Year B

Jan 24 2025

Nothing Is Impossible for God!

If you surveyed the people in Henry Ford’s day about what they hoped for in transportation, they would have said, “Breed a faster horse.” If you surveyed the Jews before the time of Jesus about what they wanted in a Messiah, they would have said, “A powerful king to drive out the Romans.”

Yet the future doesn’t always arise directly from the paths of the past. The Ruler of the universe seems to delight in making sudden turns, knocking human expectations sideways. The shepherd boy David is the smallest among his tall and handsome brothers, yet he is the one whose house is to last forever. An obscure girl in the hillbilly region of Galilee says yes to God, and a baby as tiny as a pinhead grows in her womb as the Savior of the world. How can this be?

The angel Gabriel says, “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Hear that again: Nothing will be impossible for God. Nothing. What if you and I gave our total yes to that statement? What if that conviction sank into our core? “Nothing is impossible for God!” There would be no region of our existence that the grace of Christ could not redeem. We would not limp through life with limited expectations. We would never stop seeking for the surprises of the Spirit. If nothing were impossible for God, we would never give up! We would not lose hope in people or institutions. We would never give up on ourselves or our circumstances. Even when things got hard, we would not quit. We would march forth with courage, believing that nothing is impossible for God.

As Christmas preparations intensify, can we do that? Holy Spirit, make sure our conviction that nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible for God!

Consider/Discuss

Is there someone whom you feel like giving up on? Circumstances that cause you to feel despair? What institutions feel hopeless? If nothing is impossible for God, how might you flip that perception around to see it in a new way?
When has the Spirit done the unexpected in the history of your life? What difference did that make? Share that story of God’s unexpected grace with someone this Christmas.

Living and Praying with the Word

Holy Spirit, you are the source of courage. The early Christians trained for martyrdom by repeating, “Nothing is impossible for God!” In these few days left before Christmas, strengthen us for all that we have to do, holding fast to that belief in the miraculous. The Son is coming. All will be well. Glory to God in the Highest!

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In the time of David, it was customary for a king to honor his patron god by building a temple, thus David’s resolve to build a “house” for the God who gave him his throne. But the God of Israel does not want things done the usual way and instead promises to build for David an everlasting “house,” or dynasty. This passage, then, is the founding story of the Davidic dynasty, the chosen monarchy of the God of Israel. Although the monarchy came to an end four hundred years later at the time of the Exile, this promise remained “on the books,” and was revived many years later in conjunction with the rise of Jewish messianic expectations under the Greeks and Romans.

Paul ends his Letter to the Romans with a doxology to the faithful, righteous God who has made possible justification and salvation for all in Christ. Throughout the letter Paul has proclaimed and explained “his” gospel, which is the proclamation of Jesus Christ himself. In Christ has been revealed the “mystery kept secret for long ages,” namely that the promises made to Israel long ago would also be made available to “all nations” through the “obedience of faith,” that is, belief and trust in God’s justifying action in Christ. It is for this reason that this eternally faithful and wise God should be given praise through that same Christ.

Gabriel has come to Mary to announce that a long-standing, slowly unfolding divine plan for the whole world is reaching its climax. References to David point toward the divine election of the Davidic monarchy and God’s promise to uphold it “forever,” a promise on pause since the Exile, but now revealed to come to pass in the Son to be born to Mary. Naturally enough she is bewildered, unable to fathom how this is possible. Gabriel’s explanation, along with his announcement that the aged and barren Elizabeth will also give birth, drives home a key point of all the scriptures, which is that “nothing will be impossible for God.”

Jan 24 2025

A No Can Open Up to a Yes from God

In today’s Gospel, the Baptizer shakes his head and says no to his questioners: No, I am not the light; I am not the Christ; I am not Elijah; I am not the Prophet. No, no, and no.

We often hear about Mary’s yes and how we should imitate her. What about John the Baptist’s no? Should we imitate his no too? What if the man crying out in the desert had answered yes? What if he had taken the praises he received as his due, puffed out his camel hair–covered chest and said, “Yes, I am Elijah. I am good. I am the Prophet. Look at me!” He could have. But he would have lost his way.

I was pondering that no a few days ago as I walked to my office. I was treading one of the numerous sidewalks on the Notre Dame campus, the one that leads from my car to the theology building. Directly in front of me was one clear line where the concrete sections came together. I put my left foot on that crack and tried to walk straight and stay straight. I imagined, “Hmmm . . . so this one is my line, my path.” If I turn aside from that line, through envy or the distraction of wishing that I were on someone else’s route, I could lose my way and miss what I was created to do.

John the Baptist stuck to his path. He was as at home with who he was not. His clear no opened the space for the grander yes of his particular mission: he readied the world for Jesus.

We can imitate that no to what we are not. You and I are unique children of God, each with a unique mission. We too can ready the world for Jesus.

Consider/Discuss

Who are you? Who are you not? To what identity does God ask you to say no? How can you and I lose our way, wishing we were someone else?
Where are the small ways we say no in our lives? Saying no to that slice of double-chocolate cake may open the space for a slimmer figure. Telling ourselves no to that extra fifteen minutes of sleep after the alarm rings opens space for a healthier breakfast and a more relaxed preparation for work. How can no open the space for God’s vision for us of a bigger and grander yes?

Living and Praying with the Word

Savior of the World, here we are. As we are. You have anointed us to bring glad tidings to this world. Give us the courage to imitate John the Baptist’s no. Strengthen us, so that we are people of honesty, clarity, and valor, willing to say no to anything that does not further your glory. For you are coming soon. We rejoice heartily that you want to use our unique gifts and talents to help to prepare this world for your coming. Come, Lord Jesus, our Emmanuel!

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

Despite the promises of glorious restoration given through earlier prophets, decades after the Exile, Jerusalem and Judah remained small and poor. Isaiah’s answer to the question “Why isn’t God doing anything?” has two aspects. The first answer is to be patient and trust, with a hopeful confidence that what God has promised will be done. The second aspect is captured by the phrase “wrapped me in a mantle of justice.” The people must also take responsibility for the problems that led to the Exile in the first place, especially widespread injustice, which seems to have continued after the Exile. Trust in God’s fidelity had to be combined with resolve to mend their ways and live within God’s will.

Saint Paul concludes his First Letter to the Thessalonians by encouraging a people that has struggled to make sense of the apparent delay in the return of Christ. It is difficult to maintain religious fervor and faith under such circumstances, and the tendency was to grow doubtful or negligent. But the Thessalonians should rejoice and keep up their prayer, especially thanksgiving. Attend to the gifts that God has given, Paul says, but do not be naïve: everything must be tested for its goodness. The letter ends with a prayer that God will preserve the Thessalonians during this difficult time, keeping them holy and blameless. God is faithful. The promises given in Christ will come to pass.

As in last week’s Gospel, John the Baptist announces that he is preparing the way for one greater than himself. In response to a challenge from the priests and Levites, who want to know what role John believes he plays in the expected coming of the Messiah, he assures them that he is not the Messiah, nor Elijah (see Malachi 3:23–24), nor “the Prophet” promised by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), understood by some Jews in the first century to be a messianic figure. By what authority, then, does he baptize, if he has no messianic pretensions? John affirms that he has no authority; his role is simply “to testify to the light” coming into the world.

Jan 23 2025

Small Beginnings

My garden experiment is to grow all of the vegetables that we eat in a year. But to harvest lettuce for the whole year is tricky; it takes planning, for I have to replant even before I harvest. So for my January crop, today I gently lay tiny seeds in the soil to germinate under the grow lights in my basement. The mature crop that I seek is contained right here in this small beginning.

As I plant and pray, distressing flashes from the news play in my head: images of children in refugee camps, leaders who lie and betray. What is the matter with the human race, I wonder?

Why does it sometimes feel that you, God, allow evil to win? Come on! Do something!

In the saga of Adam and Eve, you planted the seed of free will and gave those first parents a choice. They blew it. They went their own way. Free will seems to be at the core of human wrongdoing. Why, Lord, when we could choose goodness, do we not?

Yet even then, you wrapped the human race in love and forgiveness. You, Creator-Most-Excellent, are a painstaking planner. You planted the seed of salvation into the womb of the world, preserving Mary as immaculate so that she could be a pure vessel for the One who would come to rescue us. The end that you planned was contained right there in that tiny beginning.

So that seed of free will, though a difficulty, is not a mistake? The final end that you are looking for is our graced but freely given yes: our yes to you each day; our yes at the end of life; our yes at the conclusion of time? You must be planting for an abundant harvest!

Consider/Discuss

Do you also ever felt impatient with God’s patience? I see the distress of the world and call out, “Come on, God! Won’t you just do something? Why do you keep trying to work through us human beings when you know that we are fatally flawed? Come on, God!” How can we grow to trust in God’s broader and bigger plan for human history without descending into glib or superficial answers?
There is much good fruit in this world that does not make the news. Where have you witnessed someone’s yes that is bearing an abundant harvest? What if all the people of good will in this world said a more robust yes to goodness and justice and honesty? How would that change history?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord God of all creation, we are not alone in asking you: what is the matter with the human race? What about all of the troubles of the world? All through history, people have pleaded with you to intervene more clearly. Yet you are at work. Thank you for all of the little acts of love and selflessness that go on in homes and hospitals, churches and schools, homeless shelters and businesses. Thank you for free will, for being so willing to work through us as friends and co-workers.