My friends, the theme of the past few Sundays continues again today—if we wondered about being called to be “lights” to our world—whether in fact that is true; we can wonder no longer—because once again it is all over the Scriptures today—as Jesus’ followers, we must walk in his footsteps and shine light into the darkness of people’s lives.

The prophet Isaiah and the psalmist today sharpen our ideas on just what “light and darkness, salvation and refuge,” meant and how all of this instilled great trust in them for a God who watched over and protected them.  The 23^rd psalm in the Scripture translation, The Message speaks well to this notion—of their God “chasing after them all the days of their lives,”

Each of us can attest to times of “light and darkness” in our lives, so we have a sense of what Isaiah meant when he spoke to the people about these concepts.   The Israelites often experienced the attacks of enemies—the Assyrians from the north, for example.  When Isaiah wrote this passage, there had been dark times for the people.  They had watched as their lands were divided up by their conquerors.  And, as with ups and downs in our own lives, the tables turn at one point and the Israelite people come out for the better.  Isaiah reminds them that in all of this, their God was with them.  We sang of this in our opening hymn, “God of Day and God of Darkness.”  The joy the people feel is akin to what they know—the joy of a good harvest—of a job well done. We might add, the birth of a baby, a family member finally landing a job.

For this people there was the sense that one never saved one’s self—salvation or deliverance came out of the goodness of another.  Our faith tells us the same.  Our psalm response today which we sang beautifully, “You are my light and my salvation; of whom should I be afraid?” speaks well to the fact that our God is always with us. For the Israelites, “dark and light” were key ideas.  The dark not only represented an unsafe place, but the forces of evil.  In our day, the dark might still convey such thoughts, especially of “unsafe places” when we are in strange, dark areas, alone.

But “light” was seen as the force that dispelled any danger.  Psalm 27 is all about the overriding theme of trust in God who dispelled all darkness and evil.  All the prophets for years had prophesied that the Messiah would come and that this One would be a “Light” to the Nations.

There is also the aspect of “refuge” in Psalm 27—trust in this good God not only for salvation from evil, but a sense of protection, “May I dwell in your house all the days of my life?”  This statement-question really, not only meant the actual house of prayer, the synagogue, but in the broader sense, the psalmist was asking for an intimate relationship with God. I think we can understand this desire as one that we all share—to know our God ever more completely.  I think each of us has that innate longing to know and understand who God is and in the words of St. Augustine, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

In our own, everyday lives, to know that we are loved and cared for by others is so important and because of this purely, human gift of love, the idea that God could and does love us in the same way is a concept much easier to grasp than for some people who haven’t been loved and cared for in the same way.

This past week, I worked a few days at the hospital and nursing home covering for a colleague who is on maternity leave.  It has been a great joy to step back into this ministry again after being retired for almost two years. Whether in hospital walking with people who are chronically or temporarily ill, or in the nursing home with people facing the sunset of their years; I have always felt that I have the responsibility of bringing them the face of God and if I can do that, then it may be easier for them to believe that God loves them in the same way.

The theme of “light” and “shining that light” continues in the second reading too.    Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is all about helping this people to keep focused on their mission—to live in unity and in love—they can’t do that through petty squabbles he says.  Interesting that Paul gets his information about the strife in Corinth from a woman, Chloe, by name who is apparently head of a household and perhaps an elder in the Church there.  Paul seems to have no trouble taking the word and counsel of a woman—he is also willing to work with women for the good of the Church.  Clerical men of today—take heed!

In essence, the Corinthians seem to have trouble keeping their eyes on Jesus, a problem we all struggle with at times.  Paul sets them straight by basically saying—no one can take Christ’s place—he is the light we need to follow.  Again, we need to think about what Jesus would do in any situation and then do likewise.

This thought moves us right into the gospel message.  Matthew proclaims the establishment of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  With John’s arrest, Jesus knows that John’s time is over and his has come.  We might think that Jesus’ leaving for Capernaum when he hears that John has been arrested is a sign of fear in him, which would be natural, but actually, it’s not fear, only the realization that he needs to begin his own ministry apart from John’s even though his message will be the same as John proclaimed—“Repent, for the kin-dom of God is here, now!”   And in that time there was no better place than Capernaum to begin—a place which was at the crossroads of all trade with Damascus, Syria and Phoenicia.  Capernaum was a seaport town in the region of Galilee.  If Jesus really was afraid, he would have gone to his hometown of Nazareth instead of setting up his residence in a strange place where no one knew him.

It is important for us to understand as much as that is possible, the mind of Jesus so as to get the full import of his actions.  Part of Jesus’ going to Capernaum was to establish his ministry, but also because the people in the region of Galilee were the first to experience the darkness of being overrun by the Assyrians, and it seemed appropriate that this people should be the first to have the “light” shine upon them.  And as usual, Jesus gets right to work—he teaches in the synagogues, he proclaims the Good News, and cures those suffering from disease and illness. In addition, this gospel is a wonderful one for us to look at as we reflect on the whole aspect of “call.”

Diane Bergant, scripture scholar tells us that we should not miss the radical nature of the response of Jesus’ first followers. She reminds us that they were not beggars, but gainfully employed in one of the most stable businesses of the time—fishing. They gave up a great deal to follow him.  The gospel tells us that brothers, James and John left their father to follow Jesus and in their culture where family ties were everything and loyalty to one’s father, so important; this was quite a gift!

We have to believe as we consider this scenario, because Scripture doesn’t do a psycho-emotional review for us, that Jesus must have been such a compelling presence to make these first followers realize that this was all they could do—all, in fact, that they wanted to do—to leave everything and follow him.

When I think of my call to seek ordination to priesthood in a Church that does not see women as legitimate nor acceptable in this role, I find myself and other women like me in the same place as those first disciples. Knowing that there would be opposition and those who wouldn’t understand, I/we knew we must do it just the same—we couldn’t say, “No” to the Spirit of Jesus, calling. And it is also good for us to remember that Jesus’ first followers didn’t go to him—he went into their lives, their space, and called them there, as he calls us!

Jesus calls each of us, friends, not all as radically as these first ones or others since, but yet each of us has been called; that is why each of us claims to be a Christian today.  We are called from something to something else.  For some the call is very clear– others perhaps have experienced an un-ease in their life and ask—“What do you want of me God?” They may have a sense of God tracking them down.

Each call is individual—our God calls us as we need to be called—we are called from something, to something. Most of us are called to live within our life situations, with the call being more about leaving pettiness, meanness, backbiting, absolutizing the Gospel, behind, and taking on mercy, love, justice—a sense of care for all.

Diane Bergant says, in the long run, it is much easier to leave one’s nets behind than one’s prejudices.  She goes on and I paraphrase; if we can do that, we will live lives of servanthood, we will proclaim the gospel through our lives in public and in private, we will move to heal dis-ease in body, mind and spirit of those that we meet, we will work for peace and justice unrelentingly—as I think we will need to do these next 4 years, we will respect the struggles and commitments of others, we will in fact be a light in the darkness—we will be continuing in our time, the ministry of our brother, Jesus, the Christ.  May we each have the strength and perseverance for this awesome task!

 

 

Throughout the Christmas Season and Epiphany time, we have been called upon to be “lights to our world,” and today, once again, Isaiah’s challenge is that we continue “lighting up” our world. The challenge, the reminder, that this is indeed our task perhaps falls on deaf ears—it might be that we don’t need to be reminded as much as we need to believe that we can do it—that Jesus didn’t make a mistake in asking us—to be “lights” to others and carry on his message of love.  Our president’s words of, “Yes we can!” seem apropos!

Our Gospel today shows Jesus being pointed out by John as the “Lamb of God,” the one sent for all of us.  Next Sunday we will read of Jesus beginning to gather those around him who will be the first “lights,” following his lead to continue spreading the Good News that God loves and cares about us and will ultimately save us, to be our best selves.

All of the readings of this past week that the church has chosen for us, give us a good idea of what Jesus, the Messiah was like.  People had awaited this Messiah for hundreds of years and even though the prophets had been quite clear in foretelling just who he would be, and how he would be in this world, many people still had the wrong idea.

Jesus showed them quite clearly that he wouldn’t be a Messiah who would physically go to battle to save them from their enemies as much as he would be one who would conquer ideas that said some are included and some are not in God’s love and care.  He would dispel notions that some are clean and acceptable to come into the synagogue and others are not.

In fact in one of the daily readings this past week from Mark’s Gospel, we see Jesus being berated by his disciples and others for the company he is keeping—they tell him, you shouldn’t be seen with sinners, tax collectors—what will people think?  I for one believe that I can’t control what people may think, so I just have to do what seems right.  “You will lose followers,” his disciples worried, if you are seen with such people.  Another reading of this past week shows him curing a leper.  His followers then say that he shouldn’t touch such people.  But very quickly, we come to see that Jesus does not take his cue from the crowd.    He tells them and us that all the people that the world looks at as untouchable, are in fact the people that they should touch, should be seen with, and should keep company with, if in fact they want to be his followers. In Jesus’ eyes, no one is better than any other.

Our walk with Jesus really challenges us to place ourselves in someone else’s shoes so that we cannot just pity the down-trodden, but truly understand them—who, if we are honest, could be us, there but for the grace of God.    Sometimes the only way we can see how our actions may affect others is to walk in their shoes awhile.  I find myself reflecting on the plight of those who have no homes these days, especially with the new Winona Warming Center just opened.

Earlier, in speaking of lepers in the time of Jesus, we need to remember that they were considered untouchables—they had to live outside the city and were shunned by others.  Any kind of affliction that people didn’t understand, and for which there seemed to be no cure, was treated this way and was generally thought to be, and this is just as bad, a punishment for a person’s sins.  So you can see that it got rather complicated and Jesus had his work cut out for him dispelling ideas that weren’t of God.

This reminds me of our trip to the Hawaiian Island of Molokai where St. Damien labored among the “outcasts” of society for so many years until he succumbed to leprosy himself. Now, there are medicines for this horrid illness, but not then. But we need to remember the harm that is done emotionally and spiritually to those we cast aside—the greater injury, I think.

So, what does all this have to do with us today?  Well, we may not have lepers to shun anymore—but we do have many ailments and conditions that we look down on in our present day and the people who are plagued with them.  We as Christians, Jesus’ followers, are called to do all we can to be helpful, caring, understanding and compassionate, especially of those who are considered different from the status quo.  Many times great beauty can be found if we can get past what we see on the surface that may seem “untouchable,” or something that we don’t want to bother with.

I have had the good fortune in the past to work with groups of mentally challenged individuals.  Sometimes these good people have some physical disfigurement that we have to get past, but I have usually found that what is inside is worth the effort.

This reminds me of a present-day example—on January 20^th the Muslim community in Winona will be sponsoring a gathering for speaker, Dr. Tamin Saidi, who is the Imam at the Plymouth, MN mosque. His topic will be, Let’s Make America Great Together. The talk will be uplifting the fact that the Muslim Community here has always been a welcoming group of people and plan to continue that welcome no matter what our president-elect has to say on the issue.

Friends, alcoholism and other drug addictions, along with chronic poverty are just some of the other conditions that befall people in our midst, and sometimes we are apt to look the other way and say, that isn’t my responsibility.  Thankfully, our country is becoming much more accepting of the LGBTQ community and others whom we may consider, different.  We all have the tendency to label people by their affliction or difference rather than simply accepting them for who they are, our sisters and brothers in this big wide, awesome world! The incidence more and more of bullying in our country is another place where some light needs to be shown. We all need to be in contact with our president-elect and insist that he cease with the bullying rhetoric of the campaign and become a true leader, not so much caring for himself, but for the nation that some elected him to care for.

As Jesus’ followers, we are each called to be of service to others, caring, sharing, speaking up for those who can’t speak for themselves—basically doing the right thing! We won’t always be understood for the choices we make, people may laugh at us—but in our hearts we will know that we have done the right thing—what in fact Jesus would have done. We must on a regular basis, ask, what would Jesus do here? We must be convicted of living out his message!

The gospel given us today stops short of the individual calls of those first followers of Jesus that are recorded there.  There is a wonderful invitation bestowed by Jesus to these first followers when the call to follow him was new. In their excitement at having found him they said, “Teacher, where do you live?”  He then invited them as he does each of us these hundreds of years later—“Come and See.”

Our lives as Christians are about just that—continually coming to know and understand Jesus and his message better, and applying it to our present-day lives.  We are given different opportunities “to touch,”  “to be seen with,” “to keep company with,” those whom our world might choose to throw away or to shun.  We can’t miss them if our eyes, ears and hearts are open.  A concrete way that I see our community doing this is through our commitment to the monthly meals at the Catholic Worker House.  For those of you who stay to eat with the recipients of your food, there is the opportunity to come to know someone different perhaps from those you might ordinarily hang out with.  This isn’t always easy, but it is what we are called to—to be open to.

We are blessed with knowing Jesus who continually shows us the way, giving us opportunities to reach out beyond ourselves to a wider world so in need of the light we can shine.  May each of us never tire of coming and seeing how Jesus was with others and then doing the same.

We all received a wonderful message of hope this past Tuesday night when our president, Barack Obama gave us his final address. Beyond simply being proud of who he is and what he has done for our country in the past 8 years for the weakest among us, from ending wars, to securing healthcare for millions of people who had none, to standing up for equality in marriage for all those who love each other, to protecting the environment, to leading the way in making our world safer from nuclear proliferation, to standing up for women in equal pay for equal work and for women’s rights over their own bodies; to give you just the short list, we can look to him as a model of truly, “shining the light” of Jesus to the world.

As he said, and I paraphrase, we all have a part in this—this is our country—we might add, our Church, and each of us needs to do our part so that it can continue to be great! We all need to lace up our shoes, put our feet on the ground and get going! We have great strength my friends, to make change—don’t ever forget that—exercise your strength, your voices—both will be needed these next 4 years!        

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!

My friends, tonight and throughout the next 12 days of Christmas; we will be celebrating the fact that we are mightily loved by our God.  The birth of Jesus in time is testament to this great love—a God who wanted us to get this one fact and make no mistake about it. How better to do that than to take on our flesh, our human existence, become one of us? When the prophet Isaiah proclaims this truth, great hope comes with the proclamation—“A child is born to us!”—a child for whom the people will expect much; a child who will eventually show us the way to live our lives to the fullest.

As we have talked about throughout the Advent Season; it is all about love—freely given with the intent that this gift will be freely accepted and then shared with all.

The Christmas story is one that touches each of our hearts because it is such a purely human story.  It is good to spend time amid and throughout our Christmas festivities to focus on why we love this time of year so much, to look about our families and friends gathered and see at the heart of it all, the locus of the joy—God-is-with-us!  Because every bit of joy, laughter, fun, merriment, reaching out to others comes directly from the heart of God who made us precisely for this.  Let me say that another way—we, each of us are made to be “Christmas” people—living our human lives as fully as possible as the spiritual people each of us truly is.

I was watching this week, in preparation for this homily—I was watching for the joy.  With a little one in the house, the days are full with the simple, daily discoveries of what is new, interesting and fun—what can be shared with each other, and for me,  it was all encompassed each night as Elliot was prepared for bed by his mom and dad with his last joyful utterance, after all the hugs and blessings for a good night were spoken and shared, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Hope springs eternal at Christmas time—somehow it brings out, for the most part, the very best each of us can muster and I believe this is because we are hard-wired for just such goodness.  We show it partially through gift-giving which is ideally the over-flowing of a love that is already present and calls for special expression in this time/season of love.

This past week brought word in our family of a new, first baby for a niece and her husband, of an engagement for a nephew and his now fiancé. I think too of other joy-filled moments that came to my attention—of a 16 year-old young man who has been interested and motivated since he was 10 to reach out to the elderly in nursing homes bringing them letters of joy and caring.  His original interest has grown into a national and world-wide non-profit organization that strives basically to bring anonymous letters of joy to people that he realized in his own city of Cleveland, were being forgotten.  This is being our best!

And of course this season of joy has brought news of that which is less than our best—867 hate incidents in the 10 days after the presidential election—hate crimes that the U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch has said “Stain our dearest ideals and our nation’s very soul.”  Certainly not our best!

We still hear of war around the world, of refugees simply looking for a place to call home, free of fighting, of bombs falling around them.  Again, not our best!

So friends, we see the juxtaposition of the coming of a child of love—which incidentally is true of every child born, each is a child of love—so we have this juxtaposition of a child who calls us to our best, now and always, even though, we as humans,  are capable of bad as well as good.

Christmas calls us to all that love means—the reaching out, the standing up for those who can’t stand for themselves, the giving of tough love at times when the best we have, our children, stray from their best selves, the speaking of a word of truth when the crowd is silent in the face of evil—so much my friends, and more.

The 14^th Century monk and theologian, Meister Eckhart was known to have proclaimed, “We all need to be mothers of God, birthing God into our world.” Jesus merely showed us the way to be our best selves and as his followers calls us continually to this quest.  As we celebrate the over-the-top love of our God in sending us Jesus, let us be strengthened and inspired to be his “mothers” in our world, wherever we are and in whatever we are doing.  Come, Jesus come to each of us this night and always!