Christmas

Dec 09 2024

Scripture Study for

In Isaiah’s text from the late exilic or early post-exilic period, the prophet hears a voice from the heavenly council cry out to prepare a path in the desert that lies between Babylon and Judah. The terrain must be made completely flat, to allow the Lord to lead the redeemed exiles back to their ancestral land. The final portion of the reading contains two apparently contradictory metaphors for God. The divine warrior who is returning with his people, who are his “reward” and “recompense” (the Hebrew words often refer to spoils of war) is also the shepherd who carries his charges with tender care. The biblical witness to God envisions the Lord as simultaneously powerful and gentle.

The Letter to Titus urges readers to evaluate every aspect of their lives in light of the gospel, and to live accordingly. When the grace of God appears (in the person of Jesus Christ) in one’s life, that life must change. Whatever “godless and worldly desires” one holds must give way to temperance, justice, and devotion. This is called for, not by a harsh and demanding God, but by a God of kindness, generous love, and mercy. The changes one makes in light of the appearance of Christ in one’s life are part of the transformation that appearance effects as Christ justifies and makes heirs of all those who accept this gift.

We are given no reason in Luke why Jesus went to be baptized by John. Certainly, it is not a question of needing a baptism of repentance. One likely reason is that the baptism by John marks a succession, in which Jesus claims his role, which John has announced and prepared. The opening of the heavens, an eschatological and even apocalyptic event, testifies that Jesus is the expected Messiah, as do the visible descent of the Spirit and the voice from heaven affirming that Jesus is not just beloved of God (others in the Bible, such as Abraham and Daniel were also called beloved), but he is God’s Son, a title that here points especially to Jesus’ role as God’s royal representative on earth (Psalm 2:7).

Dec 09 2024

!sgnisselB ynahpipE

Maybe we have things backwards.

The first time I thought that, I was lying in a sleeping bag on the ground under the big sky of Montana.

For seventeen years, I had been surrounded by trees. My view of the horizon had always been limited by leaves and branches. But now, here, lying on the plains, the sky was so big! The nighttime was immense. I tossed and turned on the hard dirt, feeling exposed. I awoke often to marvel at so many stars. When I turned my head all the way to the right, there was sky. When I turned my head all the way to the left, there was sky. When I rested my head to look upward, there was sky.

Then something began to lighten the darkness. I fell back asleep. When I awoke, a huge star had come up in the east. It was the star that we call the sun. The sky was ablaze with light! That’s when I realized: we have it backwards. Day is not interrupted by night. It is the night that is the constant—always there, beyond the sunlight. The night is the given. The day is the surprise. We look at it backwards.

Maybe the magi looked at things backwards, too. They were among the scholars of their day. But theirs may have been a minority opinion. That star in the east heralds the birth of a king? In the land of the Jews? Not likely. Even if they have a king, they are the Chosen People. Their king would not come for you, a Gentile. Don’t make the trip. You will only be disappointed.

What did they find? O star of wonder, star of might, star with royal beauty bright! They fell to their knees in wonder. Maybe God does things backwards, not as we expect.

Consider/Discuss

What we can see and touch and measure—that is what constitutes scientific “reality.” Some who work in that realm tell us that there is no other reality. But perhaps that majority opinion contains a confirmation bias. If they’re all looking at reality in the same way, maybe that becomes the common consensus? What if that is backwards? What if that which we cannot see and touch and measure is the ultimate reality? How might that be an epiphany?
The feast of the Epiphany celebrates the in-breaking of light. The darkness is the given; the light is the surprise. This week, how could we allow ourselves to be amazed by the radiance of created light? By watching the snow glisten, the stars twinkle, and the rising sun in the morning? How does the light that we see lead us into the glory of the One whom we cannot see?

Living and Praying with the Word

God, sometimes you seem to revel in doing things backwards. The psalmist says that you watch over the poor and the needy, those who don’t really matter in the power structures of the world. You set the planets in the night and then give us the sun at just the right distance to make our crops grow. You surround us with just the right amount of warmth when so many planets are too warm or too cold.

Help us to receive your backward surprises this day! Set us ablaze! You have come in glory to dispel the darkness of our lives. We may not be your Chosen People. But you came to shine your radiance on us as well. Glory to you, Light of the world!

Dec 09 2024

Scripture Study for

Throughout the last chapters of Isaiah, from the post-exilic period, we find an emphasis on the coming glory of Jerusalem (representing the land and its people) when, at long last, the Lord returns to his city. The unprosperous and actually quite pitiful state of Jerusalem at the time of this oracle could easily be understood as a situation of “gloom” and “darkness.” Thus we have a strong emphasis on light, shining, and radiance in the first verses. God’s own presence will overcome the current dark circumstances. The radiance of the revitalized city will reveal the divine glory, which will draw others to the city to pay homage (and brings gifts) to this glorious, saving God.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul has been emphasizing that God’s plan for all of humanity has entered its final (albeit protracted) stage, in which all peoples are reconciled to God and to one another in Christ, making of all of humanity a single people. This plan is the mystery made known to Paul by revelation. With the coming of the Spirit, this plan—which had previously been hidden or only faintly hinted at in Israel’s past—was made fully known. A key aspect of that plan is that Gentiles, along with Jews, will be children of God and thus coheirs of the promises first made to Abraham.

Although tradition refers to them as “three kings,” the magi are really scientists and scholars. As such, they represent the wisdom of their time and place. It is this wisdom that has led them to recognize the birth of a new king and to seek him out. It also allows them to recognize the king born not in a palace, but in a simple “house.” Finally, it allows them to hear and heed the warning not to trust Herod. As wise men, the magi represent those who, in Israel’s scriptures, have such open minds and hearts that they are able to recognize the work of God in the most unlikely and unexpected circumstances.

Dec 09 2024

The Smell of the Good Shepherd

Let me tell you what it is like to smell like a shepherd. Some in Bethlehem say that we stink. If you ask me, it’s a good smell. Of course, as a shepherd, I have smelled of sheep for all of my life. My mother smells of sheep as she gathers wool in her arms after the shearing. That smell tells me that I am home.

That dark night, I was afraid. The angels were majestic; they smelled wild. My grandfather? He was not afraid. He said that we should hurry to find that baby in the manger as we had been commanded. The sky in the east was turning pink.

When we entered the cave, I was not afraid. It smelled like sheep. The baby was lying in the feeding trough.

“We are blessed to see this day,” the mother said. I nodded as I looked at that child, who also smelled of sheep. A feeling of cleansing struck me in the presence of her purity. I am a good young man. But I could be better. She looked me in the eye. I sensed a desire for deeper holiness. This young woman had drunk from the well of God’s love; she invited me to drink more deeply, too.

She lifted the child. I have never cradled a lamb so tenderly as she enfolded that child. As I looked at that mother and baby, warmth spread through my ribcage. My jaw relaxed. God was near. I did not need to be afraid of this nearness; it enfolded me and surrounded me; it was a blessed nearness. I was home.

Then I had to run and tell everyone! The Savior has come!

I wonder, what will she tell him about us? Will she be embarrassed about his smelly first visitors and never mention us? Or will she teach him to hold us in great esteem?

Consider/Discuss

For the shepherd in this story, the smell of sheep evoked a sense of home. For me, it is the smell of a campfire that brings me home. My “woods coat” smells of smoke. I like to roast marshmallows, which brings back early memories of camping with my family. What smells evoke “home” for you? The aromas of this earth are only a whiff of how good heaven will be. What do you imagine that our ultimate homeland will smell like? Sheep? Marshmallows? Chocolate cake?
Many lifelong Catholics have memories connected with Mary as home, one might say—from the warmth of the family rosary, the elation of crowning the Mary statue, or the protection of our Lady of Guadalupe’s mantle enfolding them. Others who were not raised Catholic may not have those homey early memories. On this feast day of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, who is the Virgin Mother to you?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, you called yourself the Good Shepherd. Lift us into your arms this day. We know that we are smelly with the manure of life. But bless and keep us this day anyway. You don’t seem to mind our smelliness. Your birth and your life give us meaning; we are home when we are with you.

Mother Mary, you welcomed the shepherds. Wrap us in your love as well. And then, like them, we will burst out with joy! We cannot keep it in. Thank you, God, that life has meaning! That we are loved! That the Savior has come! Shout it out! Merry Christmas! And happy 2022.

Dec 09 2024

Scripture Study for

The priestly prayer in Numbers is a threefold blessing, invoking God’s protection, peace, and kindly attention. These three elements capture well the main contours of the story of God and Israel, even all of humanity, beginning already at the beginning of the divine-human story. In the early chapters of Genesis we see God protecting Adam and Eve and their son Cain, a sign that God’s protection extends even to those who fall on the wrong side of God’s will. God’s graciousness is manifest in the multiple promises God makes to Israel, beginning with Abram and Sarai. And the ultimate desire is for all of God’s creation to exist in harmony, shalom, peace.

In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul emphasizes that through Jesus Christ, humanity has been released from its slavery to sin. Whereas once all humans were slaves, now they who choose to accept the divine gift are heirs along with Christ. It is important to Paul that Jesus is known to be a fully human Jew, who was born subject (like all Jews) to the Law, because it was only from “within the Law,” so to speak, that Jesus was able to “ransom” all under the Law by removing them from their dependence on the Law to be justified. The important point, of course, is not how Jesus accomplished this, but that he did—and because he did, all who believe in him are children and heirs of God.

The Gospel of Luke places considerable emphasis on the fact that in Jesus, God has visited in a special way the materially poor of the earth. Many poor, powerless, and socially despised people (whom today we might call “marginalized”) feature prominently in his account. It is not surprising, therefore, to find poverty marking the birth scene of Christ. He is born in a shed or something like it and placed in an animals’ feeding trough, and he is first visited by shepherds. Although their low social status is sometimes exaggerated by commentators, shepherds were not especially well-off or powerful, and so it is fitting that it is to them first that the Good News of the Savior is announced.