I’d like to begin today with a story that Sr. Joan Chittister shared recently in her monthly reflection, The Monastic Way.  She tells us at the beginning of each month that her reflections are intended, “to stretch the soul and help [us] to construct [our] world differently—to discover how God dwells among us [today] in surprising ways.”

Sr. Joan began by saying that she found this story on the back page of the newspaper, below the crease in the page.  So from the beginning, she is letting us know that this is not a world-changing event, but an ordinary story about ordinary people—a good reflection I think for Ordinary Time. After you have heard the story, you can decide for yourself how “world-changing” it just might be.

This ordinary story lets us into the life of Billy Ray Harris, who after years of bad luck, moved away from family and friends, and without a job, became part of street life in one of our country’s larger cities.  All the benefits he could get had run out, so homeless, he turned to panhandling.

One day, a woman came by and dropped a few coins into his basket and went on her way. That night when he was counting his change, he found a large diamond ring in the corner of his basket. He wasn’t sure if it was a real diamond, so he took it to a jeweler who confirmed that it was real and offered him $4,000 on the spot.

Billy Ray didn’t sell it, but put it back in his pocket and returned to his spot on the street thinking he would keep it safe in case someone returned for it.  And sure enough, a woman returned the next day and asked about the ring. Billy Ray told her that he had it and the woman was in shock when he returned it to her!

She and her family were so impressed by Billy Ray’s honesty and lack of concern for himself  in returning the engagement ring that they started an on-line fund to raise $4,000 to give him for his generosity.  And when all was said and done, they raised $190,000 and gave it to Billy Ray Harris who was then able to buy a small house, get a job and reconnect with his family. His life was literally saved because others took a risk—everyone in this story, took a risk and moved beyond their needs to help another.  And not just to help, but seemingly, “to recklessly” help.

That is what our brother, Jesus, calls us to as well—to move out of ourselves, and to simply, love, and share of the good in our lives, with those who have less. We need to hear and heed this message even more now when the rhetoric coming out of Washington seems to be to turn in, protect, and take care of ourselves regardless of the immigrants, the refugees, knocking on our doors.

The prophet Isaiah tells us today that because of our commitment to God, much is expected of us and not just as religious practices per se, but as ethical mandates—things we should do regardless of religion—as being part of the human race. We are reminded that, to be one with God is dependent upon our social responsibility, to those with less—our livelihood seems dependent upon seeing to the livelihood of others.  In fact, all of us in the First World are really challenged and convicted by the unequalness of goods around our world.

The Scriptures use “light” to depict goodness in one’s life, and as scripture scholar, Diane Bergant says, the “good” is a symbol of our own deliverance, just as Billy Ray was delivered—that prosperity will be ours—truth, God’s favor, life and all good things.

Billy Ray Harris extended the good that he could and those who had more of this world’s goods responded with abundance.  The mandates given by Isaiah today are about the basics of human living—food, shelter, and clothing. But the mandates ask for more from us—we are to get personally involved; face to face kind of involvement—sitting down with the recipients of our charity at the Catholic Work House, hearing their stories, sharing an hour with them.   “Share,” paras in the Greek, means to “break in two,”–I would say, “to open ourselves up.”

Isaiah continues to challenge us to stand up for those oppressed, for those who live with economic burdens, those who are falsely accused. We will need to speak up when we hear speech that undermines the fabric of our social life, even if the source of that speech is the White House. Those who are part of the family of believers are expected to be concerned about all these issues—we are to be about community and about what builds that up, not tears it down.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians is most concerned that he would not get in the way of the message of Jesus.  To clearly “shine our lights” our actions need to be pure, not about feeding our egos, but in “breaking open” ourselves for others.

Billy Ray Harris had every reason to see himself as most needy in the story that I shared—without home, job or family—but he dug deep to find the best in himself.  Even though there was much that was needed in his own life,  Billy Ray had the sense to know that there were things even more important to him than the material goods that he was without—like being an honest person and realizing that there was probably a meaning more important than his immediate need. If he were to lose his integrity, what did it matter if he had home, food or a job?

The Sermon on the Mount is instructive in this vein—with the symbols or signs of light and salt; we see how we are to find and share God in the ordinariness of our days—in the ordinariness of our lives—with other ordinary people like ourselves.  But in the midst of all this ordinariness; there is the “extraordinariness of God’s grace,” says Diane Bergant—ordinary people doing ordinary things, through the extraordinary grace of God. We all come from God—we are spiritual people—we are of God—called to do extraordinary things with our ordinary lives.

We, as followers of Jesus have hopefully been transformed by his words, his life, his actions, and that they have made a difference in our lives, so that we can be “light” in our world, to each and every person that we meet.

It may seem strange to us in the world in which we live—one that seems to uplift the strong and powerful, the glamorous, and the well-off, that Jesus would be giving a message that, the weak will confound the strong.”  Jesus was a simple laborer by trade as were his apostles and he called them where they were at and each did a great job of extending his life and light in the world.

Now, most of us can get our heads around the fact that Jesus was a simple man, that his apostles and disciples were simple men and women—what seems the harder thing for us to understand as Diane Bergant continues, is that we,  as simple people too would be Jesus’ choice to continue his work on earth—that each of us can make a difference right where we are in Winona, MN—that our own particular light is waiting to break forth, here, now, if we but allow it to.

Each of us learned the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as children and much of the goodness that each of us is about in life probably comes from those early messages from parents or teachers. Sometimes we forget that these simple ways to reach out to others and care for them is what Jesus asks of us as his followers—just the everyday; taking food to a sick neighbor or to a family who has lost a loved one, caring for an elderly family member or friend in our home, sending a card or flowers to someone who may be down on their luck.  It isn’t the grand that we are called to do, but the everyday, the ordinary, and in the ordinary, the deeds become extraordinary. Again, Ordinary Time is a great time to remind us of that.

Many of us are lamenting the cold these days that continues to hang on relentlessly. Joan Chittister, in one of her daily meditations tied the weather to the message laid out for us this week.  The cold and the vulnerable way that it makes us feel when we are out in it is a good time to reflect on those in our world who don’t have homes or heat, perhaps enough food, clothes—the basics of life.

She seems to be saying, as Jesus did so long ago—a message that echoes in our hearts still, that each of us needs to struggle with the inequality in our world in whatever ways we find it, materially, emotionally or spiritually. There sometimes seems little that we can do, but we should never be totally comfortable with the inequality—what many of us take for granted so often. But, we can do what we can do—support initiatives that share the world’s goods, simply coming to the realization that we live quite well because others have so much less.

Our world has become a rather small place and we all as nations on this planet have become quite connected, even though there are those in Washington who seem to know nothing of diplomacy.  The Sermon on the Mount and the words of the prophet Isaiah, each call us to awareness, to action. Let us pray together for the wisdom to see the ways that we can help and the strength to then, act.  And, let the people say, “Amen!”

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Correction from this week’s bulletin: 

I had said in error that the Feast Day of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr was celebrated on February 2–his actual feast day was on February 3.  St. Blaise is the patron of illnesses of the throat and in the past, throats have traditionally been blessed in churches on this day. Those present at Mass today received that blessing against illnesses of the throat. For those not present today, I send you that blessing!

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!