My friends, again—“staying in the minds” of those being talked and written about in the Scriptures today, is really, I think, the place to be in order to fully understand, and appreciate what is being lifted up for us.
“Holy Family Sunday,” as a concept might be easier for some to understand, and appreciate, especially for those who are part of a very, loving family, and are just perhaps coming off a wonderful time of celebrating with that family. Or, on the other hand, this Sunday may be a hard concept for those who don’t come from such a family.

Sirach, in our first reading today, gives us several, basic ideas that should help us to be a family that “gets along” with each other and even can grow to love and cherish each other more—it’s a balance he seems to say wherein we respect, care, show compassion, mercy and love for each other, parents toward children, children toward parents, and so on. And is that always easy? No, we all know that it is not! But, it is worth the effort, those with experience, wisdom, and maturity would tell us.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, speaks of many wonderful traits, some of which I have already mentioned, caring for and respecting each other, but adds to these, heartfelt compassion, gentleness, humility, kindness, and patience. He also uplifts the ability to forgive each other when we are less than our best. But what seems to be the “crème de la crème,” of all these traits in dealing with others, is love—and Paul says, “Love is what binds the rest together.”

Paul continues in his letter to the Colossians, that we should, “dedicate [our] selves to thankfulness,” for all that we have, and perhaps realize the importance of that, rather than lamenting over what we don’t have. He also seems to make clear that our stance in the world really can’t be just about us, especially if we are in relationship with others —“those in relationships must be submissive to each other.” Many of you probably remember the old version of this reading, “Wives be submissive to your husbands,” and “husbands love your wives.”

In my mind, the husband who truly “loves his wife” wouldn’t expect her “to be submissive to him, without doing the same for her. The Priests for Equality, whose Scriptural translation that we use here, surely agreed as they uplifted, “submission” for both toward each other, as well as being cognizant of more than heterosexual relationships. In addition, in the PFE translation, this two-way street approach that Paul lifts up in the traditional top-down relationship between “parents and children,” really calls for a “balance” –children, obey those responsible for you” [but] “parents, don’t nag your children.”

In our gospel from Luke today, we are given a sense through the prophets, Simeon and Anna, in the temple, of just what life will be for the new parents, Joseph and Mary, as they embrace their roles in parenting Jesus. Simeon tells them that this child that came into their lives in a rather miraculous way, if we believe the story, will be, “the downfall and the rise of many…and that he will be rejected.”

Understandably, “they marveled,” at all that was being said about their baby! Anna talked about what she had seen that day to all who would listen. With regard to the words that Mary, Jesus’ mother heard from Simeon, it would be good for each of us to ponder this day—this week—“a sword will pierce your heart.”

For those who have had the privilege of raising children, or participated in this endeavor, emotionally, or spiritually, if not physically, know this to be true—there are ups and downs in this awesome task of raising a life that eventually will be good not only for oneself, but also be an asset to the world.

Now, we followers of Jesus can look at this story of his life from hindsight, knowing in fact, all that will come to Jesus’ “holy” family, and to himself. Mary and Joseph didn’t have that knowledge of what it would ultimately mean to parent this child, and bring his life to fruition.

So friends, for this reason, it is good to place ourselves in their minds and hearts, to make meaningful, these familiar words on the page. And as we think about it, we could say that for any of us beginning parenthood, we too didn’t know what was ahead of us.

It takes a great deal of faith to parent a child, not ever really knowing if all that you tried to do, the “tough love” and all would form the child into someone who would become an asset to themselves and their world.

Mary and Joseph’s job in parenting the little Jesus into adulthood couldn’t have always been easy—something that I think many of us faith-filled people never really thought about over the years of our religious lives. When one thinks of all that can happen in anyone’s lifetime, amid all the joy possible, it stands to reason that Mary and Joseph knew, as do present-day parents, how “a sword [could] pierce [their] heart[s] along the way.

The psalmist today in 128 gives us a clue as to how we, parents—whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or any combination of the three, can find the strength for what life may hold—“happy are those who revere our God—who walk in God’s way” —trusting in the “author of life” to give us the needed strength to live with, and overcome both the sad times, as well as the happy ones, makes all the difference, I would humbly suggest.

Friends, I would like to conclude these musings on what being a “holy family” was possibly all about, for Mary, Joseph and Jesus, as well as the families that any of us have attempted to build, by shining a bright light on the relationship that Mary and Joseph more than likely had, and the family that, as a result, they were able to build.

Scripture doesn’t give us many details, other than that “Mary pondered [so] much in her heart.” And given that, I think it is right and good that we go ahead and make some assumptions. If we go back to Paul’s words today in the 2nd reading from Colossians, that in attempting to live lives worthy of the gift of life, we put on love, “which binds all the [other good deeds] together,” we have a definite clue as to what that “original holy family” was no doubt about.

So, to begin with, Mary and Joseph had to have been in love with each other in order to give the human Jesus what he needed to then, eventually, give back so profoundly to his world as an adult. To quote a lovely and true line from, The Sound of Music, “nothing comes from nothing.” Mary and Joseph showed Jesus, “the way,” through daily, “loving actions,” so that he could eventually, show the rest of us, “the way.”

Theologically, we sometimes, as a Church get, “lost in the weeds,” proclaiming a “sexless” relationship between Mary and Joseph, who for too long, in the person of Joseph being presented as “a care-taker” husband devoid of any physical or expressed love toward Mary, or for that matter, she for him. Sadly, because the celibate men of our Church have for too long had a “troubled” relationship with their own sexual selves, they gave that same, “troubled” relationship to these two significant people of that first, “holy” family.

We need say no more, except to lift up the good that our God most likely intended by giving us sexual bodies and desires to express in a myriad of ways; as celibates, married, or in some way, committed relationships that are expressed in hetero or homosexual ways in order to give strength, support, and affection to each other, in our personal ups and downs. Having the particular type of support that each of us is called to in our lives, then opens us up for additional loving-centered acts in our greater world.

Perhaps a final thought on this Holy Family Sunday is to lift up to the light of day, what all the “loving” was really intended to do, in the end. So many people, in Jesus’ time, awaiting “The Messiah,” wanted an earthly being of strength to establish a “kingdom” that would put down their “enemies”—but the trouble with that, and why Jesus would ultimately be rejected in his own time and place, was the fact that he came to establish a “kin-dom,” as opposed to a “kingdom” which was not about “power-over,” but “power-for,” each of us. Amen? Amen!

My Friends—Merry Christmas and my wish for a blessed and happy New Year to each of you. As you will recall, throughout the four weeks of Advent, I have been uplifting for us the idea of “joy” and the Scriptures for tonight continue that theme, along with a natural follow-up emotion—that of hope.
Hope, it seems is there because the One we have “awaited, “ in memory, brings those attributes we all so desperately need in our world today—a sense of serving and caring for those “least” among us—of bringing “light” into what seems like “darkness” at times, and One who has promised, that within a relationship with such a God as we have, we need not fear, but trust, “that all will be well.”

We have often as well, uplifted here, the idea that our God’s over-the-top love for us in sending Jesus, was all about showing us how “to live” and not about, “saving or making up for” our wrong-doing. This gracious and profound gift brings us the “joy” that we live out in our lives at Christmastime. Jesus has shown us what it truly means to live a loving life and that is a joyous thing, because it is not about him, but about what we all can be in our lives together when we see this bigger picture of life.

And my friends, beyond lifting up the joy tonight, I would like to show perhaps a truer picture than we might regularly be given of who Jesus was at Bethlehem, and throughout his life—how he came, not in glory, but in simplicity. It is for this reason, to make this concept clear that I omitted the Titus reading usually in place for Christmas Eve, with the reading from Paul to the Philippians, chapter 2—“though in the image of God, he did not cling to it, but became completely empty…taking on the image of oppressed humanity (Philippians 2: 6,7) In our present day, we might think of those at our southern border, as this oppressed humanity, looking for a better, safer existence for themselves and their families.

The gospel I just read from Luke continues the simplicity of Jesus’ coming—“she gave birth to her first-born…and laid him in a manger, because there was no room…at the inn (Luke 2: 7). It might be good for us to remember that a “manger” is a trough for horses and cattle to eat from.

So, because we may learn better from a good story, then from “thoughts on a topic or exegesis,” I will end with a good story. So, relax, be as comfortable as you can –and even if you have heard this story before, look for an added meaning tonight as you listen.

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Sam had shined shoes at the same corner for almost fifty years. But he hated his job. It wasn’t the hot sun in the summer or the cold wind in the winter that bothered him so much. Even the furious roar of the subway trains every 15 minutes did not distract him. What Sam never got used to and why he hated his job, was the way other people looked upon a shoe shine man.
Most of Sam’s customers knew him well. Or at least they knew his name and patronized his trade. “Another good job Sammy,” as they flipped him a silver piece or placed a couple of bucks in his shirt pocket.
The money didn’t matter that much to Sam, as he lived simply from what he made shining shoes. The YMCA had good mattresses and Cal’s Coffee Shop on the corner served good chili. No, what made Sam mourn his state in life was the way people looked on him. Or perhaps, more accurately, the way Sam looked down on himself.
One cold blustery December day while Sam was shining a customer’s shoes, a little girl appeared. She stood next to the space heater that Sam used to keep his customers and himself warm in his small shoe shine stand. The little girl kept starring at him until Sam did his best W.C. Fields imitation and said, “Get away kid, you bother me.” But the little girl stayed. “I’ve come to grant you a wish,” she said. “Just name whatever you want, and I will grant it.”
A wish, huh?
The man whose shoes Sam was shining looked up from his newspaper and asked, “Are you talking to me, Sammy?
Naw, I’m talking to this little kid.”
The man looked around . “What kid, Sammy?”
Sam looked up but the child was gone. Thinking that the swig of whiskey he had taken for breakfast was playing tricks on his mind, Sam shrugged his shoulders, spit on the man’s shoes, and began buffing them with his usual proficiency. A few moments later, Sam heard again the voice of the little girl. This time she was standing just behind him, whispering in his ear. “Any wish you want—and it will be yours!”
Playing along with what he now thought was some prank being pulled by his friend Cal at the corner coffee shop, Sam said, “Okay, I wish I were the richest person on earth.”

Immediately Sam found himself being caught up in a whirlwind. When he landed, he was in the most lavish house he could imagine. He was surrounded by servants ready to wait on his every word. Everywhere he looked, he saw money. Sam could have anything and everything he wanted. If he needed a new suit, a new car, or a special ice cream, he bought only the best.
Sam enjoyed his wealth for a while but soon realized that something was missing. So he summoned the little girl, who he kept on as an advisor. “Look kid, I have all the money I want and can buy anything I desire,” Sam said. “But the world just goes on whether or not I have anything to say about it. So you see, I want power –absolute control over everyone and everything in the world. I want to be the most powerful person on earth.”
That was a pretty tall order. The little girl said she would have to check with her supervisor. But before the end of the day, the whole world was at Sam’s command. His subjects called him King Samuel (you know how formal royalty can be) and he ruled the world. Nothing happened without King Samuel’s permission. Wars started at the nod of his head; peace was won at the wave of his arm. Now, not only did he have enormous wealth, he had absolute power. The world revolved around the wishes of the king.

One day King Samuel was walking through the streets of his empire when he heard beautiful singing coming from a church. The king told his entourage to wait outside and he went in to see why the people were singing. He touched the arm of an old woman sitting in the back pew. At the sight of the king, the old woman trembled with fear. “What are all these people doing here?” the king asked her sharply. “Why, your majesty,” the old woman whispered, “They are praying.”
“Praying?” King Samuel asked. Then a slight smile creased his face. He realized they were probably praying to him, their king. But he wanted to hear the old woman say it. “And to whom are they praying?”
The old woman’s eyes held a hint of surprise. She looked away from the king and traced the floor as she mumbled, “Why, to God, your majesty. They are praying to God.”
The king could hardly believe his ears. “God?” he asked in shock giving way quickly to rage. The king stormed out of the church, his many followers close at his heels, and went straight to the castle. He summoned the little girl.
Look here, kid,” King Samuel said in a loud, angry voice. “I thought you made me the most powerful person on earth. But my subjects are praying to one more powerful than I. So, at the risk of losing your life, make me God.”
“Are you sure?” the little girl asked.
“Of course I’m sure,” the king shouted. “Make me as this God of the people would appear if he came to earth.”
This time the little girl did not have to call her supervisor. She simply snapped her fingers and granted the king’s request. Immediately, Sam was back at his stand on the street corner, shining another customer’s shoes.

So, my friends, we proclaim in our faith that we are Christians, and followers of our brother, Jesus. This is a true statement for us only if we realize that to honestly follow him, we must choose to live as he did—not for ourselves totally, but for others too, finding the balance between what we need and what we want—it would seem this is the “light” and the “joy” that we uplift in a special way this time of year, and can strive as a new year is upon us, to do more so in the future. Amen? Amen!

My friends, today we begin the short fourth week of our Advent — two plus days as we conclude our time of waiting. And what are we waiting for? It seems that we might best answer this question by considering what our good God “was up to in the Incarnation.”
I have stressed the point throughout Advent that God choosing to become, “One-with-us” in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who would later become “the Christ,” was all about love—love for us created ones, desiring to show us “the way.” The notion that many, if not all of us heard throughout our lives, that Jesus would come to “save us,” was accomplished not by “dying,” but by “living” for us, showing us the way to do that well.
Our chosen readings for today speak, in many ways about “little ones” being called to do great things. The first of these “little ones” the prophet Micah speaks of, is in fact, “a place”—Bethlehem—out of this seemingly insignificant place will come One who will “stand firm” and “shepherd” the people. This One will be about “peace.”
My friends, we who would follow our brother Jesus must be about what he was about and the writer to the Hebrews articulates the response that we must have in following our brother, “Here I am. I have come to do your will.”
The remainder of this homily, I would like to focus on two significant women, our sisters, Mary and Elizabeth as “little ones” who came in response to their God’s call stating with truth and love, “their presence,” “here I am” and their intention of doing God’s will in their lives.
These two don’t get much “press-time” throughout the Church Year, but they are ones who should because of their steadfastness amid all that life can call forth from any of us!
This past week, Robert and I watched an American Masters presentation on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her “Little House” books. The presentation lifted up the truth that she and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane worked as “companions” in the writing and editing of these well-known books. I raise this simply to mention something that will serve us well as we read the Scripture story today of our sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.
Rose, as her mom’s secret editor encouraged Laura in the writing of her books, “to stay in the mind of Laura” when writing—write in that vein, she seemed to be saying, and what you write will be much more interesting to your readers.
For us then, my friends, not only today, with Mary and Elizabeth, but with Scripture stories in general, we should try to stay in the “minds” of those being discussed, to get the full benefit that then can be applied to our own lives.
Let’s begin, “in the mind” of Mary in today’s selection from Luke. The text says, [she proceeded] “in haste.” Why do you think that would have been? Remembering the earlier text that Mary had said “yes” to becoming the mother of the long-awaited, and foretold, Messiah, and hearing that her relative, Elizabeth, in her old age was also, “with child,” Mary is compelled to “go quickly” to be with her aunt.
Now, it would have been common for a younger relative to go and assist an older one; but I would suggest a deeper urgency here in Mary’s flight.
Keeping “in her mind” and additionally, her heart, and thinking about Mary’s own condition of being pregnant before she was formerly married—not against the law, as she was espoused to Joseph, but just the same looked down on in respectable society. Add to that, the heavenly, and mysterious component of this, “being with child,” Mary’s haste was probably as much about getting acceptance and confirmation from her aunt to the wonder of what had taken place as it was to support and assist Elizabeth—and in the end, her long-awaited baby would prove to be significant too, in God’s plan.
Thus the two women were gifting each other with “time and presence” in order to understand their blessed pregnancies, more through their hearts, than their minds. This Scripture reading friends, as all of Scripture, for the most part, becomes “alive” when we try and stay, “in the minds” (and hearts) of the characters presented. And additionally, when we read on this “heart level,” it becomes so much easier to apply the life lessons learned there to our own lives.
Let’s briefly turn from Mary and Elizabeth to look at all the prophets who foretold the “coming of the Messiah,” but never lived to see their God-given message come to reality—they merely planted the seeds of hope that others would see come to fruition. In our own lives my friends, we do the same—we plant seeds too as teachers, parents, counselors, friends that we may never see fully grown, but we know it is our call too, like prophets before us to do our part.
Moving back then to Mary and Elizabeth, we “see and hear” that, “when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby stirred in her womb.” Up until this time, Elizabeth, considered beyond the years when giving birth would have been possible, had not yet felt her baby move. It would have been understandable, “in her mind” and heart to think that “this time too” it may not happen.
The Scriptures tell us that upon Mary’s greeting, not only did the baby stir, but it stirred “for joy!” Those who have been blessed to have given physical birth know “that joy” the first time their own babies stirred! So, my friends, if we simply read without fully engaging with the words of Scripture, trying to be “in the minds” and hearts, of those we read about, in order to understand as fully as we can what they are experiencing, we miss so much.
Mary’s canticle, in Elizabeth’s presence, is all about proclaiming in strength and power, the greatness that her God has bestowed upon her, for the good of the world. She prays her Magnificat with humility, yes, but strength too!
One final idea that I will simply mention, because I will speak more of it at Christmas, is the way we believe Jesus, our brother, came into this world. One might think that it would be with a good deal of pomp and circumstance, as in the past we have used such titles as Lord of Lords, King of Kings, even creating Christmas Crib scenes depicting Mary and Joseph in royal robes. But no, God’s plan was to incarnate within the poverty and the announcement of God’s glory was first made not to those “in power,” but to those “with no power” on the hillsides of Bethlehem…to be continued…
Amen? Amen!