Recognizing Jesus

Gospel	John 1:29-34

'Look: there is the Lamb of God'

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptize with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

Our play continues. Remember how the people of the area secretly thought that maybe, just maybe, this John who spoke of repentance was in fact, the Messiah.  They were slightly disappointed when he said no, that he was not the Messiah and while he baptized with water the Savior would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. But they kept coming to him and hoping against hope that he was the one that was come. John saw Jesus approaching and he proclaimed as only John could the Savior was approaching and he told on how he had seen the Spirit come down and rest upon Jesus.  The crowd looked and saw the man known as Jesus.  They saw nothing special but the words of John still rang in their ears.  They began to turn away from John because who needed a Baptist when the Savior was at hand.  The act comes to a close and the curtain falls as we await the next scene. 

You cannot blame the people for not exiting en masse from the side of the Baptist.  They had been taken for a ride before, following this one claiming to be the Messiah,  and for a brief moment or two the man seemingly did good things but then went one step too far and when he could not produce, he was bound hand and foot and thrown out of the city or even stoned for his blasphemy.  No, they had seen it before and they would be very cautious in choosing their next Messiah.  Until then, John would do because he himself made no claims to be the One.  Therefore, the thought was that he might be the one. 

Each of us too, here in the twenty-first century are presented with many messiahs during our lives. Some of us will follow a false Messiah who promises much, silver, gold, fame, fortune and some of us will receive all that was promised and we will congratulate ourselves on how well we have done and we will eat, drink and be merry in a never-ending debauch until we die and it all stays behind. Others of us will claim the inheritance of the Lord.  We will recognize Him and accept Him into our lives.  Our lives may be missing some of the gold and silver, but what He gives us we enjoy to the full on earth and when called away by death, we take it all with us for we carry His love, His way, His teachings in our heart.  It is okay to be rich as long as you know who really owns what you have, the Lord.  It is okay to be poor because the Lord loves you for who you are and He himself knows your struggles.  In the end, it matters not if you are rich or poor in this life.  It is how you live with what you have and how you share with others as Jesus told us to that will make a difference.  From today on, make this your watchword, "Because I live here  the world will be a better place."  This does not depend on you being rich or poor, it is just being you and doing what you know to be the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Remember the poor souls in Purgatory and pray for them today.  

The Feast of Mary, The Mother of God

The Antichrist Came Out Of Our Own Number...

First reading	1 John 2:18-21 ©

You have been anointed by the Holy One

Children, these are the last days;

you were told that an Antichrist must come,

and now several antichrists have already appeared;

we know from this that these are the last days.

Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged;

if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us;

but they left us, to prove that not one of them

ever belonged to us.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One,

and have all received the knowledge.

It is not because you do not know the truth that I am writing to you

but rather because you know it already

and know that no lie can come from the truth.

I think that is most appropriate that the reading for the final mass of 2018 contains the inditement "Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number but they never really belonged..."  As this year comes to an end we pew dwellers can see more clearly that not all that dresses in the crimson of the Church's elite are actually really part of the Church.  Oh, they are members, but their hearts are far from doing what is right.  They seek to steer Peter's boat into the shoals and attempt to make an end of her once and for all.  The devil has entered into their hearts and even men whose loyalty cannot be questioned are being tempted by having their ears tickled by that which sounds good but leads to evil. 

As 2018 comes to an end, pray that Francis receives the grace to finally come out as the hero of the Church as he strikes at the source of the infection.  Pray too that the Spirit reveals those that are responsible for attempting to sully the purity of the Bride of Christ with teachings that are far from the Heart of Jesus.  Pray that those who are infested with the ideas that are born from selfishness, evil, and moral turpitude are removed from office and sent off into shame. 

Pray that 2019 becomes known as the year when the church does what is required and returns fully to those ancient teachings that have been preserved for over two thousand years and still form the core of her values and her teachings as drawn from the Deposit of Fath.  Make no mistake about it.  The Church belongs to Christ and He will purge that which needs to be purged and His Bride will remain as beautiful as before and her members will once again sing songs of praise to the Lord our God.  

May the God of Our Fathers bless you on this last day of the year as we look with hope for a new beginning, as we continue in faith our prayers and good works, and infuse the world with the love that comes from knowing Christ as our King, Our God, and our Brother. 

Please Remember the Poor Souls today in your prayers. 

The Hardest Teaching Of All!

Colossians 3:12-17

Be clothed in love

You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.

  Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS EVER WRITTEN

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."  The previous sentence is a load of dingo's kidneys. Being in love does not exempt you from saying your sorry, it never has, it never will.  The fact is that if you love someone, you will go out of your way to NOT do things that upset or anger them.  As a matter of fact, we are called by Paul to "forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins."  We are to fall all over ourselves to be the first to apologize and the reason is simple, God forgave us all of the rotten things that we have done.  He sent his only Son who endured a horrible death.  And Jesus, from the Cross, forgave His tormentors. Look what they did to Him and how he forgave. Can we do less if our loved one leaves the toilet seat up or forgets to take out the garbage or says something mean without thinking?  

Two Reactions to Wrongs Committed Against Us.

When we are wronged we can react in two ways.  The first is the easy way, it takes no thought, nor does it cost us anything as far as our ego goes.  This first reaction is striking back.  She condemns you for leaving your socks on the floor and he tells her how her relatives are all 'ner do wells. She responds by pointing out that his drunken brother only comes around when he wants to borrow money.  He responds by telling her that she needs to grow up.  And on and on it goes.  Hurt is piled upon hurt in this game called "Escalation."  And what is it all over? A pair of socks left on the floor.  

The second way that this scenario could go is much shorter and what we should be doing.  She mentions that he left his socks on the floor, she says it not in a pleasant manner and he defuses the situation by apologizing.  You can turn this scenario around and have him complaining about something and her apologizing, either way, we are called to respond in love. 

RESPONDING IN LOVE SOMETIMES MEANS RUNNING AWAY! 

Now I am not a fool and I know that there are some things that would not qualify for easy forgiveness except that they do.  If a husband beats a wife, she should forgive AND while she forgives she should get the hell out of the situation. Removing oneself from a violent situation is an act of charity for both parties.  It removes the near occasion of sin from the person who is doing the beating and it is saving the dignity of the victim who, after all, is a member of the Household of God.   Being required to forgive is not a license for one person injuring another.  Our dignity as a person beloved of God does not require us to stand there with a smile while someone is breaking our jaw. All possible things should be done to protect one's self from harm. 

Solution:

If all of us took this teaching seriously, there would be no husbands beating wives, there would be no need to fight wars and people would be generally happier.  This only requires someone to start the peace by taking the teaching of Paul seriously and attempting to apply it to all situations one finds oneself in.  Someone needs to be first, would that person be you? 

Please remember the Poor Souls in Purgatory in your prayers this week.  This prayer may be helpful. 

The Revelation of An Old Man

Gospel	Luke 2:22-35

'You have prepared a light to enlighten the pagans'

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem, there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,

just as you promised;

because my eyes have seen the salvation

which you have prepared for all the nations to see,

a light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

For most of the world, Christmas is over, it ended as they turned off the lights on Christmas evening and went to sleep.  For us Christians, the play is just beginning.  We have witnessed so far the drama of finding a place to stay, the Holy Birth among the animals and hay, the shepherds who heard and believed and now we are amazed at the words of an old man, Simeon, who was waiting, as all of Israel for the Messiah.   Simeon had it revealed to him that he would not die before he saw the anointed one of God.  He came to the Temple every day, for where else would one find the Messiah.  Would not the Messiah come to claim what was His by birthright?  He came, like the shepherds, in faith and with the belief that God would fulfill His Word.  And God did, and Simeon was amazed!  The Holy Spirit pointed out to him Joseph, Mary, and the Baby.  The Messiah was in the Temple and the Messiah was a child, the son of a poor man and woman who was carrying two small doves which were the required sacrifice when the first son was dedicated to the Lord. 

Simeon hastened to the Family and looking right into Mary's eyes with tenderness and love he wordlessly asked to hold the Infant in his arms.  Mary, sensing the goodness of this holy man and inspired by the Holy Spirit placed the Child into Simeon's arms and great joy filled his heart.  He thanks God for revealing to him the Messiah and says that he is ready for God to take him home.  He turned to Mary, and with tenderness and a touch of sorrow he told her that her Son was destined for great things and the sign from God that He carried would be rejected and she too would feel the pain of this rejection.  We fade to black.

The presentation of Jesus at the Temple was to show that this boy would accept no privileges, would fulfill the law and in doing so He would free us from the law.  Mary would support her Son and His mission and in doing so would feel great joy and great sorrow that would break her heart.  It is telling that no words were spoken to Joseph by Simeon, but it is Joseph's name that the Child bore and this made the child legitimate in the eyes of the law for an illegitimate child had a rough time in Israeli society.  It was Joseph that would teach the Boy what needed to be taught.  He would instill in Him a work ethic, a respect for the Torah, and would point him on the way to His ultimate destiny, the Cross.  But Joseph would do these things and bow out of the story through death and Mary would have to do things on her own after that day.  

For now, however, the Family completed their task at the temple and they began to live the ordinary life of an ordinary family and they awaited, perhaps with some trepidation the next Work of God in this saga. 

While the video accompanying the song is not quite on point, listen to the words.  The artist is Michael Card. 

Who Wants to Be A Shepherd?

Gospel	Luke 2:15-20

The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger

Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.

Lost and Alone...

It wasn't cool to be a shepherd at the time Jesus was born.  Those that listed this occupation on their resume were looked down upon. Why?  To be a shepherd meant that you had to spend a lot of time "abiding in the field."  When one abides in the field tending their flocks by night, one cannot be in the temple or the synagogue praying. But as we can see they were men of faith, they heard and they believed.  But they were seen as chronically unclean and non-observant.  So you have to ask why in heaven's name were they chosen to hear "news of great joy for the whole world, that a savior has been born to you, it is Christ the Lord."  Imagine being a lowly shepherd and hearing an angel tell you these things, they must have been out of their minds with joy. They probably also wondered why they had been told this.  After all, it is not like they could go on to the street corner and announce this to all passers-by.  They would not be believed because they had the smell of their sheep about them and there was a danger that they would be hauled before the court and charged with one crime or another and religious crimes brought nasty penalties.  So why did these simple men of the earth hear of the coming of the savior first?  Why didn't God send an angel to the high priest and the governor?  Why not appear on the pinnacle of the temple with the heavenly host and announcing it to the well-dressed, well-educated, and well-sanitized members of society?  I think I know.  The savior was to be for everyone, from the highest to the lowest and God was advertising the fact that He showed no partiality and that He would be ministering to all.  The announcement came to the shepherds because they were simple men.  They would see and hear and not demand to understand.  They would revel in the joyful news whereas the gentry of the land would demand proof, demand miracles, demand demonstrations of the Savior.  They would also have one heck of a time believing that the Messiah, the savior of Israel was at that very moment laying in a dirty cave in a manger.  This, to their thinking, was not how the Messiah would come.  But the shepherds whose lot in life was hard would see the justice in a Messiah learning about the world from a low starting point.  They would understand and they would believe. They remembered that David, the greatest king that Israel ever had started life as an unregarded shepherd boy and they knew where he ended up. 

This Could Be You!

I do not know what you do for a living nor how much you are paid or how much esteem your position brings you. On this day when we commemorate the birth of the Holy Child, bring yourself back to earth. Step out of the mist of grandeur that we show to our peers to keep our place in the temporal scheme of things.  Look boldly at the world around you and accept that no matter what, you are nothing more than a shepherd boy and believe in the wonder of God coming to earth and living among us.  As an old contemporary Christian song once said, "Where others saw a shepherd boy, God saw a king." 

A Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you. 

Why The Birth of Jesus Matters

We are pretty much insulated from the excitement that the Hebrews felt around the time that Jesus was born.  All of them lived in constant expectation that their generation would be the one that saw the arrival of the Messiah that had been promised of old.  They waited and they watched and they watched and they waited and alas, the Messiah was taking a long time to come.  But still, there was that excitement that they felt in their hearts that it could be any day.  But why did we need a Messiah at all? 

ANCIENT PROMISE

In the Book of Genesis, we see that God was very close to his creatures, going so far as to visit them in the "cool part of the evening."  This is a time when after the work of the day was over friends would get together and would talk to each other, share stories, solve all of the world's problems or as we say it today in our  vernacular they would "hang out."  God is portrayed as a very close friend and He indeed came to visit at the end of the day.  He loved His creation and wanted nothing but the best for them and looked forward to being up close and personal with them. Man, unfortunately, disobeyed God and with that on his soul, he no longer felt close to God.  God was not to be talked to as a friend, but rather, He was to be avoided because sin had entered the world.  Sin and God do not cohabitate.  So Adam and Eve alienated themselves from God and hid from Him.  God, if he were human, would be heartbroken.  But God being God wanted to repair what was broken.  He did not want to move His hand and take away the impediments between them for man had decided to separate from God and God wanted no puppet, He wanted voluntary love from His creatures.  So, He formed a plan and told Adam and Eve about it.  There would come a Savior who would fix everything up and restore what was broken and it would come through the Woman. This is the ancient promise that the Jews were putting their trust in. 

THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND

Years passed by, many of them.  The people of Israel were not able to fulfill the Covenant that they had made with God.  They would do their best for a while but sooner or later they would go off of the tracks and end up being conquered by one enemy or another. At the time of Jesus' birth, the Romans were the masters of this stiff-necked people.  But the Romans were smart.  They allowed the Jews to worship their God and even minted special money that did not include the emperors head on it for the Jews to use.  The coin of the realm proclaimed the emperor as a god and no Jew would want to touch the coins.  An aside, this makes it all the more remarkable when the Pharisee handed Jesus a coin with the head of Caesar on it.  The Romans also avoided erecting statues of Caesar in Jerusalem.  They wanted to keep these temperamental people calm, cool, and collected so they made certain concessions to them.  In spite of this enlightened approach of the conquerors, the Jews saw them as occupiers and they longed for the day when the yoke of Rome would be cast off and Israel would take her place at the top of the food chain just as she was at the time of David.  The Messiah would see to this, of that they were sure.  They did not understand that God had other plans. 

THE HOLY BIRTH

Mary was found to be with child, about three months along after she returned from a trip that oddly enough lasted three months.  Joseph was going to send her away but after getting "the word" in a dream he took Mary into his home and they were husband and wife.  Meanwhile, the emperor looked at the funds in his treasury and found that it was looking a little thin.  He decreed that everyone should go to the home city of their ancestors to register and pay the tax.  He was no fool, he wanted every penny!  So, Mary and Joseph loaded up their donkey and headed to Bethlehem even though Mary was almost ready to give birth.  This was the town of David was from. As a matter of fact, at that time, everyone was from Bethlehem because it was a small backwater famed for sheep and shepherds.  It was not considered a lush vacation spot.  Since the whole world was on the move, when Joseph and Mary arrived, they could not find a place to stary.  All of the hotels, motels, and boarding houses were filled to the brim with happy taxpayers just itching to give their hard earned money to the emperor.  To top things off, Mary began her contractions.  Joseph went to the door of another guest house and was immediately rebuffed.  He begged the landlord for a place, any place because his wife was going to give birth shortly.  The landlord said he had no room but he was free to use the stable, at least the hay was clean!  Joseph, disappointed and feeling like a failure, thanked the landlord and turning to Mary he smiled and said that they have a place that they could stay, the stable of the guesthouse which was a cave, there was no fire, but the heat from the stabled animals should make it tolerable.  Mary smiled and told him that it sounded wonderful and they made it to the cave just in the nick of time.  The baby was born, in a stable in Bethlehem and he was wrapped in the clothing that Mary had brought along and placed in the manger, literally the animal's food bin.  Bethlehem means place of bread and Jesus rested in the manger, a place where animals took their food.  The birth gives a hint at the end of the story, but that is for later. 

WHY

God could have said to Adam and Eve, "Okay, just don't do it again."  But that would have not cured the problem.  God was not holding a grudge.  He still loved his creation but knew that if He was going to get them to love Him back that He would need to do something more to both prove His love to them and to wipe out the debt that mankind owed for the sin of Adam and Eve.  This is why Jesus was born.  God would come down from heaven above and lead the life of a man and experience everything that a man could experience in life.  He would feel joy and sorrow, weariness and pain, and loneliness and temptation.  He would show man what to do and how to do it.  His watchwords would be, "Love one another as I have loved you."  And to prove His love, he would take it the bitter end, He would die as a criminal, filled with pain and suffering. He would die and then He would destroy death and open the gates of heaven to us again. The penalty earned by Adam and Eve would be paid for by God Himself in an act of love like no other.  So this is why Jesus was born, why He lived, why he taught, and why he died and rose from the grave. 

ACT ONE

We can consider the events of Christmas as Act one in God's passion play.  God is passionately in love with us.  By us I do not mean as a group, I mean He loves each individual person and sees in them the potential for them to become saints and to live with Him in heaven. 

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND PEACE TO PEOPLE OF GOODWILL! 

Michael The Lesser wishes all of those who read my blog a very Merry and Holy Christmas.