When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”

Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

Matthew 2:1-12 (NABRE)

Two search parties with two very different motivations.

Already, the Christ Child is being hunted. From the start, Jesus lived as one rejected. Even upon learning that Jesus is the Messiah long foretold by the prophets, King Herod, in his greedy rage, attempts to put to death the consolation of Israel. The “experts” in the Hebrew scriptures, the chief priests and the scribes, would have known that the Messiah was foretold to liberate the Jews from the oppression of evil. To them, that meant the expulsion of imperial Roman forces and government structures from Palestine. Regardless, they knew who He was and what He was sent to do. Yet, tragically, they chose not to take heed and follow Him. Instead, they foolishly sought to destroy Him. It almost doesn’t make any sense. Why would they try to thwart their own liberation?

And yet, how often can we, despite knowing of the beauty and rest of Heaven, neglect our salvation? We know what awaits on the other side of death, yet we choose sin. It is the ultimate folly, and we have only ourselves to blame. But we cannot let the fear of missing out propel us forward. When we run away from something, we zig-zag and climb over things and go every which way to try and escape. We have no destination but an undefined area of security that offers us no guarantee of providing lasting shelter.

Re-framed, the task is not so much to run away from that which we fear, but rather to run toward that which we love. The destination is, ultimately, God. But do we not have access to Him already? So He is already with us. In fact, He grasps our hand and gently leads us to where He has created us to be: Heaven. Our fallen humanity may not want us to be led by God, but we possess the intellect and the will to help us do so anyway. We also have the grace of God to help us forward in our struggle. He is with us all the way and is for us.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazorean.”

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 (NABRE)

Things were quite unstable in the early days of Jesus’ lifetime.

It seems quite baffling that the living God would take on flesh and be subject to persecution and even become a refugee at one point in His life. Yet, this was all for our sake. Jesus lived a hard life. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus being the target of scorn or misunderstanding. Ultimately, this culminated in a bloody Crucifixion. And to think this was almighty God to whom all this was done is a topic that makes us stop and ponder why He made Himself so lowly and vulnerable for us. Add to this contemplation the fact that He did not have to suffer as He did and we are met with an astonishment that moves us to deep gratitude for what our God did for us.

The Christmas season reminds us of the extremeness of God’s love for us. Through the sacrifice of His very Self He bought for us, including those who mistreated Him, redemption. This is how God thinks, as opposed to how us human beings do (Matthew 16:23). He was willing to be small and vulnerable, and then grown and abused for our sake.

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Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it was through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-24 (NABRE)

God becomes man.

The Christmas season is all about the mystery of the Incarnation of God. He did not come down to earth to be served or to take up a position of political and economic power. He did not demand harems and luxurious palaces. He only sought to be the lowest of all, to be the Suffering Servant long foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

If Jesus associated with the powerful of society, He did so to teach and to heal. He spurned Satan’s offering of ownership of all the kingdoms in the world. Jesus became a curse to liberate us from our sins. He did the opposite of what was expected of Him by contemporary Jews by not stirring up a military rebellion against the Romans to establish an independent Jewish kingdom. He was hated, abused, rejected, and killed by gruesome and humiliating crucifixion. He came humbly as a vulnerable infant born of a common woman. This seems so contrary to what we would expect of God to do if He were to appear on earth.

Through this, Jesus teaches us an important lesson on what matters the most to God. Externally, Jesus and Mary were nothing special. By every socioeconomic indicator, the two of them were poor. Yet, they were immeasurably rich in what is spiritual. Jesus, who is God, did not use His divine power to abuse and take advantage of others in order to accumulate an inordinate amount of wealth, power, and pleasure. Mary, poor as she was, did not compromise with evil in order to get ahead financially. The two of them had their sight set on the eternal. From their example, we learn to always treasure the invisible over the visible. In doing this, we are living in a peaceful and orderly way.

Sometimes, we might be confused as to how exactly to live this peaceful and orderly life. And that is part of the reason why the Son of God came down to earth. Because of the mission He accomplished through His Incarnation, Jesus has given us light to see the correct direction to travel in the spiritual life. We no longer have to grasp for the truth. Jesus is the Truth, and He has a human face.

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When John heard in prison of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swaying in the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.’ Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11:2-11 (NABRE)

The least are the greatest and the greatest are the least.

The “spiritual physics” of the Christian life are quite strange. Throughout Scripture, we read of phrases such as “when I am weak, then I am strong,” “He must increase and I must decrease,” and “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” Put another way, “up is down,” oddly enough. The essence of these sayings is that we must open ourselves up to the healing power of the Lord if we want to be close to Heaven while on this earth. To do this requires a recognition of our weakness and our inability to do anything apart from the help of the Lord. We humble ourselves, becoming small so that God may make us great. Yet, even in that process, we remain small — we become like children, which is just what Jesus wants from us. The greatest are the smallest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So yes, when we are weak, we are strong. Why? Because we reach out for help when we need it the most. But we do not have to wait until we are in a pit of sin and misery in order to do this. After all, we should be avoiding sin entirely. All of us can start today, exactly where we are, to acknowledge our weakness and so become strong in the Lord. Once we realize that the omnipotent God, our Lord Jesus Christ, wants to empower us, we see just how much strength is at our disposal.

So, behold your weakness, but see the empty space as a vessel to be filled with grace by a God who gives so generously and willingly and gladly.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea [and] saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: “A voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'” John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:1-12 (NABRE)

Every year we celebrate the birth of Christ while we await His return.

In this reading, John the Baptist calls us to prepare the way of the Lord Jesus. Regardless of the actions taken by John’s audience in order to do this, Jesus comes anyway to effect salvation for a weary, broken humanity. Despite our wretched condition, Jesus comes to us, unafraid of the mess He will find.

In our own lives, we can encounter Jesus regardless of our spiritual condition. In a way, those of us who are the most broken and damaged are the ones that the Lord wants to visit and heal first. This is why the Church particularly invites those who have been away from the Sacrament of Confession for a long time to come back and go during the season of Advent.

Jesus came into a world that was horribly shattered by sin. Jarring sights like the beaten and robbed man of Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan were evidently common enough to be used as an everyday example fit for a parable. God the Son did not have to come down to earth as a simple man and eventually be brutally tortured and executed in order to save us from our sins. He could have done this any other way, but this is the way He chose nonetheless. Jesus over-emphasizes His love for us and His desire to heal the most broken and ugly parts of our hearts by the way He carried out His ministry. He was not afraid of the stench of a man dead for four days. He was not afraid to get up close to lepers. It did not matter to Him. What the Lord was after was conversion, healing, and salvation.

The same goes for us.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In [those] days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

Matthew 24:37-44 (NABRE)

As we await the birth of Christ during Advent, we also await His Second Coming.

Here, Jesus gives us three images to ponder about the nature of the Parousia, the unexpected Day of the Lord. He gives us an allusion to the story of Noah and two mini parables that all point to the importance of vigilance and right conduct. It is interesting to note that of all the human activities that people were doing right up to the Flood, Jesus emphasizes eating, drinking, marrying, and living married life. These, while all important in their own ways, are still rather ordinary. Marriages are celebrated every day, and eating and drinking are necessary for healthy existence. Here, Jesus draws our attention to the fact that we do not have to disrupt our lives, drop everything, and sit and wait for His Second Coming in order to be good Christians. Instead, He calls us into a place of peace through mentioning the ordinary activities of the pre-Flood people. In other words, we need not be afraid of the ordinariness of daily life. God is still present in the mundane and routine aspects of our existence. Sure, getting married is a momentous occasion in one’s life, but afterwards, when family life becomes daily life, we can feel as though God is not interested in us because our lives seem so boring and uneventful. However, holiness can be practiced even when we are commuting, making a sandwich, unloading the dryer, playing catch with a friend, outlining an essay, going on a run, listening to music, or doing a number of things that we tend to do without thinking that the stereotypical marks of piety and purity can be present at all. We need not divorce friendship with Jesus from our daily experience. After all, the Twelve followed Jesus around for years and lived quite daily lives with Him. They fished, ate, mended their nets, had long travel days, stayed for dinner with friends, and did a number of things that were associated with good ole “daily life.” Yet, while they did these things, they were still close with Jesus. That’s the mark of a disciple. No matter what you are doing, make sure you are doing it with the Lord. Jesus never led His disciples to a place of sin. He leads the same way with you.

So, do not be worried that Jesus might catch you mowing the lawn or shooting hoops. You could very well get swept up along with the guy who’s praying the Rosary in a church.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into you kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:35-43 (NABRE)

Saved at the last second, but saved nonetheless.

This is the last Sunday Gospel reading before Advent, which marks the beginning of the liturgical year. During the season of Advent, we wait in expectation for the birth of Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, the namesake of today’s feast day. Such a title sounds imposing and mightily powerful to our ears and may produce images of extravagant palaces or even dictatorial rule in our minds. Of course, it always helps to take a step back and think things over more carefully.

In this Gospel reading, we see the King of the Universe stripped naked and hanging on the Cross, beaten, lacerated, and naked, accomplishing the salvific mission for which He was sent. Bystanders taunt Him and arrogantly demand a sign, but the Lord remains powerfully silent.

Think of it. The King of Kings comes down to earth and so humbly saves us. He does not use His divine power to save Himself and make a spectacle of His enemies. Rather, He makes a spectacle of sin and death by His death and Resurrection, both preceded by His Sacrifice on the Cross. He does this to give us, His beloved sheep, newness of life. At each and every Mass, this same Sacrifice is re-presented and renewed, albeit in a bloodless manner. There, on the altar, Jesus is truly present, crucified and entirely offering Himself up to the Father for our salvation. Jesus, crowned with the thorns, is our Savior-King. He exercises His royal office in giving Himself up for the salvation of all. We have as our God and King so great a savior who would humble Himself in such a way and show us, starkly, the depths of His love for us.

It is a gory and painful display of divine love for each and every one of us, straight down to the individual. Down to you. Down to me. Yes, Jesus had you in mind as He hung on the Cross.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, he said, “All that you see here — the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will save your lives.”

Luke 21:5-19 (NABRE)

The end times are truly upon us.

Jesus encourages vigilance from His disciples. We do not know the day or the hour, but we are left with indicators of when the events long foretold by the Lord are about to happen. Awesome signs in the sky and great international disturbances will precede the Second Coming of Jesus. It will truly be a spectacular time to be alive, but are we to be anxious about it?

The short answer is no. Jesus does not mean to cause us great worry over the unknown day and hour of His arrival, which is imminent. In fact, throughout the Gospels, Jesus instructs us to not worry about anything (Matthew 6:25, 34; Luke 10:41). The same applies to our expectation of the coming of the Son of Man with great glory and the heavenly host on the last day. Later on in this passage, Jesus tells us to be confident when we see these signs, for our “salvation is at hand” (Luke 21:28). This is the kind of boldness that Jesus desires to see in our approach to Him. The Lord offers so much to us and indeed wants us to be open to newness of life. His offer of everlasting life in Heaven, where we will see God as He is and have every desire perfectly fulfilled, is awesomely and incomprehensibly beautiful. Our boldness is the only logical response to so great an offer. The best part is that it is an open invitation to all, but it must be accepted by how we live our lives.

In extreme circumstances, the path we travel to salvation will include vicious persecution. Even today, Christians are handed over to state authorities on account of their profession or kidnapped and abused by terrorists for the same reason. Even in those situations, Jesus has a special closeness with us. He experienced what it is like to be betrayed, arrested, tortured, and executed unjustly. Sometimes, members of the Lord’s flock, those He holds so dear to His Sacred Heart, are forced to choose between their lives or fidelity to God. In those moments, when the choice is made to honor God above all else, a great reward awaits us. The Lord Himself awaits us.

But even if we never experience martyrdom or are still alive when Jesus returns, the same offer to share in His joy in the Father’s house stands. Our daily choice to be close to Jesus is what matters. It is not our past or our future. It is the present and the determination we have to be faithful. In the end, quite literally, that is what matters the most.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

Some Sadducees, those who deny there is a resurrection, came forward. Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called, ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Luke 20:27, 34-38 (NABRE)

A God of the living.

Who but God gives us life? It is He who breathes into our nostrils (Gen 2:7) and animates our being, placing us in the time and place of His choosing for a purpose. God brings life, and time and again, Jesus mentions the reward of everlasting life in the Kingdom of Heaven for those who die in His friendship. This is the road to eternal life, that you gently follow Jesus on the Way of the Cross, a path of closeness and friendship with Him, opening yourself entirely to Him and what He wants for you. Holiness is conducive to our flourishing. Sin has a disintegrating effect on us. It leaves us susceptible to commit more evil and entrench ourselves further in misery. One will never be left feeling empty and hopeless on account of choosing chastity over fleeting encounter, patience over temper, or kindness over rudeness. The Lord is God of the living. Therefore, what is of Him is life-giving. All that He commands us to do comes from a place of love. We may not quite get why God desires us to act a certain way or refrain from certain activity, but we must accept that God knows better than us and is only trying to bring us to a place of peace and holiness. This mere acknowledgement is a monumental first step in allowing God to work in our soul and bring us that peace.

Thank you for reading. Peace.

He came into Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

Luke 19:1-10 (NABRE)

No one is too far gone.

Sometimes, we find ourselves wanting to distance ourselves from Jesus. Sure, Zacchaeus was in the tree because of his short stature, but we can also apply this to our own lives and ponder what it is that keeps us from running up to be close to Jesus rather than staying back in the safety of a tree. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, and in so doing, he exposed himself to the gaze of the Lord, who saw him and called him to a life of conversion and holiness.

Zacchaeus was open to the prompting of Jesus and welcomed with joy His invitation. When we let Jesus into our lives like Zacchaeus opened his house to Him, we are set free in a powerful spiritual sense. We let go of vice and are healed from its disintegrating effects. We choose, daily, to have a close, intimate relationship with Jesus and let Him, the living and true God, enter into our lives and transform us into the people we are called to be. To be holy is not so much a lofty designation as it is a daily choice. Jesus wants us to be people who trust in His merciful love. People who are not afraid to let Him into the homes of our souls and let Him see the mess and the rot, for Jesus of Nazareth, the Divine Carpenter of our souls, wishes to renovate our interior lives and make His dwelling there. He wants you to be a tabernacle of Mercy Itself, God.

You do not escape the merciful and attentive gaze of the Lord. Not even a tree will separate you from Him.

Thank your for reading. Peace.