 15:18). St. Paul notes, “For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the latter an odor of death that leads to death, to the former an odor of life that leads to life” (2 Corinthians 2:15–16). To those who have hardened their hearts, our message is “the odor of death.”

 

---

^[1] [semen est sanguis Christianorum] Tertullian and Minucius Felix, Apologetical Works and Octavius, ed. Roy Joseph Deferrari, trans. Rudolph Arbesmann, Emily Joseph Daly, and Edwin A. Quain, vol. 10, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1950), 125.

Heaven Will Not Be Boring!

Pharisees and scribes frequently confront Jesus in the Gospels, but in this Gospel passage (Luke 20:27-38), it is the Sadducees question him. The Sadducees were the Palestinian aristocracy who took the name of their party from Zadok, the high priest at the time of David and of Solomon (2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Kings 1:34).

The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that the Sadducees claimed that the soul perished along with the body at death. St. Luke describes the Sadducees as, “those who deny that there is a resurrection” (Luke 20:27, cf. Acts 23:7-8). The Sadducees limited sacred scripture to first five books of the Bible, and denied the existence of angels (Acts 23:7–8).

In an attempt to make Jesus look foolish, the Sadducees confront Jesus with a dilemma story, intended to disprove the resurrection. According to Jewish law, if a married man died childless, his brother was required to marry his widow and to produce a male child. “The firstborn son she bears shall continue the name of the deceased brother” (Deuteronomy 25:6).

This type of Levirate marriage was a popular as means of caring for widows and securing property rights. In the ancient world, couples would not engage in courtship and decide for themselves whom to marry. Instead, their families arranged the marriage. Marriage had more to do with inheritance, and kinship bonds, than with mutual love.

Using the laws of Levirate marriage, the Sadducees present an absurd dilemma to trap Jesus. What would happen if a certain widow married a second time to her bother-in-law, and then he in turn died childless? In the Sadducees story, the widow eventually marries seven brothers, each of whom dies childless. Finally, the woman herself dies.

Attempting to make their point, the Sadducees ask, “Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” The Sadducee’s believe this line of argument proves that the resurrection is a ludicrous idea.

Jesus counters by first pointing out that the dead who rise will “neither marry nor are given in marriage.” Again, reaching across different cultures, the primary purpose of marriage in the ancient world was the production of children. The dead who rise will no longer die, so Jesus says they will be ‘like’ or ‘equal to’ the angels who also never die and have no need to produce children to perpetuate their kind.

What does Jesus mean when he says the resurrected children of God are like angels? In popular culture, it is common to tell someone who has recently lost a love one that they “have an angel in heaven.” God created angels as beings of pure spirit. Unlike angels, humans have a body and a soul. 

Although death temporarily separates from our bodies from our eternal soul, this is not our final state. At the resurrection, our souls are joined again to eternal glorified bodies.

Although our resurrected bodies will be very different from our present bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35–58), we will still spend eternity in bodily existence. Jesus says we will be like angels because we will never die, not because we become angels. Since we will no longer die, marriage is not necessary in our heavenly existence.

Jesus then uses Scripture to answer the Sadducees. He could have quoted Daniel 12:2-3, which is a clear reference to the resurrection, but since the Sadducees especially reverenced the traditions of Moses, Jesus makes his point from Exodus. In the narrative at the burning bush the Lord says, “I am the God of Abraham . . . of Isaac . . . and of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:2–6). Jesus says God “is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Luke 20:38).

What does this encounter with Jesus mean to us today? First, many people in our modern world treat religious doctrine and dogma, as an infringement on their personal right to choose whatever beliefs they want. Instead, they simply seek to be ‘spiritual’ in their own way. Does it really matter to Jesus what we believe about the resurrection? Based on this Gospel encounter with Jesus, we would have to say; “Yes, the resurrection matters to Jesus.” In fact, each Sunday in the creed we recite, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.”

In fact St. Paul notes that if Christ is not raised from the dead, our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:16-18). Without the resurrection our faith is a fraud and meaningless! The resurrection teaches us three central things about our faith. First the resurrection demonstrates God’s love for us. Secondly, it is through the resurrection we have eternal life, and finally the resurrection holds us each accountability before God’s judgment.

While each one of us by nature craves the feeling of belonging and meaningful connection with others, many people are left feeling empty and lonely. Christ took the initiative to fulfill this need in an ultimate way by in sharing his love and relationship with us. We are not only joined to Christ, but in Christ to his body, the church. The communion of saints ensures belonging and meaningful connection with all Christians. He will not leave us lonely and unconnected. St. Paul writes, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Not only is the resurrection a proof of God’s love it also the means of eternal life for us. Jesus humbled himself taking on human flesh so that he might become “obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8) and after this to rise to newness of life and to share that life with us in baptism (Romans 6:4).

Finally, if death is simply the end of our existence and there is nothing else, then there is no accountability. Without the resurrection, who cares! We confess in the creed, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” Love is always our starting place, and even though we were each chosen for adoption as God’s children before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), but we are still held accountable for our own freely chosen actions in this world. We are held accountable for our cooperation with God's grace.

In truth, nothing could be more central to our faith than Christ rising from the dead. God reveals his love to us through the resurrection, and his power to save us is made manifest on the cross and brought to fulfillment in his resurrection and ascension into Heaven. 

The resurrection is also our source of motivation here in this life. We can be motivated to act by means of duty, but love will move us to a higher level of understanding, to selfless sacrifice. We are called to imitate the love of Christ. Christ's own love is our motivation.

“For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. . . . so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15).

While the saving power of the resurrection is the central truth of this Gospel passage, many people find Jesus words puzzling. In a modern sense, they are triggered by his comment, “the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.” Failing from lack of imagination; some people fear this means that heaven will somehow be boring. Are we to believe that heaven will lack one of the most cherished pleasures of our earthly existence?

Will our heavenly existence leave out some important earthly pleasures? We must remember that the God who created the earth and all that is in it and declared it to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31) is the same God who created Heaven.

We must broaden our imagination. Simply being in the presence of God will be the fulfillment of every desire. We will not be missing any earthly thing. St. John tells us in the new heaven and the new earth God “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI comments on this modern fear;

But then the question arises: do we really want this—to live eternally? Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. (Spe Salvi 10).

Talking about spiritual pleasures may still leave some people unconvinced. Yet must we view Heaven as having no continuity to our present life? Is heaven a kind of eternal choir practice among the clouds?

First it must be recalled that we will have bodily existence in Heaven and if we take hints from Jesus resurrected appearance, we may still eat and have a social existence (Luke 24:42). There is another interesting note in the book of Revelation were we are told about the heavenly New Jerusalem. St. John tells us that the kings of the earth will bring in their treasure into the heavenly city and that “the treasure and wealth of the nations will be brought there” (Revelation 21:26).

Rather than suggesting that God will make all things new (in complete discontinuity with this present life), I think this suggests that he will make new all things. Rather than beginning creation over with a blank slate, God will renew or remake creation with a continuity to what is holy and good and true in the previous creation. Our belief that God created us by sharing his own divine essence with us, strongly suggest that continuity is not only possible, but necessary. 

Obviously, there will not be complete continuity, but I don’t think we need to think of eternity as having no correspondence to our current earthly realty. In the end, I am completely certain of one thing, Heaven will not be boring!

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Our readings for this Sunday’s Solemnity (November 20th) reveal a jarring contrast. In our second reading, Jesus is affirmed as the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Christ is the Creator, through whom all things in creation came to be. Both “the visible and the invisible” including all “thrones or dominions or principalities or powers” (Col. 1:16). He is truly Lord, and King of the Universe. Christ is “before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). Jesus Christ is completely preeminent, and Lord of all.

Yet in our Gospel, instead of the authorities recognizing him as King and Lord, Jesus is tortured and abused. In fact, they mock him with the title, “King of the Jews.” We would expect to see a king revealed in royal dignity and seated upon a throne with a royal scepter.

Christ’s crucifixion reveals a profound mystery. The cross has become his throne. His enthronement is his death upon the cross. In ancient Israel, upon his enthronement, they anointed their king with oil and called him the Lord’s ‘anointed one’ or Messiah. The Greek equivalent was the 'Christ.'

The psalmists later understood the messiah as the son of God (Psalm 2:7; Ps 89:27). During this earthly ministry Jesus revealed a deeper meaning for this title by equating himself as ‘the son of man’ in Daniel who is ‘coming on the clouds of heaven’ and who has been given dominion, glory and kingship over all peoples (Daniel 7:13).

Although Jesus is tortured, crucified as criminal, and dies upon the cross, in the mystery of God’s plan of redemption, this very act becomes his enthronement as King. Jesus then conquers death, rises from the dead, and ascends to the right hand of the Father in heaven where he now reigns for all of eternity as King of the Universe.

Christ reveals all of the essential truths of the faith in his enthronement upon the cross. Yet, what does this mean to each of us personally?

When Pope Pius XI instituted this Solemnity in 1925, he was concerned that some Catholics were misunderstanding Christ's reign and rule in their lives. Some people were compartmentalizing their lives into sacred and secular parts and were excluding Christ from their private lives. Pope Pius XI was encouraging us to live our faith authentically not just at Mass or in our devotions, but also in our private, public and political lives.

Living a Unity of Life

We call this act of allowing Christ to be Lord of every part of our life, living a unity of life. Since the act of faith involves the full submission of our intellect and will to God, the unity of life is essential to our faith.

As Pope Pius XI notes, “not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire.” Christ must reign in our minds, in our wills, in our hearts, and in our bodies “as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”

Just as Christ was treated in our Gospel, Pope Pius XI says that Christ, “has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored” (QP, 32). This problem is still highly relevant today. For many people, faith has become a purely personal and private matter.

Some forty years later, the fathers of the Second Vatican Council characterized the “breach between faith and daily life” as “one of the more serious errors of our time” (GS 43). “Let there be no false opposition,” they admonish us “between professional and social activity and the life of religion. The Christian who neglects his temporal duties neglects God and risks his eternal salvation” (GS 43). This is a very solemn warning. While God’s abundant grace and mercy are available to all, our cooperation is necessary.

Practicing a unity of life means that we must allow Christ to be lord of every aspect of our life, including even our daily life and our professional life. The Council urged the faithful to follow the example of Christ who engaged in the secular work of carpentry in order to “fuse all human effort, domestic, professional, scientific and technical in a vital synthesis with religious values, which coordinate everything in the highest way to God’s glory” (GS 43).

Through the lordship of Christ as King, we can transform our daily lives into occasions where we experience God’s grace through our daily work. We can follow Jesus and allow our daily work to be seen “as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.” In fact, as Christians we should say, “Thank God it’s Monday.”

Two Dangers: Between Scylla and Charybdis

While the graces of our sacramental life initially create and then inspire our faith, St. John Paul II has noted two dangers in our understanding of the sacraments. On the one hand the “sacramental life is impoverished and very soon turns into hollow ritualism if it is not based on serious knowledge of the meaning of the sacraments” and on the other, “catechesis becomes intellectualized if it fails to come alive in the sacramental practice” (Catechesi Tradendae, 23).

As the fathers of the Council reminded us, “The Sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Before men can come to the liturgy, they must be called to faith and conversion” (AG 9) [cf. CCC 1072]. This is what it means for our sacramental life to “come alive.” Evangelization needs to precede catechesis. Then catechesis must continually bear witness by the Spirit to living faith.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses our cooperation with grace through an act of submission to the lordship of Christ called Interior repentance,

Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart…it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace (CCC 1431).

Similarly, our own bishops have noted conversion is, “the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his. (National Directory of Catechesis, p. 48).

Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, with renewed vigor, I offer you my heart this day. May your Spirit bring my heart to life daily in union with you. Help me to continue to journey deeper in conformity to your will, walking always in your grace every day, in every little way.