My friends, I was reminded today that I haven’t yet put out a Christmas Schedule, which I will do following sending out the homily (: Pastor Kathy

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My friends, we began the holy season of Advent uplifting the notion that these four weeks, and a short four weeks at that, are about “joy” and a joy that builds throughout this time. Our color is royal blue, even though in most Catholic churches, you will see purple as the predominant color.
Our Catholic church is a ritualistic one—something I have always most appreciated, as the signs and symbols that we use connect us back to our daily lives. As Catholics, we have over the years praised those who have helped us to make “rich” the times of the Church Year through signs and symbols that are meaningful to each particular season. because Advent is about “joy realized” in our God who loved us enough to send our brother Jesus to be, “one-with-us,” Emmanuel, we rightly see this season being about “joy in our God,” not guilt for our sinfulness which is depicted, as in the season of Lent with the color purple.
Every one of our Scripture readings for today, are virtually “exploding” with joy, so for us to not “get that” is simply, to me, mind-boggling! As I look around our world today, I see so many places and situations that need the remedy of “joy proclaimed,” and acted upon, and to spend any more time “feeling bad about ourselves,” than necessary, seems to me, a waste of precious time. Our God created us, I believe, for joy—a joy that moves into our world, with love and care—fixes what is broken, cures those who are ill, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and genuinely works to help those treated unjustly.
It would seem that cultivating a “joy-filled heart” would give us the strength we need as Jesus’ followers to do the hard work that it takes to be about “loving” as opposed to “guilting” ourselves and others in this life.
As always, let’s look to the Scriptures for the best guidance. The prophet Zephaniah tells us to “fear not” for [our] “God is in our midst.” “Fearing” what we don’t know—how others may think of us—will we still be liked or accepted if we say or do this thing? –seems to go with the human condition. But the prophet clearly says, “Fear not” [!] Zephaniah continues, not only will, “God rejoice over you,” but “God will rejoice”… “with gladness!”
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, says it not only once, but twice, “rejoice in the Savior always” [!]
Luke, through John the Baptist, gets at the “hard work” that it will take to be true followers of our brother Jesus. Coming at any “hard” problem with joy, coupled with a good measure of faith, as opposed to any of the more negative emotions; guilt, anger, remorse, etc. seems a much better way to go, because in reality, “stepping up and out,” doing the thing, speaking the truth that no one else seems to want to do, is in fact, “a fearful” thing, because we all want to be loved—to be accepted.
In John the Baptist’s day, he was calling out those “with means,” to share with those needing clothes and food—that of course, fits for us as well. He tells the tax-collectors “to exact no extra,” and that “soldiers should not bully.”
We, my friends, can add to, “doing the hard work,” in our lives by “speaking truth to power” in Church and State, demanding that those in both places do what they were “given that power” to do, serving and caring for others, especially the neediest among us. In my understanding of the work of the Thursday letter-writing group that Nancy informs us of every week, this is what they do. I believe that whenever “joy” brings us to a task, it goes better.
And finally, in this surface look at today’s Scriptures, I lift up David, known as the composer of the Psalms who is “crying out with joy,” so I would say, our mission as Jesus’ followers is clear—we are to be about joy!
Now, fine-tuning these Scriptures, let’s take a deeper look at “why” we should be joy-filled. The Latin word for “joy” is “Gaudete” and prior to the Second Vatican Council, we were very much a “Latin” Church in our liturgical language. With the “opening of windows and doors” that Pope John XXIII said he wanted to do, we “lost” Latin, actually by then, a dead language, as the Church’s main liturgical language, in deference to the individual languages of peoples throughout the world, even though today, in some places, there are those trying to once again elevate Latin.
We know that Jesus’ languages were Hebrew and Aramaic, and “joy” in Hebrew is “Simcha”—and perhaps as we look back more and more at the words of Jesus, rather than those of the “Roman” church, we might do well to re-name this Sunday, “Simcha Sunday” –all about joy—in fact “Simcha” has been used as a personal name for obvious reasons. Just a thought (changing the name of this feast) that I think the Church fathers won’t take me up on.(:
But more so, let’s look further, as to “why” we should be about “joy,” especially today, and really, throughout all of Advent. If we can leave behind the notion, really ill-conceived, that Jesus came, “to save us from our sins by dying on the cross,” than we can be open to a God who simply “loved us,” first and foremost, and who wants “only good and not bad” for us in this life.
In my previous ministry as a chaplain, I would many times hear from patients that they “didn’t believe in God.” When I asked them to tell me, “who God was for them,” it was often a “mean and vengeful God just waiting to pounce when they failed.” I could most assuredly tell them that I didn’t believe in that God either! Then I would remind them of who Jesus told us his Abba God was, in the stories of the “Good Shepherd” and the ”Prodigal Child”—stories that both depict a God who loves in an over-the-top way, and who will go to any length “to find us and bring us home.”
But if the terminology of “saving us” is meaningful in your life, then a more positive way to envision Jesus’ coming might be to see his life actions, his words, as showing us the “best ways” to live out our one, wonderful life, and in that way, he “saves” us from our human tendency to be less than we can be.
So my friends, the Scriptures today clearly tell us to be “people of joy,” to “fear not” to do what God, through Jesus is asking of us—the hard, at times, work of love, and remembering that this same God, “is in our midst,” always showing us the way, and comforting us in the ups and downs of life.
A final thought my friends comes from the words of John, the Baptist, that today’s reading doesn’t include, but are important for all of us, especially ministers and pastors, “He (meaning Jesus) must increase, while I (meaning John) must decrease.” In today’s gospel, John says that there is one coming whose sandal strap John is not worthy to loosen.”
The words spoken by John that he must “decrease” while Jesus must “increase,” clearly speak to the place we as followers of Jesus must keep. We, as John, must never get in the way of the message –all that we do should be about, “shedding more light on Jesus!” So there you have it—
Amen? Amen!

My friends, today brings us to the 2nd Sunday of Advent, a time of increasing joy and light, as we walk, day by day, toward the beautiful feast of Christmas—the Incarnation of our loving God into humanity, in the person of our brother, Jesus of Nazareth, who would become the Christ—a God, big enough for all of creation—for all belief systems.

I said that Advent is “a season of joy and light.” All our Scriptures for today speak of this fact. Beginning with the Old Testament prophet, Baruch, the joy of the season continues as he basically says, that if we practice living peacefully, acting justly, showing mercy, “we will be glorified,” and all this brings, “joy,” because we are doing what is right.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians continues the theme of “joy coming out of action” in saying, “I rejoice” because of how you are [living] the gospel. “It is my hope that you be found rich in the harvest of justice.”
And finally, in Luke’s gospel, we hear “urgency” in John the Baptist’s words to, “Make ready the way for our God”—make [in fact], “a straight path.” And if we believe Baruch and Paul’s words that “doing the right thing” brings “joy” into our personal lives, then the Baptist’s call for us to “prepare” a straight path for the Messiah, which will be “paved” with our good works, as we just sang so beautifully in our gospel verse, will bring “joy” as well.

If you think of the Creed by John Shea that we use here, you will recall that he speaks of the Messiah’s coming as, “God risking in sending Jesus.” That line has always “struck me” when we say these words, because if we think of God as all powerful, wonderful, and perfect, really—“the act of risking” almost seems below who God should be –yet the truth is there, if we can get our “hearts,” rather than our “heads” around this idea. The truth is, our God loved us that much in sending Jesus to be one of us, and one-with-us, Emmanuel, for no other reason but that we could see through his life, how each of us is to be in our lives.

And at this point, it would be good to reflect on another important event celebrated in our Church on December 8th each year—that of the Immaculate Conception. First off, it is important to reflect on the words, in order to truly understand what they really mean. Secondly, this feast only came about in 1854, so we didn’t always “believe” what it seems to be saying. The words very simply say that Mary was conceived “pure” (immaculate) from original sin which the rest of us presumably are “stained” with.
To say that Jesus’ mother was conceived without sin is to say that she was not human as the very definition of humanity is that we are not perfect and the best part, is that our God loves us anyway! Or, in other words, God made us this way—imperfect! So, if the only way that Jesus could be part of us, and our humanity was that his mother needed to be perfect, or not human, then where did the human component in Jesus come from? Clearly, the theologians and clerics would do well to clean up their act on this one. And if they can do that, then some of the negative thinking around sexuality might be able to be done away with as well. The beauty of the Incarnation is the realization that God loved us from the get-go and chose to be immersed in our humanity that is not an “original sin,” but an original blessing! Talk about risking!

Having put forth the idea that our loving God chose, “to risk” and become One-With-Us, the next piece to consider in today’s readings is what Jesus, living among us wanted us to know about our own human experiences in life. From Baruch in the Old Testament to Paul and Luke in the New Testament, it seems evident that Jesus wants us—each of us, to live lives of mercy and justice. The psalmist prays, “God has done great things for us” [and this should make us glad and help us to persevere, in times of trouble]. Additionally, Paul, writing to the Philippians affirms this notion, “the One who began [this] good work in you, will keep perfecting it.”

And in our world today my friends, we are truly called to be people of mercy and justice, always looking for the ways that we can make a difference in the lives of those needing the very basics in life that we often take for granted. When I was growing up, even though we didn’t have a lot of extras, and even if I didn’t always like the food choices, I can honestly say that I never knew what it was like “to go hungry,” unless I chose that option. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a mom or dad in this world and have nothing to feed my children or to be unable to keep them physically safe from constant bombs flying overheard destroying what they once called home. A newscaster this past week documenting the suffering in the Middle East and speaking specifically of a very young child said, “She and other children here have known nothing but war their entire lives.” I can’t imagine, nor probably can you, what that is like to endure.

Paul encourages us today to try and “understand, to discern” basically, situations that are bigger than our own, and when we do that, we have to realize that simple, black and white answers, such as, “peace is the absence of war,” or “love is the absence of hate,” just don’t cut it when we are trying to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Going back to John Shea’s notion of “God risking” in sending Jesus into the mess that our human lives can sometimes be, was not about showing God’s “powerfulness,” but really, God’s “vulnerability” in doing whatever it might take to show us that we are truly loved, with all our “imperfections.” And friends, if we can follow our God’s lead here, reflecting, always reflecting on Jesus’ life, then these days of preparation can truly be ones of joy! Amen? Amen!

My friends, with this Sunday we begin the four short weeks this year of Advent before Christmas wherein the Christian Church-United is invited to take some quiet moments among the busy days of preparation for what, we might say, in the very best sense, is our annual celebration of love.

Advent is, and can be a quiet celebration of impending joy which builds during this holy season, and as always, for us Catholic Christians, and our sister and brother Christians of different denominations, the rituals serve to help us build the momentum which will be heightened on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, “Gaudete,” which quite simply means, “Joy Sunday,” and we signify this mounting joy by changing from the royal blue of the other Sundays to the white or pink in the candles and other drapings.

Last week I mentioned the unfortunate falling-back within our hierarchical church to the pre-Vatican II use of purple in the candles, vestments, and drapings in our liturgical spaces. I say, “unfortunate” because the “purple” seems to align this season of joy with the season of Lent which is more about looking within ourselves in a deeper way than usual for the times we have failed in being the people our brother Jesus calls us to be, and then asking heart-felt forgiveness for those failings.

Now you might be thinking, what difference does it make, and I can’t stress enough the big difference it does make! With the 28-year pontificate of John Paul II, our beloved Church experienced a relentless turning-back from the “fresh air, and opening doors and windows” with the new ideas of John XXIII, to a time when once again we were encouraged to “beat our breasts—mea culpa, mea culpa,” for not measuring up

So then, the remembrance of our God sending Jesus to be one-with-us at Christmas time is “dumbed-down” to be like so many other things pre-Vatican II, about “sin,” and “sinfulness,” instead about “love.”
Thus, the royal blue is so-very-important as it stands for our faith-filled sister and mother, Mary of Nazareth, and the blessed fruit of her womb. Later during this holy season, we will read about this same Mary going in “haste and joy” to visit her aunt Elizabeth, so that she can proclaim in joy and confirm for her niece her recognition of the miracle that Mary is carrying. This folks, is about “joy” not “sin,” and is to be celebrated for the wonder that it is, that our God would love us this much, to send One to show us the way. It is truly sad, in my mind, that our Church hierarchy chooses to omit this beautiful ritual of impending joy, replacing it with the smallness that we humans can be at times.

But let’s look to the Scriptures as we always do to find our true path. The prophet Jeremiah is a true guide in letting us know that, “Our God is our justice”—our brother Jesus is coming to help us see that our “love and care” must look more and more like the “love and care” that our God will show through our brother Jesus in his life among us—proclaiming that all are welcome, and that no one is excluded.

Many of us have just completed quality time with family and friends through the celebration of Thanksgiving. For some it was about traveling many miles to be with loved ones, to share the “old, timeless stories,” the fun memories…for some this year marked the 1st, or yet another year without a special loved one, and that is always hard, thus, we should listen to the stories of those missing others.
And too, for some, this holiday time is about saying, “the long good-bye,” and for those who are dealing with dementia in a loved one’s life, you know what I am speaking about.

Our Scriptures for today do call us though, as throughout our Christian lives, to balance. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians today calls us to the concerted, day-in, day-out practice of love needed as we continue to try always to be closer and closer to the memory of Jesus of Nazareth. Paul says, “may [you] grow and overflow with love, and may [you have] strong hearts, [and additionally, may your hearts be] blameless and holy.”

In Luke’s gospel, we hear about the “balance” that we should strive for in Jesus’ words to, “be on our guard” [against excess] because each of us knows how easy it is to get caught up in the excesses of this world.

So, the caution to “balance” the mounting joy during this season,” with times of “quiet reflecting” on truly why, we Christians celebrate the season of Christmas in the first place, is sound. Too much of anything is usually not good—we all know that, but let’s not, as is said, “throw the baby out with the bath water.” Let us allow ourselves, during this season of impending and mounting joy, feel that joy, feel the mounting sense of love that our God has for each of us, and attempt more and more, to love likewise, those who make up our lives. Amen? Amen!