Reflection: Christmas Vigil

Is 62:1-5 | Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29 |
    Acts 13:16-17, 22-25 | Matthew 1:1-25

To be human is to be able to experience happiness in many ways, in various aspects of the person: in our emotions, in our body, in our intellect, and in the innermost part of our being - the heart and soul. However, there is also the unrosy side. To be human is also to be liable to pain and suffering, illness and even death, as well as vexations of the spirit, such as heightened tendencies or temptations to veer away from what is good, therefore they give rise to anxiety and fear. When the dark side of the human condition is experienced we yearn for comfort or relief. 

His name is Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." How comforting is that!

God is with us means that God shares our humanity. God is really saying: it is alright to be human. More than saying it, God becomes one of us to show us how to live humanity to the fullest.

God's becoming one of us in his Incarnation enables us to enjoy the divine presence, a true communion with God. That communion enables us not only to deal with the dark side of our humanity but also, and more importantly, to delve in the beauteous side of our reality as being in communion with Love itself.

Since we are God's people, no more shall we be called forsaken, or our land desolate. God truly delights in us! How humbly comforting is that!  -30-

Reflection: 4th Sunday of Advent, Yr B (BA04)

2 Samuel 7.1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 
Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Romans 16.25-27
Luke 1.26-38

Very few of us would be able to imagine fully the impact of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, a devout young maiden, betrothed to Joseph of the royal house of David, and living in a culture that severely shamed and punished an unmarried pregnant woman. 

We might picture Mary’s shock at the angel’s appearance, bewilderment at his overwhelming message, and humble and complete submission to his word. 

God’s messenger did not offer a specific solution to Mary’s concern or fear, but rather a mindset. “Do not be afraid,” the angel said; and she gave her fiat. 

We could have already experienced devastation or grave problems: natural disaster, violence, serious illness, or loss of means to support the family. How did we deal with those? At times through life we might face dire situations. How prepared are we? A common response to the resultant anxiety and fear is to pray to be spared or to find a resolution as soon as possible. 

Would we hear God’s answer if it were “Do not be afraid”? How would we take it? Perhaps in the intense discomfort and distress we would feel God’s answer too abstract, not specific enough to be practical, and would not immediately alleviate the situation. 

However, “Do not be afraid” means to trust and hope in God who loves and cares for us, God who is with us.

Mary models for us a certain willingness to trust completely in God, a profound faith that would enable us to declare confidently: I am the servant of the Lord. Let all be done to me according to his will. -30-

Reflection: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Yr B (BA03)

1st Reading: Isaiah 61.1-2a, 10-11
Response: Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
2nd Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5.16-24
Gospel: John 1.6-8, 19-28

“Who are you?”  John the Baptizer was asked the question.  He knew the answer for he had been living it.  From childhood he had been raised to the awareness that he was to be the prophet of the Most High, destined to go before the Lord to prepare his way.  So he was able to respond clearly:  He was the voice exhorting people to make straight in the desert or wilderness the way of the Lord, to cleanse their hearts.

“Who are you?”  This is a good question to ask ourselves, especially in this season of Advent, a time of introspection and reflection on our own readiness to encounter the Lord and welcome him into our hearts. 

In reply, one might identify himself as a Christian, meaning a follower of Christ.  Then this begs the other question, the one Jesus asked of his disciples: “Who do you say I am?” 

In life’s wilderness, fraught with difficulty and confusion, are we truly willing and determined to maintain the integrity of that identity that we claim: that of a disciple of the Christ? 

A true disciple is one who is docile, eager to be taught and to learn, and willing to obey.  An authentic disciple has the conviction to live the Christian life, through temptations pervasive in our culture, such as avarice, one-upmanship, and disrespect and exploitation of the other.

When we discover true Christianity in ourselves, we share the joy in the Magnificat, Mary’s prayer, where the prophet speaks of the same inner joy of fulfillment, of experiencing oneness with the Lord God: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”  -30-

Reflection: 2nd Sunday of Advent, Yr B (BA02)

1st Reading: Isaiah 40.1-5, 9-11
Response: Psalm 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14
2nd Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-14
Gospel: Mark 1.1-8

Even during his time, John the Baptizer stood out as on oddity of a person. Never mind his clothes; he ate locusts and wild honey. In spite of it all, people went to him to be baptized, confessing their sins, to prepare the way of the Lord.

Nowadays one may find it difficult to allow such a person, man or woman, to prepare the way of the Lord into one's heart. This is so because an eccentric person usually makes us uncomfortable and perhaps even cautious. At times, the unfamiliar can be unnerving.

Now this is what we face: in our society these days, many things that happen are not good, not life-giving, not true; yet they occur so often that they seemingly become acceptable, or worse, the norm. What used to be considered wrong or inappropriate has become so familiar and ingrained in the culture that when the opposite is encountered, it is the good, the life-giving, the truth that can be uncomfortable, even suspicious. At such a time we who make up the church, the Body of Christ, can be as John the Baptizer to one another, helping each other discern which paths are dead ends or crooked, and which are straight and true.

Advent is a good time to hope for and to make real the service of preparing for each other the way of the Lord. To fill in the valleys, to make mountains and hills low, to level all the rough terrain: these are daunting tasks for one person. The sooner we commit to forming ourselves as true church communities, the sooner we shall see together the glory of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 40:5).  -30-