Year C

Dec 11 2024

Closeness in Love

God is love. If we forget that, Christianity is emptied of meaning. It was love that brought the Word-made-flesh into the womb of the Virgin Mary in the Incarnation. It was love that revealed to John the Baptist that the Redeemer had come in today’s story of the Visitation. Today, it is love that cares for the body of her who took care of the body of Jesus.

God is love. That is the source of it all. There is no other. When you love someone, you want them near, close. The Greek word used for death in the New Testament is the opposite of that. It means separation. To be dead means to be cut off, isolated, and alone—apart.

In the Resurrection, God altered that isolation. God brought the human body of Jesus back to life, to be close. Stuff may still look the same on the surface, but God has transformed death in the depths of the earth.

I went to the garden to wrestle with that thought. As “the depths of the earth” simmered in my mind, I picked cherry tomatoes from plants that were ten feet high. Why so big? Last fall, I layered maple leaves and horse manure and then planted a cover crop; in spring, I turned that decaying richness under. Now, here in August, on the surface, you cannot tell. But that unseen transformation in the depths of the earth has brought forth vibrant new life.

Vibrant new life will be ours as well. All that decays? That will be transformed. We will be brought close, not be separated or isolated or lost. That is our hope: God brought Mary home, and will do the same for us. Body and soul, we will join with Jesus in heaven.

For God is love. That is the goal of it all. There is no other.

Consider/Discuss

In the Creed, we say,” I believe in the resurrection of the body.” For two millennia, theologians have wrestled with what a resurrected body looks like. We can try, but we really cannot imagine it, for it is beyond our limited time-and-space-experience. (Analogies don’t always work perfectly either.) But today’s feast of Mary’s assumption encourages us to believe that those whom God loves will ultimately be drawn close; we will become most fully ourselves, a unity of body and soul in heaven. That’s a hard thought. Spend some time thinking about it. (Maybe have a few cherry tomatoes while you’re pondering it.) What does that mean to you and the direction and goal of your life?

Like the soil in a garden, the richness of a prayer life is hidden from view. On the surface it may look the same whether we pray or not, but the fruit is different. When we are washed by God’s love, that experience transforms the junk of our life. When we have been cared about and brought close, that affects how we care for others. Have you had seasons when your prayer life was rich? What does that do for how you interact with others?

Living and Praying with the Word

Great God of the Universe, it all begins and ends with you. Your love surrounds us like a comforter on a cold night. You want us to be close to you. You do not want us to be separated. Thank you for sending your Son to transform death. That is not something that we can fully grasp. But we believe. We cannot imagine what eternal life with you will be like, but we look forward to it with joy. Mary our Mother, on this feast day, we celebrate your assumption into heaven. You are with your Son. Show us the way home. Keep us close.

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

The reading from Revelation proclaims God’s final victory over the forces of evil and chaos that have threatened God’s creation since the days of the Garden of Eden. The woman who appears to John as a “great sign in the sky” represents Israel, not only the ethnic and historic Israel (symbolized by the twelve stars), but all of God’s people united in Christ. The image of the woman in labor represents both the actual birth of the Messiah and the pain and toil of giving birth to the reign of God in the end-times (Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8; Romans 8:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). The image is apt, as the victory is not without cost. The great dragon is Satan, the agent of chaos and evil who seeks to destroy the Messiah’s reign of God but will be defeated (12:7–9), while the people of God remain firmly under the protection of God.

A central theme in Paul’s letters is the resurrection not only of Christ but also, eventually, of all the dead. Yet it appears that some in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of Christ or of the dead in general. After showing that such a belief makes the gospel nonsense (15:12–19), Paul asserts again that not only was Christ raised from the dead, but he is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Death came to the human race through the sin of Adam; now life comes because of the obedience of Christ, whose sacrifice in our behalf has defeated death. As history moves toward its climax, those who belong to Christ and then others will be raised from the dead. In that final hour, Christ’s sovereign rule over all creation will be complete and evident, as even the greatest enemy of humans, death itself, is subjected to him.

Mary’s Magnificat exults in the work that God has done, still does, and will do for God’s creation. Not only has God looked upon Mary, “his lowly servant,” but by bringing forth the Messiah, God has looked with favor upon “all generations.” We note that Mary uses the “prophetic perfect” here: God “has” shown the strength of God’s arm, scattered the proud, filled the hungry, etc. One has only to look around to see that in many cases the proud and the rich do still reign, while the lowly and hungry still suffer. So how is it that God “has” accomplished this reversal? The prophetic perfect speaks from the perspective of God’s will, which is never thwarted and so will certainly come to pass. They are as certain to happen as if they already had. Mary’s song expresses this trust in God’s word, enlivened by the child in her womb, the clearest sign that God’s will is being done.

Dec 11 2024

Family Divisions

To be honest, at first glance, I don’t really like today’s Gospel reading. I like family unity.

At a meeting I once attended, the opening ice-breaker was “Describe your perfect vacation.” People talked about seeing the Louvre in Paris, climbing the Rocky Mountains, marching with the jazz bands in New Orleans . . . When the going-around-the-circle answer-the-question got to me, I drew a blank on location. I said, “I don’t really care where I am. I’d like to be on a beach somewhere with my husband and all five of my kids and their spouses and grandkids and they are all getting along.” Maybe it was my facial expression. Maybe it was my dramatic pause. Everyone laughed.

I was serious.

I do like today’s reading from Hebrews: “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” and “persevere in running the race.” Isn’t it great? That fervor fires my soul!

Guess what? That fervor is what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel, too. In the first century, family mattered even more than it does now. To be disowned by your family meant a loss of honor and livelihood, even starvation and death. Jesus is being about as extreme as he can. He is telling us to fix our eyes on him foremost. Kinship in Jesus’ family takes priority, even over one’s family of birth or marriage: Persevere; run the race with courage; rid ourselves of anything that pulls us away from the Lord of lords and the King of kings.

Jesus is serious about commitment. He models the way. In the Gospel of Luke, he is about to turn toward Jerusalem, that place of passion and death, a baptism of anguish into which he is about to be plunged.

He probably didn’t like it much either. But he did it anyway.

Consider/Discuss

Jesus talks about setting “the earth on fire.” When his followers were filled with the Holy Spirit, their fiery passion became one of the hallmarks of the early church. Their fervor attracted others. Like the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading, they gave all they had, even to the point of losing everything. They were willing to die for Jesus. When have you experienced that fire of faith in yourself or others?
The Letter to the Hebrews calls Jesus “the leader and perfecter of faith” who endured the cross so that we would “not grow weary and lose heart.” On this day, what can you and I do to offer to God that same commitment that Jesus gave on our behalf?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord Jesus, you do not call us to a wimpy discipleship. You ask us to give our all. On this day in the middle of August, in the heat of summer, we might be tempted to avoid anything that feels like fire. But your fire purifies us. Your fire ignites us. Your fire inspires us. Burn like a flame within us so that we pass your passionate love and joy to others. You gave your all. Help us to do the same.

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

Today’s passage from Jeremiah recounts the prophet’s experience not long before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. Already that empire had conquered Judah and placed Zedekiah, a client Davidic king, on the throne. But that king was also rebellious and attempted to shake off the Babylonian yoke. Jeremiah warned the king and others that they should submit to Babylon, who was God’s instrument of judgment, and to expect even worse from Babylon if they did not (38:2–3). This is the “demoralizing” of which he was accused. Zedekiah shows himself to be morally weak, unable to stand up to the princes, first turning the prophet over to them and then secretly helping him. This weakness will eventually lead to Zedekiah’s—and Jerusalem’s—downfall.

Having delineated how Israel’s ancestors lived and died with faith (trust) in God’s promises (11:1–38), the author of Hebrews now comes back to his audience, who are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses to God’s fidelity and trustworthiness. If we are able to place our confidence in God on the basis of their witness (“evidence of things not seen” [11:1]), we will be able to persevere in our struggle against sin. Jesus, of course, is the premier exemplar of faith in God, which allowed him to face the cross. His faith was vindicated in his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God. Christians should look not only to the ancestors but especially to Christ, and struggle mightily, even to the point (literally or metaphorically) of shedding their own blood—as Christ did—with faith in God.

The Gospel reading points once again to the radical nature of Christian discipleship and the demands of living the gospel. Jesus has come to announce the earth-shattering news that God is bringing divine sovereign power to bear on the world to destroy all that harms creation. The human responses must be, in the first place, repentance and turning back to God to receive the gift of the kingdom. The fire is both the proclamation of the kingdom and the purifying fire of repentance (Luke 3:16–18). Although the message is Good News, it is not “peaceful” in the sense of leaving things undisturbed, nor does it present a sentimental, “nice” notion of God, nor does it require nothing of those who accept. Consequently, it will be accepted by some and rejected by others, causing division within families and society. This is the nature of a purifying fire.

Dec 11 2024

Unsung Saints

Stories of unsung heroes inspire us. An excavator-turned archaeologist just keeps digging while somebody else gets the glory for his finds. A forty-eight-year-old singer from a village in rural England is unknown until someone hands her a microphone. A mathematical genius at NASA is unseen because she is of the wrong gender and skin color.

Some of you who are reading this may have been applauded for your deeds of heroic virtue. I suspect most of you have not. The realization of what you hope for may come about in your lifetime. Or it may not.

In my garden, there are low-maintenance plants and high maintenance plants. Last summer, I grew acorn squash. I had three plants and weeded them from time to time and then let them be. They produced forty-seven acorn squash. I also had eighteen poles of green beans with four plants per pole. I had to go out every day and pick or I would be overrun with overripe leathery beans.

In God’s garden, does the Gardener prefer acorn squash to pole beans? In today’s parables, it seems that Jesus is extolling low maintenance servants and managers—those who just get on and do their job. They are self-directed, hard-working, and faithful even when no one is watching them. Like the acorn squash, they bear abundant fruit.

Where does that heroic virtue come from?

The Holy Spirit gives the courage of hidden faithfulness. A man gets out of bed for a job he hates in order to support a family he loves. A woman is continually good to another though she never receives any thanks. One forgives even though there is no reward for it. That is simple heroic virtue in ordinary life.

To be an unsung saint is challenging. The Lord says, be one anyway.

Consider/Discuss

Applause is motivating. When someone cheers you on, it can give you a shot of adrenaline. And yet applause can also lead you astray, so that you do things for the sake of a “thumbs up.” How is it more difficult to do the right thing when no one is looking? How can we avoid becoming resentful when others are recognized? How can we continue to bear good fruit no matter what is going on around us?
We don’t often think about who the Holy Spirit is in ordinary life. Yet to discover God hidden in all things awakens a secret passion that makes living vibrant and vigorous. This week, look for the steadfastness of God. Recognize the everyday faithfulness you see in yourself and others. Then write down how you have seen God at work in quiet and unseen ways. Maybe even send a note of thanks to someone who does good without being seen?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, you have given us much. Yet we don’t always see that. Open our eyes to see what you have provided. Help us be faithful with that. You expect much from us who have been given much. Help us not to be afraid, but bold in doing good, whether seen or unseen. Most of all, you have given us your Spirit, our source of strength. You have not walked away to leave us on our own, watching from a distance to see what we do. You are not that sort of Divine Master. You are here with us at all times, helping us to be faithful. Thank you, thank you, thank you for that!