These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!
And the angel said to him in reply,
“I am Gabriel, who stand before God.
I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.
But now you will be speechless and unable to talk
until the day these things take place,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
(Lk 1:5-25)
Luke’s Infancy Narrative is a double experience: two annunciations, two nativities, two hymns of praise. But what a contrast in the two annunciation stories, the priest who fails to believe, and the young girl who says “Let it be done to me as you said.” And what a fitting punishment for a priest: to be mute, until the child is born! The picture is the Annunication to Zechariah. The Christmas Carol is Mi Burrito Sabanero that is very popular in Colombia.
O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!
The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
(Mt 1:18-25)
In Matthew’s gospel, Saint Joseph takes an important role in the Infancy Narrative. Pope Francis has proclaimed an extraordinary Holy Year of Saint Joseph which runs from December 8, 2020-December 8, 2021. Perhaps for all of us, Saint Joseph is a good example of doing what the Lord asks of us. The photo today is a detail of the head of Saint Joseph from a stained glass window in Saint Pius V Catholic Church in Troy, Indiana.The Christmas Carol today is from Colombia, Las Barbas de San José (The Whiskers of Saint Joseph).
O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
(Mt 1:1)
Today we begin the final period of Advent, the time of the O Antiphons. Each day we will read through the Infancy Narratives (Chapters 1-2) of first Matthew’s gospel and then Luke’s which will take us all the way to Christmas Eve. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew’s gospel invites us all into the story of Salvation. Here we contemplate the Second Coming of Christ through the lens of his First Coming among us.
At that time,
John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask,
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
When the men came to the Lord, they said,
“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,
‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”
(Lk 7:18-20)
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” is the central question of faith. Of course, the two disciples of John the Baptist received an answer, and we have too, for the One we await proclaims good news to the poor. When we care for the poor, we care for Him, and then we are blessed indeed. Today’s photo is Christ of the Breadlines (1951) by Fritz Eichenberg.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
(Psalm 34)
If one is paying attention to the liturgies of Advent, they will discover what has been called the church’s best kept secret—Catholic Social Teaching. Father Raymon Brown, one of the great scripture scholars of the modern church, always talked about “an adult Christ at Christmas.” What he meant is that the focus of Advent and Christmas itself is the Second Coming of Christ, when he comes to judge the living and the dead. As the church points out, love God and love neighbor go hand in hand. And as today’s Psalm suggests, if the Lord hears the cry of the poor, then perhaps we need to as well. The picture today is from the Chapter Room at Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Indiana.
