Unfolding

 Mary and Elizabeth

The Gospel today speaks about how two different women responded to the will of God unfolding into their lives.  The women are Mary, the Blessed Mother and St. Elizabeth, the wife of Zachariah and the mother of John the Baptist.

God’s will is unfolding around us, every day

It is interesting that the closing words of the Gospel from St. Elizabeth: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  I say this because when the Archangel Gabriel came to Zechariah, he did not believe and so the angel made him dumb until the dedication of his Son in the temple.

Zechariah is struck dumb until the presentation of St. John the Baptist, when he responds in prayer.  St. Elizabeth is struck with awe and goes into seclusion for 5 months when she realizes that she is pregnant in her old age…  On the other hand, Mary responded to the archangel with her prayer of fiat - “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word.”  The difference in response between Mary and Zechariah is startling.  

In both of their lives, and in our lives today God’s plan is unfolding.  The challenge that they had and that we have - is do we recognize it?  Do we cooperate with it?

Seclusion - A response to the unfolding of God’s will

Elizabeth’s pregnancy is something that she takes time to process.  We don’t know exactly how old she was, but she was beyond child-bearing years.  Her prayer was “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace from before others.”

It could have been fear that led to her seclusion

How many of us have long standing issues with God, a wound, a regret or an unfulfilled longing that we have prayed about for so long we have given up hope.  St. Elizabeth is the saint for us.

For St. Elizabeth could have had much to worry about - 

• Was she strong enough to endure pregnancy?  

• Would she suffer a miscarriage?  

• Would her son be healthy?  

Not fear but awe - wonder at God’s plan unfolding

We can see how it is easy for these fears and worries to crowd out her life.  Yet, the sense that I have from reading Luke is that Elizabeth was not in a seclusion of fear, but rather a seclusion of reflection

• What has God done?

• What will He do next?  

• How can I participate? 

Zechariah and Elizabeth had talked

We see this because she clearly was communicating with Zecheriah - she knew that he had encountered an angel, and what the angel had said to him, and how he had doubted.  Yet in spite of his doubts, here was the will of God unfolding in the midst of their lives.

Greeting in her ears

And so, when Mary’s greeting reaches her ears in her house near Ein Karem - about 90 miles from where Mary lived in Nazareth she and her son, St. John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit - and she receives this visitation from God and participates in it with full voice as she cries out “Who am I that the Mother of My Lord should come to me?”

Filled with the Holy Spirit

John is the fore-runner of the Messiah - he is the one whom God calls to announce the coming of his son, and he does it again today.  If you read the Church Fathers they often say that St. Elizabeth cries out in a loud voice because of the joy her child experienced when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an experience unlike any other experience we might ever have and I am sure that this day transformed the life of St. Elizabeth forever.  She always remembered that day when God came to her to show her that God’s will was unfolding in her presence. 

4 days to Christmas - are we ready?

In four more days we will celebrate the birth of Christ - and just as it was unfolding every day during the life of St. Elizabeth and of the Blessed Mother God’s will is unfolding around us each day.  The question for us to consider is 

• Are we cooperating with the will of God or not?  

• Do we take time to recognize His will or not?

The will of God unfolds around us

Each day that goes by, God’s will unfolds around us - as it did to both Mary and St. Elizabeth.  As women they took time to encounter and reflect on that unfolding in their lives - it is what made them such excellent disciples.  Mary responded to the word of God immediately and with action.  She got up and went with haste to visit Elizabeth who lived about 90 miles away in the hill country to the west of Jerusalem.  

Elizabeth responds with reflection and prayer

Elizabeth also responded in two ways - with seclusion and reflection, as well as with praise and thanksgiving.  They model for us two ways we can prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas this year.

For those of us who are more drawn to St. Elizabeth’s response - who like to take time to ponder and to reflect here are a few suggestions to prepare for the coming of Christ.  

1. Take some time and read through the infancy narratives of both St. Matthew (who shows us the experience of the nativity from the perspective of St. Joseph) and St. Luke (who shows us the experience of the nativity from the perspective of the Blessed Mother.

2. Take up the praying of the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary in these last few days leading up to Christmas.  The joyful mysteries help us to think about our own lives in the context of the life of Christ.  For example, when I pray the joyful mysteries I am thinking about how God’s will unfolding into the life of Mary and Elizabeth while at the same time pondering the events of my day - to understand what the Lord is doing in my life.

Mary responds with action

Mary’s response was a response of action. St. Luke tells us that she went “in haste” to the hill country of Judea to help her cousin who was in-need.  That is a 90 mile journey on foot - it likely took her the better part of a week or two to make the journey.  The beautiful thing is that Mary was called to action.

Acting in haste

Understanding the news of the Holy Spirit - Mary knew that Elizabeth would need help - the need was obvious and so was the solution - she would go and be with her cousin and help her through the end of her pregnancy.

That means that Mary was willing to embrace hardship so that her cousin would not be alone.  

We need to respond in both ways - Seclusion to recognize the unfolding of the will of God and Haste to act when the Lord makes His way for us clear.

For us, is there someone in our lives who needs an encounter with Christ?  Is there some way we can be present to them, or share God’s compassion with them in a literal, practical way?

When you gather this Christmas, is there a family member who is more “on the outside” of the family, that your presence and interest in their life might help them to become more connected?

Be open to the presence of God (like a manger)

An openness to the presence of God in our lives begins with the realization that the will of God is unfolding around us every day, all day long.  The question is are we able to recognize it in our prayer and then engage and participate in it.

When the Son of God comes, will there be room at the inn?

When the Son of God comes to us this Christmas, will he find us too distracted to welcome his presence into our souls or are we preparing a place for him - a humble, simple place in the mess of our lives where the presence of God might abide and sanctify?

Hold onto the Wheat, Let go of the chaff

 Summarizing the readings for this weekend

If you want the 9 word summary of today’s readings it is the following:  “Hold onto the Wheat, let go of the chaff.”

Make Straight the way for the Lord

Last week we heard from St. John the Baptist - about how it is time to make straight the paths of the Lord.  The practical advice that John had on how to do this was by being baptised in the River Jordan while you confessed your sins - or the ways we were separated from God. 

Ok, now what?  Wait a minute - maybe he is the Messiah?

The people who accepted John’s preaching found themselves asking him - “Well, now what?  How do I stay in this reformed relationship with Christ?”  To which John goes on to give them additional advice on how to live their lives.  The people find this advice useful and so they begin to wonder… Is John the Messiah?

He will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire

John answers this - “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Who is going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire?  (you and I)

What will Jesus do with us?  He will use his winnowing fan to clear the threshing floor (where we are) - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Ok, so what is Chaff and Wheat?

We do not live in an agrarian world, and so we don’t have a clear understanding anymore about the difference between Wheat and Chaff.  When wheat is harvested, it is chopped down, stalk and all - then after harvest the farmer needs to separate the wheat (the seeds that are used to make flour which is the main ingredient to bread) from the chaff - which is the stalk - it is a waste product.

There is deep significance to the imagery that St. John uses.  Wheat becomes flour which is used to make bread and - and as Catholics, the priest offers bread to God in the Mass and God gives us the Eucharist, whereas chaff is waste from the process and is destroyed.  

John tells us that the Messiah is coming to harvest us, to gather the Wheat into His barn (heaven) while the chaff he will burn in an unquenchable fire!  The Messiah is coming to gather in the “Wheat” (what is authentically who God created us to be) and to burn away the “Chaff” (what is not really part of who we are - but some lie we believe about ourselves).

What is the Chaff in my life? 

Chaff is that part of our life that we “think and believe” is essential to who we are or how we live but is not of God - and we believe the lie that this is part of us.

For example:

• I am in pain, and so I distract myself with too much work, or drugs, or alcohol…

• I am avoiding a conversation with my spouse so I busy myself with chores

• I have hurt my friend - and so I avoid spending time with them, or talking about a difficult topic.

Chaff is the sin that we commit that takes us away from God - it is a waste of God’s creation and ultimately it leads us to nowhere.  Chaff is a lie, a deception or a waste.  Chaff is of no worth or value.

What is the Wheat of my life?

Wheat is who God authentically created us to be - part of that comes from who we are innately, and the rest comes from how we respond to the events of life - when we respond in the Spirit of Christ - that is Wheat.  Wheat matures, ripens and becomes more and more purely the expression of the best that we have to offer.  Wheat is what is truly beautiful and good and true in who God created when he created you and I. 

The Lifecycle of Wheat

Wheat has a deeper spiritual meaning.  As Catholics, whenever we read about Wheat in the Scriptures we think of Christ because Christ offered wheat (himself) to become the Eucharist - through which he nourishes us with His presence.  When wheat is crushed it becomes bread which is nourishment for us.  Jesus says in John’s Gospel - “Unless a grain of wheat dies, it simply remains a grain of wheat - but if it falls to the ground and dies it produces fruit 40, 60 or 100 fold.  

Being filled with the Spirit of Christ

As Baptized Christians we are called to become “like Christ”. God has given us the gift of the Spirit of Christ which we also call the Holy Spirit - that means to the extent to which live our lives in communion with Him, being transparent to His grace, and allowing his thinking, actings and being to shine through us is how we hold onto the wheat and let go of the chaff - because the Spirit of Christ is Good, and True and Beautiful - which is who God created us to be.  On the other hand Chaff is Evil, False and Ugly - which is what we do to ourselves when we fall into sin or give into the chaff in our lives.

Respond to the invitation towards communion

Advent is a penitential season, and these readings and St. John the Baptist calls us to seriously examine our lives and seek out those areas of chaff - then take them to confession and be freed of them.  

Christ calls all of us His brothers and sisters, and He understands that family is not perfect, that we are not in communion - but called to enter into communion with one another.

Bishop Barron shared that one of his favorite quotes from Cardinal George is that modern America is that we permit anything, and we forgive nothing…  As Christianity fades from having an impact on our culture our world is losing sight of the witness of forgiveness and reconciliation being practiced within it.

Give Christ the gift of forgiveness this Christmas

The readings today invite us to hold onto the wheat and let go of the chaff.  One way to do that is to reflect on this past season of advent and ask yourself the question 

• Is there someone I need to apologize to?  Ask forgiveness of?

• Is there someone I need to forgive?

There is another homily that could be given here on what is forgiveness and how to forgive, but we will save that for another time.  The point is, I want to invite you to consider putting Christ on your Christmas list this year.  

We have taken this time of Advent for reflection, examination and reconciliation.  Hopefully we have seen some areas where we are called to change, to become more Christ-like.  If not - don’t panic - there are two more weeks until Christmas.  

In your reflections look for those places where you are hurt, and need to forgive.  When we choose to hold onto a debt, hurt or injury that another caused us we are often wounded by bitterness, anger, and despair.  We grow a little more chaff.  Likewise when we choose to free another of the debt that they owe us, we become more Wheat-like, more Christ-like.

Give Christ the gift of your forgiveness to one of His brothers or sisters - so that He might see the world a little more reconciled on the feast of the Prince of Peace.  

Hold onto the Wheat, let go of the Chaff.  

Think about it.  Pray about it.  Do it.

 by offering someone forgiveness, or asking someone for their forgiveness.  That is part of the Christian witness, that is part of what the Eucharist is about - that is the 

Is there someone I need to forgive?

Before we step into how to respond to this challenge, remember that forgiveness is rooted in justice - that they owe me for what they did to me.  Forgiveness is letting go of a debt that someone owes you.  It is rooted in justice that we should love and treat one another fairly.  When we are wounded, when we are injured then we are owed a debt of reparation to settle accounts.  Forgiveness means that we surrender the debt that another owes us.

Some notes about what it means to forgive.

• Forgiveness does not mean that I am no longer hurt

• Forgiveness does not mean that I have to be friends with the other

• Forgiveness does not mean that I trust you.

Step 1 - Pray for your Enemies

If you find yourself wanting to respond to this invitation then the first step is to pray.  Pray for the person who hurt us.  Remember that in the Lord’s Prayer we pray each day “Forgive us as we forgive those who hurt us.”  

Set aside a time (some days or weeks) to pray for the person.  Pray about your own woundedness and for the person who wounded us.  For us to be filled with the Spirit of Christ is for us to pray for our enemies as He prayed for His.  Pray for your persecutors, bless them, do not curse them. 

Reflect on what the debt is

Next, take some time (This is best in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament) to recall injuries that need to be forgiven.  

• If you need to forgive another then ask yourself - What was taken, what was hurt or what was lost?

We do this because forgiveness is rooted in justice, and justice is about there being an equality between us as brothers and sisters in Christ.

We know from the witness of Christ on the Cross that forgiveness costs.  It was not easy or cheap for Christ to forgive you or I for our sin - it took the Cross.  

Additionally, it often irks us to have to be the one to reach out and offer forgiveness - because it costs us (especially as the aggrieved party) to reach out to seek to heal the relationship.

 Or forgiveness is an invitation to 

We can only understand forgiveness in terms of Justice - what I owe another person or what another person owes me.

Forgiveness is “I am not going to make you pay me back for what you owe me”.  (Matt 18:21-35)

Repentance is Good!

How should we live?

Wheat -> Truth -> Identify -> Dies -> 100x ->Eucharist

Chaff -> Lie -> False -> Death -> Sin -> The End

What do you owe me? - 

Pay me what you owe me! or I release you from your debt.

I know what you owe me! - Write down what someone owes you. - Count the cost.  I can only do this with God’s grace.

• They hurt me and cost me trust

• It influences how I see myself…

• Look at this list and say “with God’s grace I am not going to make you pay me back.

It gives us the freedom to move forward

Pray for those who I need to forgive… - pray for your enemies

Pray

Cardinal George - we live in a society that permits everything and forgives nothing

We pride ourselves on our society - everything is permitted, but nothing is forgiven.  Offenses are carefully counted and remembered.

Do something about injustice in my life.

First - Pray

Send a note

Send an email

Write a letter

Do something.  simple - Reconcile.

Make a phone call

Make an accounting in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament

Wheat means that I choose to fast, pray or interceded for the other.

Forgiveness is to deny oneself revenge…  Forgiveness is costly to the forgiver…

I am going to him / her to reconcile…  Costly?  Yes, you are a victim, but it costs.

Why do we say that God’s forgiveness comes through the cross?  Forgiveness always costs - the one who forgives?  

You are not a Christian for yourself, but for the world.. It is the Christian living the Christian life that teaches the world forgiveness.

Nicholas, Francis and Cecilia

 

1st Sunday of Advent

Spend this season increasing and abounding in love

In his letter to the Thessalonians today St. Paul exhorts us:  “Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you,  so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.”

I cannot think of a finer way to enter into this season of advent then with the mission to increase our love for one another so that we can grow in holiness before God.

Conduct yourselves to please God

St. Paul goes on to advise us how we might achieve this - he says:  “as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God and as you are conducting yourselves you do so even more”.  

The secret to a holy and profitable Advent is to adopt one to two habits of the saints, so that by imitating them we might gain insight into the spiritual truths that their actions point us to.  To help us in learning how to do this we have three saints today who have a special connection to Christmas - St. Nicholas of Myra, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Cecilia.

St. Nicholas - Giver of gifts

Much of what we know about the life of St. Nicholas comes from Michael the Archimandrite who wrote “Life, Works, and Miracles of our Holy Father Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia”.

In his works, Michael identifies that St. Nicholas was born in 280 in Patara in modern day Turkey. Patara is on the southern coast of Turkey in the bottom left corner as you look on a map.  Tradition has it that Nicholas was left orphaned by his parents when he was young.  When he was at an age to behave irresponsibly, he remained remarkably chaste.  His parents died when he was young, and as a young man he began to give away his inheritance.

Michael shares an example about 3 daughters whose family was too poor to afford a dowry and were threatened with being sold into slavery.  Nicholas learned of this deplorable situation and wanted to help, but at the same time he did not want to be known as the one who was giving the gifts, so at night he went out in secret and tossed a coin-purse with gold in it through the window of the man’s house, so that first one, then the second had a dowry and were married.  Michael reports that Nicholas was caught when he threw in the coin-purse for the third daughter, but Nicholas made the person who caught him promise not to tell others of his almsgiving.

Nicholas subsequently became a monk and took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he lived near the church in Bethlehem. On return from his pilgrimage he was elected Archbishop of Myra and attended the council of Nicea (from which we received the Nicene Creed) - During the council Nicholas persuaded Bishop Theognis to an Orthodox faith and he also allegedly punched the heretic Arius in the face.  Nicholas also survived the persecution of Diocletian - during which he was imprisoned and tortured - yet he remained true to the faith.

The Lessons of the Life of St. Nicholas

• Imitate Christ by being a generous giver of gifts to those in profound need.

• Take some time to become rooted in the creed - especially the sections that speak to the nature of Christ.

St. Francis of Assisi - the Humility of Christ

One of our Christian traditions is to have a nativity scene around the house.  My personal nativity is one my Mom bought when I was born from Japan - so it is cool because Mary, St. Joseph and Jesus have Japanese expressions.  Each Advent I get out the Nativity scene and as the Christmas season approaches Mary and Joseph slowly make their way to Bethlehem where Christ is born, and then the 3 wise-men (from the east) begin their journey towards the Christ child ending with the feast of the Epiphany.

St. Bonaventure tells us about the first nativity.  He describes that St. Francis wanted his brothers to truly understand the reality of the incarnation so in 1223 he asked the Pope for permission to celebrate the Christmas Mass in a cave in the hills near Greccio.  Permission was granted and Francis prepared a manger, with oxen and donkeys, and a crib prepared that was filled with hay, that was used as an altar for the celebration of the Eucharist.  Bonaventure tells that the Mass began at night with a torchlit procession through the forest led by the brothers singing the entrance hymn.  Francis chanted the Gospel and preached about the mission of the King of the Poor being born in poverty in a cave in Bethlehem and being laid in a manger - that prefigures for us the gift of the Eucharist which nourishes us on our journey to eternal life.

Lessons from St. Francis - immerse yourself in the reality of the incarnation

“Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble his way.”

Francis was moved by his life of prayer to enter into the mystery of this Christmas season in a deep and visceral way.  How can we spend our time this Advent profitably so that our hearts are open to the gifts that God gives to us.  

Francis did this through the experience of the nativity scene recreated in a cave to show the poverty, humility and love of God.

In what way can we alter our way of life these next four weeks to prepare ourselves to celebrate the gift of humility that God gives us?

We learn by doing and experiencing the love of Christ.  

If you need a practical example here - consider time for Adoration this coming week - think of it as a moment sitting in the manger with Jesus and the blessed Mother as she marvels in the miracle of the incarnation.

St. Cecilia of Rome - praising God in Song

Last weekend to celebrate the feast of St. Cecilia we blessed all of the musicians here at Mass.  Of all of the major events of the Gospel only the incarnation is celebrated with music.  St. Luke tells us in his Gospel that the birth of Christ was heralded by choirs of angels, and after their visit to the manger by praises to God sung by the shepherds who were the first witnesses to His birth.

St. Cecilia was a virgin who lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus who persecuted Christians severely.  Cecilia made a vow to live her life as a virgin, however her pagan family arranged for her to marry.  After her marriage Cecilia told her husband of her vow, and he was baptized a Christian, along with his brother by Pope Urban I who at that time was hiding in the catacombs on the Appian way.

The conversion of her husband and his brother was discovered by the authorities, and they were brought to the temple of Jupiter and asked to offer sacrifice - which they refused and for their refusal they were executed.

Soldiers were sent to arrest St. Cecilia, but she proclaimed the gospel to them and they were converted, and so she was sentenced to be boiled alive in a bath house.  When that attempt to kill her failed an executioner was sent to behead her, but he also failed. While grievously wounded she continued to proclaim the gospel until she perished three days later.  St. Cecilia was buried in the catacombs of St. Calixtus.  Her body was later discovered to be incorrupt, with her hands arranged to proclaim her faith in the Blessed Trinity.

The Lesson of St. Cecilia - Praising God with Song

St. Cecilia proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ through her music.  One way we can spend this advent season in a spirit of prayer and music is to sing the song “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” - at work or at home - immersing ourselves in the proclamation of the Gospel and the praise of God at the same time.  

Prepare for Christmas / Prepare for the Eschaton!

Today the readings focus us on the coming of Christ at the end of time.  We don’t know the day or the hour, but we know that when it comes we need to be prepared.  St. Paul encourages us to be prepared by imitating the lives of the saints.  Take advantage of this holy season to grow in holiness - so that we can come to the celebration of Christmas with hearts ready to welcome the love of God in His simplicity and humility.