Baptism of the Lord (January 12, 2020)

The Mission of the Son of God, Our Mission

Readings

Jesus came to be baptized by John, even know he had no need for it.  It was for us that the “beloved Son” of God came to be with us, so that we, sinners, might become children of God. 

By now, most of the Christmas lights and decorations have been taken down, Nativity scenes put back in storage.  How do we know that the Savior who came to us sinners remains with us?  And what do we do to help people who do not know Jesus to experience his presence?

Jesus empowers us to continue his mission, the mission announced by Isaiah (First Reading):  “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”  

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Epiphany of the Lord (January 5, 2020)

Our Guiding Star

Matthew 2: 1-12

The miraculous star and various people assisted the magi in their search for the newborn King.  God works through people, things, and events to guide us on our journey to Him. 

In this new year, let’s pray that we may be more receptive to God’s manifold guidance as God continues to draw us to God.

In particular, God gives us a kind of GPS in the Gospels, Prayer, and the Sacraments, which we celebrate and receive in the community of the Church.  May this GPS be the star to guide us to the King of all nations.

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Holy Family - A (December 29, 2019)

Why?

Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

Have you ever wondered why the Holy Family did not have it easier? After all, the parents were a couple trying to do what was right.  Even more, they were carrying out what God had asked of them.  And the child is the Son of God, Savior of humanity, King of kings…. 

What if they had lived in a royal palace and had everything their way? 

Then most of us would not relate to them.

On the contrary, they dealt with uncertainties, worries, anxieties, dangers, and suffering.  For sure, they also had moments of joy and excitement of family life, of having and raising a child.  The parents cared for each other and did all they could to protect their child.  These we can relate to.

Moreover, in the Incarnation, the Son of God lives in a human family.  Now, in our families we find God and holiness in its moments of joy, excitement, and love, with its uncertainties, worries, anxieties, dangers, and sufferings.

Thus, by living in a human family, the Incarnate Son of God makes holy all human families.  

Image source:  "Let Mom Rest" (Viral image)

Baptism of the Lord - C (January 13, 2019)

You Are My Beloved Child

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

At Jesus’ baptism, the Father confirmed Jesus God’s beloved son.

By becoming human, and by his cross and resurrection, Jesus shares this identity with all humanity.  Peter professed this from the beginning of the Church.  When Peter realized that God had called Cornelius, a gentile, Peter said to Cornelius, his relatives and friends, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.  Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (2^nd reading).

God “has grasped” each of us “by the hand.  God “formed” us and has given us a share in Jesus’ mission.  Like Jesus, each child of God is “a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness” (1^st reading)

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Holy Family (December 30, 2018)

Jesus Advanced in Wisdom and Age

Luke 2: 41-52

Reading this passage, we can get caught up in the details of Jesus going missing (how could that even happen?) and on Jesus’ response to Mary, and overlook three details that Luke include in this passage.

1. Luke tells us that “each year” [the family] “went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.”  This and other details in Luke’s account of the events in his Gospel up to this point tell us that Jesus’ parents were devoted to God in their religious practices.  Furthermore, they raised Jesus in the practice of the Jewish faith.
2. Jesus is often portrayed in stories, paintings, etc. as lecturing the teachers.  Luke, on the contrary, tells us that Jesus was a twelve-year-old, “sitting in the midst of the teachers,” learning from them by “listening to them and asking them questions.” [1]
3. While the parents “did not understand what he said to them, [Jesus] went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.”  He indeed lived as their son, “obedient to them.”

These three elements, while often overlooked, teach us some valuable lessons for good family life.  The Holy Family of Nazareth lived their religious faith.  Jesus was obedient to his parents.  And he learned from the wisdom and experience of his parents and others.  

 
Then Luke concludes that in such an environment, with such attitudes, “Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”

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[1] John Petty, www.progressiveinvolvement.com

Image source:  www.agnusday.org  

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Dec. 31, 2017)

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Luke 2: 22-40

God’s Salvation Among Us

Simeon was a man who has been “awaiting the consolation of Israel” his whole life.  This life-long yearning was satisfied the moment his eyes saw God’s salvation.

And who brought him this experience of God’s salvation?  A simple and ordinary couple who fulfilled their responsibilities with God – observing what required of them as people of faith at that time, and their responsibilities as parents – doing what they knew as best for their son.

The mystery of the Incarnation, God-with-us, continues in the ordinary moments of life, and in the fulfillment of our daily responsibilities.

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Mary, Mother of God (January 1, 2017)

Luke 2: 16 – 21

(and other Readings of the Mass)

Mary Reflects on Them in Her Heart

“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

We wonder what she might have reflected on. 

She probably reflected on the events that happened in her personal life.  These were singular events because she alone became the Mother of the Messiah (the appearance and the message from angel, her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, and the words Elizabeth said to her, the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, giving birth to her son in a manger, the visit of the shepherds, the message they heard from the angel…).  She probably pondered what it meant for her to be the mother of the One “who will save his people from their sins,” her own plans for her life, her relationship with Joseph, their future, …. 

She might have also reflected on the events that affected the life of her people at that moment – when they were under Roman rule, that the Roman Emperor at the time had declared himself to be the “savior of the world,” the census that she, Joseph, and their nation were subjected to….  How will her Son be the savior of this kind of a world?

How about the whole history of God’s chosen people – her nation? God’s promise to them through their ancestors and the words of the prophets….  All of these is now being fulfilled in her life.  She must have reflected on that too.

In this passage, we also heard about the shepherds and those who hear the shepherds’ testimony.  Unlike Mary, there is no indication that these people reflect on the events they have witnessed.

“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

Therefore, it is no surprise that She will be present throughout Jesus’ life, all the way to the cross.

She truly is the bearer of God’s Word. 

Image:  Icon 13th-century Great Panagia from Yaroslavl.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panagia

Baptism of the Lord - C

Commentary

Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

“Beloved Son”

In describing Jesus' baptism, Luke includes three details: heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the voice from heaven spoke to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

By coming into the world, Jesus opened heaven for all humanity. Now, at our baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon us. As we are baptized into the death of Jesus, we rise with him and become sons and daughters of God. The Father speaks to each of us the same words, “You are my beloved Son/Daughter; with you I am well pleased.”

Later on, as Jesus begins his public ministry, he will speak of how, with the Holy Spirit, who is “upon” him, he will live out his mission as the Son of God. [1] In two weeks, we will hear this proclamation from Luke 4: 18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

In this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has invited us ask God to give us the grace to live out this same mission of Jesus, as sons and daughters of God. And in this way, we can become “merciful like the Father” (Reference: Prayer for the Year of Mercy)

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[1] http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com

Baptism of the Lord - C (January 10, 2016)

Readings

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Epiphany of the Lord

Commentary

Matthew 2:1 – 12

Two Responses to the Newborn King

There are two opposite responses to the news of the newborn king of the Jews.

The first response is that of Herod and the chief priests and scribes. The second is the response from Mary and the magi.

Herod is afraid of losing his power and control to the newborn king of the Jews. Because of this fear, Herod plots to remove the threat to his throne. The chief priests and the scribes later would have the same fear. Jesus became a challenge to their religious authority. And like Herod, they would plot to do away with Jesus.

Mary and the magi do not have much power and control. Mary was a simple young woman in a patriarchal society. She comes from a town of little significant. (We learn this about Nazareth in the responses various people gave about Jesus' background). Religiously, the magi were considered outsiders.

Unlike Herod, the chief priests and the scribes, Mary recognizes God's mercy and generosity in the gift of Jesus. She would praise God for having looked upon her lowliness. The magi acknowledge their ignorance and have the humility to ask for help and guidance. They rejoice when they are led to the little child. As a gesture of subordination, they prostrate themselves and does him homage.

Epiphany of the Lord (January 3, 2016)

Readings

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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - C

Commentary

Luke 2: 41-52

We Are God's Holy Family

Jesus' parents “looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances”.

Commentators often explain this practice of people at the time traveling in group for safety reason.

However, this line also reminds us of the role of the extended family and community in each person's spiritual journey. No one walks this journey alone. We can and need to support each other. The witness of people's faith encourages us to live our faith.

We are all “looking for Jesus” every moment of our life. We can seek him together. And we can find him present in each other. We then become the holy family, where the Son of God continues to be present in the flesh.

  

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - C (December 27, 2015)

Reading

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Baptism of the Lord - B

Commentary

Mark 1: 7 - 11

Beloved Son of God

This short passage from Mark’s Gospel gives two identifications for Jesus.  Together, they teach us a great lesson of God’s way.

Jesus “comes from Nazareth of Galilee,” which in the words of Ched Myers, “Jesus is from Nowheresville.” [1] 

Nazareth is not even mentioned in the Old Testament [2].   At the time of Jesus, some scholars believe the town had no more than 30 people, overshadowed by nearby Sepphoris, Herod Antipas’ capital. [2]

There, in “obscure and tiny” Nazareth [3] Jesus lived and worked as a carpenter.  In the opinions of those who knew him, he was no more than the carpenter.  And his neighbors, the people of Nazareth did not appear to be people of faith (Mark  6: 3-6). [4]

Nazareth is so insignificant that Mark needs to identify it with Galilee.  But Galilee is not much better.  It was an area of a mixed population and mixed religions.  Galilee during the time of the New Testament was “at least half Gentile in population, half pagan in [religion], and bilingual.” [5]  For sure, devout Jews and their religious leaders in Jerusalem looked down upon Galilee and its residents with contempt. 

Yet this man Jesus, who is from “Nazareth of Galilee,” is identified by God as God’s beloved Son, “with whom I am well pleased.”

It is so for us.  The only identification that matters comes from God:  that we are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

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[1] Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man, 128, quoted by Francis Moloney, The Gospel of Mark, A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 36. 

[2] Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, and Roland Murphy, Eds.  The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990; p. 636

[3] Ibid., p. 689.

[4] Ibid., p. 608

[5] Ibid., p. 638

Baptism of the Lord - B (January 11, 2015)

Readings

Image source:  http://www.agnusday.org

The Epiphany of the Lord

Commentary

Matthew 2: 1-12

Big Deal and No Big Deal

This is not about the once popular TV gameshow.

It is about God’s way of making known God’s salvation.

It’s no big deal:  Bethlehem, not Jerusalem.  A house, not the king’s palace or the Temple.  Common people: an ordinary couple and their newborn son, not the king, the chief priests or the scribes.

But it’s a big deal.  In fact, it is the big deal:  the presence of God’s only Son is made known to the magi, who represent the gentiles.  The event marks the beginning of God’s salvation for all nations. 

A big star for that. 

With God, the simple and common things become a big deal. 

The light of God continues to shine in us and through us, broken, and insignificant.  Thus, we all become the light, God’s light, by which all nations walk (1^st Reading, Isaiah 60: 3)

The Epiphany of the Lord (January 4, 2015)

Readings

Image source:  Facebook post by Fr. Adam MacDonald, SVD

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (December 28, 2014)

Readings

Image source: Peter Paul Rubens, Presentation in the Temple.  Website:  Art and the Bible: http://www.artbible.info/art/

Baptism of the Lord - A

Commentary

Matthew 3: 13 – 17

God’s Beloved Son

"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

These words of God came at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  The rest of the Gospel will portray for us God’s beloved Son. 

The first reading of this feast is a summary of how the beloved Son of God lived, with his attitudes and actions.  (And it would be better not for me to summarize or explain it)

“Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”  (Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7)

How am I, a child of God, following the example of Jesus, God’s beloved Son?

Baptism of the Lord - A (January 12, 2014)

Readings

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