A Homily - The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

A Homily - The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading – Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 39(40):2, 4, 7-10 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 19:38, 2:14

Alternative Acclamation John 1:14, 12

The Gospel According to John 1:29 - 34 ©

 

(NJB)

  

Listen!

Be wary of the voice of God. Be wary! Be wary when you hear God speak to you, especially in private; what you perceive as the voice of God is almost always the voice of your own desires.

Be wary and be mindful.

God, creator of the universe, God made us all as servants, God made us all from light; through the service we provide to one another, to light we shall return.

Consider the wisdom of the psalmist: who declares that God is the God of mercy, and of listening. Bend your ear to God; listen with your heart. Stretch out your feelings and you will find the way past the troubles of life on Earth, through its filth and misery.

Seek salvation, seek wellness, seek freedom from your own sins and do not dwell on the sins of others…unless your intention is to forgive them, to help them shoulder the burden.

When you are beset with difficulties do not cast blame on others, rather look to yourself, to your own transgressions; seek relief from them by following the way, which is love.

Listen.

We have all been appointed by God to be apostles, to share the gospel, the good news of God’s love for us and the promise that God has prepared the way for our salvation, for the salvation of humanity, for the salvation of all people in all times and all places….this is what it means to be a Christian.

We are all people of the way; we are all saints in the making.

Remember this!

Jesus is not a lord, he is not our king, he was our brother; we have a friend in Jesus.

Let us dwell on this for a moment longer; God is not king, or a lord. The divine does not wear a crown. We do not seek glory as we struggle on the way toward salvation. As we follow Jesus we seek the lowest of the low, not the highest heaven, we seek to serve those in the deepest dark, returning them to the light of love.

Listen!

Do not repeat the errors of John.

Proclaim the truth, we are all born into the family of God; we are God’s children. We are not made the children of God by any power, not by a power that comes from within us, neither by a power that is external to us. We coming into being as children of God, in the Word, by the Word and through the Word.

Our status as children of God is as unconditional as God’s love for us.

Remember this always and consider the Gospel for today:

It was written more than one hundred and twenty years after the death of Jesus. None of its authors knew Jesus, or John for whom it is named, and not any of them, knew anyone, who knew them.

Like all of the other Gospels, John was not written by a single person. It was written by a community of people, and more than any of the other Gospels, this Gospel was written as pure-propaganda.

The Gospel of John was written with the intention of arguing for that community’s beliefs about who Jesus was, what the meaning of his life was, and what his death meant to Christians of their day, it was written to communicate their beliefs about Jesus to the world.

By the time the Johannine Gospel is written, the early church no longer had any concern about ameliorating John the Baptist’s followers, as they did when the earlier gospel’s were drafted. The ethnic Jews in John’s community had either become Christians already, or they were considered by the Christians in their community to be enemies of the nascent Church.

John’s Gospel is overwhelmingly concerned with depicting Jesus as the cosmic savior. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word of God, who comes to take away the sins of the World.

In John’s Gospel Jesus is God.

When John the Baptist encounters Jesus, he provides witness to this. The Baptist does not Baptize Jesus, as he does in the other Gospels, even though he, himself is busy at the work of baptizing when they meet. When he sees Jesus approach, he announces to his followers that Jesus has come, a man greater than himself, one who existed before him (even though he was born in time after him), one on whom the Spirit of God rests, one who will complete the baptism of every believer, because he will baptize them with Holy Spirit and not mere water.

The Gospel of John was the crowning achievement of early Christian propaganda. Through this vehicle the Church transformed the man, Joshua son of Joseph, into the being through whom the entire universe came into existence (if you believe it).

This is what it is – and this is fine, but it must be understood for what it is: the expressions of faith and hope, not the recitation of history and fact; it is metaphor, allegory and myth – it is what it is.

 

First Reading – Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 ©

I Will Make You the Light of the Nations so that My Salvation May Reach to the Ends of the Earth

The Lord said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I shall be glorified’; I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength.

And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him:

‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 39(40):2, 4, 7-10 ©

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

I waited, I waited for the Lord

  and he stooped down to me;

  he heard my cry.

He put a new song into my mouth,

  praise of our God.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,

  but an open ear.

You do not ask for holocaust and victim.

  Instead, here am I.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

In the scroll of the book it stands written

  that I should do your will.

My God, I delight in your law

  in the depth of my heart.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Your justice I have proclaimed

  in the great assembly.

My lips I have not sealed;

  you know it, O Lord.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 ©

May God the Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ Send You Grace and Peace

I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 19:38, 2:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessings on the King who comes, in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!

 Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation John 1:14, 12

 Alleluia, alleluia!

 The Word was made flesh and lived among us: to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

 Alleluia!

  

The Gospel According to John 1:29 - 34 ©

 'Look: there is the Lamb of God'

 Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

  

The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

 

 

A Homily – The First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Baptism of Jesus

A Homily – The First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Baptism of Jesus

 

First Reading – Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 28(29):1-4, 9-10 ©

Second Reading – Acts 10:34-38 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Mark 9:8

The Gospel According to Matthew 3:13 - 17 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God wants nothing more from us than this: that we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly throughout the length of our days.

This is the way.

Listen to Isaiah, who made straight the way before him; listen and be mindful.

According to the school of Isaiah, the savior is the person who brings justice to the nations; you will not hear the savior shouting for the sake of vanity, neither in the streets nor on the airwaves, you will not see her cutting people off from their potential, putting them down or diminishing them...that is no the way.

The savior teaches us that justice is expressed through mercy, and that the law is subservient to love.

As Jesus taught…in the tradition of the Hebrew people: the way is to love God with all your strength and all your heart, and all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

This is the Shema; Jesus summarized this in the Golden Rule, it is the first article of faith.

Be kind to the stranger, be of service to your neighbor, love and forgive…even your enemies; do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and do not do to them what you would not have done to you. Like two headed Janus be mindful of your actions and your inaction, your intentions and their consequences

Love God with all your strength and all your heart, and all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself; this, Jesus told us, is the whole of the law and the teaching of the prophets...this is the way.

Consider the psalm for today:

It wise to believe in the God of creation; the divine is infinite, undergirding…flowing into everything that exists. The divine is present in all times and places; God is everywhere, omnipresent, in everyone. There is no place where God is not.

God knows all things, God knows you, even as you know yourself, we know this to be true because you yourself are within God, the fullness of you is within the fullness of the divine, from the first moment of your potentiality through each instance of your actual agency as it passes into eternity.

Know this!

It is not God’s voice we here in the wind above the waves. We do not hear God in the thunder. God does not splinter trees or rend them asunder. God is not active in the affairs of human beings; for rather God has made creation, and us within it, free…radically free. Listen and remember, God is not a king. God does not intervene in creation, or the free choices of human beings.

God did not anoint Jesus, human beings did that; anointing is a ritual of the Church, and the good-ol’-time religion which preceded it. Rather, Jesus accepted the mantle of sonship to God and the full burden that this entailed, even to the extent that he endured torture and death suffering on the cross.

Jesus was free to reject the demands of his ministry, but he did not. He could have sold his people out, or encouraged them to take up arms, but he was faithful to the end, he understood the harm that would come to them if he did, and so he accepted the burden that had come before him, setting an example for us all.

Few people are called to serve in the capacity that Jesus served; he was crucified for bearing witness to what is right and good. Few of us have the capacity to love justice so much that they could humbly endure what Jesus endured, while praying for mercy on behalf of those who did him in; that is why we call him the Christ…the anointed one

Follow Jesus: do good, walk humbly, serve justice, love mercy; be a source of healing in the world. This is the way of Christ. Do the best you can, not for the sake of your salvation, but for the good of your sisters and brothers, for the good of all women and men.

Consider the Gospel reading for today, it is a pure distillation of mythological tropes common among the Hebrew people, carrying forward a set of theological themes that were very important in the first century.

Be mindful.

The reading clearly situates the Jesus Movement within Rabbinical Judaism, otherwise known as Pharisaical Judaism.

In the reading for today Jesus is presented as a Pharisee, as a Jew of the Synagogue, his followers address him as Rabbi, and the central concern among the actors: Jesus, Peter, James, and John, concerns a foretelling that Jesus will die, and then rise from the dead, among all of the sects of ancient Judaism only the Pharisees taught the resurrection of the dead.

The author’s of Mark’s Gospel were interested in conveying the message that their teachings were in total alignment with historical traditions of the Jewish people, therefore they depict Jesus as another Abraham, Abraham who was also visited by divine messengers, the author’s depict Jesus him transformed, even as Moses was transformed on the mountain; they show him receiving the blessing of Moses and of the prophet Elijah, as if they were proclaiming that he was heir to the promise God had made with the patriarchs.

This trope is a concrete expression of the faith that the Jesus Movement was keeper of the covenant, in alignment with the law and the tradition of the prophets. The writers of the Gospel wanted to convey the message that in Jesus, the whole history of the people was recapitulated, redeemed and complete.

Here is the story:

Jesus was baptized by John. It was the first moment of his public career. He was baptized, he was purified, he was shriven; the forms had been obeyed.

There were witnesses. Crowds gathered crowds to witness the moment when the heaven opened and the Spirit of God, creator of the universe, the Spirit of God alight on Jesus like a dove.

At the River Jordan, John stood like Moses and Jesus Joshua; the elder would never walk in the promised land, the younger would lead the people to it, cross before them and usher them in.

John is also depicted here as the elder son, who is the Hebrew tradition, not meant to inherit. Like Cain and Able before Seth, like Ishmael before Isaac, like Jacob before Esau, Jesus comes after John; he is the promised son, the one in whom the hope of humanity is secure.

In this trope John is also representative of the goat, in the role of the goat cut loose in the desert, in the rite for the expiation of communal sin, while Jesus is representative of the lamb, taken to slaughter and consumed in the feast. 

First Reading – Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 ©

Here is my Servant, in Whom My Soul Delights

Thus says the Lord:

Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.

I have endowed him with my spirit that he may bring true justice to the nations.

He does not cry out or shout aloud, or make his voice heard in the streets.

He does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame.

Faithfully he brings true justice; he will neither waver, nor be crushed until true justice is established on earth, for the islands are awaiting his law.

I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right; I have taken you by the hand and formed you; I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 28(29):1-4, 9-10 ©

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

O give the Lord, you sons of God,

  give the Lord glory and power;

give the Lord the glory of his name.

  Adore the Lord in his holy court.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The Lord’s voice resounding on the waters,

  the Lord on the immensity of waters;

the voice of the Lord, full of power,

  the voice of the Lord, full of splendour.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The God of glory thunders.

  In his temple they all cry: ‘Glory!’

The Lord sat enthroned over the flood;

  the Lord sits as king for ever.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

 

Second Reading – Acts 10:34-38 ©

God Had Anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit

Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘The truth I have now come to realise’ he said ‘is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.

‘It is true, God sent his word to the people of Israel, and it was to them that the good news of peace was brought by Jesus Christ – but Jesus Christ is Lord of all men. You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil.’

Gospel Acclamation – Mark 9:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

The heavens opened and the Father’s voice resounded: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’

 Alleluia!

 

 The Gospel According to Matthew 3:13 - 17 ©

 'This is my Son, the Beloved'

 Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.’ At this, John gave in to him.

 As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’

 

A Homily – The First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Baptism of Jesus

Observation - January 8th, 2023, Sunday

January 8^th, 2023, Sunday

Observation

 

 The maple’s north face is covered in snow

 Outside my window, bare branches like

 Twisted fingers in the freezing cold

Observation - January 7th, 2023, Saturday

Observation

 

Cold, the furnace went out

 

Eighteen degrees outside in the city

          The morning sun is pale in a silver sky

 

My fingers are stiff…not from typing

 

Noise from the space-heater covers everything

          Pushing cold air through hot coils…

 

Electricity

 

The water kettle boils

          A sharp whistle piercing the room

 

The promise of something warm to hold

          Sipping hot coffee in the gloom

A Homily – The Epiphany, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year A)

A Homily – The Epiphany, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year A)

 

First Reading – Isaiah 60:1-6 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 71(72):1-2, 7-8, 10-13 ©

Second Reading – Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 2:2

The Gospel According to Matthew 2:1 - 12 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 The prophet speaks metaphorically; this is a projection from the school of Isaiah regarding its understanding that the God of the Hebrew people is the God of all people, the one and only God, the creator of the universe, that God is the God over everyone.

 It is an expression of the hope that at the end of time all people will be united, not just metaphorically but in actuality, that there will be no divisions among us: no war, no enmity, that everyone will have been brought together by God to share in a common destiny.

 This is not an expectation of hope for this world. Isaiah understands that God will not effect these changes in the lives of the people today, the prophet is looking to the eschaton…to the end of time.

 Know this:

 God does not intervene in the affairs of human beings, God does not appoint rulers and kings.

 God will not rescue you from the troubles of this world, because God has made you, and everyone, the whole of creation absolutely free.

 God will not intervene, do not petition God as if God were a king.

 Consider the words of the apostle who puts forward a lovely sentiment, expressing faith in God’s love and mercy, even though he fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between God and humanity.

 Listen!

 We are as God created us; God loves us according to God’s nature, not ours…unless you were to say that it is in our nature to be loved by God.

 Remember!

 God is the author of life and we were created to share in the life of God, remember that God is with us, that God is grace and grace is best expressed through love…and hope…and faith which means trust.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today; there is a great deal to unpack in the story of the Magi. Though before we begin let us note that in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is visited by three shepherds, not three Magi, who are also commonly referred to as kings. Note also that in Mark’s Gospel, the 1^st to be compiled, there is no reference to these events at all, and John’s Gospel makes no mention of them either.

 Apologists for the Gospel tradition claim that Luke and Matthew were relating separate events, and they encourage us not to conflate them. Let us proceed with the understanding that no such events actually took place, what we have in both Gospels is a work of narrative fiction, they are myths, as such they are packed with hidden meaning.

 Matthew’s Gospel tells us that three wise men, Magi (who are priests of the Persian Zoroaster, visit the Holy family to pay Jesus homage; they present him with gifts of gold and other offerings befitting a royal person: treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 This is real wealth, enough to set Mary and Joseph up for life. If we accept this story as fact, we should not also hold to the notion that Jesus was the son of a humble carpenter.

 Nevertheless, the image is intended to do two things: to establish that Jesus is a royal person, the heir to David’s throne; just as Herod feared, Jesus is a contender.

 The popular interpretation of this reading is to view the Magi themselves as not just wise men, but as kings in their own right, putting their encounter with Jesus on the level of a diplomatic mission, they are of the same class, and they present gifts of the type that the laws of hospitality would demand royal powers share with one another.

 The reading only builds on the foundation of Jesus’ kingship, which the writers of Matthew begin in the presentation of Jesus’ genealogy, it connects him to the astronomers and priestly class of the Persian Empire, to the temples of the aforementioned Zoroaster, who represent the principle devotees of the Cult of Mithras, to which Pharisaic Judaism owes a significant theological debt. Pharisaic Judaism is the Judaism of the diaspora, otherwise known as Rabbinical Judaism, the sect of Judaism to which Jesus and the disciples belonged, to which Paul of Taursus belonged.

 The myth is intended to convey these points and these points only: that Jesus is the heir to David and that he is intimately connected to mysteries of the Persian tradition. The same Persian tradition that was practiced by the emperor Cyrus when he released the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, allowing them to return to Judea and rebuild their temple.

 The Herodian intrigue in this narrative is of secondary importance. It complements the message concerning Jesus’ identity and sets up the Herodian dynasty as a group of villains that the disciples, along with John the Baptist and Jesus will have to contend with throughout their lives. The drama with Herod at Jesus’ birth topologically connects the birth of Jesus to the birth of Moses, and while these are important cues, they are not nearly as important as the Persian theme.

  

First Reading – Isaiah 60:1-6 ©

Above You the Glory of the Lord Appears

 Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising on you, though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples.

 Above you the Lord now rises and above you his glory appears.

 The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness.

 Lift up your eyes and look round: all are assembling and coming towards you, your sons from far away and your daughters being tenderly carried.

 At this sight you will grow radiant, your heart throbbing and full; since the riches of the sea will flow to you, the wealth of the nations come to you; camels in throngs will cover you, and dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing the praise of the Lord.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 71(72):1-2,7-8,10-13 ©

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

O God, give your judgement to the king,

  to a king’s son your justice,

that he may judge your people in justice

  and your poor in right judgement.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

In his days justice shall flourish

  and peace till the moon fails.

He shall rule from sea to sea,

  from the Great River to earth’s bounds.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts

  shall pay him tribute.

The kings of Sheba and Seba

  shall bring him gifts.

Before him all kings shall fall prostrate,

  all nations shall serve him.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

For he shall save the poor when they cry

  and the needy who are helpless.

He will have pity on the weak

  and save the lives of the poor.

All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

Second Reading – Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6 ©

It Has Now Been Revealed that Pagans Share the Same Inheritance

You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery. This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Jesus Christ, through the gospel.

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 2:2

 Alleluia, alleluia!

 We saw his star as it rose and have come to do the Lord homage.

 Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 2:1-12 ©

The Visit of the Magi

After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him ‘for this is what the prophet wrote:

And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.’

 Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’ Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward, and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.

 

A Homily – The Epiphany, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year A)

A Homily – The 2nd Sunday of Christmas, The Solemnity of Mary (Year A)

A Homily – The 2^nd Sunday of Christmas, The Solemnity of Mary, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year A)

  

First Reading - Numbers 6:22-27 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 66(67):2-3, 5, 6, 8 ©

Second Reading – Galatians 4:4-7 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Hebrews 1:1-2

The Gospel According to Luke 2:16 - 21 ©

 

(NJB)

  

Listen!

 Consider the blessing God, the creator of the universe; remember that God is not a lord, free God from that title, and free yourself in doing so.

 Know this, the blessing of God belongs to all God’s children; feel God’s presence, God is always with you, keep yourself in the way of God.

 If you are mindful, you may see the face God in the face of everyone you encounter; treat them as if they were God: your spouse, your friend, your parents and children, the stranger and your enemy (if you have them); for they are God, each and every one of them, God dwells within in them.

 Peace comes through understanding, God is utterly transcendent; God is not a god of tribes or of nations, or even other worlds. God is not circumscribed by any such delineation; God is the God of all creation.

 Listen!

 The psalmist is right to ask God to bless all peoples and all nations; to have pity and to be merciful, and we are right to seek this fulfillment, because this is the promise of God.

 Be mindful.

 God is not confined to one place, neither to one time, nor does God belong to one people. God is the God of everyone, whether they know it or not.

 Therefore seek God’s blessing, not just four yourself; seek it for everyone.

 Listen!

 Consider the teaching of the apostle and know that the death of Jesus was a political murder. It was a sacrifice, but not a sacrifice of redemption. Jesus was not purchasing anything for himself, or for us when he was killed on the cross, he was not paying a debt or offering himself as a substitution for our sins.

 Jesus went to his death to show us the way. Jesus was acting out of love, taking the wrath of the Sanhedrin and the Romans on himself, rather than have that anger visited on his broader group of followers; his family, the disciples and theirs.

 His sacrifice was not magic, it is not mystical or supernatural. Jesus was a faithful son of God, exercising ordinary compassion in extraordinary circumstances. He was acting as a champion of justice, he did so in humility and was denied our mercy.

 Jesus demonstrated his faith every day in his ministry of healing, through his loving service, and finally by his death; he believed in what he taught and and did not deviate from his mission because he trusted God.

 Be mindful of this.

 God’s spirit animates all of us. We are all God’s children, and all of us are the heirs to God’s promise: Christian and non-Christian, alike.

 Listen! God speaks to everyone; listen to the voice of the divine speaking in the secret chamber of your heart.

 Listen! God calls us to justice, to goodness, and to humility.

 Consider the Gospel for today:

 Understand that, the apostle Luke never met Jesus; he was not one of the disciples. Luke was a protégé of Paul, and Paul had never met Jesus either.

 Luke and Paul travelled broadly, meeting many of those that followed Jesus during his life. Paul met with James, who was Jesus’ brother, but they never met Jesus himself; everything they knew about Jesus was hearsay.

 It is important to note, that while the Gospel of Luke bears Luke’s name, it was not written by Luke. None of the Gospels were written by individuals, all of them were exercises in collective development, and the writing took place over generations as the communities who authored them did their best to narrate their understanding of the life and mission of Jesus in terms their audience would understand.

 The Gospel of Luke says that Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus were visited by three shepherds. This is presented in distinction to Matthews Gospel which says that they holy family was visited by three Magi, who were “wise men” sometimes called kings, but the Magi were priests in Persia. The Gospel of John, the earliest Gospel, and that of Mark, neither of them treat the subject at all.

 Matthew’s community and Luke’s community were writing to very different audiences. As such, they tailored the narrative of the birth of Jesus to them, each creating in their own way a fiction that was pleasing to the people to whom they were preaching.

 This is the essence of propaganda, to understand the Gospels, this must be understood first of all:  The Gospels contain some legitimate historical data, but the facts are difficult to sift out. They Gospels are the product of artifice; they are fictions, speaking to some truths that are universal, and relating some true events, but they cannot be relied on as a true account of anything

 They speak to us of historical realities but they are not historical narratives. The Gospels are propaganda, which is not to say that they are bad, it is only to say that they must be taken for what they are.

  

First Reading - Numbers 6:22-27 ©

 They Are to Call Down My Name on the Sons of Israel, and I Will Bless Them

 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Say this to Aaron and his sons: “This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

 May the Lord bless you and keep you.

 May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

 May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

 This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.’

  

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 66(67):2-3, 5, 6, 8 ©

 O God, be gracious and bless us.

 O God, be gracious and bless us

 and let your face shed its light upon us.

So will your ways be known upon earth

  and all nations learn your saving help.

 O God, be gracious and bless us.

 Let the nations be glad and exult

  for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples,

  you guide the nations on earth.

 O God, be gracious and bless us.

 Let the peoples praise you, O God;

  let all the peoples praise you.

May God still give us his blessing

  till the ends of the earth revere him.

 O God, be gracious and bless us.

  

Second Reading – Galatians 4:4-7 ©

 God Sent His Son, Born of a Woman

 When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons. The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave any more; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.

  

Gospel Acclamation – Hebrews 1:1-2

 Alleluia, alleluia!

 At various times in the past, and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.

 Alleluia!

  

The Gospel According to Luke 2:16 - 21 ©

 The Shepherds Hurried to Bethlehem and Found the Baby Lying in the Manger

 The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.

  When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception

 

The 2^nd Sunday of Christmas, The Solemnity of Mary, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year A)