REJOICING IN CHRIST’S COMING THROUGH ENCOUNTERING HIM IN HEART AND MIND

20151220 REJOICING IN CHRIST’S COMING THROUGH ENCOUNTERING HIM IN HEART AND MIND

Readings at Mass

First reading

Micah 5:1-4 ©

The Lord says this:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

the least of the clans of Judah,

out of you will be born for me

the one who is to rule over Israel;

his origin goes back to the distant past,

to the days of old.

The Lord is therefore going to abandon them

till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.

Then the remnant of his brothers will come back

to the sons of Israel.

He will stand and feed his flock

with the power of the Lord,

with the majesty of the name of his God.

They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power

to the ends of the land.

He himself will be peace.

Psalm

Psalm 79:2-3,15-16,18-19 ©

Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hear us,

  shine forth from your cherubim throne.

O Lord, rouse up your might,

  O Lord, come to our help.

Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

God of hosts, turn again, we implore,

  look down from heaven and see.

Visit this vine and protect it,

  the vine your right hand has planted.

Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

May your hand be on the man you have chosen,

  the man you have given your strength.

And we shall never forsake you again;

  give us life that we may call upon your name.

Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Second reading

Hebrews 10:5-10 ©

This is what Christ said, on coming into the world:

You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,

prepared a body for me.

You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;

then I said,

just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book,

‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’

Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.

Gospel Acclamation

Lk1:38

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the handmaid of the Lord:

let what you have said be done to me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 1:39-44 ©

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

REJOICING IN CHRIST’S COMING THROUGH ENCOUNTERING HIM IN HEART AND MIND

SCRIPTURE READINGS: MICAH 5:1-4; HEB 10:5-10; LK 1:39-44

Christmas is near.  Christ is coming!  Are you happy?  Are you excited? But why are you happy and excited?  Is it because you will be receiving Christmas presents?  Yes, it is nice to receive presents!  Or is it because you will be attending parties and meeting friends?  Yes, it is nice to meet friends and enjoy their company!  But if these are the only reasons why you are happy and excited, your excitement and happiness is not going to last very long.  We must found our joy and happiness not on something, not on just anyone, but on Christ Himself!  If our joy is to be lasting, it must rest on a spiritual joy!

Thus, Christmas joy and our material and social celebrations must come from a deeper source, which is to encounter the Lord, to encounter His presence and know that the Lord is with us.  Only when we encounter the Lord who is the Emmanuel, God who is with us, can we find lasting peace and joy!  And indeed, Jesus is the one promised since the days of old, the one, as prophet Micah prophesied, who will rule over us.  Jesus, who calls Himself the Good Shepherd, will give us that peace and joy we are looking for because He is Peace.  If we want to find peace, we must know Christ and encounter Him.  No Christ, no peace!

In the gospel, the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary, between John the Baptist and Jesus, brought about great joy.  Mary must have betrayed her joy in her voice of greeting that something extraordinary had happened.  This in turn caused Elizabeth to be moved and exclaim with wonder and humility, “Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?”, for she immediately perceived that she was in the presence of a great divine mystery, that Mary bore salvation in her.

But not only were Mary and Elizabeth filled with joy, so, too, did John the Baptist when he encountered Jesus.  Elizabeth remarked, “For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.”  For pregnant women to feel the child’s movements in their womb and to be aware of life within is nothing exceptional.  But Luke used the word; “leapt”, not simply “stirred or moved”, implying a certain astonishing power or strength.  Truly, Elizabeth must have experienced the joy of John the Baptist in encountering Jesus that he danced for joy.

How, then, can we share the same joy as they did?  Or rather, how can we encounter Christ for ourselves so that we too can find true peace and joy?  Firstly, we need to cultivate an attitude of wonder and contemplation.  The problem with modern man is that he has lost the sense of wonder.  He is no longer fascinated by anything. But man wants to strip mystery from everything. He stripped Santa Claus of its mystery!   He has lost touch with creation.  He has lost touch with the mystery of life and death.  This is because he lacks humility.  He thinks science has all the answers to life and destiny.

On the contrary, Mary and Elizabeth in today’s gospel were filled with wonder and praise as to what was happening in their lives.  When the gospel says, “Thereupon, Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah”, it is not simply to indicate Mary’s curiosity to see what was happening to Elizabeth.  Nay, Mary’s haste speaks of her interior disposition that made her act with fervour and zeal because of the marvels that God was working in her life.

We, too, are called to contemplate on the sublimity of Christmas, especially on the incarnation; the Word of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us.  The irony, as St John would tell us, is that God who created the world through His Word and this Word who has now became flesh and dwells amongst us, unfortunately is not recognized by men!  This is the tragedy – man has failed to recognize the God who created him.  Hence, still cut off from the presence of God, man remains empty and incomplete, since without God, man is nothing.   Yes, we must gaze on Jesus and contemplate on God’s wisdom and greatness in emptying Himself to become one with us and one for us. To know that God is with us as the Emmanuel should fill us with great joy and courage, especially in difficult times. 

The second attitude flowing from the sense of wonder is faith, not reason.  When we begin to wonder and sense the awesomeness of life, then one cannot but either surrender in faith or in confusion, because reason cannot understand.  If we choose faith, then the life of God and the hope of men can meet in faith.  That was why Elizabeth remarked, “Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Faith in His coming and in His promise is a pre-requisite to encountering the presence of Jesus in our hearts.

Faith is the source of Mary’s blessedness.  It is her faith in the Word and because of her Son that she is elevated to such joyous and wondrous blessedness.  This faith of Mary is the basis for her continued joy even in suffering.  Her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and His promises.  Indeed, the word “blessed” literally means “happiness” or “beatitude”. It describes a kind of joy which is serene and untouchable.

The joy of Mary and that of Jesus is a joy that is interior and not influenced by changing circumstances in life.  Mary was blessed by being the mother of the Son of God.  But her blessedness also entailed having a sword pierce her heart as her Son died upon the cross.   As a consequence, God’s saving grace could display all of its strength in her.  Jesus promised His disciples that “no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).  The Lord gives us a supernatural joy which enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take away.  Only the faith of Mary can help us to embrace the will of God in life. 

The third attitude is that of obedience to God’s will.   God’s will becomes ours only when we have faith and trust in God.  In God, being, desiring and acting are one and the same.  To be with God is to desire Him; and to desire Him is to act like Him.  That is to say, if we are one with God, then we desire to become like Him in mind and heart.  Conforming our own will to His and to live in obedience to Him, is the only way we can unite ourselves with God.

Mary is full of grace and truly blessed because she lives out the beatitudes as taught by Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount.  If we proclaim the sinlessness of Mary, what we mean is that she always surrendered herself in obedience to the will of God. But to be chosen by God is an awesome privilege and responsibility.  Mary received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. Indeed, if Mary is called the Mother of God, it is because Mary received the word of God in total, humble obedience.  Similarly, this was the way Jesus acted as well.  We know that Jesus is truly the Son of God because even before His incarnation, He said in union with His Father, “God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.”  And what is the will of the Father?  That like Mary, He offers His entire self for the love of humankind!  

Like Jesus, we are called to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice for others for the love of His Father.  United with Jesus, we are invited to offer real worship, not just in rituals but in spirit and truth by living a holy life in love and selfless service.  We are called to make ourselves the presence of God for others.  Like God the Father and Jesus, we are called to give not just presents but to give ourselves to others.  Isn’t Christmas the celebration of the mystery of this God who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16)?

However, more than simply giving gifts, it is equally important to ask what to give and how to give as well.  We are called to give primarily ourselves.  What was the most important thing Mary brought to Elizabeth?  Not foodstuff, but the gift of herself!  She gave Elizabeth the gift of her very presence.  This gift is perhaps the most difficult gift to give to anyone.  We can send flowers and we can give presents, but to give ourselves, to make time to be with someone, is not so easy.  Yet, Mary’s example tells us that besides giving presents, we must give of ourselves, our presence, our time. This is the greatest gift because its value cannot be calculated in terms of money.  Do you know one thing everybody needs today? Everybody needs encouragement and an understanding ear.  Everybody needs the interior peace and joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. This is what Mary’s visit did for Elizabeth. Mary’s visit was an inspiration to Elizabeth. When we visit people this Christmas, let us try to bring some inspiration into their lives.

For this reason, the greatest of all gifts that we can give is the person of Jesus who has come to be with us!  Isn’t that what we all need most?  Isn’t Christmas the celebration of Jesus as the Gift of God in person?  Jesus comes to give us Himself, to share in our condition and to share in our struggles.  Hence, the presents and even our presence are to let them know that Jesus is real and living in us.  But surely, we want them to find Jesus themselves.  Let us seek to bring them closer to God, and let us try to share with them the Spirit of God in us, the Spirit of consolation, of courage, of peace and joy, just as Mary did.

So like Mary who gave Jesus to Elizabeth, we too must give Jesus to others. Following the example of Mary and Elizabeth, we need to find courage to testify to others what God has done for us in our lives.  We need to share how the gospel has changed our lives, guided us in daily life, and offered us inspiration in difficult times and when we have to make important decisions.  Yes, we need to share with each other in simplicity of heart how God is present in our lives by celebrating with thanksgiving the marvels which the Lord has worked for, in and through us. Perhaps, we need to spend some time to pray for those who have not yet encountered the Lord in their lives, those who need healing and prayers.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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