4th Sunday of Advent (20.12.15)<\/p>\n
A Blessed Harmony <\/strong><\/p>\n Marital harmony is not a headline maker in the way that, sadly, marital disharmony is. Such negativity reflects, again sadly, the state of this and other western nations. Affluence does not automatically bring harmony.<\/p>\n It is fascinating that today\u2019s Gospel extract has a wife accompanying her husband in the praise of God. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, had endured nine months of being without speech. He had questioned the veracity of the Archangel\u2019s Gabriel\u2019s message about becoming a father. When his wife Elizabeth gave birth to their son, Zechariah, overcome with joy and thanksgiving burst into speech praising God. We know his prayer as \u2018The Benedictus\u2019: \u201cBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, He has visited his people\u201d \u2026 It is used daily in the Morning Prayer of the Church.<\/p>\n When Elizabeth was well advanced in her pregnancy, her cousin Mary of Nazareth, herself now miraculously expecting, came to visit. The suggestion that Mary make that journey was implicit in the \u2018Annunciation\u2019 message that the Archangel Gabriel brought to Mary: Arriving at her cousin\u2019s home, Mary was greeted by a complimentary inspired outburst from Elizabeth: The spontaneous complementarity of both husband and wife, Zechariah and Elizabeth, in praising God speaks volumes. For such spontaneous prayer to pour forth implies that both were deeply God-loving and prayerful people who had known deep suffering in their marital lives. Until she conceived John the Baptist in her past-childbearing age, Elizabeth was looked down upon as barren. For the Israelites then and now, childbearing is a privilege and a divine blessing because it ensures the continuance of the race of God\u2019s \u2018chosen people\u2019 who have known such persecution over the centuries. Therefore, not to have had children would have been interpreted as sign of God\u2019s disfavour, if not the couple\u2019s sinfulness. We are not told, but Zechariah possibly had to run the gauntlet of disapproval whenever it was his turn to officiate at the Temple. Among women, Elizabeth too would have encountered critical, negative comment.<\/p>\n Remaining loyal to God in decades of emotional and physical hardship is a pilgrimage of faith. Zechariah and Elizabeth made that journey together. No doubt there were times when one or the other stumbled in their belief because of other people\u2019s hard glances or words. Together they continued their pilgrimage until that day in the Temple when Zechariah heard the Archangel\u2019s message. By the time the newly pregnant Mary arrived, Elizabeth, at six months, would have acclimatised to the magnitude of God\u2019s graciousness. To both Zechariah and Elizabeth\u2019s lips, six months apart, came the word \u2018Blessed\u2019. God\u2019s blessing, his favour, can only come upon people who have opened themselves or are willing to be open themselves to receiving the grace to believe in God. This belief is not notional. For the believer, it must grow to become an integral part of each breath of each day. As you compose your thoughts for Christmas greetings to loved ones and friends, ask yourself – Does my choice of graphics and words convey my belief in God and my hope and prayer that this may also be true or become true for those who receive my greeting?<\/em><\/p>\n Parents have the most powerful blessing for their children. \u00a0Zechariah blessed his newborn son, named John as the angel instructed: God nominates parents to be his personal representatives in nurturing the lives they bring into this world and eternity. If you are a parent do you bless your child(ren) daily? Do your children, whatever their age, hear your words of blessing as they feel your hand on their head? If you have blessed them from their infancy, this will have become one of their most treasured memories of your love. Cardinal Vincent Nichols recalls vividly, to this day, how, when he and his siblings were tucked up for the night, their mother would gently trace the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads and bless them. If your children are far from you, your blessing will be conveyed by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n A Biblical blessing that any believer can use is found in Numbers 6: 24-26. It is a priestly blessing and so can be used by members of the priesthood of the Baptised laity as well as those who have received the Sacrament of Order: 3rd Sunday of Advent \u2013 Gaudete Sunday (13.12.15)<\/p>\n What must we do?<\/strong><\/p>\n In today\u2019s Gospel\u00a0 (Luke 3: 10-18) John the Baptist tells various groups of people the works of justice and charity they must do in order to prepare for the Lord\u2019s coming and to escape His searching judgment.<\/p>\n Being a very practical man, he gave them\u00a0 down-to-earth advice. Christianity is a very practical religion. How will Christ come to us at Christmas? But, He also comes in disguise \u2013 and at the oddest of times, and wearing all sorts of disguises. In my conversations, am I inclined to find fault with others who are not present to defend themselves, perhaps even On this Rejoicing Sunday, let us now look at some practical ways\u00a0 in which we might aim at being Christ-like. I was hungry for a smile and you smiled at me. I was thirsty for a word of recognition and you took notice of me. I was a stranger and you made me feel welcome. I was naked for the want of self-worth, but you covered me with esteem. I was sick with doubt and worry, and with your cheerful attitude you lightened my burden. St. Paul in the second reading tells us: 4th Sunday of Advent (20.12.15) A Blessed Harmony Marital harmony is not a headline maker in the way that, sadly, marital disharmony is. Such negativity reflects, again sadly, the state of this and other western nations. Affluence does not automatically … Continue reading
\n\u201cThe angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, even your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.\u201d <\/em>
\n(Luke 1: 36-37)<\/p>\n
\n\u201cElizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” <\/em>(Luke 1: 39ff)<\/p>\n
\nHis resulting silence now spoke for him. Elizabeth would not have needed his words to understand. Like long-term, close, loving married people each can know the thoughts of the other without words being exchanged. The discovery of her own utterly unexpected pregnancy would have required time for both she and her husband to adjust. Being told what was to happen and finding it actually happening are distinct steps along a pilgrim\u2019s route.<\/p>\n
\n“To be blessed” historically means ‘to be favoured by God’. One of the first incidences of blessing in the Bible is in Genesis<\/a> (12:1-2<\/a>) where Abram<\/a> \u2013 his name like his faith has yet to be expanded into the fullness of his relationship with God – is ordered by the Lord to leave his country and is told:
\n“I will bless you, I will make your name great.”<\/em>
\nBlessings originate with and come directly from God. To bless another is to bestow on that person a wish that they may experience the favour of God in their life now and hereafter.
\n“May you have a blessed Christmas<\/a><\/em>“, can be translated as: “May you experience the favour of God during this Christmas period and throughout the coming year.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cAs for you, little child, <\/em>
\nyou shall be called a prophet of God, the most High.<\/em>
\nYou shall go ahead of the Lord<\/em>
\nto prepare his ways before him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMay the Lord bless you, and keep you;<\/em>
\nMay the Lord make His countenance shine upon you,<\/em>
\n\u00a0and be gracious to you;<\/em>
\nMay the Lord turn His countenance to you and grant you peace.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nHe said to all:\u00a0 \u201cShare your surplus food and clothes with the starving and the naked\u201d
\nTo tax collectors he said:\u00a0 \u201cDo not rob the people.\u00a0 Just collect what you are entitled to and no more.\u201d
\nTo soldiers he said:\u00a0 \u201cDo not abuse your power.\u00a0 Do not intimidate people, or use violence against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe foundation of everything is of course our relationship with the Father in and through Christ His Son.
\nTo strengthen and deepen this relationship we need prayer<\/strong>.
\nSadly, however, it could happen that it all ends there.\u00a0 It does not flow over into our ordinary lives and show itself in the way we treat other people.
\nWithout this second dimension, religion is little better than smoke without fire; or blossoms without fruit.
\nYes indeed – Faith without good works is dead.<\/p>\n
\nYes, of course, He comes bearing gifts a\u2013plenty for the asking.\u00a0\u00a0 Ask and you shall receive.<\/p>\n
\nDo I recognise Him in the stranger or even in the nuisance I know, who disturbs my routine in quest for something quite trivial to my way of thinking?\u00a0 How do I treat this seeming \u201cpain-in-the-neck\u201d!
\nAre there people\u00a0 whom I exclude \u2013 avoiding their company like the plague?<\/p>\n
\nunjustly maligning their character by spreading false rumours about them?\u00a0 Am I judgmental?
\nIn short, am I really Christ-like in my dealings with others?!<\/p>\n
\nTaking the Beatitudes as our guide, we must surely be able to give a positive tick to some of the following:-<\/p>\n
\nI was hungry for a word of encouragement and you praised me.
\nI was hungry for a word of appreciation and you thanked me.<\/p>\n
\nI was thirsty for a sign of friendship and you wrote me a letter.
\nI was thirsty for a little companionship and you stopped to chat with me.<\/p>\n
\nI was a young\u00a0 person from a bad area, and you gave me a job.
\nI was socially inferior to you but by your acceptance you built me up.<\/p>\n
\nI was naked for the loss of my good name through an untrue story, and you clothed me with the garment of truth.<\/p>\n
\nI was wounded by failure and disappointment\u00a0 and with your understanding and support you healed me.
\nI was in a prison of nerves, or loneliness or guilt, and through your calm, friendship, or forgiveness you
\nreleased me from my bondage.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe Lord is very near, so there is no need to worry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you need anything, pray for it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"