Laudet Dominum

Water has taken on many meanings in our lives. We all need a certain amount of water to survive, so it frequently symbolizes life. For farmers, the water means that the crops will grow. We use water for washing, so it also signifies cleansing. Within the Church, water is frequently used as the symbol of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In this feast, we are not only called to focus on Our Lord’s baptism, but also in the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

For those who were approaching John the Baptist, baptism was a cleansing and purifying act, both physically and spiritually. The Mosaic Law prescribed several acts of ritual washing that were meant to purify oneself before eating or offering a ritual sacrifice. Baptism was also used as a way to express sorrow for sins committed, asking God to forgive those sins and wash them away as water washes away the dirt and grime of daily life.

By Our Lord’s baptism and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him, He changed how baptism is to be viewed. Baptism still has a purifying aspect, washing away our sins, but has taken on a greater symbol of the dying to our old selves and being reborn as children of God. Through our baptisms, the Holy Spirit has come upon us and adopted us as sons and daughters of God. This is shown in the baptismal rite by the priest anointing the newly baptized child with sacred chrism, the same holy oil which is used at Confirmation and Ordination. It’s not a coincidence that this same oil is used at Baptism and Confirmation, as the actions of the Holy Spirit in baptism is completed in our lives through Confirmation. The Sacred Chrism symbolizes the Holy Spirit being poured upon us, so it shows the movement of the Holy Spirit any time it is used in the celebration of a Sacrament. No longer are we in a Creator/created relationship with God, but now a familial relationship through the actions of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism and Confirmation are not the only times that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. It doesn’t just come upon us during the reception of the Sacrament and then leave us, but remains within us and continues to draw us closer to God the Father and His Son. As St. John tells us in the second reading, the Spirit testifies to the truth of God’s love for us and encourages us to draw deeper into that love. The Holy Spirit does not force us to love God in return, nor are we forced to worship God despite what we want, but gently encourages us and pulls us to Him, much as a child pulls their parents to show them something they made.

We all have these pulls in our lives, and we have to choose whether to follow them. For many of us, we have a particular career that we feel drawn towards. There might be friends that we feel more drawn towards than others. Sometimes we even feel pulled towards a particular meal on a particular day, say a craving for a hamburger or Mexican food. Amidst all these pulls, there is one pull which is particularly strong in our lives, even if we don’t realize it. This is the pull of the Holy Spirit drawing us closer to Our Lord, encouraging us to spend our time and energy following Him. Like all our pulls, however, we have the ability to choose whether or not to follow it or ignore it. Unlike the desire for a particular meal, however, this pull does not go away easily, but remains throughout our lives.

The Holy Spirit not only pulls us towards God, but also brings us the gift of faith in Him. We know that we cannot have faith in God on our own, as it is a gift from Him. This gift comes to us through the work of the Holy Spirit drawing us closer to God. The closer we get to God, the more of this gift we receive. God doesn’t limit the amount of faith that we can receive, but rather we limit our openness to this faith until we draw closer. It has more to do with our acceptance of this faith than God’s willingness to give. St. John promises us that we will be able to conquer the world through the gift of God’s faith in our lives.

As we reflect on the Baptism of Our Lord, may we be open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives and willingly pray, “Come Holy Spirit!”

I hate to admit it, but I had to look up the dictionary definition of the word ‘epiphany’. We use the word in conjunction with this feast, but do we really think about what it means? The American Heritage Dictionary defines ‘epiphany’ as “A revelatory manifestation of a divine being.” Kind of a long-winded definition, but it fits this feast well. In this feast, traditionally celebrated on January 6th, but relocated to the Sunday following January 1st, we celebrate the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, being revealed to the Gentiles in fulfillment of the promise by Isaiah to the people of Israel.

In our first reading, Isaiah is speaking to a downtrodden people of Israel who have been subjected to the Babylonian Exile. Having been forced away from their homeland, the people of Israel are wondering how God’s promise to them will be fulfilled. Isaiah reveals to them that the promise will not only be fulfilled, but in greater measure than they could ever imagine.

For the Gentiles to share in the promise of God to the people of Israel would have been greatly revolutionary. God’s promise to Abraham was that his descendants would share in the Promised Land and receive His salvation. They understood this to mean those who were of Israelite descent, that is those who physically descended from the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those who were not of the people of Israel could become “God fearing Gentiles”, sharing in some of the rituals, feasts and celebrations, but would never fully participate of the promise of God. It was only through birth to a family with Israelite lineage that one participated fully in God’s promise of salvation.

With the coming of Our Lord and the visit by the magi, who would have been considered Gentiles, all of this changed. Now, the promise of God’s salvation has been opened to all humanity, not only those of Israelite descent. We all can now participate in the salvation promised by God, made incarnate through the birth of Our Lord. By our participation in this promise, we are challenged to be like the star and the magi in the Gospel reading.

The star which appeared in the night sky at Our Lord’s birth led the magi to adore Him in the humble surroundings of the stable as a little child. In our lives, we are challenged to lead those around us to Our Lord, just as the star led the magi to Him. The best way that we can do this is by living our lives in accord with the virtues that Jesus teaches us through His Gospel and His Church, but we also may be called to be more proactive in proclaiming the Gospel. Sometimes it could be a sympathetic ear and friendly advice to someone who feels lost or confused. Other times, it may be a willingness to defend our beliefs against someone who is denigrating the faith and those who follow it. We may even have to learn our faith so that we can answer the questions that we have, or that are brought up by those we interact with on a daily basis. We are called to live and share our faith in order to lead others to Christ just as the star led the magi to Him.

Through the prostration of the magi before the Christ Child and his mother, we are also challenged to adore Our Lord however he appears to us. The magi were willing to fall down in adoration before a mere infant lying in a manger within a stable, so we should be willing to spend time in adoration before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, whether reserved in the Tabernacle or exposed in the Monstrance. We can do this by arriving for Mass early to spend time in silent adoration, or by staying after Mass for a few minutes to adore Him in thanksgiving for being able to receive Him in Holy Communion. We also have the privilege of being able to stop by throughout the day and spend some quiet time with Him in the midst of our hectic schedules, even if just for a couple of minutes. Any way that we can do it, we are encouraged to spend time in silent adoration of Our Lord.

Through our participation in the salvation promised by God, we are given the challenge to live our lives in devotion to Him. May we take up the challenge, as the magi did, and live our lives in praise and adoration of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

On this feast of the Holy Family, we are presented with examples of those who lived a faith-filled life. First, we have Abraham, who not only believed that God would give him a son in his advanced age, but also trusted that God would resurrect Isaac after sacrificing him as God asked. Second, we have the example of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, who truly allowed their faith to influence their lives, both individually and as a family. By the example of the Holy Family, we are shown how to live a family life full of faith.

Some might argue that the Holy Family sets up an impossible example to live by. After all, Jesus is the Son of God, it’s easy for him to have faith. Likewise, Mary is the sinless Virgin who was visited by an angel. Of the three, only Joseph is closer to what we would consider “normal”, but even he had an angel appear to him in his dreams. How can we live up to that example? It does seem an impossible task, but we’re not called to follow them perfectly, only to the best of our abilities. The important aspect that we need to take away is that the Holy Family lived their faith. Instead of merely talking about believing in God, they practiced their faith in their daily lives. Their faith was a priority to them, not merely an addition to their lives.

Travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem was not merely a brief jaunt. They likely would have traveled 100 miles each way, depending on the trade route they chose to use, at a time when travel was by foot or pack animal. It may have taken them 5-6 days, nearly a week, to get between the two towns. This was not a journey to be taken lightly, and we know through the Gospels that they made this journey several times while Jesus was a child.

While these pilgrimages would have occurred occasionally, we can be sure that the Holy Family prayed together on a daily basis. Jewish custom gave several prayers that were to be prayed throughout the day. At some times in the day, the family would pray some of the Psalms together. There were prayers before and after meals, much like Catholics pray the traditional blessings at meals. Prayer was an important part of the Holy Family’s life, and this carried over into Our Lord’s ministry. Whenever he would come to a decision or difficulty, he would pray before acting, a good example for all of us.

Living the faith as a family means more than weekly Mass attendance and praying the blessing before meals, as important as those practices are. The Second Vatican Council, in its document Lumen Gentium, called the family a “domestic Church”, and encourages parents “by their word and example, [to] be the first preachers of the faith to their children.” (LG 11) The greatest example parents can give to a child is to live their faith without being preachy about it, but still being willing to talk to the child about matters of faith. Parents need to be willing to teach about the elements of the faith, and to learn for themselves if they don’t know the answers.

All too often, we see young Catholics who go through Confirmation and High School youth group, but never practice the faith after leaving home. In many cases, the faith was not practiced at home, outside of weekly Mass attendance performed grudgingly, and was never seen as a priority by the children. When the time came for the children to make their own decisions regarding the faith, it was dropped in favor of something they see as a higher priority.

Sometimes children will fall away from the practice of the faith in those families who have made the faith a priority. While this is always hard on the family, it shouldn’t be an occasion of doubt or anger towards the faith, but is a challenge to the family to live the faith all the more. The family is encouraged to pray for the children who have fallen away, and to be open and welcoming so that the children may feel drawn back into the practice of their faith.

The Holy Family is held up as the example of how to live with faith in God as a family. Through their example and intercession, may families grow in the practice of their faith and be united by that faith.

In our celebration of Christmas, we’re presented with a great irony. We’ve gathered this morning to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the humble surroundings of Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, but the irony of this celebration is that this innocent, sinless infant, this helpless child, came to Earth and was born to redeem guilty, sinful humanity from its sins.

Some of the most beautiful artwork in the history of Christianity was created in reflection on the birth of Christ. Icons, statues, paintings, music, and volumes upon volumes of writings have been dedicated to drawing us closer into the mystery that surrounds Christmas, that the second person of the Trinity would humble himself to take on human flesh and human nature. The amount of material that has been written on the Incarnation of the Lord would probably fill this church and there is still more to be written. Some of the greatest thinkers and artists of all time have pondered on Our Lord’s birth, and we are all the richer for the results of their labors.

Even with the beautiful imagery that surrounds Christmas, we would miss the whole point of His life if we were stop our reflection with just His birth. He came to Earth for a reason, and we miss that reason if we focus solely on His Nativity. As the readings today show, we cannot look at the cradle of Our Lord without seeing His Cross. It’s not by mistake that the second reading brings up the salvation that Our Lord gained for us through His death on the Cross. From before even the first moment of His existence on Earth, Our Lord’s life was dedicated to becoming the Sacrifice that atoned for the sins of humanity. Even with the light from the star which guided the three magi, the shadow of the Cross fell on the manger and followed him throughout his entire life.

Everything Our Lord did and said, especially during his three years of Earthly ministry, was oriented towards our salvation. Even when he was just a infant, having to be smuggled out of Judah for Egypt due to the death sentence placed upon all the infants by King Herod, his life was to be lived in atonement for our sins. The Holy Family’s escape to Egypt and later return to Galilee is often seen as Our Lord taking the salvation history of the people of Israel into his own life. Instead of merely participating in the important festivals and rites that commemorated events within Jewish history, Our Lord lived them symbolically through the events of his life.

This provides for us the example of how we need to live our lives as Christians. We need to take on our own salvation, make it an important part of our lives. We need to live every moment as Christians, not just the hour a week or less that we dedicate to Mass attendance. If we truly believed what we profess in the Nicene Creed, we would make our lives conform to our Christian belief, and not the other way around. As the Cross overshadowed Jesus’ whole life, it should also overshadow ours as well.

If more Christians were willing to live this way, our world would be dramatically transformed. Through the examples of our lives, people would be flocking to become Christian. Unfortunately, right now much of what non-Christians see of Christianity is the sins of those who profess to believe in Christ. It’s not uncommon to turn on a TV show and see the Christian as a hypocrite who publicly professes to follow Christ, but is hiding something contrary to his preaching. While this happens all too often in the real world, the fact that the media has picked up on it should be a warning for us that this is a problem we need to face.

As Christians, we need to recommit ourselves to following Christ, and not worrying about what the world believes. Before we can work on the culture, however, we need to get our own house in order. We need to refocus ourselves on the teachings of Jesus, and make regular reception of the Sacraments a priority in our lives. When we are willing to humble ourselves and commit our lives to the Cross, only then will the world be transformed.

In our Gospel today, we see the fulfillment of a hope. For nearly a thousand years, almost from the time of King David, the Jewish people were hoping for a new king, a Messiah, who would conquer the Gentile occupiers. This Messiah would rule over the people of Israel, and they would live in great prosperity and peace. Although he was not what they expected, Jesus’ first coming fulfilled the hope of Israel for a new king to rule over them. His second coming will be the fulfillment of our hope for salvation.

I think most of us know the story presented in the first reading. King David had all but subdued the enemies of the Israelite nation, and now the kingdom of Israel was in peace. The Ark of the Covenant was still in a tent, as it was during the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, while David resided in a palace made of stone and cedar wood. King David wanted to build a home for God among the people of Israel, as they were no longer nomadic and had no need to wander the countryside looking for places to set up camp. If the people of Israel were to live in Holy Land, the temple of God should also be a stable place within the city of Jerusalem.

It was not in God’s plan, however, that David be the one to build the temple, but David received the promise from God that his kingdom would last forever. He was promised a descendant who would call God his father, and God would call Him son. The coming of Our Lord not only fulfilled this promise to Israel, but created a new hope for all the nations.

King David wished to build a house for God in Jerusalem so that He would live among his people on Earth. It wasn’t until David’s son, Solomon, was ruling the kingdom of Israel that David’s wish for a house of God came to fruition. The Israelites viewed the Temple as more than just a mere symbol, but as truly where God resided here on earth. The Israelites were the chosen people of God, and He lived among them in the Temple.

When Our Lord came to Earth as a fulfillment of the promise to David, he didn’t descend to Earth on a fiery chariot, but chose to live among us silently. For the first nine months of his existence on Earth, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was truly the House of God, the first dwelling place of Jesus. Just as the Temple was the dwelling place of God among the Israelite people, Our Lady became the dwelling place of God among all the nations. The hope of the people of Israel is now the hope of all peoples.

We often don’t understand what it means to have hope. Sometimes we use the word ‘hope’ as a synonym to ‘wish’ or ‘desire’. We might say something like, “I hope it’s not cold tomorrow,” or a child might say, “I hope I get a video game for Christmas.” In contrast to this common view, Mary shows us what it truly means to have hope in God through her openness to His will. Her hope was not a vague wish or desire, but was a complete and total trust in God’s promise to His people.

Because of Mary’s hope in God, the hope of all of Israel rests in her womb, silently waiting for the day in which He is to be revealed to the whole world. Patience is a virtue that many of us lack, myself included, but this season is one of patience. We’re patiently waiting for the celebration of Our Lord’s birth, but we’re also patiently waiting for His return. Just as Our Lord was born at the proper time, He will return at the proper time.

This patience should flow from our hope in His promised return, as hope is essential to being a Christian. We must hope that Our Lord will be with us during times of difficulty or times of joy. We hope that those we love will be with Him in Heaven after their deaths, and we hope that those newly born and baptized members of our families will grow up knowing and loving Him. Most importantly, we hope for that day when he will return again, and lead us all to the Promised Land, nomads no longer. Now, however, we wait with anticipation and hope for the celebration of His birth on Christmas. Come, Emmanuel!