CHRISTMAS - DAY OF LOVE

CHRISTMAS – B

(Midnight Mass: Is 9:1-3, 5-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14)
(Day Mass: Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; John 1:1-18)

Theme: Let Us Become Ourselves A Crib For The Lord

Reflection:

- Happy Feast and Happy Christmas to all of you. It’s Great Day. It’s a Joyful Day. It’s a Blessed Day. It’s a Marvelous Day. It’s a Delightful Day. It’s a Luminous Day. It’s a Day of the Lord. It’s a Day of Man and It’s a Day of Appointment of God with Man. The list can go on. We are very happy and elevated to hear all these excellent and beautiful words. Yes, indeed, they are true and they are a reality ‘Today before Our Own Eyes’ because ‘Is born for us a Savior’.
- It is the Day the Lord has made and let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today is not the day the humanity has found or has organized or willed. It is the Day the Lord himself willed, planned, proclaimed and placed before us. We are called to rejoice over this Day. We are called to overwhelm this Day. We are called to leap with joy of this Day. And finally we are called to be glad IN this Day. And today is the Day because ‘Is born for us a Savior’.
- Being glad in it means ‘making the day our own’ and ‘making the Lord’s doing our own’. It means also ‘entering ourselves into the design of God’s salvation’. It means also ‘living and proclaiming the same joy which is given to us’. We are here to ‘listen’ to that Good News. We are here to ‘see’ that Light. We are here to ‘experience’ that Grace on Grace. We are here finally ‘live’ the joy of being part of God’s Day. We are really partaker of his holy will because ‘Is born for us a Savior’.
- Day of Love: Above all today is the ‘Day of Love Incarnated’. Today is the day that has proved that ‘love’ is no more a word, no more a concept, no more a idea or no more a wish. Today is the day that has proved that ‘love’ is a presence, that love is a ‘being with’, love is a ‘giving’ and ‘offering’, that love is a ‘loving action’. We are happy to see this ‘transformation’ of word-love into love-action. Love has become ‘flesh with the flesh and bone with the bone’. It is not four lettered word anymore but ‘it is an event happened, still happening and will happen for ever’ because ‘Is born for us a Savior’.

Festivity of the ‘Sun’: ‘Sol Invictus’

- In the roman empire of that epoch there was a feast of the celebration of the sun. According to the roman culture of the time, during the season of winter the days were short with the long nights. There was more darkness than the light. There was more night than the day. It is only around 25 December that the days of the winter start changing. Little by little there was a more light. Days started to be with the sunlight. The darkness became shortened. In this ‘period of change’ of the winter night into the spring day, there was a feast celebrated in the honor of the sun which comes to illuminate them and to give them the more light. This was the feast of the sun.
- The early church has thought of Jesus Christ who has come to the world as ‘the Light of the World’ and his nativity was in the time of winter. In this context the church has delighted herself to call her ‘Savior’ and ‘Messiah’ Jesus Christ as the ‘Sun’ that has come to visit us and to illuminate us. therefore, merging the prophecy of the OT and the reality of NT into one person: the prophecy is that of Isaiah 9:1, “the people who walked in darkness has seen a great light” and the reality is that of the Benedictus of Zechariah, in Luke 1:78, “by the tender mercy of our God, the dawn (light) from on high will break upon us”. Two verses or two prophecies are realized fully and perfectly in Jesus Christ who manifested himself as the ‘Light of the World’ (John 8:12). Thus the feast of the sun has become the feast of the ‘Rising Sun’, Jesus Christ.
- By the word ‘sol invictus’ means the ‘invincible sun’: the sun which has its light forever and that light which is never extinguished by anything. Jesus Our Savior is the Sun which makes us awake and keeps us alert and enthusiasm and makes us clear about the things of the world just as the natural sun which makes us rise up in the morning and keep us always alert during the day without falling down and which finally helps us to see the things clearly. Let us turn to the Sun which has shown for us because ‘Today the Savior is born for us all’.

Festivity of the Humility

- Decree of registration: the manifestation of the power and authority
o In the gospel of Luke (2:1ff) we see the Emperor Augustus who has made arrangements for the registration of the names in their proper native places. It is an occasion for demonstrating the authority of the emperor. Through this the power of the emperor is recognized. This is the way to measure the ‘power and authority’ of the empire and the emperor. How much of the land is occupied by him? How much of property he has saved? How much of peace he has acquired in the kingdom? How many people are under his rule? All these are the measurements to know the capacity of the emperor. It is for this reason that even Emperor Augustus has made the decree with the want of ‘showing himself’ as a great and powerful emperor.
o Even before this we see King David in the last days of his life doing the same and finally receiving the punishment of God (2 Sam 24:1ff).
o God punished David not just because of the census of Israel and Judah he has ordered but because of the intention behind it. He wanted to prove himself great and he desired to have all the praises and glory, thus, forgetting that it is the Lord who increases the number of his people.
o In both occasions the emperor has strived for their personal glory and wanted to show their power and authority by their orders and decrees. In both occasions they have neglected the True God, the True King and the True Emperor of the entire world and they have not given him proper glory and praise.

- Degree of meekness and humility: the manifestation of God’s reign and God’s glory
o Instead, Jesus Christ has shown another path, a different mode of conquering the crown of glory: it is by the total self-renunciation and by utter giving up of oneself.
o His total offering of himself for the loving will of the Father and for donating a true and eternal life to the humanity have been revealed in his taking the human form: “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself and became obedient to the point of death – death on the cross” (Phil 2:6-7).
o Jesus found this ‘total self-emptying’ as the only way to offer to God, his Father, the glory. He has made himself small; he has made himself servant; he has made himself loser; he has made himself a sacrifice.
o This is the only way to meet God and to be always in his will and way: this the proper message of Christmas: we have to humble ourselves to be partaker of his glory: “who humbles himself will be exalted and who exalts himself will be humbled.”
o If we want to live genuinely the message of Christmas we have to ‘low ourselves’, we have to ‘bend our heads’ before him; his birth was in a such small hut that those who enter to see the baby they have to bend and enter in. This may be small gesture but it has a spiritual meaning: that we have to lessen ourselves, we have to humble ourselves and we have to bend ‘our heads full of pride and arrogance’ if we ‘want’ to enter into the small house - ‘tent amidst us’ – prepared by the one who has born for us and to experience his peace and his salvation.
o Therefore, Christmas is the feast of celebration and living of humility keeping aside/ emptying ourselves of our desire for power, name and fame, authority, greatness. Only then we celebrate a real birth of the Savior for us and in us.

Festivity of contradiction

- Jesus makes himself poor and weak while Augustus had made himself great before the world. Jesus makes himself a ‘giver of life and giver of his total self’ while Augustus had made himself a ‘taker of life for his name and for his glory’. Jesus empties himself of his heavenly glory and humbles himself to become a human like us, while Augustus had filled himself with the immeasurable riches of the world and exalts himself to become an ultimate power and authority of the world.
- One side there is the worldly greatness in the form of the emperor of the earth - Augustus, on the other side there is the heavenly smallness in the form of the emperor of the whole creation – Jesus Christ; one side there is manifestation of power and authority – Augustus, on the other side there is revelation of poverty and humility – Jesus Christ;
- How can we balance this scandalizing difference? Where is the proper meeting point of both of them into one true reality? It is ‘in the birth of Jesus Christ’ – the Christmas;
- In the very message of Angels: ‘To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ (Luke 2:11-12). There are two phrases of truth: the birth of the savior and being lied in a manger; the connecting phrase or the central words are important: ‘this is a sign’.
- The birth of contradiction of Christian life and existence: birth of savior but birth place is contradictory; according to human mind and human wish, savior is a great person, more over he is the Messiah, the Lord, therefore, minimum thought is that ‘his birth has to place in the palace, his birth should be to the parents who are great like king and queen’. This is the authentic sign for the human intellect. BUT ALREADY CONTRADICITON HAS STARTED. Already a different sign is made. The normal human intellectual sign is changed. Everything has become contradictory even to believe what is really happening: Birth of a savior in the stall, to the poor and unknown parents, in the small village of Bethlehem which is not even identified in the world map of those days.
- Therefore, to be joyful in the difficulty, to be patient in the suffering, to be vigilant in the temptations, to be tranquil in the anguish….. the contradicting attitude is already revealed in the mystery of the Savior Born In The Stable.
- Today we feel so much disturbed and depressed in the midst of the sufferings and difficulties but living these moments with the hope and love is already manifested to us before two thousand years by the birth of the Savior in the Stable.
- Therefore, as Jesus himself said, we have to renounce ourselves/empty ourselves and take up the cross/daily difficulties and go behind him with calm and serenity because He himself is walking before us with the biggest and heaviest cradle-cross. Therefore, during this Christmas we have to learn to accept and to live the contradictory life in our confrontations in the world and with the things of the world.

Festivity of Good News that has changed the phase of the world: Good News of Love

- The ever refreshing, ever encouraging and ever cherishing good news is that “the Word is made flesh and came to live amidst us” (John 1:14). This is the news and the only news that has promised to change the world, still continues changing it and will continue to change in its journey into eternity.
- We have many other good news in the world: with the rapid development of the scientific technology humanity is fast growing, with the knowledge and with the industrial empowerments the political and economic standards are rising to the skies, with the awareness of absolute freedom and ultimate liberty the social, cultural and moral values of the humanity are ‘reaching their highest degrees’.
- In spite of all these revolutionary and technological definitions and developments is man going ahead with happiness and joy or is he in the situation of self-closure? A sincere and deep search into this ever trickling question will make us realize the ‘authenticity of the news’ and the ‘efficacy of its proclamation’ whether it is good and useful.
- Man is doing anything and everything to be happy, it seems to be its ultimate goal. And our Christian faith teaches that Man is created to be in joyful relationship with himself, with the other, with the world and with God. He is destined to find his felicity in his being ‘rational and relational’ and more than that in his possibility of being ‘spiritual and supernatural’. This happens when man journeys from his rationality to personality and from his personality to spirituality.
- His rationality is in his ‘becoming mature in mind and thought’, his personality is in his ‘becoming mature in will and relationship with himself and with others’ and finally his spirituality is in his ‘going beyond all the previous stages and entering into his thirst of the heart and the spirit’. It is here that we may find the limitation of all other ‘linguistic, cultural, even philosophical relations’. Man has to go beyond, yet living all of them, to find true happiness and this we Christians call it – the friendship with God and an intimate bond with him.
- And it is ‘to restore’ this broken relationship with God ultimately but passing through our normal and conditional bonds – personal, family, social and political – that Jesus Christ, the Word of God has taken human form: that is what we celebrate now – the Christmas.
- This Good New of God’s Entrance into the World has:
o Changed the story and history of the humanity: according to our faith, it is for this that the whole story has been placed in time and space; whole story of God’s interventions in the life of the people of Israel from Abraham to John the Baptist has taken place – in view of Him and in the preparation for Him, Jesus Christ, who willed to take up our story as his. This story of God has become history in the very person of Jesus Christ. With the coming of the Word into the world everything has a CENTRAL POINT, for which, to which and around which all move and have its being: Jesus Christ – that is the real Christmas we celebrate today.
o Revealed the ‘limitation of human inquiry’ and ‘unlimited and unconditional love of God’: this is the good news that we have received with the birth of the Savior in the Stall.
 It has revealed that the human mind and human inquiry has its limitations; it continues to research and research but at a certain point it finds it ‘blocking wall’ or ‘final station’ to get down and start return journey: the human language is limited in describing all the realities of the world, whether material or spiritual; the human science is limited because it may prolong the life but cannot stop the death; the human authority/political power is limited because though there is the possibility of ‘creating global solidarity’ still it fails because of its human fragility; finally even the human philosophy is limited because it may try to define and defend all that exists but at the end of day, it cannot enter into the integral reality of the creation and its systematic formation and the God who guides it and it accepts the limitedness and helplessness of the human ‘reasons and concepts’.
 This is the last stop of human intellect and will which is not enough for the ‘ultimate bliss or blessedness’. Here there is some truth that comes to the aid of humanity; that helps him break the blocking wall; that enables him to build the bridge to go still ahead; that guides him to journey forward taking the same train which has stopped in the last station; stations are over but not the journey; stations can be always created and prolonged only if there is will and love to go into the search. The truth that leads the humanity into these unknown and darkened mysteries is only the Word of God: Jesus the Light of the World and he assures that when we walk in him we shall not falter but walk straight (John 8:12). The Christmas reveals this truth of love of God who wants man to enter into his intimacy accepting the human limits and taking guidance of love who makes him move forward with total trust and complete confidence.
• Yes, indeed, Jesus reveals to all the peoples the love of God who wills to be in their midst and in their form so that they become partaker of his same love.
• Yes, indeed, Jesus reveals that ‘all the human sciences and technologies’ find their ultimate rapport with God because it is from him that everything has taken its origin and it is to him that they return.
• Recent Christian Theology explores this truth: Pope Benedict XVI puts it beautifully in his encyclical Deus Caritas est, 12: “The real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts—an unprecedented realism.” And another theologian Balthasar explores that the incarnation of Christ has taken place “for the two reasons that cannot be separated. First, in order to restore what has been perverted and seduced from its end. On the other hand, it was not our wickedness that compelled the Son of God to become flesh; rather, it was God’s exceedingly great merciful love” (BALTHASAR, Theo-Logic II: Truth of God, p.234).
 Only IN love and WITH love we can come out of ourselves, empty our heart of all the doubts of faith and difficulties of life, enter with humility and meekness into the ‘stall of Jesus’ and into the ‘sheep of Jesus’ to experience this love that wins everything and leads us to the ‘unbreakable and irremovable’ intimacy with the Lord, for, it is only IN HIM We find our life and our being. This is the truth of Christmas that we have to celebrate.

Summary

- Let us sum up into few points all that what we have said so that we have not the tips but the truths in our hand for the celebration of this Christmas:
- Christmas is the Feast of the Sun which shines forever: Jesus Christ; let us accept this light so that we do not anymore walk in the darkness of fear and falling but walk straight in the way of the Lord.
- Christmas is the Feast of the Humility and littleness: Word made Flesh; let us break all our pride and power in order to enter into the presence of the baby born for us so that the life becomes the testimony of humility and tenderness.
- Christmas is the Feast of Contradiction: Savior in the Stable; let us realize that we have to undergo these contradictory as long as we are in the world just for the reason of being Christians for, as John Paul II has said “we are in the world but not of the world”. Jesus himself had made known to us this reality therefore, let us accept it and move forward with complete hope and self-emptiness.
- Christmas is the Feast of Love: love goes beyond all the human ideas and thoughts and conceptual formulas; true love understands and does everything; it is the only force that makes us ‘confront’ and ‘pass through’ all the human weakness and human relations and finally to enter into the eternal blessedness, that is, Beatific Vision of God; love makes everything possible. Therefore, let us take this powerful weapon of love and win over our selfishness, our envy and our possessive nature so that we can clearly see God’s image in all and thus we may be able to contaminate ourselves first, our community and society next and the whole world finally, with the medicine of love.
- Our celebration of Christmas is meaningful only when Jesus – the knowledge and power of God – the immeasurable love of God – is born in us and only if we are ready to make our life a ‘stable’ for his birth and for his indwelling. “To Him the Glory and To Us the Peace.” Amen.

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT - B

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT: B
(2Sam 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16; Rom 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38)

Theme: We have to become ourselves the ‘home of welcome’ for the Lord

Reflection:

- We are in the last Sunday of Advent and we are moving very rapidly towards the Great Feast of Our Christian Life: Christmas – the Birth of the Savior. As we are thoroughly preparing for this great event God desires that we ourselves become a ‘home’ for Him. This is what we are called to ‘make ready’: the House for the Lord.
- Last week we meditated on the theme that we have to enkindle our life with the joy of the Lord and thus we promised him to be ‘happy’ and ‘joyful’ always. Before, we enter into our reflection today, let us examine ourselves, let us ask ourselves whether we are still happy and joyful, whether we still carry with us the joy of the Lord and whether we are still with the shining light of the Lord or whether we have put off the ‘light of joy’ by being drowned into the ocean of daily difficulties and problems.
- Today, the Church asks us to leave aside all these worries and place them in the hands of the Lord because he is the one who bears all our ‘difficulties’. Instead, the Church exalts us to ‘prepare a home’ for the coming of the Lord. Not any home but a home which is always ready to welcome anyone who wants to enter in.
- As we are approaching the celebration of the coming of Jesus, we have to prepare this home of welcome and allow him enter because ‘He wants to be with us’ and He is Immanuel. The readings of today help us in preparing this ‘home of welcome’ which is nothing but our own heart.

First Reading:

- The kingdom of David will remain firm forever:
o The promise of Nathan to David is the basic text for entire phrase of biblical messianic theology;
o David wanted to build a house for the Lord. It is his desire expressed to the prophet Nathan;
o He puts forward what he thinks; after having a big and great house for himself in the capital of Jerusalem and after seeing that the ‘ark of the Lord’ is still under the roof of the tent, he makes known his will to build a house also for the Lord: “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent” (v.2);
o Even the prophet, in his human thinking, suggests to him to do what he thinks is right: “God, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you” (v.3);
o Here we see the combination of two human minds, the thought of two human intelligence, and the work of two human wills: ‘the desire of David and the advice of Nathan to do the same’; they are not worried about what God’s plan is and what God thinks about it; since their intention is to build a house for God, they thought that it would be fine; that’s why even the prophet, who as a spokesperson has, normally and as a condition, to consult with God before he speaks out a word, did not do what he supposed to do, instead confirms the desire of David and asks him to go forward in doing what he thinks.
o But God’s will and intention is different: “God’s thoughts of far distant than human thoughts and God’s actions are beyond human actions” is the prophecy of Isaiah about God’s powerfulness and almightiness (Is 55:8-9). It is here it is fully expressed: He appeared to Nathan and told him to prophesy differently than what he has already proposed to David as his own word. The verse is very clear about this. Verses 4 and 5: “But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: God and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?” these verses need little explanation to understand the true will of God:
 But: the verse starts with ‘but’ which is placed as the contradicting adjective to all that what has been planned and desired.
 That same night: God’s intervention is immediate and contemporary, though many times people think that He acts slowly. God intervenes certainly when his plans are misunderstood or when something is planned contradictory with regards to his plan. ‘That same night’ is the phrase which also proves that ‘false prophecy’ or ‘false testimony’ or ‘false word’ will not last longer; it will be confronted immediately and at the immediate possibility;
 The word of the Lord came to Nathan: it is the word of the Lord that has to prevail and take predominance. It is the word of the Lord that has to be announced and made known; it was contrary to this word of the Lord that Nathan has spoken and it is not in accordance with this word that the prophet has talked; for this reason, now the word of the Lord himself comes to the prophet to alert him and to make him realize his mistake of pronouncing his own words;
 God and tell my servant David: God acknowledges and accepts David as his servant since it is He himself who has called and made David a king; God once again emphasizes the ‘important position’ of David as his servant and his recognition before him. That’s what He asks the prophet to go and tell to David;
 Thus says the Lord: God confirms his word by saying ‘thus’; with this He keeps the desire of David on one hand and the positive response of Nathan on the other at false side; God throws away the intention of David and the word of Nathan; He reveals to Nathan that they have made ‘thoughts’ against his thoughts and they wanted to act as they wanted; Now God demands Nathan to tell word as His word and it is prophet’s responsibility to say God’s word;
 Are you the one to build a house? : A question through which God admonishes David; a question which leads to many other questions: ‘who has said that you have to build?’, ‘who are you to decide what you have to do for me?’, ‘Are you so much capable and powerful to build a house for me?’; building the house for the ark of the Lord on the part of David is nothing wrong but ultimately it is God who decides what he wants and where he lives; David and Nathan have forgotten this truth; in his prosperous and victorious life David thought that he can do anything and everything for the Lord and he, by doing this, for moment, forgets that it is the Lord himself who has made him successful king;
o God declares his desire and wish reminding David all that He has done to him: that’s what God says in the following prophecy:
 It is He who has called him: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel” (v.8);
 It is He who has guided him: “I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies before you” (v.9);
 It lets David to come down again from his high thoughts of himself and place himself as a humble servant before the will of God, because, he would not have done anything good or he would not have this power and position now without the ‘call’ and ‘guidance’ of the Lord.
o God once again promises to David that it is not he who has to build the house but it is the one whom he will rise up as his descendent who will build a temple for him and it is through him that He would keep the kingdom firm and forever.
- God amidst his people: Immanuel:
o God does not want a building or a temple or a house for him;
o From the beginning He has decided or desired to be with his people and among his people;
o His residence is amidst his people and in their hearts;
o He wanted to be with them than staying in a beautiful edifice or great temple;
o David and Nathan were not able to understand the desire/design of God;
o It is with this purpose of ‘living with his people’ that God has chosen them and safeguarded them till now and will do so forever.
o God wants that we prepare our heart as ‘a home of welcome’ for him.

Second Reading:

- The mystery which was kept in silence for centuries is now revealed:
o The final part of the letter to the Romans is a small yet grand hymn in which the Church, as St. Paul himself, expresses her wonder and amazement in front of the mystery of incarnation and of salvation offered by God to the entire humanity. It is a mystery “proclaimed through the prophetic scriptures”; it is a mystery which was hidden for years together in the will of God; the silent mystery has been now manifested and “revealed” in the person of Jesus Christ;
o The Church now goes back to reflect and “retrospect” the promise of salvation, and enjoys the gift of self-communication of God in time and in history, that is, the presence and efficacy of Christ himself, and re-lives now this mystery of ‘the Birth of her Savior’. It is the key of reflection that the Church puts forward as she celebrates the birth of Jesus in the history and for the salvation of every person;
- Break of silence and beginning of action:
o The silence of the mystery is break open; the word which was always in its proclamation in and through the prophecies of the Old Testament is now become ‘The Word’ made ‘Flesh’; the word which was above the world and through which the whole creation is brought forth is now ‘in’ the world and ‘amidst’ his people (John 1:1-14);
o This Word of God, which was kept in secret is now manifested; God was waiting for the appointed time and preparing His Word to enter into the world; for years He has kept is hidden only because ‘the time has to come’.
o Jesus Christ, the Word of the Father, the Word from the beginning of the world, the Word who was the Cause of all creation, was the silent speech in the mouth of the prophets; was the silent command in the mouth of the kings; was the silent word in the promise; and it is the same silent word which has destroyed its silence and entered into the world and finally, is manifested in the mission of Jesus.
o All the proclamation of this Word/Gospel, in silence as mystery and in time as revelation, has taken place – in history – so that all the people and all the nations will reach God with the same obedience and faith which the Word itself manifested in its Speaker (Christ/Word’s obedience and faith to the Father/God).

Gospel:

- Mary is the virgin-mother chosen by God: the exegetical understanding of the passage of the Gospel:
o Annunciation to Mary is preceded by the ‘annunciation to Zachariah’ (Lk 1:5-25) and the immediate reference is made to Mary about Elizabeth who is ‘in the sixth month’. And it is the starting point for this passage too: ‘in the sixth month’ Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary. After describing the places and situations, Luke presents the ‘the message of an Angel’ and it has a beginning with the ‘greeting’ of angel and the reaction of Mary (vv.28-29) and then there is the development of the message of an angel in two parts (vv. 30-33 and vv.35-37) which are divided by the question of Mary which comes in between (v.34) and the Luke ends this account with the ‘response’ from Mary (v.38).
o An Angel sent by God (v.26): it is God himself who prepares and fulfills his interventions in the history of mankind through his ‘ambassadors’ and here it is angel Gabriel; Nazareth (v.26): is a small village in the province of Jude which is hidden and ignored in the bible and in the story of Israel until now and from now on it will be remembered for ever because, it is from here the ‘novelty’ of the future started and it is from here the annunciation of ‘good news’ began and Nazareth is the first village from which the word of God will begin to enter into the new and unknown places too.
o Virgin (v.27): Angel Gabriel after meeting the old man and a married priest, Zachariah, now comes to meet a young virgin Mary in her house; nothing more is spoken of Mary except “promised bride” of a man from the house of David, called Joseph: this tells us some changes and some innovations that would take place soon: Joseph who comes from Nazareth, a small and insignificant village, brings us to the truth that the real house of David is in destruction (Amos 9:11 and Acts 15:16-17) and it will be reconstructed from ‘nothing’ (Lk 2:10-12) and it would be realized through the gratuitous grace of God (Is 11:10) and this is what Gabriel has come to announce as we see in the following verses.
o Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you (v.28): literally it means ‘rejoice!’ it is a Greek form of greeting and it is a greeting of joy. It reminds us to be joyful of the ‘good news’ of the divine oracles (Wisdom 3:14; Zach 9:9); ‘full of grace’ or ‘favored one’: it manifests God’s gratuitous love towards his people and it is with this privilege that God has endowed Mary. It only shows the ‘condition’ in which Mary is found; Mary is found in the grace of God and in the favor of God; in this way Mary becomes the personification of the whole people of Israel (till then) and the Church (from then on). That is the reason why the early Church has recognized Mary as the ‘icon’ and the ‘image’ of God’s grace. The Lord be with you: it is the expression found very often in the bible and in the moments of the vocations: Moses (Ex 3:12), Gideon (Judges 6:12), and Jeremiah (Jer 1:8). In Mary this formula has reached its peak and its fullness because ‘the son’ who will be born of her will be called ‘Immanuel’ which means, ‘God with us’ (Is 7:14; Math 1:22-23).
o Perplexed (v.29): Mary is perplexed like that of Zachariah (v.12). it is not because of the presence of an angel but because of the word of the angel that Mary is disturbed: She is not able to understand what sense that this kind of greetings brings to her.
o Do not be afraid (v.30): In front of the divine manifestations Mary, like that of all the figures of Old Testament (Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, Daniel and Zachariah too in Luke 1:13), feels a religious fear. In this context, and each time of this sort, the messenger brings the assurance of God: ‘the Lord is with you’ and this is the formula also found in the many oracles of salvation (Is 41:10).
o You will have a son (v.31): having a son is good news to any mother; God acts with Mary as he has acted with the mother of Isaac (Gen 18) or with the mother of Samson (Judges 13). Mary has understood that this announcement is the realization of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. You will name him Jesus: the name of Jesus is also provided before as that of name of John to Zachariah. Jesus is the name which brings the hope and that is the reason why it signifies: “the Lord saves’, but this would be revealed only later in 2:11.
o Son of the Most High (v.32): not only the name of Jesus but this ‘boy’ will have another name, that is, ‘the son of the Most High’. With this the true identity of the baby is revealed. The throne of David which God will give him will be realized when ‘he will be recognized by the people’ as the son of David (18:39 – the blind men see in Jesus the son of David);
o Will reign (v.33); God fulfills all that He has promised to David (2 Sam 7). He brings to the end the story of his people and gives them new initiation with this Jesus, son of David.
o How? I do not know man (v.34): Mary does not object what has been said to her by angel; she only asks for the clarification of the mode in which this annunciation would be realized; “I am a virgin or I do not know man”: with these words Mary only states her situation and her condition which is not the ‘ripe time’ for the conception of a baby; here, the Church has found the virginal conception of Jesus: Mary is sinless and stainless in her giving birth to Jesus; here, the Church found the divine origin of the baby and as the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
o Holy Spirit (v.35): This is the first and decisive intervention of the grand actor of the opera of salvation, in Acts and in Luke: the reference of the Holy Spirit. Even before being revealed in the Baptism of Jesus in Jordan, Holy Spirit acts in Mary to make Messiah to be born of her. “Shadow of the Holy Spirit” (v.35): the same Greek word of ‘shadow’ is used also during the Transfiguration of Jesus (Lk 9:34). It leads us back to the experience of the desert in which there was a ‘shining cloud’ which was guiding the people and with its shadow covering the tent that Moses had made in the camp (Ex 40:34-35). The tent was the house of God in the midst of his people. here, by bringing this expression, Luke presents Mary as the ‘virgin-woman’ who become the house for God: in this way the prophecy of Nathan would be fulfilled (2 Sam 7). But there is also something else that takes place: God edifies the new and true house of David in the person of Mary (not in the person of his son Solomon); because it is from her that God makes his true and only son born. This is the reason why God makes her full of grace and gives her to his son as his home. ‘Son of God’ (v.35): the boy will be called the son of God: it was same as the ‘son of the Most High’ of v.32; more than the meaning of the words, the actual difference is emphasized on the ‘virginity of Mary’ and the ‘action of the Holy Spirit’ and these two aspects make the baby ‘son of God’ and this would be later on confirmed in the voice of the Father (3:22) and in the Transfiguration (9:35) and will be found again in the prayers of Jesus (10:21-22), in the agony (22:42) and on the cross (23:46).
o Elizabeth (v.36): a sign of faith is provided to Mary; God in his many of interventions gives the signs so that ‘the faith will be aroused’ for the acceptance of his word and will; this is only the thought of Luke and it would be found often in his writings (2:15) and in Acts (8:15-17).
o Nothing is impossible to God (v.37): this expression has its origin in the event of God’s interaction with Abraham and Sarah (Gen 18:14) and it provokes them to believe in the Lord’s providence; the same faith was demanded in all the stages of the history of salvation.
o I am the servant of the Lord (v.38): this title of servant: a) express the humility and the availability of Mary in the confrontation with God’s will; b) express also her heart and her desire to collaborate with the action of God; in the bible, the great personalities are called the servants of God; Mary serves embracing the Word; serves also reaching out to her relative Elizabeth. “According to you word” (v.38): this word of Angel contains the entire Gospel. By accepting this word of an angel by her ‘great Yes’ she becomes the first disciple of the Gospel.
- Mary responds ‘with her Amen’ to the choice made by God:
o We may have to go in the reverse gear to understand this; the entire passage of Gospel has its meaning and fulfillment only in the last verse in which Mary says: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (v.38); if this positive response were not to be there we could not imagine the whole context and whole text at all;
o Not only that God has made her say ‘yes’ by making her full of grace and giving her all the privileges; it is also that Mary has prepared herself to that level of ‘being available’ for the great event of salvation;
o With her hope and with her prayers she was also waiting for the Messiah and for the kingdom of God; finally when it has come and it has asked her, her consent, for its fulfillment, Mary who was always ready and awaiting, has realized that it is through her that God has willed ‘for the great event’ of salvation and this is what made her say ‘Yes’ to the Word of the Lord;
o Only this type of expectation of the salvation and restoration of life made her to be always at the disposition for the will of God, although there are many other troubles and humiliations await her on the other hand.
o She is ‘so courageous’ to accept the will of God and make her ‘womb’ a home for the Lord: it is because she is always prepared for any kind of intervention of God.
o God wanted the ‘human consent’ for his coming and for his entrance into the world; human consent with full freedom and with perfect personal decision; this is what God expected or asked of Mary and Mary too, who is always ready to accept everything in silence and in faith, has given her ‘total and free consent’ for the action of God in and through her;
o In other words: She has always her heart and her life as a ‘home prepared’ for the Lord; it was the home that was always pure and virgin; and God searches this kind of ‘house’ for himself and once he finds it prepares the person with his grace towards the acceptance of his will;
o We cannot imagine the salvation without ‘Yes’ of Mary; it is not that God could not have done or chosen other ways but in his freedom and in his love, He has chosen to be born of a Virgin and this Virgin, knowing well His intentions with the grace already working in her, accepts to ‘bring forth’ the savior of the humanity.

Conclusion:

- The Annunciation reveals two things for us:
o It is the ‘loving act’ of the Trinity: it is the first instance in which the Trinity is revealed and Mary becomes already the ‘bearer’ of the love of the Trinity: it is the Father’s Plan, it is the Son who is to be born of her and it is the Spirit who makes her give birth both to the design of God and the savior of the world;
o The entire salvation history has its final ‘stage’ in the annunciation: it comprises the whole promise made through the prophets and the whole preparation made by the people and it is totally ‘realized’ in the dialogue and acceptance of Mary; Jesus is to be the ‘heir of David’: it is with David that God has established and stabilized his kingdom although there was king Saul before him; Jesus will be the eternal king who comes from the throne of David; Jesus is from the house of Jacob: it is with Jacob that God has stabilized his people, calling him Israel, although the actual beginning was in Abraham; by bringing these two references – David and Jacob – the annunciation connects all the salvation history which will have its final realization in Jesus and through Mary.
- God has willed to take human help:
o Not that God needs men for his actions; St. Augustine says that ‘God, who has created you without you, cannot save you without you’.
o God wills and asks the human cooperation in his work of salvation: we are the human hand for God’s will.
o Mary has accepted to be ‘the human collaboration’ to bring the will of God into an action; Mary has extended her help in time and in worthiness.
- Let us prepare a house for the Lord:
o God wants to live among us; God will to be with us; God searches a house amidst us;
o May be for this Christmas He wants to be with you and with me: therefore, as we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord, let prepare our heart as a house for his indwelling and the human heart is the ‘home’ that God likes most to live in.
- We have to become ourselves the ‘home of welcome’ for the Lord: not any other cribs, nor any other preparations that God needs; he needs only ‘YOU’ and he needs ‘Your HEART’ and it should be the ‘HOME’ we have to prepare for the Lord for this year and let us conclude this reflection by asking ourselves: ‘Am I ready to become a home for the Lord?’

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - YEAR B

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR B
(Is 61:1-2, 10-11; 1Thess 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28)

Theme: Let us light up our life with the joy of the Lord

Reflection:

- The Sunday of the ‘Gaudete’: the Sunday of Joy: We have entered into the Third Sunday of Advent and as we have already indicated it is proposed by the Church as the Sunday of Joy. It is apt that in the middle of the celebration of Advent we have again one Sunday in which we accelerate our preparation with the joy of ‘nearing’ the great feast of the Nativity of the Lord. We have just finished two weeks of ‘distant’ preparation in which we have mediated the ‘second coming’ of the Lord at the end of times. We have to just initiate our entrance into the ‘immediate’ preparation of the celebration of the ‘first coming’ of the Lord in time and in history for the salvation of mankind. Now we are exactly in the middle of the preparations – that is between the reflections of the two comings of Jesus. That’s why we are joyful on the one hand for completing fruitfully the first part of the Advent and on the other hand to restart with the same spirit of joy the second part of the Advent which will reach us to the core of the preparations – the final celebration of the Birth of the Lord in the world.
- Let us remind ourselves of the two previous themes: ‘Let us promise to the Lord that we do not ever go away from his house’ was our meditation for the first Sunday and ‘We await and hurry up for the day of the Lord preparing our hearts for him’ was the reflection of the second Sunday. With the force of these two themes we shall reflect on the theme that we are called ‘to enkindle our life with the joy of the Lord’. Accordingly we have two action-words for our reflection today: the light and the joy; these are the two words that dominate today’s readings.
- Light and Joy: are the two things we always want to have in our life and accept and admit that they are same things that we always miss. We are full of want of them and we feel full of emptiness every time with the lack of them. Let us ask ourselves to gear up our journey of reflection: ‘Are we joyful and illuminate?’ if we are able to answer this question sincerely our Sunday celebrations are fruitful and we will have spirit-filled outcome of our life. It is not so difficult to find out whether we are happy or not and whether we are delighted or not.
- Let us just stand in front of the mirror and see ourselves: the joy and delight are imprinted on our faces and if we see our faces and how they look like will indicate whether we are ‘happy’ and ‘delighted’. Our face is the indicator of our heart and our feelings. Whatever takes place inside of us will be pumped out from the face and from the eyes. We are not taking about the shape or the color of the face but – the expression of the face. What we are is manifested on how we are. What is in the mind is revealed on how we speak. What is in the heart is known on the eyes. And finally, what we feel inside is known on our face. Therefore, let us examine ourselves whether we are happy and delighted at this moment as we listen now this word of God.
- Both ‘Joy and delight’ are interiorly connected: we are joyful when we are delighted (enkindled with light) and we are delightful (our faces will be shining and our heart will be rejoicing) we are joyful. Let us start how these two words are presented to us today in the readings and what they mean for us as we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.

First Reading:

- Prophet is the one who is sent:
o In the biblical world the prophet is one who is elected and sent for a cause in the particular context and with the particular content;
o Who is sent is not the one who sends. He only acts and talks on behalf of the one who sends him. he cannot pretend to be the actual one who is the cause of his coming;
o Who is sent is a ‘herald’ of the design of the one who sends; he has nothing to in his life or he has no meaning for his call if he does not speak out what is asked of him;
- Prophet Isaiah is the one who is sent:
o Like any prophet of the Old Testament, today we have Isaiah the prophet sent to speak what the Lord is going to do in the particular context and particular content:
o Particular context here is that the people of Israel who the Lord has chosen for himself are now under the rule of Persians; the Babylonian slavery is over and the command is taken by the Persians who made them again slaves; they have again cried out to their God to be their savior and to rescue them from this situation and release them out. The Lord who has listened to their cries of anguish and pain has come in their aid and in this context the Lord is sending his prophet to the people.
o Particular content here is that the proclamation of the liberation, and the joy with which the Lord will fill the depressed hearts of his people and the dignity of life they would enjoy in near future. About the alliance which the Lord is going to renew with them by taking them back to himself as the bridegroom takes to himself the bride; therefore, about the joy of the matrimonial union between the Lord and his people.
- The life of the ‘Sent’: in this context and the content of the message of the prophet his whole life is integrated and it is the message not only to be announced but to be lived first; therefore, the life of the one who is sent is the life lived in the Lord (therefore, personal life) and for the Lord (therefore, life for the mission yet to be completed). Here, in today’s context of Isaiah’s prophecy we can see both his personal life and his mission are interlinked: He himself is called to be first of all
o Live with joy (vv.10-11): in these verses we see the joy of the prophet in his life and that joy which comes from the Lord: “I rejoice totally in the Lord and my soul exalts in my God”. This is being joyful personally and living with the joy of the Lord. It is not the joy of his merits or his wonderful doings or his capacities or talents but he knows it that it is the Joy of the Lord; and he also gives the reason for his joy: because the Lord has
 Clothed him with the garments of salvation,
 Given him the cloak of justice, and
 Decorated him with the adornments of the wedding.
o To announce Joy (vv.1-2): the joy that is experiences within and lived is always expressed and proclaimed; here too, the prophet who is joyful is also goes out to proclaim the same Joy designed by God for his people; therefore, the prophet becomes the joyful messenger of the joyful message. He is pronouncing with joy what God has asked him announce as the ‘bringer of joyful news’:
 The good news for the poor and oppressed,
 The healing to the broken hearted,
 The liberty to the slaves and captives,
 The freedom to the prisoners; and in a word
 To proclaim the ‘year of the Lord’ – the joy of the Lord.

Second Reading:

- Paul: the messenger of Joy:
o Once touched, healed and called by Jesus on his way to Damascus, Paul has found the real joy and joy of being a Christian and joy of being a persecuted Apostle for the Christ whom he was persecuting.
o Joy of Paul is quite different from the joy of other disciples or apostles:
 other Apostles have been with Jesus, have seen him doing wonders and miracles and finally have seen him suffered-died-and resurrected and so they were full of the joy of the resurrection;
 Paul’s context and content is different; He was to defend his faith and he had to eliminate all the elements that disturb the law of the Jews including the name of Jesus Christ and the life of his followers; he was not ignorant but he was doing what he was sent to do; that was his joy to defend and safeguard the Law and Prophecy; when his authority told him that the newly come-up Christians are proclaiming Jesus and thus disrespecting their law, he thought that it was his right and his ‘joy’ to restore their faith by putting to death all these followers of Christ; only on the way to Damascus, with the intervention and interaction of Jesus, he has discovered the true joy and the joy that is really joyful;
o Man and Messenger of Joy:
 He has become a ‘man’ of joy from then on. Once he has known that the real joy was found in the person of Jesus and he has been transformed into a man of Joy; he was not afraid to live the joy that he has found in his encounter with Jesus; he lived in even in his sufferings; even the sufferings have become for him ‘the moments of experience of Joy’ in and for Christ;
 He has become also a ‘messenger’ of joy and we can find this admonition of joyful life in Christ very often in his epistles. Especially even when he was in the prison he writes to the Philippians to be joyful because we are the people of joy of Christ who died and rose again. He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (4:4) and even today’s passage from the Thessalonians demonstrate the life in the community with the joy of the Lord and he says, “Rejoice always” (v.16). in this way he has preached also ‘the joy without limits’ that can be found by accepting and living for Christ;

- Community of Joy: in the Spirit and with the prophecy of Joy:
 The Spirit is the source of joy: St. Paul tells his community not to leave the Spirit, “Do not quench the Spirit” (v.19); quenching the spirit is almost equal to ceasing to be joyful; The Spirit is the one who generates the joy in the person; It is the same with Jesus: when Jesus was filled with the Spirit he has joyfully praised his Father (Mt 11:25);
 The prophecy is all about the future joy in the Messiah: the promise of God through the prophets and the very words of the prophets is that ‘God will bring all the dispersed people into one family of joy’ and joy that would come from the salvific event in Christ. It is because of this St. Paul asks his community not to “despise the words of the prophets” (v.20). Rejecting the words of the prophets is almost equal to the neglecting and ignoring the call to be joyful.

Gospel Reading:

- Textual and contextual interpretation of the gospel passage: the testimony to the light
o Today’s gospel passage is in two parts:
 The first part is vv.6-8: John ‘sent’ by God to testify the light;
 The second part is vv.19-28: John ‘sent’ to be the voice to the Word;
o John the Baptist is the ‘man’ sent by God (v.6): this is placed in contrast to the Word that was with God and which was God; it is about the man who has his duty in a certain determined time. The recalling of John the Baptist is to make it known the whole content of the prologue, the time between the prophecy and actuality, and finally to present Jesus as the Word incarnate.
o To give testimony (v.7): the greatness of John is to be the testimony; his mission is above all is to be subordinated to that of Christ. The testimony is one of the main keys of the fourth gospel and it is in its totality ‘the testimony to Jesus’ (John 19:35; 21:24).
o He was not the light (v.8): when this gospel was written the community of John the evangelist thought of John the Baptist to be the messiah (Acts 19:2-8), (John 1:20, 27, 30, 34).
o Now we enter into the second part of the gospel passage: actually the testimony of the Baptist has taken place in two days: one, the explanation of his proper mission (1:20-28) and two, the testimony rendered to Jesus (1:29-34).
o Testimony (v.19): John is the testimony of the light (1:6-8) and now he himself gives testimony and keeps his personality in humbleness to the greatness of Jesus. Jews are nominated first time here as the depositors of the authentic tradition and from here they continue to appear every time when Jesus teach or perform some miracles and it will go on until they put him to death. Levites are the priests that are responsible to offer sacrifices and to safeguard the doctrine.
o “Who are you?” is the question that is found and repeated three times here. Though they question here to find out he is, it is not to believe and accept him but only accuse him if the fault is found with him. It happened also with Jesus a times.
o The confession of John the Baptist (v.20-21): he confesses that ‘he is not’:
 He is not the Messiah because messiah was expected to come as the descendent of David, the heir of his kingdom, announced by the prophets.
 He is not the Elijah because Elijah did not die but is taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). Diverse traditions talked about his return as the annunciation of the day of the Lord, the day of judgment of the people and the foundation of the kingdom of God (Malachi 3:23-24; Sir 48:10, 11).
 He is not a prophet: they were already waiting for a prophet like Moses as was pronounced (Deut 18:15);
 In all the three instances he confesses that he is not the one they thought of him to be: he is not Messiah, Elijah and a Prophet.
o The self-identification and his mission: the voice (v.23): the text of Is 40:3 is utilized by all the evangelists and it is to define the role of the Predecessor. Only John put it in the citation on the lips of John the Baptist; he becomes the manifestation his humility (1:27). He becomes a testimony, a cry who announces someone else.
o In this way, John the Baptist manifests his identity as the testimony to the light and voice to the Word.
- John is ‘Sent’ as a prophet: his life as that of prophet Isaiah the integration both of his person and mission:
o As a person, John the Baptist, is always connected to Jesus and his mission and that’s why:
 His person is more than a prophet,
 His mission is less than Jesus because it is only a pointer that points to Jesus.
o As a life, John the Baptist, is always to liked to Jesus because he is a testimony:
 A testimony is the friend of the one whom he testifies
 A testimony that gives voice to the Word and keeps the Light on the lamp-stand.

Conclusion:

- We are called to be ‘the sent ones’:
o Though we born in the world as humans, we are ‘sent’ out into the world as Christians;
o Therefore, our human life as born in the world and our Christian life as sent out in faith are to be integrated in the same person;
o That means, our personality (what we are) and our mission (what we do) are to be combined and they are internally connected with the spirit of Christian call and vocation (because we are sent).
- We are called to live and share the joy (the first reading):
o We are called to ‘live’ in our day to day life the joy that we have received through entering into faith in Jesus and thus lead a personal life giving him praise and glory;
o We are called also to ‘proclaim’ both by our words and actions the same joy we live; because joy is contagious it cannot be contained in a small box and is hidden; it has to be shared; the nature of joy is to be joyful and make others through it joyful.
o As we prepared for the joyful event of Christmas – let us try be joyful and happy within ourselves first; and then let us spread this joy like a disease to all around us.
- Let us depart from the view of one phrase of interest for us today: “In the midst of you there is one whom you do not know” (v.26): Jesus is amidst us; his gospel is amidst us; his word and his liturgy is amidst us; his service is amidst us; his church is amidst us; but very often, as John the Baptist notices, we do not give attention to us and pretend to be not knowing; it is like a gift in the dust bin; we are given the gift of joy and gift of light and if we do not attend them and if we do not accept them they are like a wastage that is thrown into the garbage; let us recognize the presence of Jesus as the source of our joy and our delightfulness of life.
- Let us be the men and messengers of Joy and make our community an instrument of joyful singing (second reading) and for this we remind ourselves once again our theme of today: Let us light up our life with the joy of the Lord.

MARY: FULL OF GRACE

DECEMBER – 8

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY
(Gen 3:9-15, 20; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Luke 1:26-38)

Theme: We Shall Recognize and Preserve the Grace We Have Found With God

Reflection:

- Celebration of the ‘Day of Grace’:
o Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It is the festivity through which we enter into the reality of grace that is donated by God. Thus, we have every reason to thank and praise God for his marvelous doing for having called us into this ‘mystery and ministry’ of grace.
o We enter into the mystery of grace because it is God himself who has destined us to this status of grace in his ‘Word-Jesus’ even before the creation of the world and therefore, the original state of our life is ‘holy and immaculate’ as reminds us St. Paul in the second reading of today; into this mystery of grace that Mary is brought prior to us – as a woman who is full of grace – by her total commitment to God’s salvific design.
o We enter into the ministry of grace because it is same God who has called us to preserve and live this life of grace so that we become one with him since we partake in his work of salvation through our personal and charitable life; again into this ministry of grace that Mary has entered prior to us – as the woman who has found grace with God – by her great and challenging ‘yes’ for the redemption of the world.
o Let us, therefore, thank God for calling us into this life of grace and at the same time let us promise him that we, in spite of the difficulties, insults and attractions of the worldly pleasures surround and block us continuously, live life of grace with joy and commitment for His glory and for the well-being of the humanity, in other words, for His Love and for the Love of our Neighbors.
- Advent is the suitable time for the celebration of this feast liturgically?
o If the time of Advent is a time of waiting with preparing the way for the coming of the Lord: by leveling all ups and downs of life – that is, the moments of pride, arrogance and astray on one side as the mountains; and the moments of self-degrading, helplessness and negligence on the other side as the valleys – with the total surrendering of ourselves to Him,
o If the time of Advent is a time of preparing a home – or symbolically a crib – for one guest who is important and lovable and thus we prepare our hearts and lives for his coming into us,
o Then, the celebration of the feast of Immaculate Conception is apt both liturgically and theologically in the time of advent: Mary is a Holy Temple, Pure Home that the Lord himself prepared for the birth of His Son and for His Coming into the world. Thus, Mary has not only prepared her life by prayer and by waiting for the kingdom of God, but when it has come, or when it is time for its coming, she herself accepted willingly to bring it into light.
o As we celebrate this feast this is another aspect we have to keep in mind that, first we have to await for the coming of the Lord, with the prayer – “Let Thy Kingdom Come”, and second when it is the time for its entrance we have to be in front to give a space for its realization through our willingness to carry it in us, again with the prayer and mission – “Let Thy Will Be Done” and that is what Mary said at the end of the discourse with God’s messenger and angel Gabriel: I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it done to me according to your word. This is the moment of the combination of both: the prayer and the mission, mystery and ministry of the grace – in and through Mary, who is as Virgin a mystery and as a Mother a ministry.

First Reading: The First Annunciation of the Redemption through the New Eve – Mary

- While reading the first reading of today, a passage from the first book of the Bible and in the beginning chapters itself we find: both effects of first sin and the promise of redemption:
o The disobedience of humanity who supposed to enjoy the whole creation with the friendship with his Creator;
o Thus fall of the man from the ‘dignity of being created in His image and likeness’ and thus loss of ‘the figure and the beautify’ of God in the life of man;
o The effects of the first sin of man:
 To the man to work hard and sweat for the daily earning: this is in contrast to the freedom of eating whatever he wants in the heavenly garden prepared for him;
 To the woman to find difficulties in bringing forth the children and being kept under the domination of the man: this is in contrast to the creative hand of God who can generate anything/anyone from the mud and from the rib and later John the Baptist says that God can make the children come out from the stones (John 3:8) since nothing is impossible to Him (Lk 1:37);
 To the serpent to scroll on the belly and eat mud and being cursed among all the creatures: this is in contrast to the ‘beauty’ and ‘blessedness’ of whole creation by God who saw all that he created to be ‘very good’ (Gn 1:31).
o At the same time we see also: the promise of redemption through the new woman:
 God has promised that the new woman will come with the fullness of Grace: this is in contrast to the status of ‘disgrace’ brought by the first woman;
 God has promised that the offspring – son – of this new woman will strike the head of the serpent: this is in contrast to the first Adam whose head is full of pride and arrogance and the new man will come with the head full of obedience and love for God and his will;
 God has promised that this son will strike the heel of the serpent which signify that he would keep it under his feet – this is in contrast to the false power of evil which tries to be always in the skies instead of being grounded;
- We already find also the would-be mission of the new eve – Mary in the first reading:
o The first eve has led Adam into disobedience and false position but the new eve – Mary, would lead the New Adam – Jesus into the obedience and to the true position as the Son of God;
o The first eve has led Adam to eat the fruit that God has abandoned to eat and thus led him to curse and to death but the new eve – Mary, would lead the new Adam – the whole humanity to the tree of life, the cross and thus lead them to the blessing and to the immortality;

Second Reading: We are called to be holy and immaculate

- The status of grace is already predestined to us by God in His immense love in Christ and in Jesus God has glorified us because of his will is that we are always with him;
- From our part, we have to only accept this call and we have already accepted it through the faith in Him and we have been made holy and immaculate when we are called by name in the Baptism;
- And we have to remember and recall to our minds our status of life of grace and live so accordingly that we do not disfigure ourselves by disobedience and pride as once has done the first Adam and as we often tend to do;
- The feast of Immaculate Conception of Mary calls us back to this reality of grace and helps us to live it by the testimony of our words and our works.

Gospel: We are found in Grace before God

- Model for the dialogue between God and man:
o We must have read this Gospel number of times and we know that it is only about the announcement of the Birth of Jesus to Mary by Angel Gabriel and we are quite right;
o But there is another aspect we have to learn from it: it becomes a model for the dialogue between God and us:
 The dialogue starts with the proposal of God’s redemptive will
 There are questions posed and answers given
 And it ends with the acceptance of the proposal in freedom and in love
 The origin and the destiny of the dialogue between God and Mary was of this type and the purpose of the dialogue should reach and should make us to accept what God proposes to us;
o In reality what we do every Sunday or every time we come to the church of mass is this type of dialogue only and we have to realize this and be ready to say ‘yes’ to his plan of love.
- Two important moments: the being and the doing of Mary
o The moment of the nature of Mary: being filled with the Spirit and being in the state of grace: “Do not be afraid Mary, you have found grace before the eyes of God” (Lk 1:30);
o The moment of the action of Mary: being immersed in the project of God for the humanity accepts to ‘do’ what is asked of her: “Here I am, the handmaid of the Lord, let it happen to me according to your word”.
o In these two moments: the life and the vocation of Mary is combined and one is interlinked with the other and one completes and perfects the other.
o We too should not separate our life from our Christian vocation; we may have many have number of other things to do but ‘our state of grace’ makes us to keep in mind our responsibility towards our vocation and mission as the followers of Christ.

Conclusion

- While being happy for celebrating this feast of Our Mother Mary – we will also be happy because we are also called to be in the status of ‘holiness’ and ‘sanctity’;
- While being content of the ‘status of grace’ – we will also remember that this status is not a simple gift of God but it demands our missionary task;
- The mystery and ministry of grace, thus, should be combined in our life and in our daily actions; and finally,
- In a word, and to recall our theme, We Shall Recognize and Preserve the Grace We Have Found With God.
- MARY IMMACULATE – PRAY FOR US

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT - YEAR B

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR B
(Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 84:9-14; 2Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8)

Theme: we await and hurry up for the day of the Lord preparing our hearts for him

Reflection:

- Last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, we have reflected on the theme “Let us promise to the Lord that we do not go astray from his house” and thus we have decided to be ‘awake’ and ‘ready’ for his return and thus safeguarding and protecting ‘with the responsibility and love’ the house and the property that he has entrusted us with.
- In this week, the second Sunday of Advent, let us reflect, with the eagerness of nearing the celebration of the coming of the Lord, on the theme that ‘we await’ and ‘hurry up’ for his coming preparing our hearts for him as his shelter and tent.
- In this way we continue from where we have started last week: we have started from ‘being awake and ready’ and let us go ahead enlarging the theme that we are ‘not only awake’ but, more than anything, we are ‘to hurry up’ to meet him. therefore, the time of waiting is getting to the end and our readiness in mind and in thought has to be put into action by getting up and walk ahead – this is the meaning of being hurry up – in order to embrace his coming and be with him.
- Last week we had one personage for our reflection: the prophet Isaiah who was the prophet of hope and salvation: he reminds and proclaims to the desperate and dispersed people of Israel in Babylonian captivity that ‘the God in whom they believed and promised to practice his laws, is above all a Father to them’ and as a Father gives everything and guides to the good pastures to his children, He too will provide them his ways of mercy and justice and do everything for those who confides in him.
- This week we have another personage for our walk and encouragement: John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Promise who is the prophet of ‘preparing and showing’ the way of the Lord/His coming to meet his people. Let us observe and meditate on this personality so that ‘taking his example’ we can also hurry up to prepared ourselves to receive the Lord.

First Reading:

- The story of Israel is a ‘preparation’ for the day of the Lord:
o Isaiah as we have already seen in the last week is a prophet of good news of life and joy for the people who were desperately in need of God’s hand and help. This is the theme of today’s first reading in which the prophet calls for the ‘advent of salvation’ in the life of his people.
o ‘Be consoled’ is the voice of the prophet (v.1) and he reminds them that Now is the time for the consolation and salvation because ‘the expiation is terminated and the gift of liberation is initiated’ (v.2): no more slavery, no more tears, no more fears; now there is only one thing ahead: ‘returning to the Jerusalem with the joy’ (v.9) and therefore, it is a way of victory they have to pave from now on.
o ‘Return’ to the mother land on the part of Israel is not their own merit or their victorious deed but it is the Lord who willed it and made it happen before their eyes and in this way ‘the glory of the Lord is revealed’ and every human being sees it. So it is an act ‘in the story’ of Israel which has been extended to all the humanity and even cosmos because God is ‘not only God of power’ but ‘a Shepherd’ who gathers and lead all who are away from him carrying them on his shoulder and chest – “as a pastor he feeds the sheep and with his hand he gathers them; on his chest he carries the small sheep and lead the mother sheep slowly” (v. 11).
o The chapter of the sinfulness and its consequence is closed: “the slavery is finished; the iniquity is paid off, because it has received from the Lord the double punishment for her sins” (v.2).
o Now God comes along with them ‘as the shepherd’ to be with them and thus becomes ‘Immanuel’ – God with the Zion. But when He comes his way should be prepared and it is the joyful announcement of the prophet: a voice cries out: “in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain” (vv.3-4). So there is a need to make a way – holy and clean.
o The prophet is the one who is place on the top of the mountain (v.9) and from there he has to announce his good news and ‘his gospel is to reach and touch his people so that they will prepare themselves for the Lord that is coming.
- The way is the constant renovation of life and renewal of attitude:
o On one part, they have to listen to the voice and the word of the prophet who calls them to prepare themselves to receive the Lord; they are to return from the slavery of the Babylon to the liberation of Jerusalem in the day already appointed and announced; and therefore, it is their responsibility to be ready and hurry up in their walk.
o On the other part they have to prepared their hearts and life by ‘making straight their crooked ways of indifference towards their Lord’, ‘by lifting up their infidelity into faithfulness to their Savior’, ‘by making low every mountain of their pride and arrogance to the humility and docility to their Shepherd’, ‘by making every even and rough ground of their rebellious behavior into the plain ground of total commitment to their Father’ and thus they have to constantly renew themselves so that they become worthy of meeting their Lord, Savior, Shepherd and Father.
o They have to realize the origin and destiny of their life and return to be always with the Lord who makes them his own: therefore, their history is the preparation for the day of the Lord and their journey is the walk towards meeting of their savior and finally their life is to embrace the salvation prepared and offered to them by their Lord still awaiting and hurrying up to the joyful and gracious day announced.

Second Reading:

- God is great in patience with us:
o The second letter of Peter is written very lately and most probably the last writing of the New Testament and Peter calls for our attention towards the final and definitive intervention of God and he uses the same terminology of the prophet: ‘the day of the Lord’ which is the resolute event of the human history with which God will establish his reign of justice and peace in the renewed mode. The new heavens and the new earth which are to be manifested are the final events to which we have to wait with the purification and transformation of our life into that of God’s and time of awaiting – season of advent – is like a painful delivery which gives a place for the birth of the new creature. We are on a journey towards being born again as the new creature of God.
o Peter recalls the grandness of God in waiting patiently for the return of his people walked away from him; as he says many people may think that God is not acting immediately or that He is not sending his punishment instantly for the wrong committed; it is our human thought and our human want that make judgment on the ‘action of the Lord’; humans are impatient and intolerable and they want to take an immediate revenge; and as human we want to ‘frame’ up God into our images; how shameful idea and cheap mentality that we have of God and towards God; our God, from the beginning of the history of mankind, is very much patience and understanding and more than anything He is faithful to his word and to his promise; we see this in the story of the Old Testament People: how often they have manifested their infidelity and God instead has gone out to meet them and to bring them back to himself showing his mercy and forgiveness?
o Patience of God should not be mistaken nor neglected or overlooked; He is patient with us bearing all our ‘continuous wrong doings’ just because He is Our God and He does not want that we perish in our sins and bring on to ourselves a severe judgment; His will is that all of us share in his life and participate in his glory.
- We are to everything to be found in peace without fault and spot:
o Preparation with the Christian attitude: As we are preparing for the coming of the day of the Lord we have to do everything that is demanded of us: our firm faith in the Lord, our unwavering hope in his promises and our testimony of charity transformed into the deeds of mercy and love to the needy;
o Preparation with the Christian action: we are the people on the move; people on the journey; therefore, we should keep awake and eagerly step out towards the meeting of the Lord; our journey should be ‘FROM US TO HIM’ and at the end all of us ARE ONE WITH HIM AND IN HIM.
o In this way we are called in this season of advent to await and hurry up towards the new heavens and new earth: the new life in Christ who has died and risen again; meanwhile, we have to do our best as the Christians who are not for themselves but for others and for the glory of the Lord.

Gospel:

- We have two points as examples for us to build our own spiritually renewed life in this season of Advent: A Place: the Desert – and – A Person: John the Baptist. We will meditate on these two realities so that we prepare well our hearts to meet the Lord.
- A Place: The Desert: the place of experiencing God’s providence
o The desert is the place of our meeting; in the readings of today we are given a place of experiencing the life in the Lord: “In the desert prepare the way of the Lord” is the voice of the prophet in the first reading (Is 40:3) and “A voice cries out in the desert” is the place of proclamation of John the Baptist in the Gospel (Mk 1:3): in both of these we have the common place, that is the desert;
o When we imagine desert immediately we recall the reality of desolation, dryness and lack of life; the desert is the symbol/place of ‘lack of water and lack of food’ and thus in a word, absence of life;
o This image of desert sends us back to think of our own life – our heart which is many times found with discouragement, depression, lonely and lack of joy and peace; life without spirit;
o Though, on the one hand, we find ourselves in the midst of attractive and beautiful world, in the middle of the life with rumors and busy schedules, as flying in the sky with the wonderful things happening in life, we have, on the other hand, many a time in which we feel bored up, we feel ignored and rejected, we feel insulted and hurt, we feel losing whole life and finally we find ourselves with the heavy words and sighs saying ‘enough! I am not able to bear with this life anymore’; and ‘I wish that God takes me away immediately because I do not want to see life destroyed’ and the similar sayings that flow from ‘the dryness of our life’. This is the ‘desert experience’ we have very often in life because of the same reasons of ‘world and its attractions’ which we are enjoying now.
o In the ‘middle’ of life and lifelessness we lead our life; one moment we are overfilled with joy and the next moment the tears run down from the eyes; one moment we feel flying in the skies and the next moment our head is drowned in the ground; one moment we feel very powerful and capable of doing anything and the next moment we are helpless and lifeless. This is the contradiction of our life and this is the ‘desert experience’ of our daily living.
o We have the desire to come out of this and to be joyful always, but who can refill our deserted lives with the joy and peace? No one except our Lord himself. That’s why rightly sings the Psalmist: “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirst for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (63:1).
o Only God will satisfy our heart’s desire with the joy and spirit. Therefore we have to keep our deserted hearts open for the coming of the Lord; the Lord makes us walk towards him with the hearts bewildered and emptied.
o This was the experience of the people of Israel in their journey towards the Promised Land; when we talk of the desert of the Old Testament the attention that recalls our mind is that of ‘Desert of the Exodus’. The people have travelled a long way and for many years, as far as forty years, in the desert to reach the land promised by God.
o It was in the desert that they are put to the test of their fidelity and their trust in God who lead them out of the slavery of Egypt and it was the desert in which they have to experience the providence of God; on the one hand, they have put the Lord to the test in the desert failing in their committed confidence in him when they have grumbled against His and his elected leader Moses for the food and water; on the other hand, God, who is always faithful to his promise and word, has provided them, in spite of their disobedience and indifference, with the food in the form of Manna and the water from the rock.
o The desert, therefore, is the place of test of our faith and confidence in the Lord and at the same time, is the place in which He comes to the aid of His people and thus it becomes the place of meeting of the Lord and His people.
o At the end, it is through the desert that they have travelled and entered into the Promised Land in which flow not only water but also honey and milk, which spiritually means, God will take care of them and fill them to the full and satisfy every need of them.
o With this trust in Him we can offer our hearts and our life which have become desert through the daily troubles and difficulties with the same trust that He would refill it with his mercy and love.
o Advent is the time ‘to offer to him our deserted life’ and be filled with his presence because He is the Lord who is with his people.
- A Person: John the Baptist: man of mission and of vocation of showing the Savior
o In the gospel of today we meet one personage important for our reflection and for our guidance and he is John the Baptist;
 As for as the verses read out, he is a:
• Messenger who walks before the Lord
• Voice that:
o Shouts for the preparation of the way of the Lord
o Proclaims the baptism of conversion and forgiveness of sins
 He as the last of the prophets of the Old Testament and First and the only one of the New Testament and thus He stands between those who have announced his coming and the one who has actually come in the Name of Lord; he links both the word-spoken and word-come/entered.
 Just like him, as we take him as our model for this advent of ours, we have to the messenger walking with the testimony of life and we have to also the voice that speaks out the life-giving word.
o We have to also think of the ‘appearance’ of John the Baptist: the gospel passage could have been very easily ended with the verse 5 because everything is announced of the John the Baptist as the messenger and as a voice, but the Church asks us also ‘reflect’ over the ‘actual appearance’ and the ‘inner attitude’ of John the Baptist:
 His simple appearance in being vested in the cloths of camel’s hair and with the leather belt and eating locusts and honey (v.6) is the testimony of his life ‘offered in totality’ to the call that God has elected him. His appearance in the simplicity of life is also a testimony that ‘it is food and clothes’ that is more important but the call for which we are sent into the world: it is here we can also remember the same words of Jesus: “therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will wear” (Mt 6:25) and continue to end the discourse with another admonition, “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (v.33). This is exactly what is seen ‘in the appearance’ of John the Baptist.
 His proclamation and His message being the ‘voice’ of the Lord manifest his commitment to the mission and vocation he is called for. Without worrying much about himself and what he has own (even the basic needs like food and clothing) – with the exterior appearance - walks ahead firmly and steady – with the inner attitude - only with one purpose and one destiny: that is, to be the voice that calls all to prepare to meet the coming Messiah.
o Just like him we too have to give priority to the call we are given and walk straight in the proper vocation of our life: not only with the exterior appearance of our well being and also, in fact more importantly, with the inner attitude of being for the Lord.

Conclusion:

- Let us be the people of conversion:
o John the Baptist gives the baptism of conversion and let us participate in it so that we are one with the design and will of God;
o We shall understand well the true meaning of conversion:
 In Hebrew: being converted means ‘to change the way’: therefore, conversion means leave the way/path the one is in and take another way;
 In Greek: being converted means ‘to change the mind’: therefore, conversion means to have change in our thoughts and in our mentality; we leave aside how we think and instead follow the mind of the other and St. Paul asks to ‘keep ourselves firm and fixed in the same mentality of Christ’ (Phil 2:5).
 In Latin: being converted means ‘to turn towards’: therefore, conversion means ‘turning towards someone’ and turning towards the Lord;
 Let us, for our betting and comprehensive understanding, combine all of them and have the true meaning of conversion for our Advent: let us turn towards Christ and “let the same mind be in that was in Him” and thus change the way/path that we are in and we are walking so that we will be able to meet the Lord who is coming in his way.
o As the first reading helps us to understand: let us accept and offer our deserted hearts with the trust and confidence that it is in the desert that our faith is proved – as the gold is trialed by the fire – and that it is in the same desert that we receive the providence of the Lord – as He is the one who provides the food for the birds and growth for the lilies (Mt 6:26-30).
o We will learn from the ‘simple personality’ and ‘profound attitude’ of John the Baptist and thus give priority and first preference always for the glory of the Lord and for the true living of our vocation and mission as Christians.
o And finally, as the second reading guides us since our theme is also from the same reading, we shall lead the “lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2Pt 3:11-12). Therefore, let us while still waiting hurry up for the advent of the Lord preparing our hearts for him.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT - YEAR B

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – B
(Is 63:16b-17, 19b, 64:2-7; Ps 79:2-3,15-16,18-19; 1Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37)

Theme: Let us promise the Lord that we do not go away from his house

Reflection:

- Time of Advent: we are from today entering into the season of Advent, the first season of the Liturgical Year B. It is a period of reflection and preparation:
- First of all, it is a time for retrospection: we reflect over the first coming of Jesus which was already taken place in the ‘time’ and in ‘history’ and in the ‘story’ of mankind; we reflect also the coming of the Lord in his glory, his second coming, we will certainly take place at the ‘end’ of time, history and story of humanity;
- Secondly, it is a time for preparation: we prepare ourselves to be worthy of celebrating the great feast of His Coming into the world, thus the Christmas, and we make ourselves ready to receive him into our story, our time and our life; we already keep ourselves at the disposition of the Lord as a good and faithful servant ‘doing’ our daily work, be it material for our worldly life or/and be it spiritual for our heavenly life, so that when the Lord comes we have the possibility of meeting him;
- We keep on reflecting and preparing because we do not know when He will come and how far we will be when he calls us; therefore, this has to be ‘a daily and continuous process’ so that we are on the right and sure path of ‘meeting the bridegroom’.
- Season of Advent into two methods of preparation: the Church makes us to see the two types of preparation so that we are ever ready not to miss the time of grace and period of love:
o First part of an Advent, that is, till 16th December, reflect the eschatological coming of the Lord, that is, His advent in glory; even the readings of the liturgy lead us in this method of mediation; therefore, it reminds us of what will happen when He comes: everything will be put in its proper place; and what will take place once He comes: everyone will receive their reward in the face of the just judgment;
o Then follow the intense days of an Advent, from 17th December, which help us to see and make ourselves part of the mystery of Incarnation of Jesus Christ; we reflect over the mystery that was revealed and the love that was manifested by God by allowing himself to be in the human form; and the love that transforms us into renewed creatures and dignified children of God – the fruit of Jesus’ birth.
- “we will be always in the house of the Lord” should be our promise that we have to make to the Lord in this period of Advent; we can rightly be there not because we have merited it by our force but it has been ‘planned and prepared’ by God himself in Christ and in Spirit; the house we are in is His House because He Has Pitched His Tent Amidst Us.


First Reading:

- The silence of the Lord is a particular attitude in which he calls to himself the people of Israel:
o This is the penitential supplication of the third Isaiah which remembers the succession of God’s interventions in the story of the salvation which are broken by the sin of the Israel; This is a passage derived from the prayer, more pathetic and intense which is the part of the liturgical testimony of the first Hebrews who have re-entered in Palestine after the edict of Cyrus (538 B.C); It is a narration which recalls a movement of ‘interaction’ between God and his people in which God himself takes the first step and man responds to it with the conversion and with the walk towards him with the renewed faith and confidence in Him because He is their Father (v.63:17). Their decision to follow him is expressed in their promise to with him: “we will not go away anymore from your path” (63:17); “we shall practice the justice and we remember your ways” (64:4); “we have sinned against you.. and we have become impure” (64:4-5) but we have you with and for us as our Father so we will come back to you because it is you who have ‘made us and given us a form’ (64:7) and we will become a new creature.
- It is not a simple prayer but it contains the promise on the part of the chosen people to remain always with their Lord:
o ‘You are our Father’: the whole passage is covered with this phrase ‘you are our Father’ and we can observe the first verse with which the passage starts: “You, Lord, are our Father” (63:16) and it concludes with the same notion: “Lord, you are our father” (64:7). The first one is that of ‘father-redeemer’ and last one is of ‘father-creator’.
o The experience of the people of Israel about their God is first of God who saves them: being God of their ancestors he saves every time when they gone away from his ways and thus entering into the bitter experience of the slavery; they knew well, as they meditate, the attitude of their God: ‘you are a God who have done everything – the choosing, the property and the victory – for all those who have trusted in you’ (64:3), and ‘you go to meet those who practice justice with joy and who remember your ways’ (64;4). Therefore, they knew that their God is not a God of words alone but a God who works for them and for their salvation;
o They have gone away from him time and again either God has called them back from their wrong ways through the word of the prophets or He remained silent without giving them any answer to their prayers. And here is the good example for this: “you are angry because we have sinned against you from long time and we have become rebels” (64:4b); they acknowledge their failure and they invoke his name in spite of their unworthiness just because they have still confidence in him; that is the reason why they say – “BUT” (64:7);
o Their trust is in the attitude of a father, thus: ‘whatever happens and how ever we have gone away because of our weakness you are still our father’; but ‘you are a father and father forgives and embraces his children very easily and with immense love though children often do not listen to him’; after all ‘we are the work of your hands and without your creation we are nothing and we are nowhere, just remember us out of your loving action’; the list can go on; all these show that Father stands against and over the faults of his children; and the people of Israel were having this kind of trust in their God.
- Our task in this season of advent:
o Inspired by the first reading we shall also write ‘OUR STORY’ in which we had the moment of God’s presence with us and the moments in which we have lost his sight because of sins of ‘pride’ and ‘egoism’;
o We shall promise to use these few days of advent, a gracious time, to reflect on our life and to see whether we are still ‘connected to God’ or ‘we have gone out of reach of the signal of God’s presence’.

Second Reading:

- We are enriched by the gifts of God:
o St. Paul reminds us of our strength. We are not any more ordinary people but people filled by the blessing of God. This is the way he starts his letter and he makes us to keep in mind that ‘there is a grace which is given to us and for which we have to continuously give thanks to God’.
o This grace is multiplied and we are now ‘rich’ and ‘full’ of God’s wonderful and most valuable gifts and they are, in the same words of Paul, the gifts of the Word and the gifts of the Knowledge.
o The gift of the word is Jesus himself who is the Word of the Father and the gift of the knowledge is Spirit himself who is the wisdom of the Father; in this way we are ‘filled’ with Jesus and with the Spirit;
o On one side, thanking the Lord for the work of his hands, that is, the pouring of the Word and the Spirit, on the other side let us remind ourselves that being enriched and entrusted with these gift we are to manifest them in our words (the attitude of Jesus) and in our actions (the power of the Spirit).
- We are, thus, to be firm in our Christian life to the final day of our life:
o The word and spirit that are in us are always at work of renewal; they continuously inspire us and lead us to the life of communion with the Lord;
o Our goal is to be united with the Son of God at the end of the time and we have to work for it from now until we reach it;
o In this period of ‘waiting’ (advent) we are to strike and live the balance between ‘the gifts given to us’ and ‘making them fruitful’ in our life so that we are eligible and worthy to participate in the manifestation of the Lord.

Gospel:

- Be Watchful: the biblical interpretation of the passage
o This is the last discourse of Jesus before confronting his passion and therefore, it has a great significance on the level of ‘his passing’ from this world to His Father’s side. In this moment of passion and suffering he asks his disciples to be watchful, that is, observing all that happens and happening and will happen in the days to come as the consequence of ‘his departure’ (like a man in the parable who departs).
o The whole of 13th chapter of Mark is full of these admonitions: to be awake, to be watchful, to be at guard, to be alert and it goes on: even the whole chapter starts with this word ‘guard well’ (13:5) and ends with the similar word ‘keep watching’ (13:37); this shows how this word becomes a key word for reading and understanding the whole of ‘passion narratives’ of Jesus in the following chapters; in this way, this 13th chapter and particularly ‘this last episode’ of the chapter becomes ‘an introduction’ to mystery of passion that Jesus affronts in few days;
o At this outset of the reading let us analyze its significance in the exegetical level:
 Keep awake (v.33): Jesus continues the his discourse which he has started in the beginning of this chapter (13:5) and this continues still ahead (13:34, 35, 37); again, this will be again referred with little more force in his passion in Gethsemane (14:34, 37, 38) and it become the final appeal of Jesus to his disciples: that they should not lose themselves in the false hopes and vain curiosities about the end of times. They should not also sleep (13:36 and also in the scene of Gethsemane 14:37, 40). Therefore, they have the task of living their human life in awaiting ‘unknown coming’ of God.
 Like a man who goes on a journey (v.34): this form is first found in Mark since it is his the first gospel and it has become platform for other evangelists Mathew and Luke and they have used this form in many occasions (Math 25:14; Luke 19:12; Luka 12:35-40; Math 24:45-51; Luke 12:42-46); Mark has synthesized all the similar parables on the vigilance in this simple and small parable. Doorkeeper: all the servants has received the power and command of work; but one person stands distinct, that is, doorkeeper; he is given the exclusive mission of keeping awake (in Luke all the servants have to awake – 12:36-38). It is difficult to know who this personage is, who is given in-charge of keeping awake in the name of the whole community – could it be a priest! Bishop! and, in the larger sense Pope!
 You do not know (v.35): it is not only about time and day of the coming of the Lord but more than that ‘it is the universal ignorance of the design of God (13:32); the four hours of the night indicates the context of Mark and the cultural context of Roman exercise.
 Suddenly (v.36): the confrontation of the theme of the coming of the Lord with that of the thief (Math 24:42-43; 1The 5:2; 2Pt 3:10f). in fact, God does not want to come suddenly and without telling; He, time and again, lets his people know about the future life of the one who believes in him; therefore, the meaning of ‘sudden coming’ applies not to God but to us who ‘fail to attend’ either because we have no time or because we are busy in our own world.
 To all – keep awake (v.37): Jesus enlarges his admonition not only to his disciples or to a small group of listeners but to all and therefore, it becomes an universal appeal of Jesus: to keep awake: this is again the last word of the whole context – that of the chapter in general and of the parable in particular – Jesus asks them to be vigilant in their rapport to the events that are going to take place immediately from his passion to their own Christina witness through the various sufferings and persecutions.
- Keep attending well: the meaning of the passage for us today
o The moment: Jesus talks about a particular moment which will certainly come and this moment for the context of gospel is the moment of his departure from the world through the passion and death; and in the larger sense, this moment is the moment of his return to reap the fruits of the seeds that he has sown before leaving the world; it could be also a moment of interaction and meeting between him and his disciple and this could be for today: Jesus and you. Every time we come to listen to him and renew our life by continuous gestures of faith and love IS the moment in which we indeed meet Jesus: ‘this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it’ and ‘we meet him while he is near and we reach him while he is still with us’ and are we experiencing and enjoying the moment: the presence of Jesus with us and our presentation before him!
o He has given his house to the servants: Jesus while departing from the world has entrusted ‘his life and mission’ – his house – ‘to his disciples’ – to his followers, his servants - by giving them ‘the power’ and giving each one his ‘duty’ and to the watch keeper he has given the command of ‘being awake’: the whole phrase and process show ‘the trust’ on the part of God in his people and ‘the acceptance’ of work on the part of his people; on one side, God’s trust in man and on the other, man’s acceptance of God and his work. In the sphere of the church this has a great meaning: Jesus giving his disciples his power to safeguard, protect and live and proclaim ‘his mission of love’ to all till he returns and the power to exercise its authority or ownership over the goods that Jesus himself has entrusted to them and specially, the task of vigilance to the Pope, the watch keeper of the house of Jesus.
o Four hours of the night: Mark indicates that during the night there are four particular moments: the evening, the midnight, the cockcrow and the dawn; these are the hours in which the ‘guards’ change their shifts of watching; the rabbinic tradition connects there four hours to the ‘work of the Lord’ and to his precious interventions in the history: the creation of the world, the calling of Abraham, the liberation of Israel, and the coming of the Messiah. And we can just reflect each of these great events and see how God has trusted man and man in return trying to keep up his faithfulness to His designs.

Conclusion:

- Advent is a time to Recollect: we can always reflect and get to our mind all that God has done in our lives and in the particular way, as the readings inspire us, we are given the task of safeguarding the gift he has given to us: his gifts are – the life and mission of Christ and the good and charitable operations of the Spirit and apart from this Christian vocation, we are also entrusted with so many personal talents and capabilities; advent could be the time for us to recollect all that we have and we are and ask ourselves ‘how can we safeguard the gifts of God that are in our hands, the world and every other person we meet?’ and we need not worry and break our head to know how. The answer is simple and given of Jesus himself: by ‘keeping attention and keeping awake’:
- Advent is, therefore, a time to ‘attending and to be awake’:
o attending means ‘to look well’ and ‘to observe deeply’; first, we have to attend to ourselves to first by looking what we are called to be and how we are now; what we are asked to do and what we are doing now; second, we have to attend to the needs of others by observing and keeping eye on their words, actions, attitudes and their necessities; third, we have to attend to God’s mission by keeping in mind the life of faith, hope and charity;
o keeping awake means ‘to look beyond’ and ‘to see over’; this means we have to already analyze the fruit of an action, the result of a deed well ahead of starting it; what would happen if I do this way; what could be the result of this attitude; what could be the reaction for the words I am going to use; all these questions help us to see ‘beyond’ and ‘over’ our simple thinking and our normal estimation and calculation; in this way and with the hope of reaping good results we have to keep guard and awake.
- Four alternative solutions for the four moments of the night: we have to keep awake so that we do not panic when the actual time of meeting Jesus, our Master, comes and the evangelist indicates the four hours of the night we are possible moments of weakness and fall into sin and therefore we have to be attentive and keep watching well our behavior and attitude and for this we can learn the four attitudes: at the evening – to keep resistance of not committing anything wrong; at midnight – to enter into oneself, to look deeply into oneself, to enter into the ‘interior’ life of oneself; at cockcrow – to keep prayer because it is the time when even Jesus went to pray personally to the Father, and finally, at dawn – to keep hope because each new day opens for us a bundle of new possibilities;
- Therefore, we are called to fructify the gifts we are given in this time of advent and so that we could be always in his house which is entrusted to us and therefore, let us promise to the Lord at the beginning of the season of Advent that we will not go away any more from his house.