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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Three thoughts on this last Sunday of Advent, 3 ideas from the readings to help us prepare for Christmas. Bethlehem, barren, believe.
In our 1st reading the prophet says, Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Too small, insignificant, that certainly describes Bethlehem, barely a dot on a map, a wide spot in the road. But God doesn’t think the way we do. God doesn’t look to the big things, the great and mighty. God is found in the tiny and insignificant. Israel, the tiniest nation, completely unknown, becomes the chosen people. Isaiah says a shoot, a tiny sprout, shall spring up from the seemingly dead stump of Jesse. This is where God is at work, not in the big things but the tiny. This is the way God has always worked throughout the Bible. What is the message: great things come from small insignificant things. Things like little babies in a manger in a little town. And things like us, doing little things with great love.
Next barren. In the versus just before our Gospel Mary is told, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God. Throughout the bible we meet barren women, but women that never gave up on God, never lost hope. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, laughed when God told her that in her old age she would bear a child. And she has Isaac. Hannah goes to the temple everyday and prays that God will give her a son and she gives birth to Samuel. And today we have Elizabeth. Aren’t we often like them? Barren, feeling empty, alone, overwhelmed, threatened, giving up hope? The doctor says, “cancer.” A spouse of 50 years or 5 years dies, we’re elderly and feeling alone. What is Elizabeth’s message: never give up hope, all is possible with God. That is what we celebrate not just at Christmas but every day - God is with us, Emmanuel.
Finally, believe. Mary is told, Do not be afraid, Mary. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. The Holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Do not be afraid? You are a young pregnant teenager, living in a society that stones women for adultery. Do not be afraid? How do you handle that fear? How do we handle fear? When our spouse seems to keep forgetting things, when that grandchild gets divorced, when our legs just don’t seem to work or we can no longer drive. Believe – trust that above all else God wants to be Emmanuel -“God with us,” wants to be part of us. Where do we begin? With God’s own Christmas gift: God’s son trusting himself to us. He did you know. He trusted himself to this young girl’s body for nine hidden months. He trusted himself to a mother and foster father who never quite understood who he was and what he was about. He trusted himself to twelve intimate friends, one of whom sold him for 30 pieces of silver. He trusted himself to the people he created and they crucified him. He trusts himself to us – in our hands and on our tongues. That is Mary’s message to us: Believe and trust in the power of God.
That’s it. Look for God in the small insignificant things and places and people; like making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at Jackson House. Never give up hope. Emmanuel, God is with us: we may be barren and empty at times but we can be transformed, changed. It happens every time we approach this altar, cup our hands and say Amen. And believe. Trust that God wants to be with us. Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.
Emmanuel, God is with us.
In our 1st reading the prophet says, Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Too small, insignificant, that certainly describes Bethlehem, barely a dot on a map, a wide spot in the road. But God doesn’t think the way we do. God doesn’t look to the big things, the great and mighty. God is found in the tiny and insignificant. Israel, the tiniest nation, completely unknown, becomes the chosen people. Isaiah says a shoot, a tiny sprout, shall spring up from the seemingly dead stump of Jesse. This is where God is at work, not in the big things but the tiny. This is the way God has always worked throughout the Bible. What is the message: great things come from small insignificant things. Things like little babies in a manger in a little town. And things like us, doing little things with great love.
Next barren. In the versus just before our Gospel Mary is told, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God. Throughout the bible we meet barren women, but women that never gave up on God, never lost hope. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, laughed when God told her that in her old age she would bear a child. And she has Isaac. Hannah goes to the temple everyday and prays that God will give her a son and she gives birth to Samuel. And today we have Elizabeth. Aren’t we often like them? Barren, feeling empty, alone, overwhelmed, threatened, giving up hope? The doctor says, “cancer.” A spouse of 50 years or 5 years dies, we’re elderly and feeling alone. What is Elizabeth’s message: never give up hope, all is possible with God. That is what we celebrate not just at Christmas but every day - God is with us, Emmanuel.
Finally, believe. Mary is told, Do not be afraid, Mary. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. The Holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Do not be afraid? You are a young pregnant teenager, living in a society that stones women for adultery. Do not be afraid? How do you handle that fear? How do we handle fear? When our spouse seems to keep forgetting things, when that grandchild gets divorced, when our legs just don’t seem to work or we can no longer drive. Believe – trust that above all else God wants to be Emmanuel -“God with us,” wants to be part of us. Where do we begin? With God’s own Christmas gift: God’s son trusting himself to us. He did you know. He trusted himself to this young girl’s body for nine hidden months. He trusted himself to a mother and foster father who never quite understood who he was and what he was about. He trusted himself to twelve intimate friends, one of whom sold him for 30 pieces of silver. He trusted himself to the people he created and they crucified him. He trusts himself to us – in our hands and on our tongues. That is Mary’s message to us: Believe and trust in the power of God.
That’s it. Look for God in the small insignificant things and places and people; like making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at Jackson House. Never give up hope. Emmanuel, God is with us: we may be barren and empty at times but we can be transformed, changed. It happens every time we approach this altar, cup our hands and say Amen. And believe. Trust that God wants to be with us. Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.
Emmanuel, God is with us.