From Season to Season

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee  and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open  and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens,  "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."   —Mark 1:9-11 To be baptized is an act of humility. After all, no one baptizes himself or herself. In accepting John’s baptism, Jesus fully embraced what it means to be a human person, with all of humanity’s weakness, limitations, and suffering.  That Jesus, the Incarnate Word, humbled himself in this way shows that he chose humility as the way he would redeem us. The Baptism of Christ by Giotto (1305) As we have heard time and again in these Christmas days, the Savior of the world did not come with any sort of fanfare or grandeur. He came quietly into the world as a baby, the lowest and the least of humanity. Then, after spending thirty years in an...

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...

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. —Romans 8:24-25 Peregrine Laziosi was born into a wealthy family in Forli, Italy, around the year 1260. The era into which Peregrine was born was characterized by political unrest, especially concerning the powers of the papacy in secular-political affairs; Peregrine’s family supported the anti-papal faction. In 1283, Saint Philip Benizi , the Superior General of the Servite Order , was sent to Forli as a papal representative, hoping to reconcile the divided community. As he was trying to preach, Peregrine became so enraged that he physically assaulted Philip, who responded by literally turning the other cheek. Peregrine soon repented of his acts and sought out Philip’s forgiveness. This experience had a profound impact on Peregrine’s life and marked the beginning of a process of conversion that led him to join the...

Reflecting on the mystery of the Incarnation, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (d. ca. 202) wrote that “God is man’s glory. Man is the vessel which receives God’s action and all his wisdom and power.” In these final days of Advent, the Church shifts her focus from the advent of Christ at the end of time, to preparing for Christmas. In a particular way, today we are invited to reflect on Mary, the Mother of Jesus.    Although the story of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38, the Gospel for this Sunday) is one we know well, it’s a powerful testimony of God’s power to initiate, invite, and create. Here, we have a teenage girl, undoubtedly indistinguishable from other young women of her time and place. But, in an instant, God broke into the normalcy of her life in a way that left her—and us—forever changed. Our Lady of Expectation (15th century) For Mary, the Annunciation initiated a period of waiting. She was waiting as an expectant mother and also waiting for events around her to ...

O people of Sion, behold, the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart. —Entrance Antiphon for the Second Sunday of Advent, based upon Isaiah 30:19, 30 Advent is a complicated season. I’m even tempted to say that this is the most complicated season of the Church Year. Unlike its counterparts, including Lent, Advent presumes that we Christians have been formed in an adult faith that is prepared to celebrate an adult Christmas. As we know, Advent isn’t a season that is focused only on the past—Advent is also a season of reflection and attentiveness as we recognize the One who is among us right now and who will come in glory in the future. I have to admit, though, that I’m feeling disheartened this Advent. A key virtue of this season is hope but, like so many, I’m finding hope difficult these days. So, as I was reflecting on this Sunday's readings with their prophets calling for comfort and conversion...

On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the L ord , and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. - Isaiah 29:18-19   In reflecting on the light of the Lord that illumines the darkened heart of the sinful person, Quaker writer Isaac Pennington wrote, “But of what nature is this light, which shineth in man in his dark state? It is of a living nature; it is light which flows from life; it is light which hath life in it; it is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Word eternal, which is the light of men.” Pennington recognized that it is only the Light of the World who can drive away the darkness of sin and death which seeks to cover the earth with its heavy pall. And yet, Isaiah the prophet understood the Advent of the Promised One would bring light where there was once darkness and unstop that which was once closed. The wonder that Jesus performed when he g...

My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they will collapse on the way.   - Matthew 15:32   For many in our day, this Advent season will go by unnoticed; even Christmas will be little more than another day. The cold of winter, the gnawing pangs of hunger, the stress of the holiday season, and the insecurities of an unstable economy are all realities of Advent. The pressures of day-to-day life can eclipse the promise that Advent brings to a tired world. It is only by the grace of God that any of us are able to endure the trials and challenges of life in a world where many fight to survive.             For Catholics in England living during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the world seemed as though it had been turned upside-down. The “Old Religion” had been outlawed in favor of the...

I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. - Luke 10:21 In Isaiah’s beloved vision of the peace and concord that will reign on the Earth at the Lord’s coming, we hear the promise: “The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”    The Readings today challenge us to look for the coming of that Child of the Promise who will bring peace, harmony, and justice to a world torn apart by war, injustice, discrimination, and fear. Children, in their innocence and purity, are free from the cynicism that clouds the vision of so many of us "grown ups," preventing us from seeing what it was that Isaiah saw. The world’s little ones — children and those who are children at heart — have the freedom to believe that Isaiah’...

Born to the Daju people in Western Sudan around the year 1869, Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped and sold into slavery when she was between the ages of seven and nine. Eventually purchased by an Italian consul, she was taken to Italy where she was converted to Catholicism through her contact with the Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice. She rarely spoke of her years of enslavement, but her sufferings were so extreme that she was plagued by horrific nightmares for the rest of her life and the trauma caused her to forget the name she had received from her parents. (Her adopted name, Bakhita , means “Lucky.”) In 1893, having been baptized Giuseppina , she entered Cannosian Sisters, winning the esteem of many by her piety and charity.   She spent the remaining 54 years of her life serving the community and its students in a number of assignments, including cook, sacristan, and housekeeper. Known for her gentleness, especially her smile, she was commonly referred to as the “Little B...