The Baptism of the Lord

 

Is 40:1-5,9-11

Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10

Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7

Lk 3:15-16, 21-22

 

Those who are familiar with Handel’s Messiah are forgiven if they wish to tune out to the homily and listen to a private performance of that magnificent work in their heads hearing nothing of what I am going to say. 

 

The first reading from the 40th chapter of Isaiah makes up a substantial portion of the first part of the Oratorio.  In fact that first part is sometimes  referred to as the Christmas part.  The first verse of the reading, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God" are the first words sung after the overture while the final verse, “He shall feed his flock” brings the first section to a close. Knowing the readers to whom the first reading is addressed is important to understanding its significance. 

 

It was written for an exilic and post-exilic people who had suffered greatly

but who now saw their sufferings coming to an end.  Isaiah is reminding the Israelites, as they prepare to return from exile, that God is powerful and remains loyal to them.  Isaiah offers them comfort and assures that their exile has ended,

that they will be nurtured and fed with the same gentle attention a shepherd feeds his flock. 

 

In our world of ongoing viral plagues, persistent economic crises, seemingly permanent war, and shattered confidence in many institutions--including the Church and its leadership--it is important that we be reminded of God’s solicitous care for us.  Yes,  He comes with power; but He also leads the flock with care. 

 

The second reading from Titus elaborates the promises from Isaiah: “When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had donebut because of his mercy. . .”

 

“Not because of any righteous deeds we had donebut because of his mercy . . .”

 

We are reminded of God’s generous and wholly undeserved gift of Himself; a gift meant to lead us through the deserts of our lives to eternal life. 

 

God gave us this gift through His only begotten Son who, despite being like us in all things but sin, was baptized by John; a baptism described by the ancient historian Josephus as: “a consecration of the body implying that the soul was already thoroughly cleansed by right behavior.” 

 

 

Jesus’ baptism is an indisputable fact.  All four Gospels give an account of it though, as usual, the details vary across them.  John’s description is particularly unclear.   But, we cannot allow ourselves to get bogged down by details such as whether Jesus was baptized by total immersion or through pouring of water over His head.  The only proper focus is the fact and meaning of Jesus’ baptism not the how it was administered. 

 

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters

The Lord over the vast waters.

The voice of the Lord is mighty

The voice of the Lord is majestic.”

 

The Gospel echoes the grandeur of the psalm when we hear God’s voice, “You are my beloved Son: with you I am well pleased.”  Jesus’ public ministry

began with His baptism.

 

There are three ways to understand baptism in the New Testament.  The first is the most obvious: washing.  Washing is the literal meaning of the Greek root baptein or baptizein.  For us, that washing includes remission of original sin. But sin was the only human dimension Jesus did not share with us.  He united Himself with sinners but He Himself was free from sin. 

 

A second understanding is that of dying and rising.  Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan  presaged the baptism of blood He was to undergo on Calvary. Xavier Leon-Dufour wrote that Jesus' baptism in the Jordan announces and prepares for His baptism “in death.”  For us the waters of baptism represent dying so as to live again in the peace of Christ.  Leon-Dufour wrote that, “Baptism kills the body in so far as it is an instrument of sin and confers a share in the life of God in Christ.”  

We are reminded of this in a particular way at the beginning of the requiem Mass

when the body is received into the church with the words: “In the water of baptism he died with Christ and rose with him to new life. May he now share with him eternal glory.”

 

A third understanding of baptism is that of new birth in the Spirit, a very Pentecostal theme.  That theme is apparent in the reading from Titus:

“He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hopes of eternal life.”

 

Today’s readings began with the first line of Handel’s Messiah. Soon I will elevate the consecrated bread and wine, Christ’s particular and real presence

and repeat the doxology:

 

“Through Him, with Him, and in Him in the unity of Holy Spirit

All glory and honor are yours Almighty Father forever and ever.”

 

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Photos from Lyon, France.  One of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited.  It is a photographers dream, particularly Old City in the early morning hours before the tourists hit. 

 

The Church of St. Georges has an indult to celebrate the Tridentine Latin Rite.  Because of my schedule I could rarely manage to get to the community Mass.  The entry to the bridge in the phot was about 30 yards from our door. 

An optical illusion.  The two churches are very distant.  The white one, the basilica,  is several hundred feet higher than the one at river level.

Art gallery in Old City, a wonderful place in which to wander with a camera.

An art gallery further down the street. 
 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

O Come Let Us Adore Him: Homily for the Feast of Epiphany

 

Despite custom and tradition, the Feast of Epiphany has nothing to do with three Kings.  As we just heard in the gospel,  “behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.”  No number was given.  Nor were they named.  But, human nature being what it is not only did there have to be an absolute number but they required names, neither of which come from scripture.  The number three came from the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh backed on the assumption that it was one gift per magus, the singular of magi.  Kasper, Melchior, and Balthazar?  Sounds like a law firm.  However, the magi are neither numbered nor named in the gospel.  They are anonymous just as we are.  But they are the source of some interesting traditions of the past.

 

I don’t think the custom persists back home but back when I was an altar boy over sixty years ago, some of us got day out of school to accompany the priest as he blessed the homes of parishioners. This was true in the Polish, Slovak, and Lithuanian churches in town.  Not too sure about the Irish church.  After the blessing Father, using a piece of chalk, would inscribe the initials, K, M, and B with a cross between each letter and the number of the current year.  And then there were a few Christmas cookies to nibble on in the car.  How we got through those seasons without developing diabetes is a bit of a mystery. 

 

Many of the traditions that have grown up around the Feast of the Epiphany  have little to do with reality or the meaning of Jesus’ birth.

 

The word epiphany is from two Greek roots:epi:  forth and pheinein: to show.  Thus Epiphany means to show forth, to reveal, to manifest.  One formal definition of epiphany is: "a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something, a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization." 

 

The intuitive realization of Jesus as Messiah is the perfect description for this feast. That intuition was symbolized by the star not the magi who were not kings.  The word ‘king’ as well as their names came into use only in the sixth century.  In the end the number of magi, whether they had any royal status, and their names are all irrelevant distractions.  The Magi are important because they represent the first Gentiles to worship Jesus;  they were the first gentiles to realize and comprehend that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah

 

There are many more epiphanies of Jesus scattered throughout the Gospels.   It is even more important to realize on this feast that there are multiple personal epiphanies of Jesus scattered throughout our lives if we are willing and able to recognize them in faith.

 

We just heard in the gospel, "When King Herod heard of this he was greatly troubled and all Jerusalem with him."  Herod's jealousy, duplicity, and rage bring us closer to the reality of Christmas than do the lyrics of  "O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

"Go and search diligently for the child.  When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."  Fortunately the magi, worthy of their name as wise men, did not believe the crazed megalomaniac and changed their return route.  Their failure to return with the information he demanded sent Herod over the edge into a murderous rampage directed at male children up to the age of two. 

 

Once we wash away the treacle, set aside the sloppy sentimentality, and forever dissociate the word ‘magic from Christmas, we can begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas. 

We can begin to understand what we call the "Christmas story."  That story did not end when the magi returned home, wherever that might have been.  What we call the Christmas story

only describes the beginning of the Christ-event the total arc of Jesus' life, from incarnation and birth, through his hidden life, his teaching, his passion, death, resurrection and ascension.

 

The wood of the manger in Bethlehem led to the wood of the cross on Calvary. We cannot, we must never, separate the wood of the manger from that of the cross.  Understanding that is part of a true epiphany.

 

The late Dag Hammarskjöld summarized the reality of Epiphany and the entire liturgical year in a haiku written in the small  personal journal found following his murder in what was then the Belgian Congo.  Published under the name Markings it has never been out of print despite the lapse of over five decades. The haiku reminds us that Christmas does not and cannot stand alone in either the liturgical or secular calendar.

 

"On Christmas Eve Good Friday

was foretold them

in a trumpet fanfare."

 

The trumpet fanfares and Gloria in Excelsis Deo of Christmas have meaning only when we experience the silence of Good Friday and the shock of the empty tomb.   

 

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The photos were take in the village of Črni Vrh in Slovenia.  The community had gone to the funeral of a Jesuit' s father.  Cold does not begin to describe it.  At 800 plus feet elevation it was about 3500 feet.  Despite having been advised, and following the advice, to wear as much as possible, I don't recall feeling as cold in years.  The wind was fierce.   It took hours to thaw out.

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

 

Father Knows Best: Feast of the Holy Family

 

Sir 3:2-6, 12-14

Ps  128 or 105

Lk 2:41-52

 

Today’s feast of the Holy Family reminds us that Jesus was born into and raised within a family. The immediate family was small but there are hints that Jesus grew to adulthood within the context of a larger extended family. Perhaps clan might be a better word.

 

He lived in a particular social world, at a specific time in history, in a definite place. Jesus’ world was governed  by the religious traditions and laws of Israel. 

His parents observed the traditions and laws regarding circumcision, purification,

dedicating the first born male to the Lord, and, as we hear today, going up to Jerusalem for the Passover. 

 

The story of Jesus, is a very human story. We can identify with those human dimensions and rejoice that we share our humanity with that of the Holy Family.

We can identify with the narrative of Jesus being separated from his parents while in Jerusalem, each of us in his or her own way.  Any parent today can identify with his parents' frantic response when they realized he was not with them.  We can also understand Mary's obvious annoyance when she asked,

"why have you done this to us?"  How did she enunciate those words? Did she sound angry or relieved?

 

Like us, Jesus was carried in his mother's womb and endured the messiness of childbirth.  Like us, Jesus began life as a helpless infant who grew into adulthood. Jesus was like us in all things but sin.  He did not put in a cameo appearance on earth shifting his shape or appearance to suit various needs

only to return to a distant mountaintop after wreaking vengeance on an enemy god or goddess.

 

 

Jesus did not remain aloof from life on this earth, with its trials, tribulations,

joys and sorrows.  Rather, he experienced them fully.  The late Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner points out that Jesus “came into the world the same way we did

in order to come to terms with the given facts of human existence, and to begin to die”

 

And to begin to die.

 

There were hints of that future death in Simeon’s cryptic comment to Mary:

“and you yourself, a sword will pierce” or, in another translation  “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.” What did Mary feel when she heard these words?  Did she recall them as she admonished Jesus in today's gospel?  Did they echo in her ears as she stood at the foot of the cross?

 

No fear surpasses that of a parent whose child is missing. No grief exceeds that of a parent who endures the death of a child at any stage of the child’s life, from life in the womb to death when both parent and child old.  Mary knew that fear and unimaginable pain.

 

The Feast of Holy Family challenges us to pray for families, particularly those that are fragmented, and those that are under attack. We pray for those families hat are unstable because of divorce, casual live-in arrangements with no commitment, and pregnancies that never involved a father, or at least one who maintained no presence following conception.

 

The Feast of the Holy Family challenges us to recognize Jesus when we encounter Him and wherever we encounter Him.  It challenges us to recognize

the sanctity of the family, and to preach that sanctity at every opportunity.

The challenges are significant.  We are, after all, sinners who don’t always get it right.  But we have the example of the Holy Family.

 

The example of Mary’s yes, at the Annunciation“ may it be unto me according to your word.”  The example of Joseph’s silent yes to the angel who instructed him: “Do not fear to take Mary your wife . . .”The example is in Jesus’ yes at Gethsemane, “not as I will, but as thou wilt.” 

 

As we commemorate the Holy Family as we contemplate their yes to the will of God we pray that we will also say yes.  

 

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Photos from one of the best Christmases I had in years.  It was 2016 while in Ljubljana, slovenia.  It was the only day our main meal was in the evening rather than at noon.  I wandered the city for hours that day, and a few others, shooting.  The straw nativity halfway down was an amazing scene. 

 

 Have a Blessed New Year 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Seventh Day: O Emmanuel . . .

 

O Emmanuel, 
Rex et legifer noster, 
exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: 
veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, 
God with us, our King and lawgiver, 
the expected of the nations and their Savior: 
come to save us, O Lord our God.

Meditation: Advent has run its course. Tomorrow we will begin the Great Feast commemorating that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, was born. Try to put the sloppy sentimental imagery associated with Christmas out of your head.  What we call "The Christmas Story" does not end with Hosanna in Excelsis and a star. That is only the beginning of the story of our redemption. There was much to be suffered before the full history of our salvation through Jesus' saving act would be written. Consider the manger and the shadow the cross cast on it. 

Prayer:  

Give us, O God, the vision

which can see Your love in the world 
in spite of human failure.
Give us the faith to trust Your goodness 
in spite of our ignorance and weakness.
Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray 
with understanding hearts.
And show us what each one of us can do 
to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.

Frank Borman, Apollo 8 space mission, 1968

On Christmas Eve 1968 the Apollo 8 astronauts, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman broadcast live from their space capsule. Each of them read part of Genesis chapters 1-10 while orbiting the moon. An interesting side note is that Madalyn Murray O'Hair, a notoriously strident atheist, sued the U.S. government for violating the first amendment. The Supreme Court dismissed the suit due to lack of jurisdiction.  Borman wrote the prayer which he also shared.  That must have made O’Hair nuts. 

'O Come, O Come Emmanuel.' Even more appropriate tonight than the first day of Advent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSRocN1dTrM(Latin)

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Today is the last of the antiphons.  Photos are from this morning.  I had the 8 AM Mass.  Took camera with me.  Did not expect a flurry of confession requests after Mass.  Did not have the energy to relight the candles etc.  I like the effect.  

 

Through some decorative ironwork in a door at the back of the chapel.

It was a beautifully sunny day though very cold.  Seven.  Fahrenheit.  

 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Sixth Day: O King of the Gentiles . . .

 

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, 
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

O King of the gentiles and their desired One, 
the cornerstone that makes both one: 
come, and deliver man, whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.

Meditation: Both the Old and New Testaments refer to the king being anointed with oil. David was anointed. Jesus' feet were anointed with oil and tears at table before his passion. The sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and the sacrament of the sick include anointing with specifically blessed oils: the oil of catechumens, sacred chrism, and the oil of the sick. The anointing we receive at baptism and confirmation joins us to Jesus in a share of His Passion. Consider the great gift of anointing. What does it mean to me?

Prayer:
The Anima Christi appears on the fly-leaf of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is an ancient prayer that was not written by Ignatius. However, it is obvious Ignatius knew the prayer and entered deeply into it.

Soul of Christ

Soul of Christ, sanctify me 
Body of Christ, save me 
Blood of Christ, inebriate me 
Water from the side of Christ, wash me  
Passion of Christ, strengthen me 
O good Jesus, hear me 
Within Thy wounds hide me 
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee 
From the malicious enemy defend me 
In the hour of my death call me 
And bid me come unto Thee 
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints 
and with Thy angels 
Forever and ever. Amen.  


Anima Christi (sung in Latin)

National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MhEsqPrdAY

Gate to the enclosure at the Charterhouse in Vermont.  The snow was slowing down after dropping seventeen inches.

 

 

F

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

O Key of David . . . .

 

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol iustitiae: 
veni, et illumina sedentes 
in tenebris et umbra mortis.

O dawn of the east, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: 
come, and enlighten those
who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Meditation: 
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace. 

The Agnus Dei is the final prayer of the Mass before communion. Immediately afterwards we acknowledge our unworthiness and ask that the Lord heal us despite that unworthiness. In the Agnus Dei we ask that he not only have mercy on us but that he grant us peace, peace in our world and peace within our own selves.  
Prayer:  

Nothing is more practical than
finding God, that is, falling in love
in a quite absolute, final way. What
you are in love with, what seizes
your imagination, will affect every-
thing. It will decide what will get
you out of bed in the morning, what
you will do with your evenings, how
you will spend your weekends, what
you read, who you know, what
breaks your heart, and what amazes
you with joy and gratitude. Fall in
love. Stay in love. And it will 
decide everything.

Pedro Arrupe, SJ

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)  

 

Bach's B minor Mass is one of the most perfect pieces of music ever written.  The Dona

Nobis Pacem of the Agnus Dei brings it to an ethereal end.

 

Close your eyes and allow the music to swirl around you no matter if you are seeking peace for yourself, for another, or the world. That is the peace that Christ promises. That is the peace He brings. That is God's gift to us, if we are willing to accept it. 
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrsc3wdBt4

 

The photo is of sunrise from sv. Višarje in the Julian Alps of Italy, just across the border from Slovenia and Austria.

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

O Key of David . . .

 

O clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel: 
qui aperis, et nemo claudit; 
claudis, et nemo aperit: 
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris.

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, 
who opens and no man shuts, 
who shuts and no man opens: 
come, and lead forth the captive who sits in the shadows from his prison

Meditation:
The door to eternal life is never locked from the inside. In various parts of the New Testament Jesus refers to himself as the gate, the door, and the way, and as the entry to eternal life. We lock our doors from the inside at night. We do so for our own safety. Jesus' door is always open. That too is for our own safety. Only we can lock the door to Jesus from the outside. We lock it when we refuse the gift of faith. We can also choose to unlock it.

Prayer for Generosity

O Lord, teach me to be generous
To serve you as you deserve
To give and not to count the cost
To fight and not to heed the wounds
To toil and not to seek for rest 
To labor and not to ask for reward
Save that of knowing I do your holy will
St. Ignatius of Loyola

Since By Man Came Death' from Handel's Messiah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o_djBlF6-o

 

 

An elaborate "doorknob" at the  Cistercian Abbey in Stična Slovenia.  

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD