A JESUIT'S BLOG: 2019

Tuesday, 31 December 2019

Wednesday, January 1, 2020 - New Year's Day - YouTube Reflections

The priestly blessing of peace is a blessing pronounced on each of us as we begin the New Year. We must keep in mind throughout the year that we are sons and daughters of God. This means living in a fearless and bold manner. It means being able to face all the vicissitudes and challenges of life with equanimity and confident in the knowledge that we are loved unconditionally by God and that God will be with us every step of the way in the New Year.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020 - Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and New Year's Day - A New Beginning, a New Hope

To read the texts click on the texts: Num 6:22-27; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

The first day of the New Year brings with it many thoughts, feelings and emotions. The fact that it is January and named after the Roman god Janus with two faces already indicates that it brings with it a looking back and a looking ahead.

Thus it is a day for retrospection and introspection and also a day for planning and goal setting. The retrospection must be with a view to help the planning and goal setting and not an exercise in condemnation of oneself or feeling regret.

It is fitting then that the first reading of today should speak of a blessing. The blessing is what is commonly called a Priestly blessing and pronounced on all the people of Israel. There are three pairs of verbs used in the blessing resulting in a threefold blessing. The first emphasizes concrete gifts—blessing and protection. The second stresses the hope that God will be well disposed toward the person and thus temper judgement with mercy and grace. The third asserts that God will pay attention and heed to his people thus providing fullness of life. The central message of the blessing is Peace, which must be translated as wholeness or completeness. The peace of God embraces every aspect of an individual’s life.

The idea of blessing is taken up in the Second reading of today. Paul in writing to the Galatians speaks of the blessing that God conferred not just on Israel but on the whole world when he sent his Son. The sending of the Son was for one reason alone, namely to reconcile the world to himself and through that to make each of us sons and daughters of God. The Son that God sent in to the world was not an angel but born of a woman, Mary who dared to say that unconditional yes to God’s invitation to be the mother of his Son.

This son whom God sent is human in every single aspect of the word and is therefore circumcised and given a name. The name that the child bears signifies his function. He is named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. This child will be king, but a new kind of king. He will inaugurate a new world order, a world not like that of earthly kings but under the direction of God’s design for the redemption of all peoples. In this world, God’s Word is heard by all who remain open to that Word. In this world, there is hope for the oppressed, and those who heard what God is doing are filled with joy. God has not forgotten us or abandoned us to the brokenness we have created. God continues to be concerned and to make new and whole. The New Year thus, is for us as Christians, an announcement of hope. It is a call to continue to believe that God continues to be in control of all the events that will take place and that we only have to do what is required of us and leave the rest to God.

Thus the triple celebration of Mary Mother of God, the giving of the name of Jesus and New Year’s Day all close in on one theme: Hope. The past is over and forgotten; it is forgiven and absolved; it is pardoned and made new. The challenge is for us to respond like Mary did to what God is doing in us and in our world. If we like Mary are open and receptive to the working of God in our lives, if we like her are willing to let God do in us, if we like her are willing to say that unconditional and categorical Yes, then the saviour Jesus will continue to be made present all through the year.

The priestly blessing of peace pronounced on the people in the first reading of today becomes then a blessing pronounced on each of us as we begin the New Year. We must keep in mind throughout the year that like the Galatians we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of God. This means living in a fearless and bold manner. It means being able to face all the vicissitudes and challenges of life with equanimity and confident in the knowledge that we are loved unconditionally by God and that God will be with us every step of the way in the New Year.

Monday, 30 December 2019

Tuesday, December 31, 2020 - YouTube Reflections

The Word lived among us, not simply in the world. The Word became flesh and the Word’s name is Jesus Christ. This Jesus continues to be born in our midst even today. When selflessness triumphs over selfishness; when generosity triumphs over greed; when light overcomes darkness, then Jesus is born again and again.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019 - What one action will you do to make the incarnate word present today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1Jn 2:3-11; Jn 1:1-18

The prologue of the Gospel of John is an extremely rich text. Unlike Matthew and Luke who begin their Gospels with stories of the birth of Jesus, the Gospel of John begins with the pre-existent WORD and the relationship of the word to the world. It is Word which is God and also an incarnate word, a word made flesh. Thus the Prologue is concerned with the sphere of God, the eternal sphere and the sphere of human beings the temporal.

Thus the prologue makes two main points.

The first of these is that the abstract, the incomprehensible, the indecipherable, the unknowable, and the absolute mystery which is the Word and God, have become concrete, comprehensible, decipherable, and knowable and a mystery revealed because of the Word becoming flesh. However, this mystery is not as easy to understand as it may seem. Many take offense at this. They want something more spectacular; some divine figure, some hero or god-man, some fascinating, mysterious being, able to impress everyone with the feats of might and glory. But what they saw was only a man; a man of compassion, a man who claimed to speak the truth. And they saw no glory here. But this is how God decided to come. He wanted to be one of us in all our limitations. Thus no longer can we say that our God could not understand what it is like to struggle against the opposition, to have to flee to another country, to be betrayed by a friend, to grieve the loss of a loved one, to fear suffering and death, to experience a seeming absence of his father. No, our God has truly walked our walk; God's Word of Love has truly taken flesh. Through this act of the Incarnation, God and the Word have become Father and Son. God, the Father is revealed in the Son, Jesus. Through this act, heaven has come down to earth and earth and heaven are reconciled as never before. The incarnation means that human beings can see, hear, and know God in ways never before possible. The relationship between divine and human is transformed, because in the incarnation human beings are given intimate, palpable, corporeal access to the cosmic reality of God. The newness wrought by God in Jesus is so dramatic that a conventional narrative of origins is good, but insufficient. That is because the story of Jesus is not ultimately a story about Jesus; it is, in fact, the story of God. When one sees Jesus, one sees God; when one hears Jesus, one hears God.

The second point that the prologue makes is the response of humanity to the incarnate Word. Since the Word is not a Word that is thrust on creation, but given freely and in total generosity, human beings must respond to the Word in freedom. This response is either of acceptance or rejection. One cannot ignore the potent power of the Word.

The rejection of the Word by Jesus’ own people while being a historical fact is a rejection that continues even today. Darkness continues to try to overcome the light. This becomes evident when we look at our world which is a world in which corruption, selfishness, injustice, intolerance, and communal disharmony, racial and caste discriminations continue to raise their ugly heads. It is seen when people still concern themselves with only the desire to have more rather than be more. It is seen when the concern to accumulate for oneself even to the detriment of not giving others their just due overpowers us.

Yet, despite this rejection of the Word, there is a note of hope and promise because there continue to be people who will choose light over darkness and selflessness over selfishness. There will continue to be people who fight for justice and will never give up this cause. There will continue to be people who will generously give not only of their wealth but also of themselves in imitation of the one who became human and gave all. Those who opt for the light can continue to do so because their openness to the Incarnate Word and all that he stands for makes them receive grace upon grace from him. This abundance of grace continues to sustain through the most trying times and gives them the courage never to give up or give in, but to continue and carry on. God became what we are, so that we could understand better what God is, and we could believe with all our hearts that God understands what we are.

Those who dare to accept the light and walk in its ways begin to realize that God himself walks with them and ahead of them. They know that God does not stay distant from them, remote and isolated; rather, in Jesus, God chose to live with humanity in the midst of human weakness, confusion, and pain. This bond holds true for all times and all places. To become flesh is to know joy, pain, suffering, and loss. It is to love, to grieve, and someday to die. The incarnation binds Jesus to the “everydayness” of human experience. The Word lived among us, not simply in the world. The Word became flesh and the Word’s name is Jesus Christ. This Jesus continues to be born in our midst even today. When selflessness triumphs over selfishness; when generosity triumphs over greed; when light overcomes darkness, then Jesus is born again and again.

Sunday, 29 December 2019

Monday, December 30, 2019 - YouTube Reflections

Jesus is the one who will bring salvation for Israel, but not all would receive this salvation. Jesus himself would be rejected, and many in Israel would reject the gospel, but it was also meant for “a light for revelation to the Gentiles”.

Monday, December 30, 2019 - Have you accepted the revelation that Jesus makes? How will you show this in your life today?

To read the texts click on the texts:1Jn 2:12-17; Lk 2:36-40

Luke is fond of pairing male and female figures in his narrative. The role of Simeon and Anna in the Temple at the end of the birth narrative balances the role of Zechariah and Elizabeth at the beginning of the narrative. Anna’s character and piety are emphasized, but not her words. She was a descendant of a family from the northern kingdom, and a devout widow, advanced in age. Anna evidently married young and was widowed seven years later. The reference to 84 years probably records her age, but may be read as the number of years she had lived as a widow.

Anna’s blessing, though not recorded, is characterized as praising God and speaking about the child. Since this description corresponds to the content of Simeon’s oracles, we can probably say that Anna’s prophecy matched his. Similarly, the reference to “all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” serves as an inclusion, balancing the description of Simeon as one who was “looking forward to the consolation of Israel” at the beginning of this scene. Simeon and Anna, who represent the pious ones, declare that Jesus is the one who will bring salvation for Israel, but not all would receive this salvation. Jesus himself would be rejected, and many in Israel would reject the gospel, but it was also meant for “a light for revelation to the Gentiles”.

Saturday, 28 December 2019

Sunday, December 29, 2019 - YouTube Reflections

Children “dwell in the house of tomorrow” and so parents have to be like flexible bows that are willing to be bent so that their children like arrows “may go swift and far”. Parents have to learn to grow with their children and keep in touch with all the changes that are taking place around them. They need to learn to be relevant and if they cannot be then to be understanding and accommodating.

Sunday, December 29, 2019 - The Feast of the Holy Family

To read the texts click on the texts: Sir3:2-6,12-14; Col 3:12-21;Lk 2:41-52

The feast of the Holy Family is celebrated every year on first Sunday after Christmas. It is appropriate that such be the case, because for centuries Christmas has been regarded as a family feast. Not only do members of a family get together to celebrate the feast, but the themes of Christmas like the birth of a child, naming of the child, gathering together as a family to celebrate this event, all lend themselves to reflection on the meaning of family.

That family life, under threat today, does not need any kind of in depth analysis. ‘Single parent families,’ unwed mothers, the rampant rate of divorce, are all testimony to this fact. What can the feast of the Holy Family mean in the face of this threat? The readings of today offer a response.

The author of the letter to the Colossians begins by giving the foundations of a good marriage. In a word this may be summarized as “adjustment”. The Colossian Christians are called to adjust with one another in any and all circumstances. To adjust means first of all to have the ability to let go off one’s ego. As long as one holds on to one’s point of view there can be no adjustment and so what is required is an openness and receptivity to accept that one can be wrong, that one does not know everything about everything and that there is lot that is unknown. Secondly to adjust means to be flexible. Rigidity of any kind is a hindrance. There is not just one hand; there is also the other hand. This leads to the third meaning of what it means to adjust: forgiveness. Any community in which forgiveness is not an integral part will be a superficial one. And what is required for sustaining community is likely to be more than a single act of forgiveness; rather, the lives of the people in that community will be characterized by the continuing practices of forgiveness that draw their resources from the forgiveness already enacted by Christ and especially on the Cross. If one realizes that one is forgiven completely by God for any and all wrongs that one has committed then it is easier to forgive others. Encompassing all of these is the reality of love. Love it is which binds everything together and while there are numerous definitions of love, it seems to me that a good way of understanding love is to realize that in love there is no “I”. The other is always more important than self. The other is always placed before self. True and genuine love is not barter exchange but unconditional.

To be sure, the exhortation to wives to be submissive to their husbands in the second part of the text might be misunderstood as servility. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a marriage both the husband and wife are equal partners. There can be no higher and lower rank. There can be no greater and lesser. What there is in fact is complementarity. Males and females need each other to complete the other. If this is understood by both partners half the journey has already been completed.

It is also important to note the role of children and the relationship of children which all three readings speak about. In the first reading from Sirach, the focus is on instructions to children to show honour to their parents. However, in the second reading while children are asked to respect their parents, parents are also asked not to provoke their children. In this context, the words of the famous Christian writer and poet Khalil Gibran take on a depth of meaning. He says to parents that the children who come through them are really life’s longing for itself. Thus they do not really “belong” to their parents but to life which “goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday”. Children “dwell in the house of tomorrow” and so parents have to be like flexible bows that are willing to be bent so that their children like arrows “may go swift and far”. Parents have to learn to grow with their children and keep in touch with all the changes that are taking place around them. They need to learn to be relevant and if they cannot be then to be understanding and accommodating.

The parents of Jesus did not realize this when they looked for him. It was not that Jesus was lost but that Mary and Joseph were lost without their son. However, Jesus made them realize that he was a child not merely of his parents, but of life itself and so his parents had to let him go to do what he had to do. Parents today too need to realize this about their children for family life to be what it is meant to be. When this happens then the feast of the Holy Family will be just that: a feast of holy families which keep inspiring one another to live like the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Friday, 27 December 2019

Saturday, December 28, 2019 - YouTube Reflections

Like in Matthew’s day so in ours the war between the two kingdoms continues. Those who regard power as absolute will continue to massacre the innocent. They will continue to destroy others for selfish means. Our response has to be one of courage and hope. Though some will have to suffer because of the selfishness and egoism of a few, there are many more who live unselfish lives for the benefit of others. If each of us were to perform one unselfish act every day, the world becomes a better place for all.

Saturday, December 28, 2019 - The Feast of the Holy Innocents - Will you perform one unselfish act today?

To read the texts click on the texts:1Jn 1:5-2:2; Mt 2:1,3-18

Matthew’s Gospel is the only one of the four which has the story of the killing of innocent children by Herod. A king is born, but a king is already here; and there is room for only one king. The birth of Jesus, the messianic king, precipitates a conflict with the kingship already present in this world.

It is not merely with the historical Herod with whom Matthew is concerned, however, but with Herod as a character in the story, who serves as a foil for the kingdom of God. When this Herod hears of the birth of the new king, he is “troubled”. Matthew is not describing Herod’s psychology but the clash of two claims to kingship that occurs in the advent of Jesus. Herod represents the resistance of this world to the divine kingship represented by Jesus. When “all Jerusalem” is troubled with him, this is not mere sympathy with or fear of Herod. Matthew is again looking ahead to the passion story and implicating Judaism’s capital city as a whole, not only its king, in the rejection of Jesus’ messianic claim.

When Herod asks the magi the chronological question “When?” to determine the time of Jesus’ birth, he acts hypocritically, claiming that he too wants to worship, but with murder in his heart.

Herod’s slaughter of the innocents is in character with the historical Herod the Great, who was ruthless in maintaining his grasp on power. There is no record of such an act among the detailed records of Herod’s numerous atrocities, nor is it reflected elsewhere in or out of the New Testament. The story seems to be part of Matthew’s Moses typology, with Herod cast in the role of Pharaoh.

Matthew does not sentimentalize the tragedy of the innocent victims or speculate on how the other mothers and fathers of Bethlehem might have interpreted the divine decision to warn one family. His attention is fixed on this event as a fulfillment of Scripture. Matthew does alter his usual formula in such citations of Scripture from his usual “in order that”, and thus avoids saying that the murders happened for the purpose of fulfilling Scripture.

Matthew’s third formula quotation in 2:18-19 is from Jer 31:15. In the New Testament only Matthew explicitly mentions Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:15 pictures Rachel, matriarch of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim (but not of Judah) weeping at Ramah for her “children,” the Israelites, as they are led away captive to Babylon in Jeremiah’s time. Ramah (in the area of Benjamin, five miles north of Jerusalem) was chosen by Jeremiah because one tradition locates Rachel’s tomb there, at the site where Nebuchadnezzar’s troops assembled captives for deportation (Jer 40:1). Another tradition locates Rachel’s tomb at Bethlehem. Matthew combines these traditions to achieve the desired effect. The Jeremiah passage is in a context of hope; it is not clear whether Matthew interprets contextually or whether lamentation is the only note to be heard in this text. In any case, the child Jesus recapitulates the experience of Israel.

Thursday, 26 December 2019

Friday, December 27, 2019 - YouTube Reflections

What the beloved disciple believed, is the evidence of the empty tomb: not merely that the tomb was empty, but that its emptiness bore witness that Jesus has conquered death and restored life.

Friday, December 28, 2019 - St. John, Evangelist and Apostle - St. John proclaimed Jesus by writing a Gospel. How will you proclaim Jesus today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Jn 1:1-4;Jn 20:2-8

Saint John whose feast we celebrate today is in the Gospels the brother of James. The brothers were sons of Zebedee and were fishermen. John along with his brother James and Peter were the trio who accompanied Jesus when he raised Jairus' daughter and also on the mountain at the Transfiguration and in Gethsemane.

The Beloved disciple who is a character only in the Gospel of John has often been associated with the disciple and evangelist John.

The Gospel text chosen for the feast is from the Gospel of John and in which the beloved disciple figures. The text speaks about the intuition and faith of the Beloved disciple. On being told by Mary Magdalene that the Tomb in which Jesus lay was empty, he along with Peter ran to the tomb. The beloved disciple saw and believed. He needed no proof. The empty tomb and the words of Jesus before his death were proof enough for him.

What the beloved disciple believed, is the evidence of the empty tomb: not merely that the tomb was empty, but that its emptiness bore witness that Jesus has conquered death and restored life.

Wednesday, 25 December 2019

Thursday, December 26, 2019 - YouTube Reflections

The Jesus who challenged Stephen is the same Jesus who challenges us today. He is not calling us here to be sadists and look for suffering, persecution and pain. Rather he is challenging us to go about doing what we have to do, to be as prudent as possible about it and if despite that persecution, suffering and pain come, to be prepared and ready for it and not to be afraid.

Thursday, December 26, 2019 - St. Stephen, Martyr - St. Stephen dared to die for his Lord. Will you dare to live for him?

To read the texts click on the texts:Acts6:8-10;7:54-59;Mt 10:17-22

St Stephen is regarded as the first Christian martyr. He was one of the seven deacons appointed by the Apostles when there was dissatisfaction about the distribution of alms. In the first reading of today, the Acts of the Apostles tells the story of how Stephen was tried by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy against Moses and God and also of speaking against the Temple and the Law. He was tried, found guilty and stoned to death.

The Gospel text for the feast of today is part of the Mission Discourse of Matthew. The sayings found in Matthew’s Mission Discourse here are found in the Eschatological Discourse of Mark (Mk 13:9-13). This is an indication that for Matthew, Mission is already eschatological and this is proved through the life and death of Stephen. The punishment, which is referred to here, is not random, but official punishment from members of organised authority. Even in this difficult situation the disciples are offered encouragement. They will depend not on their own strength, but on the Holy Spirit. They are to be missionaries even in the courtroom. Their imprisonment and trial must be regarded as an opportunity to make mission known. Mission takes priority even over family ties and if family ties have to be broken because of mission then so be it. The affirmation of the coming of the Son of Man is probably meant to provide succour to the missionaries in their distress.

Stephen had not read the Mission Discourse and yet had been influenced by the life, Mission and Death of his Master Jesus Christ. He was also confident of the resurrection and of victory even in the face of defeat and death. He knew that if he continued to stand for the truth, he would indeed be victorious.

It is important to note that Stephen did not go around looking for trouble nor did he desire martyrdom for the sake of dying for Jesus. However, he was unafraid to stand for the truth even if it meant giving up his life.

Tuesday, 24 December 2019

Wednesday, December 25, 2019 - Christmas day Homily - YouTube

Christmas is not merely the celebration of a historical birth or a birth that took place over two thousand years ago. It is about becoming conscious of who we really are as human beings. It is the celebration of life in all its fullness. It is the celebration of the transformation of limit to limitlessness, of selfishness to selflessness, of bondage and fear to freedom and unconditional love.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019 - Christmas - You can be more

To read the texts click on the texts: Isaiah52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18

The Introduction and the Entrance Antiphon of today’s liturgy makes clear that for those who celebrate Christmas the word of God is no longer merely the message spoken by the prophets, but the messenger of God in person. The Word of God is a child born for us on whose shoulder dominion will be laid. This is seen clearly in the readings that have been chosen for today.

In the first reading from the Second Book of Isaiah which is a prophetic oracle of salvation, the prophet announces through a messenger the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. Jerusalem which had experienced war, destruction and sorrow will now experience peace, unity and happiness. This is the good news that is proclaimed.

The letter to the Hebrews takes up the theme of the good news spoken through God’s word in a variety of ways. In the old days, this was spoken through the prophets, but in the now, the new days God will not content himself with merely speaking through intermediaries but speaks through a part of himself when he speaks through his son. His speaking is definitive not because God will not speak again, but because in Jesus, God has said all that he would want to say. God will not need to speak like this anymore.

This is also the theme of the prologue of the Gospel of John. However, John puts it even more elaborately than Hebrews does. Jesus is here described as the one who was with God from all eternity, who was, is and will be divine. This Word “became flesh and dwelt among us.” But again this totally other "Word" has a history and a purpose. He comes into the world as life and light. He asks to be accepted in faith. His own did not accept him; throughout history he offers himself to all of good will. Those who do accept him he empowers to become children of God, to have a new birth, to be born of God in the new birth of the Spirit.

The impossible has become possible, the totally incomprehensible has become somewhat comprehensible and our humanity is never again to be seen as a limitation but as an advantage. We have been blessed with a new and radiant vision. God could not be seen, but now in Jesus he is visible. Our God is not a God out there or up there, but a God who is with us and for us and showed us this in the unique and astounding way of becoming like us. We share through the Incarnation in the very life of God. Our cry after the Incarnation is not a plaintive “I’m only human”, but an exuberant, “I’m human”. This is what Christmas means and this is what the birth of the Christ child is saying. Before the Incarnation of Jesus, we human beings thought we could be only this brave, but the Incarnation has shown that we can be braver. Before the Incarnation we thought we could only love so much, but the Incarnation has shown that we can love even more and to the very end. Before Jesus’ incarnation we human beings thought we could be only so much, but the Incarnation of God shows us that we can be more. We have become through the incarnation, children, women and men of the Magis, the greater, the more. The Incarnation has made each of us aware of the immense potential that exists in us because we have been graced through the humanity of the divinity. Christ became human to show us that even in our humanity we can become divine. The Incarnation does not simply invite us to be good men and women, rather through the Incarnation; Jesus makes us into people who can use all their strengths and defects to the service and the glory of God. This is the proof to us that it is not by our own will power that we are able to become children of God. It is by God's grace, by God's unmerited and unconditional love of us.

Thus, Christmas is not merely the celebration of a historical birth or a birth that took place over two thousand years ago. It is about becoming conscious of who we really are as human beings. It is the celebration of life in all its fullness. It is the celebration of the transformation of limit to limitlessness, of selfishness to selflessness, of bondage and fear to freedom and unconditional love.

Christmas belongs not only to a few who call themselves Christians but to the entire earth. The lowly animals, birds, plants, trees indeed the whole of nature participates in this nativity of the divine light at Christmas. Our compassion for our human brothers and sisters is increased when we realize that the animals, birds, plants, trees and the rest of nature is also made up of wondrous beings in even more humble, limited and unrecognizable form than ourselves.

As the Logos (Word) descends into the earth and becomes sarx (flesh) to bring Light to the world, we realize that it is in and through this Light that we have life.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019 - Christmas - The Birth of Hope

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base (demographic data) and USA Trade Online (trade data - 2018) we are living in a world of approximately seven and a half billion people.

This is a world in which there continues to be significant and growing inequalities in the distribution of resources between nations. It is a world in which the gap between the rich and the poor is growing with each passing day. However, it is also a world in which there have been many examples of generosity on the part of individuals who have given large amounts of their wealth to charitable causes.

Because of violence and economic deprivation, migration has grown steadily and especially in this century. At the end of 2017 one in seven people were migrants and this number is steadily increasing. There have been instances of some countries turning their backs on and closing their doors to those who need help. The excuse they give is that their responsibility is first (and in the case of some countries ONLY) to their own citizens. However there have also been instances of countries which have opened their doors to welcome migrants and treated them as their own.

Our world today is a world where on the one hand we have come so close to each other that at the click of a button we can connect with persons in any part of the world, but on the other hand we are becoming more and more distanced and estranged from each other because we tend to highlight differences of colour, caste, creed and religion, rather than see what unites.

Our world is a world which is all but physically destroyed because of the greed of a few who have abused it for their own selfish ends. However, it is also a world in which people are becoming aware of the need to care for the environment and to treat the earth with the respect it deserves.

It is in such a world that Jesus is born every Christmas day. This is because the birth of Jesus is not merely a historical event which occurred over two thousand years ago, but an event which continues to take place every year to offer new hope.

This hope of Jesus coming into our world is offered in two ways. The first is by the manner in which God in Jesus entered our world. God could have chosen yet again to send a blessing or even a prophet or king to offer new hope. However, these had been sent in the past and had yielded little or no fruit. This is why God had to choose a novel, world-shattering and revolutionary way of insertion into the world. This way was the Incarnation. When John tells us that “The Word” became “flesh” (Jn 1:14) he emphasizes that in and through the Incarnation, Jesus did not merely take on a body, but became “flesh” in all its limitation, transience and fragility. It is therefore in and through the “flesh” that Jesus shows first that the human is good and has limitless potential for good and second that it is even in this broken and fragmented world that God comes to us. If God enters our damaged and injured world there cannot but be hope. This hope is that our present world even in its brokenness is good. This hope is that with God’s grace we can change our world and make it a better place.

The second way in which this hope is presented is by the choice of the name of Jesus. In the case of Jesus it was not the foster father, Joseph or his mother Mary who were given the privilege to choose the name. The name Jesus was chosen by God through the angel. When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary in the Gospel of Luke, it is he who directs her to name the child Jesus (Lk 1:31). At the time of the naming of the child Luke reminds us that the child was given the name Jesus which was the name the angel had given him before he was conceived in the womb (Lk 2:21).This is reiterated by Matthew in his infancy narrative when he states that in a dream Joseph was told not only to take the pregnant Mary as his wife (Mt 1:20) but also that he must name the child Jesus (Mt1:21).Matthew then goes on to tell us why the child will be named Jesus and explains that the name means “Saviour from sin” (Mt 1:21).

This salvation from sin was shown by Jesus in his reaching out to the poorest of the poor, the marginalized, the downtrodden, and those considered the scum of society (Mk 2:15-17). Jesus lived out the meaning of his name through the miracles he worked and parables he told. Through them, he announced emphatically that the God he revealed was a God who loved unconditionally and wanted all to be saved. However, since God was a just God, his justice would be shown in God making an option for the poor.

Today, over two thousand years after that first Christmas, Jesus is born again in our midst. Through his birth among us and as human in every single way, he reminds us of two solid facts. The first is that our broken and fragmented world is good. It has been graced by the presence of God. It is a world given to us in trust and it is our responsibility to look after it responsibly. The second is that God as revealed in Jesus is Saviour. His coming into the world assures us that we are loved unconditionally. It is this love given freely and immeasurably that challenges us to love. If we rise to this challenge then we can heal our broken world and work towards justice for all and peace in our world.

Monday, 23 December 2019

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 - YouTube Reflections

The Benedictus links the promise of salvation and redemption inseparably to the achievement of peace. God’s people cannot have redemption without peace, for each is necessary for the realization of the other. It affirms that God’s purposes are being fulfilled in the delivering of his people from the hands of their oppressors. Their feet are being guided in the way of peace so that they may worship without fear.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 - Does fear still rule the larger majority of your actions? What will you do about it today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 2 Sam 7:1-5,8-12.14.16; Lk 1:67-79

Zechariah’s song, which is traditionally called “The Benedictus” (Blessed), is the text which the Church reads on the day before Christmas. It may be seen to be divided into two parts. The first part praises God for his messianic deliverance and the second speaks of John the Baptist’s role in this deliverance. The progression of thought in the Benedictus shows that the true end of God’s redemption is not merely deliverance from political domination, but the creation of conditions in which God’s people can worship and serve God without fear. When people are released from external domination, they can worship in peace. The people of God are a covenant people, saved and rescued by the hand of God. God has thereby fulfilled the promises to Abraham and to David. Holiness and righteousness are to mark God’s people “all the days of our life”. The hymn comes to a climax as it describes the place of John in God’s redemptive work. John’s birth announced God’s new deliverance. John would be a prophet who would go before the Lord. Four infinitives outline the progress of God’s redemptive work. The first two describe the role of John the Baptist. The last two allude to the inauguration of the kingdom, “when the day shall dawn upon us from on high”.

The mark of the redeemed is that they live out of the knowledge of God that has been given to them. Darkness is dispelled by the revelation of God’s being and God’s grace toward us. Finally, through John’s call for justice and righteousness, and far more through Jesus’ unique ministry, God would “guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Tuesday, 31 December 2019

Wednesday, January 1, 2020 - Num 6:22-27; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

Monday, 30 December 2019

Tuesday, December 31, 2019 - 1Jn 2:3-11; Jn 1:1-18

Sunday, 29 December 2019

Monday, December 30, 2019 - 1 Jn 2:12-17; Lk 2:36-40

Saturday, 28 December 2019

Saturday, December 28, 2019 - Sir 3:2-6,12-14; Col 3:12-21;Lk 2:41-52

Friday, 27 December 2019

Saturday, December 28, 2019 - 1 Jn 1:5-2:2;Mt 2:13-18

Thursday, 26 December 2019

Friday, December 27, 2019 - 1 Jn 1:1-4;Jn 20:2-8

Wednesday, 25 December 2019

Thursday, December 26, 2019 - Acts 6:8-10;7:54-59;Mt 10:17-22

Tuesday, 24 December 2019

Wednesday, December 25, 2019 - Isaiah 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18

Monday, 23 December 2019

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 - 2 Sam 7:1-5, 8-12.14.16; Lk 1:67-79