From Season to Season

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem 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.   —Luke 2:16-19 To call Mary the Theotokos , the "Mother of God " or “God-Bearer,” is to celebrate the unique role that she has played—and continues to play—in God’s plan of salvation. And as we honor the Theotokos in our celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on January 1, we also celebrate the Octave Day of Christmas, recalling the circumcision and naming of Jesus on the eighth day after his birth (cf. Luke 2:21).  A contemporary icon of Mary, "Seeker of the Lost" The iconic Christmas image of Mary holding her infant Son embodies the mystery of the Lord’s birth, as it brings together the human and divine elements of the In...

Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.   —Luke 2:51-52 Christmas is a time for family. Whether we are spending the holidays with our biological families, religious communities and parish families, or “chosen” families of friends, Christmas is a season when we come together with those whom we love to celebrate love, especially God’s love enfleshed in the gift of his Son. This truth of Christmas was brought into sharp focus this year, as the realities of the coronavirus pandemic kept us from being with our families and those we love.  Contemporary icon of the Holy Family  by Marko Ivan Rupnik, SJ (2012) The Feast of the Holy Family, celebrated on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, is an invitation to reflect on the lives and relationships of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and on how God’s grace is at wo...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…  And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,  and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.  —Luke 1:1-2, 14 The Gospel of the Christmas Mass “During the Day” Every Christmas we celebrate the truth that God became a human being. This belief is so essential that to deny it or to try to explain it away is to give up the foundational belief of Christians. The Solemnity of Christmas invites us to pause and reflect on what these words really mean.  It is one thing to simply repeat the words of the Nicene Creed: “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.” It is quite another to allow these words to effect a change in our lives. As Cardinal Basil Hume observed, “The words are simple and direct, but their meaning is far beyond our power to comprehend… But it is not flesh and blood...

  Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." —Luke 1:38 The Gospels do not relate a single word spoken by Joseph, the husband of Mary. He is a silent, protecting figure standing in the shadows during the Season of Advent, coming into view only in the final days of this season of watching and waiting. And, while we do hear from Mary in the gospels of Luke and John, few of her words have come down to us.  Despite the fact that we hear so little from the parents of Jesus, we can nevertheless recognize one particular virtue that both shared: obedience.  “Obedience” isn’t a particularly popular word in our culture, including within the Church. Sadly, too many people have to come to associate obedience with some sort of blind submission. Instead, if we look at the history of the word, we see that it comes from two Latin words, ob and audire , and our English word “obedience” means to listen or to hear.  This sense of l...

Advent is a season of contradictions and juxtapositions.  This is the season of "already" but "not yet," as we prepare for the coming-in-fullness of the One who has already been born into time and history.  This is the dark season when we watch and wait from the dawning of the One who is  the Light of the World, lighting the candles of the Advent wreath and praying in the Magnificat antiphon for December 21:  O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:  Come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.   This theme of light is a fundamental part of our prayer in these Advent days and we recall John the Baptist, the great prophet of Advent, testifying to the coming of this light (see John 1:6-9 ).  This is the light of the Lord that illumines the darkened heart of a sin- and war-weary world.  Reflecting on this, Quaker writer Isaac Pennington wrote, “But of what nature is this light, which shineth in man in his...

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. - Philippians 4:4-5; Entrance Antiphon for  the Third Sunday of Advent On this Third Sunday of Advent, the Church gives us a very particular mandate: Rejoice! And, during these pre-Christmas days, it seems that there is joy all around us. And yet, the essayist William Stringfellow makes a poignant observation that should give us pause: “For the greeting card sentiment and sermonic rhetoric, I do not think that much rejoicing happens around Christmastime, least of all about the coming of the Lord. There is, I notice, a lot of holiday frolicking, but that is not the same as rejoicing. In any case, maybe the outbursts of either frolicking and rejoicing are premature, if John the Baptist has credibility. He identifies repentance as the sentiment of Advent” (from Advent as a Penitential Season). The themes of judgment, repentance, and salvation preached by John the Baptist seem to be at odds with the spirit of C...

I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bride adorned with her jewels. - Isaiah 61:10, Entrance Antiphon for the  Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception When, in 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was giving full voice to an ancient and venerable tradition: “The Virgin Mary, in the first moment of her conception, by a singular privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin” ( Ineffabilis Deus ).  Although it might seem out of place in the quiet, dark procession of these Advent days, this celebration of the Immaculate Conception, embodies the promise of Advent. “In this feast,” Henri Nouwen, “it seems that all the quiet beauty of Advent suddenly bursts forth into exuberance and ...

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert:  “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. —Mark 1:2-4 Advent is a complicated season. I’m tempted to say that this is the most complex season of the Church Year. Advent presumes that we Christians have been formed in an adult faith that is prepared to celebrate an adult Christmas. And, as we know, Advent isn’t a season that is focused only on the past, because this is the time we focus our attention on One who is among us right now and who will come in glory in the future. Although Advent is a season of hope, hope seems to be in short supply these days. So, as I was reflecting on this Sunday's readings , I thought about what hope might mean for our Church and the world. In this, I realized that I was making a mi...