Monday, December 30, 2019

Your Holy Family


The Feast of the Holy Family



Christmas Day has ended, and many of you spent it with family. Your own nuclear families and often extended family and those close friends we consider to be part of our families. I see many of them here tonight. The media often portray families this season as clean, happy, affluent, laughing and smiling around the tree or the table. And why not? That’s what we all long for, isn’t it? But families are messy, they are broken, and imperfect. They are often far from holy. 

Jesus’ family was also messy. Not his nuclear family but his extended family. On Christmas Eve we heard the beginning of Matthew’s gospel rolling out the genealogy of Jesus, and it was far from perfect. Liars and cheats, murderers and adulterers, faithful and unfaithful kings. And a crazy cousin running around the desert yelling at people. But if we go through the scriptures and read about the lives of the people in that family tree, we find that the one thing that is constant is that even in the midst of their sinfulness and lack of faith in God, even at their worst, God was always faithful to them.

The ultimate sign of that faithfulness is that at the end of that long genealogy is Jesus. God incarnate on the earth in order to reconcile the world to himself. And God chose to begin that reconciliation within a family. It is through the family that we have the best chance for eternal life.

Our families exist to help us get to heaven. We are shown the way to do so in the first two readings today. Sirach lays out God’s plan for the structure of the family, with each person having their proper role. And while there is a hierarchy, there is no power struggle. Sirach uses words like honor, reverence, kindness, prayer, justice and comfort. It is in the home that these virtues are first and best nurtured and lived. And it is from the family that these virtues spread out into the world first through the extended family, then to the community.

 Paul speaks tonight about how the community of faith is to live. He adds to Sirach’s list of virtues heartfelt compassion, humility, gentleness and patience, gratitude, and above all forgiveness. We are to put on love, which is the bond of perfection that holds all relationships together. We are to submit to one another out of love, because that’s what love is – diminishing ourselves for the benefit of others. The Church is called to serve, and not to be served. If we do these things, the peace of Christ will dwell in our hearts, and we will bring that peace to the world.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each of our families lived by these virtues and experienced that peace? What would the world be like if every family strived to live this way? But in reality we are often the most unforgiving, cruel and judgmental to those closest to us. Many of us have experienced unhealthy, even violent relationships in our families, and it is sometimes difficult to relate to the images of father, mother and child we hear today. That might be the ideal, but reality is different.

In the Holy Family we get a glimpse of what it would be like if we lived a holy life together. Just because they were holy doesn’t mean they lived in a warm little bubble, unaffected by the world. On the contrary. Mary still heard the snickers of her neighbors behind her back, gossiping about the dubious circumstances of her son’s conception. Joseph had to deal with keeping Jesus safe from a king who wanted to kill him. And Jesus, well, his neighbors even tried to throw him off a cliff when he preached the gospel to them.

Just because Jesus, Mary and Joseph were holy does not mean they were not affected by sin and death. Their faithfulness to God did not preclude the threat of death against them. Mary was conceived without original sin, but her soul was still pierced by the sword of sorrow. And Jesus, God himself, was tortured and killed. To be holy is to be like God, and if God allowed these things to happen to himself, why would things be different for us?

What each member of the holy family had was a choice. Just like us, they were given the choice to remain faithful to the promise God had made to them. Mary had the choice to accept her role as the angel had told her. Joseph had the choice to believe the dreams he had and accept his role, even though of the three he probably understood it the least. And Jesus himself had a choice to submit his will to that of his Father’s. Father, if it is possible let this cup pass me by, but not my will but yours be done.

And they each had the choice either to let the struggles and evil in the world destroy them and make them bitter, or to accept the peace of the Lord that living those virtues would give them.

In so many ways the Holy Family is just like ours. And just as they were like us, we can become like them. We too have choices to make. We can choose to love or to hate. We can choose bitterness or forgiveness. We can choose discord or reconciliation. We cut deepest those closest to us, and so the best place to begin healing is within the family.

But it goes beyond just our own families. On the cross, we all became part of the holy family. We are the beloved disciple to whom Jesus gave his mother. Jesus described his relationship with his Church as that of a bridegroom and his bride, the foundation of the family. Jesus is the head of our family of faith, and it is within that family that we are saved. We are the holy family when we live as church. We are the holy family when we treat each other with compassion, forgiveness, honor and respect. And we are truly church when we extend those virtues to the way we interact in the world, outside these walls.

Emmanuel, God With Us, they called him. God was truly and literally with the Holy Family, and his presence allowed them to withstand the onslaught of the forces of hell itself. Is God present in your family? Is He the center of your lives? Do you pray to Him around your dinner table, at bedtime and throughout the day? That is what Mary and Joseph did. How could they not? Jesus was right there, a constant reminder of the promise God had given them. That’s the real choice you have to make. Will you allow Jesus to be that close to you, be that intimate a part of your family?

It is wonderful that tonight we will be witnessing the baptism of baby Blake. Thomas and Emily have chosen to give their child the greatest gift a parent can give, the promise of eternal life. They understand that their greatest responsibility as parents is to give their child all he needs to get to heaven. Baptism is the necessary first step on that journey. They will be the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith, just as Mary and Joseph were. They know that it takes a Church to raise a child in the faith, and that’s why they are here tonight, with us in community. As the shepherds gathered around the baby in the manger that Christmas night and rejoiced with the angels, so we gather around a little child and his family tonight and rejoice with them as they see the hope of eternal life shine on him. We will continue to support and nurture this family as church so that together we will all share one day in the gift of eternal life.






Saturday, December 14, 2019

Gaudete!


3rd Sunday of Advent

Gaudate Sunday

Cycle A



I woke up this morning in the middle of a Hallmark Channel movie. I live in a small town away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A gentle snow was falling, the house was warm and quiet and decorated for Christmas. There was a tree and ornaments and stockings hung on the fireplace. There was hot coffee and warm blankets, a beautiful woman at my side (although she’s not a blonde) and a dog at my feet. It was like I was living in a snow globe.



That’s what we have come to expect from Christmastime. And that’s how I categorize it. The secular season I call Christmastime. The religious observation is Advent. And every once in a while the two seasons connect, but oftentimes not.



Advent is different from Christmastime. Both are all about anticipation, but what we are anticipating in each is very different. Both set expectations, but one will never fully satisfy. One is looking forward to a day, a single day, and the anticipation is mostly around what we are going to receive. Christmastime is about an experience, one that will soon end. Advent is looking forward to what that first Christmas day put into motion. The incarnation of the Lord paved the way for eternity. The first coming of the Lord set in motion the second coming.  The birth of Jesus was the beginning of something that will never end.



Christmastime as the world now celebrates it is empty. It is never really like we image it should be. My house will never be a beautiful as in a Hallmark movie. The problems in my life will never be neatly wrapped up and resolved in the same way they are in an hour and a half on TV. And we never seem to be satisfied. It’s like the anticipation of little children. They are not excited about the day as much as about what they will receive that day. Have you ever seen it? They are so excited with this present in their hands, but as soon as they open this one they are looking to the next, and the next, and the next. They tear into their presents to see what they are and then push them aside so they can get the next one. And two weeks later, many of the toys will be forgotten, meaningless, nothing special. It seems to be a metaphor for life in the US in general. Disposable joy.



And Christmastime ends abruptly once Christmas day is over. You see it driving down the street the day after Christmas, with all the Christmas trees lying on the side of the road or, here in Park City, piled up at various empty lots around town. We must set aside this holiday to prepare for the next. On to New Year’s Eve! Break out the Valentine’s candy!



For those who understand the season of Advent, Christmas day is not the end but the beginning. If we celebrated it correctly, we would wait to put up our decorations until Christmas Eve, then keep them up until January 12 for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. That is the true liturgical Christmas season. But we start preparing for Christmas sometime around Halloween – that’s when the stores start putting everything out – and very rarely do we see or hear any reference to Jesus and the incarnation. It’s all Santa Claus and Elf on a Shelf. You can now go the entire season and never hear a Christmas carol that mentions the Christ child.



But today is different. Today is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. We have been preparing our hearts and minds for the true meaning of Christmas, and now the end is in sight. We have been observing Advent, not Christmastime, and it’s time to stop and contemplate the wonderfulness of the gift we are about to receive. It is now time to rejoice because the finish line is in sight. Not presents and festivities but the greatest gift of all – eternal life with Jesus in heaven. We look forward to our salvation, when Jesus Christ returns in his glory and all creation is made new again.



The readings today speak of justice, of setting things right again. When sin entered the world the result was suffering, pain, and brokenness. When the Son of Man returns in his glory everything will be made whole again, as the creator has always intended it to be. It is good and necessary that we stop today and focus on the prize, because it is difficult to see the summit sometimes when we’re down in the weeds.



We speak of peace on earth, goodwill towards all, and we know deep down that that is what we truly crave. The peace of the Lord is different from the peace of the earth. We long for a time when there is no strife or war or suffering or broken relationships, because we feel the anxiety and pain that those things cause us. We seek relief from our suffering. The peace of Jesus Christ is deeper than that and is not dependent on any outside influences. The peace of the earth is the absence of something. The peace of Jesus Christ is the restoration of everything. It is the peace of Adam and Eve in the garden, who had their every need and desire provided, and had the contentment of children, walking hand in hand with their father in paradise.



In fact, Adam and Eve had no wants and desires, because they lacked nothing. They didn’t even know what a desire was, because they had never experienced want. That’s what heaven will be like. That’s what Jesus promised would be restored to all of creation. There will be no regrets of the past and no worries for the future. There will be no blindness nor deafness nor feebleness nor fear. Everything will just be as it intended to be. That is true peace.



Jesus began the work of restoration in his earthly ministry. It was not an accident that he was a healer. He was not just alleviating his children’s suffering as a loving father would, he was restoring them to their intended state. He was reconciling the world to himself. Just as infirmity entered the world through sin, the natural outcome of the messiah’s reconciliation would be the alleviation of suffering. John the Baptist understood the scriptures, and that is why Jesus answered him the way he did. Jesus wasn’t just offering his works as proof that he was the messiah, he was telling John that the prophecies of hope were true, and he was the fulfillment of them.



The peace of Jesus Christ can be present in your life even as you are experiencing earthly sufferings. It is a paradox that your sufferings can actually bring you that peace. Many of us know people who have that peace in the midst of suffering. I think it is because they have completely surrendered themselves to the Lord, as Jesus did. Jesus submitted to the will of his father and had no attachments to worldly things. He never thought about his own needs because he trusted that his father would provide everything he needed. That trust extended to the cross itself, and the resurrection was vindication of that trust. And Jesus was glorified because of it.



That is our future, if we are persistent in our anticipation. We focus on these things for these four weeks of Advent every year, but we are called by Jesus to live that anticipation every day. We have been given the great promise of hope, and we must live as people of hope. We start by holding that hope in our own hearts. If we do, that hope will naturally extend out from us to our families, our friends, our community. That hope will renew the face of the earth. That hope is cause for great rejoicing.



Gaudete!