The First Reading today speaks to us of the Call of Samuel. In examining we can see what it is that makes a great prophet. Put more theologically we can see the ways in which God’s graces form a great prophet. Samuel was surely one of the most significant prophets of the Old Testament and lived at a critical time as Israel shifted from the time of the Judges to the time of the Monarchy. Ultimately it was he who would see Israel through he difficult time of Saul’s reign and prepare and anoint them for David’s Kingship to follow.
What then are some of the ways that God prepares Samuel and every prophet (this means you) for mission? Consider these five.
1. The CLOSENESS of a great Prophet – In the first reading we find the young Samuel sleeping in the temple of the Lord. In those days the temple was not yet in Jerusalem and was not yet a permanent building. It was a tent structure in Hebron and Samuel, as one in training for temple duties, is sleeping near the Ark of the Covenant which carried the presence of God. Thus we see that a great prophet begins and remains so by staying close to the Lord.
We who would also be prophets must do the same if we wish to be great prophets to our family members and friends. Who will a priest preach with authority and power if he does not stay close to the Lord. How will a parent give prophetic witness to their children if the Lord is a distant God to them?
How do we draw close to the Lord? Daily Prayer, daily and devout reading of scripture, frequent confession, weekly reception of Holy Communion, and a spirit of wonder of and awe. Ask for these virtues. Stay close to the Lord. Great prophets stay close to the Lord.
2. The CONSTERNATION of a great Prophet – The first reading depicts Samuel as struggling with some confusion as to what and who he is hearing. God is calling, but he doesn’t get it. He struggles to figure out what is happening to him. A look at the call of most of the great prophets reveals that most of them struggled with their call. Moses felt old, inarticulate and inadequate. Jeremiah felt too young, Isaiah too sinful. Amos would have been content to remain a dresser of sycamores. Most prophets feel overwhelmed and experience consternation.
Samuel as we see, eventually figures it out who is calling him and begins his journey. He had to listen for a awhile to to do however.
How about you? Many of us too would want to run if God made it clear he had something for us to do. In a way, it is a proper response, for pride is a bad trait for a prophet. To experience a bit of trouble, consternation and anxiety helps to keep us humble and leaning on the Lord.
What is the Lord asking of you? Perhaps like Samuel you struggle to understand at first. But stay close to God. Things will eventually become clear.
The great prophets struggled. But that is the point, they struggled with God for an answer and for a vision.
3. The CONNECTEDNESS of a great Prophet – Notice that Samuel does not discern alone. He seeks counsel from a wiser man to help him. Though Eli is not a perfect teacher, God does make use of him to help Samuel.
So too for us, who ought to seek good, strong spiritual friends and clergy to help us discern. Scripture says, Seek counsel from every wise man (Tobit 4:18). It is a bad idea to discern alone. Hence we should cultivate relationships with wise and spiritual men and women in our journey.
Great prophets are connected to spiritual leaders and teachers. Prophets read and consulted other prophets. God does not just call us to a vertical private relationship with him. He also connects us to a horizontal relationship with others. Seek wise counsel, great prophets do.
4. The CORE of a great Prophet – Samuel is advised by Eli to say to God: Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. A great prophet listens to God. And God does not always say easy things. He often challenges in what he says, and wants to send them. But great prophets listen, they listen very carefully to God. They do not try and bury his word or become forgetful of what he says. They take seriously what they hear and do not compromise God’s Word.
And what of us? It is too easy to avoid listening to God, or to compromise on what we have heard. But great prophets listen carefully to God by: reading and studying his word, looking at how he speaks in creation and in the events of their day, studying the teachings of the Church and carefully, prayerfully listening to the still small voice within.
To you want to be a great prophet? Listen.
5. The CONVERSION of a great Prophet. We see in Samuel’s life how be became gradually transformed into a great prophet of God who never compromised God’s word. The text says: Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect. Because Samuel was close to the Lord, faced his consternation, was connected to the wise, and had that core virtue of listening, he became a great prophet. The text says in Hebrew (more literally) that not a word of his fell to the ground.
Being a great prophet is a work of God. But we, who would and should be great prophets ourselves, ought to heed the way God works to make great prophets. Learn from Samuel, study all the prophets, and you will see what God can do.
And while most of us wish our words had greater effect, it is less clear we want to undertake the process to get there. Ask for the gift. Ask for the gift to stay close to God, to struggle and accept some of the consternation that comes with being a prophet. Seek to be connected to wise counsel, learn the core value of listening. And thus will God bring about in us a conversion such that none of your words will ever fall to the ground.
This song says, The Lord gave the Word, Great was the company of the preachers.
Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a moment to reflect not only on the Lord’s baptism, but also on our own. For in an extended sense, when Christ is baptized, so are we, for we are members of his body. As Christ enters the water, he makes holy the water that will baptize us. He enters the water and we follow. And in these waters he acquires gifts to give us, as we shall see below.
Why was Jesus Baptized – It has been asked in every generation why Christ sought baptism. For baptism of John surely pointed to sin, of which Christ had none. The question has been well answered by the Father and many others. In effect, Christ descended to those waters, he troubled those waters, stirring them up to make them holy for our sakes. And by this descent, which points to the paschal mystery, to obtain manifold blessings for us. St. Maximus of Turin speaks Christ’s Baptism as this:
I understand the mystery as this. The column of fire went before the sons of Israel through the Red Sea so that they could follow on their brave journey; the column went first through the waters to prepare a path for those who followed……But Christ the Lord does all these things: in the column of fire He went through the sea before the sons of Israel; so now in the column of his body he goes through baptism before the Christian people….At the time of the Exodus the column…made a pathway through the waters; now it strengthens the footsteps of faith in the bath of baptism. (de sancta Epiphania 1.3)
So Christ, as it were, opens a way for us by troubling the waters, just as he did at the Red Sea, and obtains for us victory over our spiritual enemies. He brings us forth to freedom on the other side. He is baptized for us. Ephesians 5:30 says we are members of Christ’s body. Thus when Jesus goes into the water we go with him. And in going there he stirs up, he troubles the water for us, acquiring gifts on our behalf.
Don’t be afraid of troubled waters, there is a blessing on the other side. A song writer one spoke of seeking a bridge over troubled waters. Biblically this is poor advice. For it is only by going through, or wading into, the troubled waters that the blessing is found. More on this in moment. For now simply observes that Christ wades in, he troubles the water, and he obtains blessings for us out of troubled waters.
And what are the gifts He obtains for us? The texts speak of them somewhat figuratively, but also clearly. In effect, there are four gifts spoken of in the Gospel descriptions of Jesus’ Baptism:
Access – the heavens are opened . The heavens and paradise had been closed to us after Original Sin. But now, at Jesus’ baptism, the text says the heavens are opened. Jesus acquires this gift of sanctifying grace for us. And by this grace, the heavens open for us and we have access to the Father and to the heavenly places. Scripture says: Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, (Romans 5:1) It also says, For through Jesus we have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph 2:17). Hence the heavens are opened also at our own Baptism and we have access to the Father.
Anointing –the Spirit of God descends on him like a dove – Here too, Jesus acquires the Gift of the Holy Spirit for us. In Baptism we are not just washed of sins, but we also become temples of the Holy Spirit. After baptism there is the anointing with chrism which signifies the presence of the Holy Spirit. For adults this is Confirmation. But even for infants, there is an anointing at baptism to recognize that the Spirit of God dwells in the baptized as in a temple. Scripture says, Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16)
Acknowledgment – this is my beloved Son. Jesus receives this acknowledgment from his Father. He allowed this to be heard by some of the bystanders for the sake of their own faith. But he also acquires this gift for us. In our own Baptism we become the children of God. Since we become members of Christ’s body, we now have the status of sons of God. On the day of your Baptism the heavenly Father acknowledged you as his own dear Child. Scripture says: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Gal 3:26)
Approval – I am well pleased . Jesus had always pleased his Father. But now he acquires this gift for you as well. Here too is another acknowledgment of the sanctifying grace that the Lord gives us in Baptism. Sanctifying grace is the gift to be holy and pleasing to God. Scripture says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Eph 1:1-3)
Thus, at his Baptism, Christ acquired these gifts for us, so that, at the troubled, stirred up water of our own Baptism, we could receive them. Consider well the glorious gift of your Baptism. Perhaps you know the exact day. It should be a day as highly celebrated as your birthday. Christ is baptized for our sakes, not his own. All these gifts had always been his. Now, in his baptism he fulfills God’s righteousness by going into the water to get them for you. It’s alright to say, “Hallelujah!”
This video I put together shows that God has a way of bringing blessings when he troubles the Water.
He troubled the waters in the great flood to cleanse the earth,
He troubled the waters at the Red Sea to bring forth victorious escape and freedom from oppression,
He troubled the waters in the desert to satisfy the Israelites,
He troubled the waters of the Jordan so they could enter the promised land,
Jesus troubled the waters at his baptism and obtained many a gift for us,
And from the troubled waters of his pieced side came for salvation and the Holy Spirit.
So don’t build a bridge over troubled waters, wade on in! There’s a blessing on the other side.
Note: Here in America Epiphany is (sadly) transferred to a nearby Sunday instead of January 6. Hence, this Sunday we read of this event and celebrate it liturgically. With that in mind here are my homily notes for Epiphany, which, for some of you in other parts of the world may seem a bit late.
There are so many wonderful details in the Epiphany story: the call of the Gentiles, the nations, and their enthusiastic response, the significance of the star they see, and the gifts they bring, the dramatic interaction with Herod and their ultimate rejection of him in favor Christ.
In this meditation I would like especially to follow these wise men in their journey of faith. We can observe how they journey in stages from the light of a star, to the bright and glorious Light of Jesus Christ. And, of course to authentically encounter the Lord is to experience conversion. All the elements of this story serve ultimately to cause them to “return to their country by another route.” Let’s look at the stages of their journey to Jesus, let’s walk the way of the wise men.
Stage 1. CALL – The text says – When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” – Notice first the identity of these individuals. They are called Magi, (μάγοι, (magoi) in Greek) and they are from the East.
Exactly what “Magi” are is debated. Perhaps they are wise men, perhaps they are ancient astronomers. We often think of them as Kings though the text does not call them that. It also seems Herod would have been far more anxious had they been actual potentates from an Eastern Kingdom. In our imagination we often think of them as Kings since Psalm 72, read in today’s Mass, speaks of “Kings” coming from the East bearing gifts of gold and frankincense. However, for the record, the text in today’s gospel does not call them kings, but “magi.”
Yet, here is their key identity: they are Gentiles and they have been called. Up to this point in the Christmas story, only Jews had found their way to Bethlehem. But now the Gentiles come. This detail cannot be overlooked, for it is clear that the gospel is going out to all the world.
St. Paul rejoices in this fact in today’s second reading as he says: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph 3:6). Most of us are not Jewish by ancestry, and hence we ought to rejoice for in the call of these Magi is prefigured our call.
And notice that God calls them through something in the natural world. In this case a star. God uses something in creation to call out to them.
We do well to wonder what is the star that God used to call us? Perhaps it was Scripture, but more usually, it is first someone God has used to reach us, a parent, a family member, a friend, a priest, religious sister, or devoted lay person. Who are the stars in your life by whom God called you?
God can also use inanimate creation like he did for these Magi. Perhaps it was a beautiful Church, a painting or a song. By someone or something God calls. He puts a star in our sky. These wise men, these Magi, follow the call of God and begin their journey to Jesus.
Stage 2. CONSTANCY– Upon their arrival in Jerusalem the Magi find a rather confusing and perhaps discouraging situation. The reigning King, Herod, knows nothing of the birth of this new King. It must have seemed probable to them that the newborn King would be related to the current King, so his surprise may have confused them. But Herod seems more than surprised, he seems threatened and agitated.
Even more puzzling, he calls religious leaders to further inform him of this King. They open the sacred writings and the Magi hear of a promised King. Ah! So the birth of this king has religious significance! How interesting!
But, these religious leaders seem unenthusiastic of the newborn King and after giving the location of his birth seem to make no effort to follow the Magi. There is no rejoicing, no summoning of the people that a longed for king had finally been born. Not even further inquiry!
So the wicked (e.g. Herod and his court), are wakeful, and the saints are sleepy. How odd this must have seemed to the Magi. Perhaps it occurred to them to suspend their search. After all, the actual king knew nothing of this birth, and those who did, seemed little interested.
Ah, but praise the Lord they persevere in their search. They do not give up!
Thanks be to God too, that many today have found their way to Christ despite the fact that parents, clergy and others, who should have led them joyfully to Jesus, were either asleep, or ignorant or just plain lazy. I am often amazed at some of the conversion stories I have heard, people who found their way to Christ and his Church, despite some pretty discouraging obstacles like poor religious upbringing, scandalous clergy and bad example. God sometimes allows our faith and call to be tested but Those who persevere to the end will be saved (Matt 24:13).
Stage 3. CONFESSION OF FAITH – The text says, After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. – With what little information they have they set out and continue to follow the call of God through the star.
Note that they enter a “house.” We often think of the Magi as coming that same Christmas night to the cave or stable but it seems not. Mary (Joseph) and Jesus are found now in a house. It would seem that decent lodging has now been found. Has it been days since the birth? Perhaps even longer, but we are likely dealing with a different day than Christmas Day.
Notice too that they “prostrate” themselves before Jesus. The Greek word is προσεκύνησαν (prosekunēsan) which means more literally “to fall down in worship” or “give adoration.” The verb is used 12 times in the New Testament and it is clear each time that religious worship is the purpose of the prostration.
This is no mere homage or a sign of respect to an earthly King, this is religious worship. This is a confession of faith. So our Magi manifest faith!
But is it a real faith, or just a perfunctory observance? It’s not enough to answer an altar call, or to get baptized. Faith is never alone. It is a transformative relationship with Jesus Christ. So lets look for the effects of a real and saving faith.
Stage 4. COST – There is a cost to discipleship. The magi are moved to give three symbolic gifts that show some of what true faith includes. And they are costly gifts.
Gold is a symbol of all our possessions. In laying this gift before Jesus they and we are saying, “I acknowledge that everything I have is yours. I put all my resources and wealth under your authority and will use them only according to your will.” A conversion that has not reached the wallet is not complete.
Frankincense. is the gift of worship, for in the Bible incense is a symbol of prayer and worship (eg. psalm 141). In laying down this gift we promise to pray and worship God all the days of our life. To be in his holy house each Sunday and render him the praise and worship he is due. To listen to his word and to consent to be fed the Eucharist by him. To worship him worthily by frequent confession and to praise him at all times. And they give
Myrrh – a strange gift for an infant. Myrrh is usually understood as burial ointment. Surely this prefigures Jesus’ death but it also symbolizes our own. In laying this gift before Jesus we are saying, my life is yours. I want to die so that you may live your life in me. May you increase and may I decrease. Use me and my life as you will. So here are gifts that are highly symbolic.
The magi manifest more than a little homage to Jesus. They are showing forth the fruits of saving faith. And if we can give these gifts so too are we.
Stage 5. CONVERSION – The text says, And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
Here then is essential evidence for faith: conversion. It is not enough to get happy in Church, we have to obey. Hence, these wise men are walking differently now. They are not going home by the same way they came. They’ve changed direction, they’ve turned around (conversio). They are now willing to walk the straight and narrow path that leads to life rather than the wide road that leads to damnation. They are going to obey Christ. They are going to exhibit what St. Paul calls the “obedience of faith” (Rom 1:5; 16:26). They have not just engaged in a possibly perfunctory worship, they are showing signs of a true and saving faith. They are not just calling Jesus “Lord, Lord!” They are doing what he tells them (cf Luke 6:46).
So there it is. Through careful stages the Lord has brought the Gentiles (this means you) to conversion. He called. They remained constant, confessed him to be Lord, accepted the cost of discipleship and manifested conversion. Have you? Have I?
Walk in the ways of the Wise men! Wise men still seek him. Even wiser ones listen to him and obey. Are we willing to go back to our country by another route? Is on-going conversion part of our journey home to heaven? If Epiphany means “manifestation” how is our faith manifest in our deeds and conversion?
I have it on the best of authority that as the wise men went home by another route they were singing a Gospel song: “It’s a highway to heaven! None can walk up there but the pure in heart. I walking up the King’s Highway. If you’re not walking start while I’m talking. There’ll be a blessing you’ll be possessing, walking up the King’s Highway. “
This Solemn Feast Day is that of the Mary under the title Mother of God (Θεοτόκος – Theotokos). She has this title in virtue of Jesus who, though having two natures, is one person. And Mary, though not the mother or origin of Jesus’ divine nature, is Mother of Jesus in terms of his human nature. And since Jesus is God, and one person, not two, she is properly called Mother of God. Thus this title comes to her on account of Jesus Christ.
An interesting aspect of this feast however is how focused the readings are on God the Father. Both the first and second readings as well as the psalm are surely intended to more deeply root us in our own divine filiation (in Christ) and thereby instill in us a deep affection, love and trust for our heavenly Father.
And yet Mary, in today’s feast, has an important and mystical role in presenting us to the Father. Only Jesus can open the door to the Father, but Mary, in her motherly care for us, also desires us to Love the heavenly Father.
How is this seen in the feast today? Note that it is the Eighth Day since Jesus’ birth. On this day, as a Jewish male infant, Jesus is brought by Mary and Joseph to the Mohel, (the Jewish Rabbi or expert in circumcision). At this moment in the Jewish life such an infant is brought to the Lord wherein more than a surgery is performed, but, even more a covenant relationship begins. Jesus, in terms of his Divinity needs no covenant relationship for He and the Father are one. But in terms of his humanity, he and his parents follow the Law exactly.
But, understand this, Mary is also mystically our mother and in carrying Christ this day, she also mystically carries us. How is this so? Scripture says that we are, by our baptism incorporated into Christ. We become members of his body (e.g. 1 Cor 12:27; 1 Cor 6:15; Rom 12:5; and many others). As St. Paul reminds us, when Christ dies, we die, when he rises we rise (e.g. Romans 6:3-4; 2 Cor 4:10). Hence, what happens to Jesus, happens to us if we are a member of his body.
Mary’s prayer for us – Thus, today, as Mary carries him in his humanity to the heavenly Father, she also mystically carries us. And for us, perhaps we can hear her say: “Here is your Father and Jesus, opens the way for you to Him by his blood. Now look upon your Father, with and in my Son and learn to love and trust the Father.”
So, lets accept Mary’s prayer and invitation as she, who is our mother, asks us to love our heavenly Father. We do well to focus especially on the reading from the Book of Numbers and the letter to the Galatians which the Church (also our Mother and typified by Mary) asks us to read and experience. Note that these readings are the very opening words of the Church at the New Year. Thus, to reflect on them will also well prepare us for the New Year ahead.
Consider three basic points in terms of how we are blessed in knowing and being in a Covenant relationship with our Heavenly Father:
I. The Foundation of our Blessing – In the text from Numbers 6 we see that God gives clear instruction that he both wants to bless the people and how He wants to bless them: The LORD said to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: And there follows the text of the Aaronic Blessing which we will discuss in a moment.
But note here, it is God’s will and desire to bless his people. This is the foundation of our blessings: God’s will and desire to bless us. God wants to bless us! It is He who initiates every blessing. We should not consider blessings as mere incantations that call down desired ends, and surely not as incantations that some how force God’s hand. God is not a vending machine, whereby we press the right combination of buttons there comes forth the desired product. He is God and the blessings the Church confidently bestows, proceed from his demonstrated will and desire to bless his people, and to bless them in whatever way he sees fit.
Note that after giving the blessing formula to Moses, God adds: So shall they [the priests] invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.” See therefore the emphatic: “I will bless them.”
Blessings are not mere rituals. They are a reality that change things. When a Catholic is blessed by a priest at Mass or elsewhere, they must have faith that God actually bestows blessings, received in faith. We may not get exactly what we seek, but God does bless and we are confident in the positive effects of blessings given by the priest since God says, “Thus shall the priests invoke my name upon the people…and I will bless them.
The Final Blessing at Mass – It is proper for us to remember at this point that, while there are some who cannot currently receive Holy Communion for any number of reasons. But that does not mean that the blessing of the priest at Mass is of no avail. It surely provides any number of blessings, whether it be the grace of conversion, of consolation, of patience, or of any number of blessings that may help to open doors to restore a person to communion.
But when the priest says, “May almighty God bless you….” So in fact, do blessings come forth, according to God’s good will and to desire to bless.
II. The Fundamentals of our Blessing – Now then we can note the essential elements of blessing by observing the Words God commands the ancient priests to use. The text says: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! These words are very precious and we ought to look at them in some detail
1. The Lord Bless You: The Hebrew ḇerakah – meaning to enjoy happiness; to experience being favored. In other words and in this case, it is as though God is saying these words to Moses that he wants us to experience His will to bless us and show us favor by his grace and mercy. As if to say, “Tell my people to rejoice for I desire to show them favor and grant them graces and blessings.”
2. And keep you – The Hebrew is Shamar, meaning to keep, to watch over, to guard and preserve. Again as if to say, “Tell my faithful people that they have nothing to fear, for I give them a shepherd’s care. I watch them, guard them and shepherd them rightly.” We know of course that it is God’s will at times to lead us through some difficult passes. But even here, he bestows blessings and allows adversity only to bless us, if we are faithful and follow him. God keeps watch over us. He sees ahead and has already provided the graces we need to make it through.
3. The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! – What does it mean to let God have his face shine on us? It means to know the Father. It means to have Him come and show Himself to you. And when the Father’s face shines on us in this way, we are never the same again. Yes, His face shines on you. You know and experience His benevolence, you know His love. And to the extent that that happens for you, you can never be the same again.
And on account of this, trust and confidence begins to dawn on you, even in dark moments. For now, at such moments, it’s different, for you’ve seen his face, you’ve known his love and favor, and you trust his providence.
This is a very precious gift to be sought. For too many people, even Christians, God the Father is a stranger. He is an old man with beard who runs the universe and somehow loves us, in some abstract way. But fundamentally, He is a stranger for many.
But do you see the gift that the Lord wants to give us today as Mary carries us (in Christ) to the convent relationship signified by circumcision? God wants us to let the light of his face shine on us, so that we personally know him, and love him and trust him. Jesus has opened the way to the Father, and there is nothing more precious to him and Mother Mary, than that we come to experience his love and graciousness for us.
Grab hold of this gift that Jesus died to give you. More of this gift in a moment.
4. And give you peace – And here is the result of experiencing the Light of God’s face: shalom. It is peace to be sure but more than peace understood as an absence of conflict. Rather it is the peace that comes from receiving completeness, soundness, and the deep and abiding experience that everything is alright. This can only come authentically to us as the result of experiencing the light of God’s face, shining upon us. And when it does there comes an increasingly unshakable peace that the world did not give and the world cannot take away. Even in the midst of storms, there is, at a deeper and broader part of us a shalom, a conviction and experience that everything is alright.
Ah, what magnificent blessings God wants to bestow on us! But there is more and we hear of it in the second reading today from the Letter to the Galatians.
III. The Fullness of our Blessing – In the second reading to day from Galatians, St Paul goes on to describe the normal Christian life as a life in the Holy Spirit whereby we experience God the Father as “Abba.” Lets look at the essential part of the text:
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman….so that we might receive adoption as sons. As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Gal 4:4-6)
Now Paul uses a strong word: “Proof.” And what is this proof that we are the sons of God? The proof is that we have and experience the Holy Spirit, and, on account of the Holy Spirit, are able to experience God the Father in such a way as to cry out “Abba.”
So, of course the question is, what does it mean to say “Abba?” To cry out “Abba” means to have the grace of divine tenderness. To have in our heart the grace to love God the Father, to love Him with the same tenderness and affection with which Jesus loves him. It is to have a divine affection for God. As sons of God, we are children now, and we share in Christ’s sonship. And thus, by this grace of the Holy Spirit, we come to love God the Father more and more as Jesus does.
And how does Jesus love the Father? Simply put, He’s crazy about Him. He loves the Father with a divine and unspeakable affection. He trusts Him with his whole life; right through to the end, through suffering and death.
To call God Abba is the movement the heart toward God the Father with affection and love, and tenderness. And, as a work of the Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit’s role is to transform our heart into the heart of Jesus so that this becomes possible.
And as we come to experience this reality we also realize that we cannot produce this love, trust, tenderness and affection by ourselves. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not just saying the word “Abba.” (Heck, a parrot can be taught to say the word); it is experiencing the reality of God as Abba. That God is my Father and that I love him with a tender affection and trust, and joy.
If you have never experienced this, get on your knees and ask God for it. He is more than waiting for you to ask. This is the normal Christian life.
This is the fullness of our blessing, that God the Father makes his glorious face shine upon us and that we come to know and experience him as Abba, our wonderful and loving Father.
Do you see how this can transform your life? And do you see that this is the normal Christian life that Jesus died to give us?
What an wonderful way to start the New Year of 2012, by loving trusting and experiencing God the Father as Abba, and allowing his glorious face to shine on us!
Today, Mother Mary, on her feast as Mother of God, is not content to have us focus on her. Rather she, with motherly tenderness, carries us, as she carried Christ, to a covenant relationship with the heavenly Father. Jesus, her tiny infant Son, did not need to form this relationship, He already had it. But we, mystically in Him, do need it. And thus she carries us, in Jesus, to the Father and says, “Behold your Father, who loves you, your Abba, who makes his face to shine upon you.”
Jesus alone can open this way, and Mary, carrying us in Jesus, in this eighth day of circumcision, of Covenant love, acts as a Mother, and shows us our Father, through Christ her son and our Lord.
Happy Feast of Mary Mother of God. Look at her, she’s pointing to the Father. There is no better way to start the new year of 2012. We may not know what the future holds, but that’s alright. We know Him who holds the future. And I’ve got a feeling that everything is going to be alright.
In this video, Fr. Francis Martin reflects on these same realities:
–
And this songs says, I trust in God, I know He cares for me, On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea; Tho’ billows roll, He keeps my soul, My heavn’ly Father watches over me.
At Christmas we celebrate the fact of the Word Becoming Flesh. God’s love for us is not just some theory or idea. It is a flesh and blood reality that can actually be seen, heard and touched.
But the challenge of the Christmas season is for us to allow the same thing to happen to our faith. The Word of God and our faith cannot simply remain on the pages of a book or the recesses of our intellect. They have to become flesh in our life. Our faith has to leap off the pages of the Bible and Catechism and become flesh in the very way we live our lives, the decisions we make, the very way we use our body, mind, intellect and will.
Consider the passage from the liturgy read today, as I write this, December 29, of the Christmas Octave. It is from the First Letter of John. I would like to produce an excerpt and then make a few comments.
The way we may be sure that we know Jesus is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked. (1 John 2:3ff)
I. Faith is incarnational – Note first of all what a practical man John is. Faith is not an abstraction, it is not about theories, abstractions, generalities or merely words on a page. It is not about slogans. It is about a transformed life, it is about the actual love of God and his Commandments. It is about the actual love of of my neighbor.
True faith is “incarnational,” in that it takes on flesh in my very “body-person.” Remember, we human beings are not pure spirit, we are not intellect and will only, we are also flesh and blood. Therefore our faith cannot remain merely immaterial. What we most are, must be reflected in our bodies, in what we actually, physically do as well.
Too many people often repeat the phrase, “I’ll be with you in spirit.” Perhaps an occasional absence is understandable, but after a while the phrase rings hollow. Actually showing up, and actually doing what we say, is an essential demonstration of our sincerity. We are body persons and our faith must have a physical, flesh and blood dimension. Our faith is to be reflected in our actual behavior and the physical conduct of our life.
II. A sure sign – John says that The way we may be sure that we know Jesus is to keep his commandments. Now be careful of the logic here. The keeping of the commandments is not the cause of faith, it is the fruit of it. It is not the cause of love, it is the fruit of it.
Note this too, in the Scriptures, to “know” is usually more than a mere intellectual knowing. The verb used in this passage to denote “know” is γινώσκομεν (ginoskomen). This type of knowing means an experiential knowing as distinguished from a mere intellectual or “book” knowing, more commonly indicated by the Greek word “oida.” So the kind of knowing set forth in this passage (ginoskomen) means more fully, to have a deep intimate personal experience of the thing or person known. It is one thing to know about God, it is another thing to “know the Lord.”
So, what John is saying here is that to be sure we authentically have deep intimate personal experience of God is to observe the fact that this changes the way we live. An authentic faith, an authentic knowing of the Lord, will change our actual behavior in such a way that we keep the commandments as a fruit of that authentic faith and relationship with the Lord. It means that our faith becomes flesh in us. It changes the way we live and move and have our being.
For a human being who is a person with a bodily dimension, faith cannot be an abstraction. It has to become flesh and blood if it is authentic.
John also uses the image of walking: This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked. Now walking is a very physical thing. It is also a very symbolic thing. The very place we take our body is both physical and indicative of what we value, what we think.
III. Liar? – John goes on to say Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar. John uses strong language here. Either we believe and keep the commandments or we fail to keep the commandments and thus lie about knowing the Lord.
But all of us struggle to keep the commandments fully! John seems so “all or nothing.” True, but his math is clear. To know the Lord fully, is never to sin (cf 1 John 3:9). To know him imperfectly is still to experience sin. Hence, the more we know him (remember the definition of know from above!) the less we sin. If we still sin it is a sign that we do not know him enough.
It is not really John who speaks too absolutely. It is really we who do so. We say, “I have faith, I am a believer, I love the Lord, I know the the Lord!” We speak so absolutely. Perhaps we could better say, I am growing in faith, I am striving to be a better believer, I’m learning to love and know the Lord better and better. Otherwise we risk lying.
Faith is something we grow in. Many Protestants have a bad habit of reducing faith to an event such as answering an altar call, or accepting the Lord as “personal Lord and savior.” But we Catholics do it too. Many think all they have to do is be baptized but they never attend Mass faithfully later. Others claim to be “loyal” even “devout” Catholics but they dissent from important Church teachings.
Faith is about more than membership. It is about the way we walk, the decisions we actually make. Without this harmony between faith and our actual walk we live a lie. We lie to ourselves and to others. Bottom line: Come to know the Lord more an more perfectly and, if this knowing is real knowing, we will grow in holiness, keep the commandments be of the mind of Christ. We will walk just as Jesus walked.
IV. Is this salvation by works?Of course not. The keeping of the commandments is not the cause of saving and real faith it is the result of it. The keeping of the commandments is the necessary evidence of saving faith but it does not cause us to be saved. It only indicates that the Lord is saving us from sin and its effects.
But here too certain Protestants divide faith and works. The cry went up in the 16th Century by the Protestants that we are saved by faith “alone.” Careful. Faith is never alone. It always brings effects with it. Our big brains can get in the way here and we think that just because we can distinguish or divide something in our mind, we can divide it in reality. This is not necessarily so.
Consider for a moment a candle flame. Now the flame has two qualities: heat and light. In our mind we can separate the two but not in reality. I could never take a knife and divide the heat of the flame and the light. They are so together as to be one reality. Yes, heat and light in a candle flame are separate theoretically, but they are always together in reality.
This is how it is with faith and works. We are not saved by works but as John here teaches to know the Lord is always accompanied by the evidence of keeping the commandments and walking as Jesus did.
So, faith is real. It is “incarnational.” At Christmas we acknowledge that the Word, Jesus Christ, became flesh and dwelt among us, really and physically. So too our own faith must become flesh in us, really, physically in our actual behavior in our very body-person.
I put this video together with a song arranged by Richard Proulx (RIP) of an anonymously composed 15th Century Carol. The song is available at iTunes. The translation is as follows:
In this reflection, perhaps we can consider but one line in the Gospel which both challenges our love, and is a sign of God’s humble and abiding love for us: For there was no room for them in the Inn.
I. The Scene –There is a knock at midnight. Joseph speaking on behalf of both Mary and Jesus (who is in her womb still), seeks entrance to the homes and lodgings of those in Bethlehem. And though the Jewish people, in those ancient days, placed a high obligation upon the duty of hospitality to the stranger and passerby, the answer is repeatedly, “No room here.” Mary’s obvious pregnancy and imminent delivery make little difference, it would seem.
This indeed is a cold night, not so much in terms of the air temperature, but in terms of the hearts of the people. Even at the local Inn, (Surely someone could make room for a pregnant woman!), No room at the Inn.
Yes! A cold night. The only warmth will be found among the animals of that town. An old Latin antiphon for Christmas says, O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum, un animalia viderent Dominum natum iacentem in praesepio. (O great mystery and stunning sacrament, that animals would see the newborn Lord lying in a feedbox). Here warmth will be found, among the animals. It is sometimes said that man can be brutish. But the reality is that we can sink even beneath the beasts, doing things to ourselves and to each other that even animals do not do.
Scripture says,
The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know me, my people do not understand….They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. (Isaiah 1:3-4)
And again,
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1:10-11).
A knock at midnight, the animals received him and gave warmth. His own people, knowing him not, received him not. And into this very midnight darkness and cold the light and warmth of God’s love will shine forth. The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone (Is 9:1)
II. The Stooping – Surely God stoops low to come from lightsome heaven to our war torn, dark and cold world. And as he stoops, he stoops to the lowest place, being born not in a palace or even a comfortable home. He stoops to a manger. For God will defeat Satan’s pride with humility. And all who will find him this fateful night must also stoop.
And this stooping of God is illustrated even in the very topography of this night. The towns of the Holy Land built on the tops of the tall hills (something we almost never do here in America). But this is done (where land is more scarce) so as to leave the fertile valleys for agriculture. And Bethlehem too is perched on the higher land and the shepherd’s fields lie below. The streets of Bethlehem are steep and built on tiers or levels. Thus, the back lot of many homes and buildings drops steeply down and beneath the buildings. And beneath the buildings they hollowed out caves where animals and tools and tools were kept.
It was there, down under, where Joseph and Mary sought hasty shelter, for it was a cold and dark midnight, and Mary’s time had come. God stoops with them to be born, among the animals and agricultural implements, in the damp under-cave of some house or inn.
And, for those who will find our God. They too must stoop low. Even to this day when one visits Bethlehem and wants to see the place of Jesus’ birth, one must first enter the Church through what is termed the “Door of Humility.” For security reasons this ancient door was built only about four feet high. And one must stoop greatly to enter the church. Yes, we must stoop to find our God. The site of the birth is at the other end of the basilica, under the altar area. Here again, more stooping; down steep stairs and through another low and narrow door, into the cave. To touch the spot, one must kneel and reach forward, into a narrower part of the cave. Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, says the inscription. And the only to get there is to stoop.
Yes, Our God stoops, he stoops to the lowest place, and to find him, and be with him we too must be willing to stoop. God hates pride, he just can’t stand it. For he sees what it does to us and he comes to break its back, not with clubs and swords, or by overpowering, but with humility. Darkness does not defeat darkness, only light can do that. Hate does not defeat hate, only love can do that. Pride will not defeat Pride, only humility will do that. So God stoops.
And tonight God calls us with this same humility. He could have ridden down from Heaven on a lightning bolt and stunned us into fearful submission. Instead he goes to the lowest place. He comes quietly, non-violently, without threat, as an infant. But even in this lowly way, he is still calling.
And so there is a knock at midnight. Scripture says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20). An old song says, “Somebody’s knocking at your door! Oh Sinner, why don’t you answer?”
And this leads us to the final point –
III. The Saddest thing – When human history is complete and the last books are written, one of the saddest lines in all of that history will be simply the line, For there was no room for them in the Inn. No room, no room. How strange and sad for this world that God simply doesn’t fit. He does fit our agendas, our schedules, our priorities. No room, He just doesn’t fit.
Again, as Scripture says,
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (Jn 1:11)
But that same passage goes on to add:
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the power to become children of God— (John 1:12)
What could be more sad than to miss this gift to become the very Children of God? Yes, the saddest line that will ever be written of this world is that there was no room for him in the Inn.
And what of us? Is there room for Jesus in the “Inn” of our hearts? For if there is, Jesus comes bearing many gifts. Tonight is a night of gifts. There is a knock at this very midnight. Sounds like Jesus! Oh Sinner, why don’t you answer, somebody’s knocking at your door.
Make room for Jesus. Every year he comes knocking, he stoops low and invites us to find him in the lowly places of this world, in the lowly places of our own life. What are the things in your life that may be crowding out Jesus? What obstacles and preoccupations leave little or no room for Jesus? What keeps you from recognizing him and opening the door wide when he comes?
If you’ve already opened the door to him for many years, praise God, and ask the Lord to help you open wider. For it remains true for many of us that although Jesus has been invited in, his accommodations are poor, perhaps the couch or the floor.
Make room for Jesus, make more and more room for him, in the Inn of your soul and I promise you that what Scripture says is true: Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the power to become children of God— (John 1:12).
If you will receive the gift of him tonight, and make greater room for him in your heart, I promise you total victory and transformation in Christ Jesus. There will come to you the increasing gift of transformation into the very likeness of God. For tonight is a night of gifts and Jesus stoops low to give us a priceless gift: the power to become the children of God.
In today’s Gospel we step back nine months to March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, an event all but hidden, but which changed the world.
God whose focal presence had departed the Temple, just prior to the Babylonian invasion (cf Ez 10:18) and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant, now returns to the Ark of Mary’s womb. The Glorious presence of God returns now to his people in an obscure town of less than three hundred, a town so small that no road went to it.
We are reading here of a pivotal moment in the history of mankind. God not only returns to his people but becomes one with them in the incarnation.
And at this moment we do well to consider four aspects of this pivotal moment. As we do so, we consider, not only Mary’s glories, but also ours in a subordinate but real way. For Mary is the perfect disciple and typifies in a most excellent way the glories that God also wishes to bestow on us, in perhaps a different but still substantial way. Lets look at for aspects of this Gospel.
I. The RESPECT of God – the text says, The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. To virgin betrothed to a man name Joseph and the virgin’s name was Mary…Mary said “Behold I am the Handmaid of the Lord, May it be done to me according to your word.”
Note that God asks of Mary her cooperation. Although the Angel Gabriel’s words are not in the form of a question, that Mary considers this to be a request from God is clear from Mary’s response. She says yes, and thus understands it as a request, not merely a statement of what shall be.
In this regard we see an important indicator of the respect of God for her freedom. Surely he has prepared her and equipped her with every good grace to say, yes, but in the end, her free “yes” is significant, and something that God looks for and respects. Otherwise, why send an angel at all? Why come through Mary at all? Why not simply appear suddenly as a full grown man and start to work? As it is, God wills to come through Mary (cf Gen 3:15) and seeks her “yes” in the place of Eve’s “no.”
And this respect for her free “yes” is also a respect God extends to us. Indeed we can see here how God’s respect is in contrast to the devil, who shouts, is invasive, provocative and intrusive. Through cultural noise etc., he tempts and provokes. But God whispers and respectfully invites. He does not force our decision but summons us in love and awaits our answer.
In scripture we read of Jesus, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20). Hence, though all powerful and able to coerce, God does not do so, he does not act violently or impose his will. He repsects the freedom He Himself gave us, and invites us to cooperate in his plan for us.
Mary (and we) are thus respected by God in terms of our freedom.
II. The REGARD of God – Note in the text the great love of God, appreciation and regard extended to Mary through the Angel. The text says, Hail, Full of grace! The Lord is with you…Do not be afraid Mary. You have found favor with God...
As the great and glorious Angel, Gabriel comes to Mary, (and every angel is glorious) he must still, in an astonishing way acknowledge Mary’s beauty, holiness, and perfection, by God’s grace. Imagine an all glorious Archangel rendering a kind of debt of praise to a mere human being! And in so speaking this way He is speaking for God, of the deep love, appreciation and regard that God has for Mary, his greatest human work.
Indeed, we should never forget the Love and deep regard God has for Mary and also for us. Mary is surely God’s masterpiece. But she is also the result of His grace and work.
In a less perfect way, but a still true manner, God also loves us and loves in us the perfection we will one day attain by his grace and mercy. A couple of texts come to mind:
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jer 31:3)
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…you are precious and honored in my sight, and..I love you. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
We are not good, and therefore God loves us. God loves us and therefore we are good, if we accept his love. Mary was, by a singular grace wholly open to God’s love and perfection. But, if we are faithful, we too will one day become the man or woman God has always intended us to be.
God thus shows great regard for Mary (though Gabriel) and he also knows the glory we will one day share.
III. The RIDDLE in the middle – There remains the mysterious question of Mary: “How will this be since I do not know man?” Had she been thinking in merely biological terms she would would have known the obvious answer to the question: she and Joseph would conceive. But her question seems to suppose she had other notions about her future than regular marital relations.
Some hold that the question here is not really her question, but is rhetorically placed here by Luke so that the angel can inform us, the readers, that God alone is the true Father of this Son. But such a notion seems more made up by nervous moderns in an attempt to solve the mystery. Reducing a pivotal question like this to a mere literary device seems unbecoming.
Catholic tradition surely sees evidence here of the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity. To be sure many other questions are are raised by this resolution of the question: Why would two people get married and live as virgins?….Were such arrangements common at that time? (it would seem not). And so forth.
In the end Mary’s question would surely seem to point to some expectation of Mary that she would “not know man” in some sense, going forward. But at any level we are not going to wholly satisfy our curiosity, and maybe it is none of our business.
One thing is sure, the Church teaches, without ambiguity that Mary remained ever virgin. That this question of hers indicates she was clear on this here, seems a reasonable conclusion, but there remains also a mystery that we must respect and understand, that it is none of our business, ultimately.
In this case, Protestants have some thinking to do. For Mary’s question is not meaningless or naive, it is a true question, with a true context that ought to be respected as at least pointing to her virginity, even if it alone does not alone prove it. For more on this topic read here: New Theological Movement.
IV. The REASSURANCE of God – Mary is in the presence of an Archangel. This alone is frightening enough. But it is also true that her world is shifting quite dramatically. Hence her natural fear and anxiety is understandable. Thus Archangel Gabriel gives a number of reassurances to Mary: Do not be afraid Mary, For you have found favor with God…Behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the most high, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end…”
In effect St Gabriel is saying to her that, however the details unfold, in the end there will be total victory, for she is to bear a Son who is the Son of the most High God and who will have a kingdom that will never end or be conquered. Hence, whatever her concerns, this all leads to victory.
Mary will need this reassurance for, to be clear, there ARE some difficult days ahead: the crisis of homelessness at birth, the flight to Egypt, Simeon’s prophecy that a sword would pierce her heart, and the actual thrusting of that sword at the foot of the cross. This knowledge of ultimate victory is an important reassurance for her to hold close, and not forget.
So too for us. For we too have some difficult valleys to cross, some hills to climb. We must constantly keep in mind the end of the story, that Jesus is already the victor and that however our eyes my think that we are losing, in the end, total victory belongs to Jesus, and to us, if we stay with him. The end of the story is already declared: Jesus wins, overwhelmingly, and all his enemies are placed under his feet (e.g. Rev 20-22; 1 Cor 15:25-26; John 16:33 inter al.).
Consider this magnificent passage from Isaiah:
I am God there is no other. At the beginning I foretell the outcome; in advance, things not yet done. I say that my plan shall stand. I accomplish my every purpose. Yes, I have spoken, I will accomplish it; I have planned it and I will do it. Listen to me you fainthearted, you who seem far from the victory of justice: I am bringing on my justice, it is not far off, my salvation shall not tarry; I will put salvation within Zion, and give my glory to Israel (Isaiah 46:12ff).
If we were to memorize and internalize this passage so many of our fears and anxieties would flee, our trust would build and we would live victorious lives. It may at times seem that evil has the upper hand. Evil has its day, But God has the victory. No matter how dark it can seem, God has already won, only the news has not yet leaked out.
But in our hearts this truth and reassurance must be emblazoned. For, like Mary, we have difficult days in our future. All the more reason God’s reassurance is essential for us. It got Mary through the Cross and it will get us through ours.
Hence, we have here a pivotal moment in History. God’s presence returns to the human family. And it all happens so quietly, in a town of 300, so small that there was not even a road that went to Nazareth. Quietly, but clearly and powerfully, God has thrust the first blow at Satan’s realm. Victory is sure.
Painting above: Annunication by H. Tanner
I have it on the best authority that Mary sang this song after the Angel left: Done made my vow to the Lord and I never will turn back, I will go, I shall go to see the end shall be.
It occurs to me that Mary, at this time was not much older than the young ladies in this choir.
This Sunday is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday based on the Introit for the day: Gaudete in Domino semper, iterum dico, Gaudete (from Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, Rejoice). This theme is developed most fully in today’s readings in 1 Thessalonians 5:16ff. It too begins with the salutation and imperative: Rejoice always!
Let’s take a closer look at that reading and what is meant by the admonition “rejoice.”
The text begins, Rejoice always. The Greek word properly translated here as “Rejoice” is χαίρετε (chairete). However, more is intended here than to merely rouse ourselves to some sort of the emotional state of joy or happiness. You may note the root word “charis” in “chariete” and “charis” refers to “grace.” Hence chairete means, properly, to delight joyfully in God’s grace, to experience God’s favor (grace) , to be conscious of and glad for His grace.
Thus, our text ask more of us than an emotional fervor. Rather, and more richly, it invites us to become joyfully aware of God’s grace and favor toward us, to consider the magnificent and unmerited gift of God’s love and favor, and thereby, to experience a kind of stable and deeply rooted joy, based on this abiding knowledge. Hence the text bids us to rejoice “always.”
The text goes further, to identify three basic ways that our joy can become both stable and deeply rooted in our personality and psyche. In effect the text does not merely tell us to rejoice always, but goes on to say how this can be done. Let’s look at these three ways.
I. PERSEVERANCE IN PRAISE – The text says, Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Hence we see the first three foundations for rejoicing always. Let’s take them a little out of order.
A.In all circumstances give thanks – thanksgiving is an important discipline that trains our mind to focus on reality. For it so happens that we tend to be negative, perhaps due to our fallen nature. The reality is that, everyday, ten trillion things go right and a few things go wrong. Now if you think ten trillion is an exaggeration, it is not. Consider all things that have to go right with every cell in your body. Add to that all the many things and factors on this earth, indeed in the whole universe that must be delicately balanced for you and I to be her, be alive and be flourishing. Ten trillion is not an exaggeration.
However, it we are not careful, we going to focus on the five or six things that went wrong today. And, mind you, some of them may feel serious at times (usually they are not). Nevertheless, even the truly serious mishaps cannot deny the reality of the ten trillion things that have gone right.
Thanksgiving disciplines our mind to focus on the bigger reality of countless blessings. Even some of the mishaps of a day can be blessings in disguise.
Hence we are told to give thanks in all circumstances. Daily thanksgiving disciplines our mind to focus on the blessings in astonishing number. What you feed grows, and if the negative is fed, it will grow. But, if the positive is fed, it will grow, and become an important basis of stable joy in our life. Give thanks in all circumstances.
B. Pray without ceasing – Here too is a discipline of the mind. Paul does not mean to stay in a chapel all day. He means that we should lay hold of the normal Christian life, which is to be in living conscious contact with God at every moment of our day. To the degree that we are consciously aware of God’s presence, and in a dialogue of love with him all day, our joy is deeper and becomes stable. Thus we are able by this ongoing sense of His presence to “rejoice always.”
C. Do not quench the Spirit – That such gifts (on-going prayer and thanksgiving) are “God’s will for us” means that God wants to give us these gifts. Hence we should not quench the Spirit which bids us seek these things. But rather, we should heed His promptings and seek after these gifts, even pester God for them. Too often we quench the Spirit by not taking seriously the promises He offers us in Christ Jesus. We are not convinced that the Spirit can give us a whole new life, and deepen our prayer and gratitude, so we don’t even ask. We also quench the Spirit by cluttering our lives with endless distractions and we never sit still for a moment to listen to the small, still voice of God. But if we will fan into flame the gifts of God’s love, God the Holy Spirit will kindle a fire in us that never dies away. And as the gifts of his love, to include deeper prayer and constant thankfulness, take hold, our joy too deepens and we can “rejoice always.”
II. PERSPECTIVE THROUGH PROPHECY – the text says: Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good.
In the first place, “prophetic utterance” is Scripture itself. Scripture is a prophetic interpretation of reality. It describes the world as it truly is, and sets forth a clear vision. It is an antidote to the muddled and murky suppositions of worldly thinking which, at best, gropes in the darkness, and at worst, is deceitful and erroneous. We ought not despise God’s Word in any way, but accept it wholeheartedly and, to the degree that we do, it assures us of the ultimate victory of God, His truth and His Kingdom. Our own victory is also set forth in the paschal mystery of God’s word wherein every cross, faithfully carried produces for us a weight of glory beyond all compare (cf 2 Cor 4:17). This vision, this prophetic interpretation of reality, produces in us a serene joy that allows us to “rejoice always.”
Prophetic utterances are, also, the teachings of the Church, the utterances of the Fathers of the Church and the teachings of the saints down through the ages. There is a great deposit of faith carefully collected and loving handed down from apostolic times. The dogmas and doctrines of the faith are like the precious fragments gathered up by the Apostles at the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. For the Lord had told them that nothing was to go to waste. And so too for us who ought to seek for every instruction prophetically uttered by Mother Church, nothing is to fall to the ground.
The Fathers and saints too have left us a wondrous testimony that we should not despise or ignore. They, along with the Church utter wisdom and announce victory to every believer. In the laboratory of their own lives they have tested the Word of God and found it true. Added to this number are trustworthy people in our own time who teach us the Word of God. They include our parents, priests, religious, and holy men and women who have inspired us. And to the degree that we will let the Church and the saints teach us, along with trustworthy souls of our own time, to the degree that we do not despise prophetic utterance, the foundation of our joy becomes more sure and we can rejoice always.
III. PROGRESS TOWARD PERFECTION – The text says, Refrain from every kind of evil. May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.
The greatest source of sorrow, the biggest killer of joy in our life, is our sin. To the degree that we indulge it, our joy is sapped. But to the degree that we allow the Lord to deliver us from sin and make us more and more holy, our joy will become deeper and lasting. The words “holy” and “whole” are not far apart. And to the degree that we become more whole, more perfected, more free of sin, more perfectly holy and blameless as the text says, our joy becomes deeper and we can increasingly “rejoice always.” God can do this for us if we are willing, and if we ask.
Thus we see that the mandate, the exhortation, to “Rejoice always” is far more than whipping ourselves up to an emotional high. Rather it is a stable and serene joy rooted in prayerful gratitude, a mind transformed by God’s truth and a growing holiness. Allow the promise of the Lord to be fulfilled in you. For he has said,
Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (Jn 15:9-11)
This song says, Joy, Joy, God’s great joy! Joy, Joy, down in my soul. Sweet, beautiful soul-saving joy. Oh Joy! Joy in my soul!
