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Online GivingDoes this weekend’s reading from Isaiah 40 sound familiar? We hear it on the first Sunday of Advent every few years. It could be a reminder that John the Baptist appears at the beginning of the Advent/Christmas season and at the end. In Advent we were preparing for Jesus’ coming at Christmas. Now we are preparing for his coming at any time.
Isaiah talks about the Lord coming in mercy to the people whose “guilt is expiated” (Isaiah 40:2). The mountains and hills will be leveled, symbolic of making an easy way to the Lord. In other words, the Lord is approachable. With our sins forgiven we need not fear asking God for help: “Fear not to cry out” (Isaiah 40:9). The Lord comes in power, not to strike sinners down but to shepherd them and lead them.
In the second reading, St. Paul has a similar theme. Jesus gave his life for us on the cross so that we could be free from sin and able to reject evil desires. We are free to give ourselves in love as he did. And he does this, not because we did anything to deserve it, but from his own love and mercy for us. Think about that. No matter how bad we were in the past, the Lord loves us enough to forgive it all, and even better, to give the Spirit to help us stay close to God.
How do we prepare for this? We can start by letting the words of the readings sink into our hearts and minds. Read them again and remind yourself that you have been forgiven, that you can live as a person “eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14). Ask the Spirit to help you see what things are keeping you from being like Jesus and to give you the strength to say no to them. Look for ways you can be more loving with your family, then with your friends, and eventually with anyone who needs your help. When we let that Spirit guide us, we become like Jesus and we can listen for God to say, “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased” (see Luke 3:22). -Tom Schmidt, Diocesan Publications
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
The Baptism of the Lord
Merry Christmas! Share that cheerful greeting with some folks today. They may wonder if you have had any Elvis sightings lately, attended Star Trekkie conventions, or were Cleopatra in a previous lifetime. Despite the skeptics, today is solidly within the Christmas season. In fact, in some strands of the Christian tradition it represents the clearest manifestation of the mystery of the Incarnation. On Christmas Day, for example, the Gospel reading is the Prologue of John’s Gospel, which reveals the glory of Christ shining through our humanity precisely in his baptism.
At any rate, this is an ancient feast, celebrated first in Egypt sixteen centuries ago. More than most other ancient people, the Egyptians understood the life-giving properties of water. On this day, they drew water from the Nile, so central in the history of their people, and reserved it in honor. Many other places copied the custom, so that St. John Chrysostom wrote of people in Antioch gathering at midnight to collect flowing water into vessels they brought from home since “today there is a blessing on the water.” At home for dinner tonight, decorate the table with beautiful bowls of water and white candles, toast one another with goblets of sparkling water, and light a Christmas candle in the window one last time. —James Field, Diocesan Publications
SAINT HILARY (c. 315-367) – January 13
Born in Poitiers, France, whose populace would later elect him bishop, Hilary, married and a father, was converted from paganism to Christianity through his reading of scripture. The focus of his prayerful study was the Prologue to St. John’s Gospel, which portrays Jesus as the divine Logos, eternally begotten of the Father. As a result, Hilary became in the words of the biblical scholar Jerome, “the Latin Trumpet against the Arians,” heretics who believed Jesus to be merely human, not divine. In defense of Christ’s divinity, Hilary was not only eloquent in debate but utterly fearless in the face of relentless persecution and even exile. Thus, by the witness of his own discipleship, Hilary taught that faith in Jesus as the divine Son of God has consequences. Reflecting on Jesus’ challenge to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), Hilary notes that, as salt both preserves from corruption and adds savor to food, so must the faithful disciple bear a witness that, by word and example, leads others to immortality and virtuous living.
Please join the Knights of Columbus, Council #5535, for a pancake breakfast.