The prophet Isaiah’s words today, “Arise, shine, your light has come,” give us a double command, says scripture scholar, Diane Bergant.  “Arise,” means, “Get up—do something!” But not only that; we are instructed to “Shine”—which seems to give the sense of spreading something around!  Something wonderful has happened!  Jesus, our light has been born!  I think it is important that we look at just what that meant then and for us today.  All the prophets throughout the Old or First Testament, spoke with assurance of the coming of the Messiah, the One who would save them, basically, from themselves, the One who would teach them how to live—simply put, how to love and care for one another.

Throughout the readings that the Church has given us today, there are three themes or ideas that run through them. The first idea comes from Psalm 72 and names Jerusalem as the source of the light for the nations.  The psalmist is praying that God would bless the King or ruler, so that in turn, the ruler can bless the people.  We see that, it is not so much about who the ruler is, but how that ruler will be with people.  The movement of grace—of good, is always meant to move outward–never is it meant for just one family, one people—but inclusively–for all people.

In Old Testament times, authority for the Jewish people was always seen as given by God, or regulated by God. The psalmist prays wonderfully for the King, that the ruler, then and now would have a measure of God’s own justice and that this justice would give birth to harmony and peace because then this would lead to complete well-being for all.

This sense of having authority, or power, and understanding that it is a gift to be regulated, to be shared for the good of all reminds me of an experience that I had in the recent past, with someone that I was required to be in a ministry position with who was seemingly into her own power and it made it very difficult for me to work with her, because she seemed very possessive of that power and gift. I was apparently judged and convicted of some “crime” before even being put into the position and as a result, she simply chose to ignore me and treat me with disdain, even though our respective positions required that we work together for the good of all. This situation didn’t allow for much peace or harmony.

And in your lives, you realize that receiving just treatment in this life enables you to be at peace and live to your potential.  This is true for each of us.  Without just treatment, our lives can be pretty miserable as I realized in the example from my own life.  We can also think of those who live in poverty—those who have no jobs or not the kind that give them a decent living, those with mental illness, those who suffer from addictions—their situations may involve injustice too, especially if no one steps up to help.

For the prophets in Old Testament times, as well as for the people; the real sign of the true character of leadership was seen if the most vulnerable in society were cared for—the poor.  If these lowliest ones’ needs were met, then indeed, this was the sign that “justice had flowered in the land.” History, I believe, will record that part of the legacy of the Obama Administration will be his concern for these same poor—that our national debt would not be laid entirely on those most vulnerable and least able to bear it—that again, justice would rule.  Each of us is challenged to meet the needs of those in our midst, to live compassionately, remembering, “that there but for the grace of God, go I.”

The second theme that runs through our readings is that Jesus, who is the Christ, the Anointed One, is the very revelation of God to all the nations. This is what the astrologers; the Three Kings understood when they saw the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. They further realized how right it was that this new ruler should come not in majesty, but in poverty—for indeed he would be a light to all the nations making it very clear that the least among us are loved and cared for by our just God and if we would follow him, we must do the same—we simply cannot ignore the vulnerable in our midst.

The third theme or idea running through the readings today is the new relationship that will be from now on between Christ, the Jews and the Gentiles.  The Gentiles represent all the others who are not Jews, like all of us here!  You see, the first Christians—Jews, thought that Jesus’ coming was just for them, but soon came to realize that Jesus meant much more than that.  That is the whole point today of the coming of the Magi—the Three Kings—from foreign lands, to see the manifestation of God for all peoples.

In this light; I reflect on the interfaith group that Dick Dahl and I participate in in our community—recognizing that we are all one under our One, Good God!  The Kings weren’t intended to merely see, but to share the Good News, that, “God is with us!” And this is where the “shining” comes in—the Magi took the wonderful news back to the “foreign” lands that they came from.

Friends, as we complete the Christmas Season today, let us remember and not often forget that our mission is to share Jesus and his preferential option for the poor with the world in which we live. We are also called to be compassionate people—ever grateful for all that we have been gifted with in life and to share our abundance with others in the ways that we can.  This will mean, showing kindness, mercy, understanding and love. It will mean taking responsibility for seeing that the poor and down-trodden in our midst is cared for—we have the wonderful example of the Warming Center in Winona which opened its doors this weekend. Being of this mindset should find us enraged with tax cuts for the wealthiest in our country. It will call us to make sure that those we elect to lead us have this same vision—we will be challenged in this in the next four years!  But if we can do these things and more, then our world will indeed become more just for all people—Jesus’ light will continue to shine through us!

So, my friends, if we look at the crib and see only a sweet baby—then we will have missed the point of Christmas! Jesus came as a sweet baby, yes!—the way we all come into the world, because God wanted us to know how much we are loved and the best way to do that was to be one of us and with us! But his mission and ours mean so much more than simply being born, living a while, and then dying. Each of us needs to live in such a way that when we come to the end of our lives, we can truly and humbly feel that Jesus’ love and justice are more a part of our world than before we came because that is what we have lived for and tried to bring about.

I began today with two commands—I repeat them now for us all—Arise! Shine!—our light, Jesus, has come and shows us the way!  The joy that the Magi found in a poor stable in Bethlehem, was a truth they could carry back to their homelands—our God has come in poverty to show us what is most important—that we live and love and care for all.  May we each be blessed this New Year to be people guided by the light of that same star that showed the Magi what life is really all about—love, pure and simple—this is the Christmas Story—this is what the Incarnation is really all about!

My friends, we are at a New Year—2017—a new beginning—a new chance to start again—a reason to hope.  The Church Universal gives us a reason to be encouraged as the theme of “fullness of life” bursts forth in every reading today, says scripture scholar, Diane Bergant.

The first reading from Numbers contains one of the oldest pieces of poetry in the Bible, she tells us. It was originally given to Moses and passed on to Aaron, his brother and ultimately to the priests for the People of God.  The blessings contained therein are asking for peace, which for the Jewish people was the condition of absolute well-being continues Bergant.  If you were at peace, and we can assume in a physical, emotional and spiritual sense, you really had it all! To be at peace in this sense was considered to have, “fullness of life.”

We can imagine that this sense of being, “at peace” came because one’s family was near, they were fed and otherwise cared for; they were well in body, mind and spirit.  This state of well-being gives each of us peace, when it is present.  I can’t help but think of the people right here in Winona that have to struggle many nights for a place to stay, out of the cold, and of the Winona Community Warming Center slated to open soon to alleviate some of their suffering.  This is a concrete example of living out our faith.

We see in the first reading from Numbers, our God, who wants us to know that we are not alone in our suffering, whenever and wherever we might experience it, wanting to help us make it better.   The reading says, “Invoke my name over the Israelites.”  In Hebrew, we get a clearer understanding of these words, when we read the translation—“Put my name on them” and I will then bless them.  In other words, we belong to God and God will indeed, walk with us.

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, spells this out and makes clear the relationship intended by God with each of us.  We are made daughters and sons of this God because we have “the spirit of the Child which calls out, Abba!”  Abba can be translated as “Daddy” or “Loving Parent.”

Within this reading; we can’t lose sight of the fact that our God will work through the patriarchal society that exists, where the legal heirs in any familial or business dealings will be males, but under Christ, our God says, all become worthy, all become daughters and sons, “heirs” and children of God.  As someone once said, “This is huge!”

Paul goes on in his letter to the Galatians to make very clear the intentions of our God in caring for us.  Jesus, our brother was sent specifically by our loving God to teach us first and foremost, that we are loved and then once we know and understand this basic idea—really wrap our heads and hearts around it; we can then go out and do the same.

For Paul, this is all about “mission.”  Jesus, as God’s envoy—making him divine, “born of a woman”—becoming human—we are united, heaven and earth and as a result, are so capable of so much good!  Part of the good that each of us is capable of is pointed to in the gospel from Luke.  This gospel is the same one used on Christmas for the Mass at dawn, only the focus has changed from the shepherds to the child and his parents, Bergant tells us.  We see that Mary and Joseph respected the law as they had Jesus circumcised and they named him according to the instructions given by the angel before his conception.

The aspect though that I wish to call most attention to in this reading is that of Mary being a real, down-to-earth example of the need of contemplation in our lives.  We read, “Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” No doubt there was much that she didn’t understand about the miracle of which she was part—she and Joseph, so to reflect on the purely human, joined with the divine and all that it would mean, was truly something to treasure!  In our lives as well, we must take the time in our days to reflect on all that happens, how our God may want to work through it, through us, to allow Jesus to be born again and again, into our world.

Part of what makes the Christmas Season so rich is that each aspect is given its time; the shepherds, the Child, the parents, the Magi—each attempting to call forth something different in us.

We began this homily reflecting on the “fullness of life” as depicted in the condition of “being at peace.”  Mary, given to us today, as a woman of reflection speaks to this peace.  We have to be at peace to be able to reflect on what something means—none of us reflects very well when in a state of chaos. She encourages us to think on the significance of our faith as lived out through our daily experiences.  She points to being faithful to daily spiritual practices—contemplation being one—that better helps us see God’s presence in our lives—through each other.

So, my good friends, as we begin another new year, let us keep the psalmist’s prayer on our lips and in our hearts, “May God who is merciful, bless us,” and remember that this prayer is basically asking God to “smile upon us.”  Let us remember too that this is exactly what God wants to do!

And as we have said throughout this season, the over-the-top love of our God in sending Jesus demands that we respond in kind, giving love to all of God’s family, which will bring world peace—one day—“fullness of life”—for all!  Amen? Amen!