Rejoice! He is Near!

3rd Sunday of Advent
Dec. 16, 2012
(Lk 3:10-18)

The crowds asked John the Baptist,
"What should we do?"
He said to them in reply,
"Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise."
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
"Teacher, what should we do?"
He answered them,
"Stop collecting more than what is prescribed."
Soldiers also asked him,
"And what is it that we should do?"
He told them,
"Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages."

Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
"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."
Exhorting them in many other ways,
he preached good news to the people.

As St. John the Baptist continues his preaching, the people were filled with expectation, so our Gospel tells us. Indeed, the same feeling is ours now that we are nearing the Solemnity of the Lord’s Birth. The Church invites us today to rejoice as we celebrate Gaudete Sunday (“Rejoice” Sunday) in the midst of our Advent journey.

 

To rejoice is truly a Christian thing to do. St. Paul, in the Second Reading (Phil 4:4-7) urges the Philippians to rejoice always in the Lord and to show their kindness to all.

St. John the Baptist, on the other hand, in preparing the expectant people for Jesus’ public ministry, exhorts them to practice charity, to show love and concern for their neighbors and to always do what is just in their dealings with other people. St. John’s message applies to us today. As we wait for the Lord’s second coming and anticipate the joy of the Christmas celebration, we are reminded to take another look at how we relate to other people. In our love for our neighbor, we show our love for God and our deep longing for Him.

Our joy, of course, does not come exclusively from a life lived in love and justice, lest we fall into the error of believing that our joy comes only from what we do, from our own merit. After instructing the people, John the Baptist speaks about someone who will come after him – Jesus. It is Jesus who comes to us that give us true joy. “The Lord is near,” says St. Paul; that is why we are joyful! Being righteous is not the cause of our joy. We are joyful, rather, because of Jesus, Righteousness Himself, in whose example we follow.

In our Advent journey, we are again filled with joy because the Lord is indeed coming! May we find that true joy that comes only from Christ and not from Christmas decorations. Also, like John the Bapist, may we continue to point to Jesus, telling everyone that He brings salvation and joy to all. Thus shall peace, justice and love be our treasures not only for the coming Christmas season, but for the rest of our lives!

All These in Her Heart

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Jan. 1, 2012 (Lk 2:16-21)

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The shepherds were very much blessed on that first Christmas night. An angel announced to them the news of the Savior's birth. A multitude of the heavenly host singing glory to God appeared to them. But most of all, as today's Gospel tells us, the shepherds were graced with the presence of God. They saw the child in the manger. They witnessed how God came to His people, how He became close to them, even becoming one like them. They might not have understood everything that was happening, but surely they knew that God was at work. They recognized that everything that was happening was brought about by God.

Like the shepherds, we must also recognize God working in our lives. This new year, the most important thing we could wish for is God's presence, the very same grace that the shepherds received. Our efforts for change this new year will not be fruitful without God. We must, therefore, pray that God may guide us the whole year through, that He may help us change and that His will may be fulfilled in us.

As we begin the new year, we again look to Mary, the Mother of God. In today's Gospel, we hear how she treasured in her heart everything that happened to them. Like the shepherds, she might not have understood everything, but she kept all of these and reflected on them in her heart. We too must learn to pray and to reflect as Mary did. We should not just go head on in our life journey. Everything happens for a reason ordained by God. But if we fail to pause and reflect, we might miss what God is trying to tell us through the events in our lives. In prayerful reflection, Mary obeyed God's will perfectly. That is also how we ought to live our lives, in order to find peace that comes only from God, even amidst everything that we might face.

Today, as we celebrate the Octave of Christmas, we also hear from the Gospel about how Mary's son was circumcised and named Jesus. Let us always remember the meaning of Jesus' name - God saves. This is our assurance this new year. Jesus, the God who saves, has come to be with us. With Jesus as our Savior, and with Mary as our mother and model of prayer and obedience, we can go on in our life journey in peace and security.

Born Amidst Difficult Situations

Solemnity of the Lord's Birth Dec. 25, 2011 (For Midnight Mass: Lk 2: 1-14)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

Joseph and Mary travels to Bethlehem, seemingly just to obey a human decree, but actually to fulfill what God has decreed long ago down through the Scriptures - that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem from the line of David, the king - for the child in Mary's womb is the King of kings. And so there they were. The couple traveled while Mary bore the child, to a city that was filled with people who were there for the census, in the darkness of the night, and with no room for them to stay in. Their situation was very difficult. It became even more difficult for them when the time came for Mary to give birth and the only place they could stay in is a manger. Finally, Jesus was born there in the lowly manger.

For a plan that has been established through the ages, what happened in the Christmas story could have been better and more grand, or at least more decent and comfortable for Mary, Joseph and Jesus. But this Christmas story is already God's perfect plan. It is God's perfect timing, even though it didn't seem to be so perfect.

Christmas happened because of God - because Christ was there. It didn't matter that the place was in a manger. Jesus was born and everything became simply glorious and joyful that night. Mary and Joseph must have been rejoicing while gazing at the child Jesus. The angels in heaven sang glorifying God as they shared the good news of great joy to shepherds who were faithfully keeping watch over their sheep. Indeed, the darkness of the night was dispelled by the light of the child that was born for us. All the difficulties the Holy Family faced didn't matter anymore. Jesus' presence was all that mattered.

In our Christmas celebration, we tend to always wish for everything to be fine, if not perfect. We make sure everything is prepared well - decorations, food, gifts, parties and more, depending on what we can afford. If our Christmas celebration depends on these things, we might not always get a merry Christmas. But if our joy is because of Jesus being born anew into our lives, we will be able to celebrate a more meaningful Christmas and we will also be able to share that joy. This is what our Gospel story teaches us. We should stop longing for a perfect Christmas celebration because the first Christmas itself was not perfect. What makes Christmas perfect is God's presence in our lives, even amidst difficult situations.

Many are poor. Many are homeless. Many are separated from their loved ones. Recently, many were devastated by a natural disaster here in our country. These people are often tempted to say that there is no Christmas for them. But God is still present in their lives, even if they feel God has abandoned them. Because Christ was born for us, there will always be Christmas. It doesn't matter if we are saddened by so many unfortunate events. We rejoice during Christmas because we remember how God was born to us amidst difficult situations. And we believe that God will also be born in our lives as well, coming to us in our dark night to bring forth a new day.

As we experience the true joy of Christmas, we are also challenged to be God's instruments in proclaiming the good news of His coming into our lives. We must proclaim that Christmas can never be canceled because Christ is always with us. If there are people who cannot feel Christ's presence, we must be there to be make them experience the love that was Jesus' reason for becoming man. Christmas is for all; Christ was born for all.

Testifying to the Light that Gives Joy

3rd Sunday of Advent Dec. 11, 2011 (Jn 1:6-8, 19-28)

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, "Who are you?" he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, "I am not the Christ."

So they asked him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?" He said: "I am 'the voice of one crying out in the desert, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as Isaiah the prophet said." Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a day of rejoicing. In the midst of the semi-penitential Season of Advent, the liturgy invites us today to rejoice. While we feel sorrow for our sins as we anticipate the Lord’s coming, we also feel joy because the preparation we are doing, if indeed we are preparing properly, will allow us to encounter the Lord more intimately. As St. Paul exhorts us in today’s Second Reading (1 Thes 5:16-24), we must rejoice even as we strive to avoid evil and to live in holiness.

Our Gospel for today tells us of John the Baptist’s testimony. At a time when people rarely heard God’s revelations through prophets, John the Baptist raised expectations when he testified to the light – Jesus, whose coming shall cause great rejoicing. Jesus is the Messiah who was sent “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God (see First Reading, Is 61:1-2,10-11).”

To those who asked him, John admitted that he was not the Christ. But he foretold the coming of one greater than him. John did not claim to be the light but pointed to the true light – to Jesus, the Messiah the Jews have been waiting for.

Today, as we worry about the many things we think can make our Christmas a happy one, we remember John the Baptist pointing to Christ, reminding us that He is our true joy. All our Christmas decorations and festivities are only means of expressing our joy; they are not the cause of our joy. Our joy comes from a heart-to-heart encounter with Jesus, an encounter that can only be as intense as our hearts are pure from sin.

Christmas lights may shine bright, but they can never outshine Jesus who comes shining anew in our hearts. So let us keep our gaze towards Christ, the light that gives true Christmas joy. So let us rejoice today, awaiting Jesus’ coming and preparing a heart free from sin for Him.