My friends, on this last Sunday of Advent, I would like to simply talk about Mary and Joseph, uncover a bit who this young couple were in order that we can better understand the parts they played in giving us our brother Jesus – one who would truly, “Show us the way.”

   If we read the gospel from Matthew today and simply stay on the surface of this well-known story, we might come away saying, “easy-peasy,” and never come to appreciate all that was back of the miracle of the Incarnation that we celebrate for the most part, with so much joy each year.

   The Jewish people waited year after year, century after century for a messiah to come out of their people, who would, they believed, be their “savior,” in perhaps more than one way.  Many thought this messiah would become an earthly “king” who would rise up against their enemies, the Romans and others. 

   As with all that is written in Scripture, we realize that there are deeper truths to be had than what immediately shows itself in a first look at the words.  In today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah, we see evidence of this.  He says, “The young woman will be with child and give birth…the child will be given the name, Immanuel…God-with-us.”

   When Isaiah wrote these words, in the 8^th Century, BCE, they were meant, “to give hope” to King Ahaz of the House of David, and to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, that was being severely threatened by their enemies.  Giving hope is what all good prophets do, and in this case he is telling the king and the people to be “patient and tranquil” – that their God-is -with-them, and if they can be patient, they will live to see One who will truly come and be with them, showing them the way. Once again, we hear the Advent message of “patience” – most good things take patient-waiting to bring about. 

   And in this case, we, looking back can see the multi-layered message as Isaiah and the Southern Kingdom at that time, wouldn’t be the ones to see the Messiah.  But Mary and Joseph, in God’s good time, would! 

   Earlier I stated that simply reading Matthew’s gospel about “the coming of Immanuel” as foretold by Isaiah and others, as a “matter of fact,” surface-tale, and if we look at it in this way, we miss so much of the depth and wealth of this story.  Thus, a deeper dive into this well-known historical event gives us a model for how to live our own Christian lives. 

   Over 50 years ago, an author, Marjorie Holmes, reflecting on her own life, was inspired to write a historical novel, Two from Galilee, about Mary and Joseph, because her inspiration, as she prayed in front of the Christmas crib in her parish church told her that this story actually happened! Her book is one that I have read every Advent over the past 50 years as I feel that it so beautifully takes that deeper dive into the possible lives of two young people of faith who also loved each other very much. I believe as did the author that in order to give the world “a messiah” who could truly help people to, as we say here, “become their best,” both faith and a deep love for each other would need to be present in his earthly parents.

   Sometimes, the Scriptures are maddeningly sparse on the details of how an event came to be, and I think humans like Holmes, wanting to know and understand, set out “to fill in” the details in order that others could truly see these biblical characters as ones they could follow in their own walks of faith. 

   The true inspiration for Marjorie Holmes in writing Two from Galilee, as I said above, came one Christmas season as she knelt before the Nativity scene in her parish church, and reflecting on her own 13-year-old daughter, she came to see that the young mother, Mary, was a real individual, not unlike her own daughter.

   Going back then to Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth; let’s “pick the story apart” a bit to see what a deeper dive might show us.  The surface story tells us that Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married, but before they came to live together – a line that points to the “hoped-for” intimacy to come between them, Mary is found to be “already with child.”  Now, I think, at this point in the story, we have to simply stop reading and let this fact lay on our hearts…an engaged woman, with child, not from her intended.

   In faith, if we go along with the Christmas story, Mary said “yes” to her God who asked a great deal of her.  In the moment, this young woman gave the only answer that a person of true faith can give – “yes!”  She didn’t immediately think of how she would be viewed in her neighborhood, but all too soon it would become obvious that she, an unmarried woman was with child.  She could hardly say, as the musical group, The Statler Brothers did in the past, in a Christmas ballad, “Oh no, my baby’s dad is the Holy Spirit!” 

   So, Mary was a woman of faith, we know, and in the end, Joseph became a man of faith, too. Neither of these two could have possibly got their heads around what had befallen them, but through their hearts and through their mutual love for each other, they could fully participate in what God was asking of them, and bring about the miracle.

   And just a word on Joseph, Jesus’ earthly dad; as Marjorie Holmes puts it, “a son not of his loins, but of his heart. In the past, Joseph was always depicted by Church fathers as an old man, assuming that physical passion was far from his mind, and this did all of us who would follow, a disservice.  Why a disservice? Because my friends, it takes all the faith and trust in a loving God away, along with the trust in the miracle that takes place not only at Christmas time, but within each of us who truly love each other and who at times must sacrifice a great deal for those whom we love.  There is a reason why Christmas continues, over the years to be a beloved time of year – the best in all of us seems to rise to the occasion, and truth-telling is a part of that. More on this idea will be in my Christmas homily. 

   With the Second Vatican Council, much of the surface thinking on the religious story around the Incarnation was allowed to, we might say, “become more real, more human,” and Joseph was presented then as a younger man, who was asked to give up much too, to in fact become more like us humans…and we can take it from there.  In this sense, Mary and Joseph, who had to have loved each other very much could provide Jesus with a home where love was expressed, one for another, and no doubt give him, brothers and sisters. 

   For this Sunday then, we will leave the young couple of faith and love, saying more on Christmas Eve about what those two precious gifts, faith and love were able to give our world.   Amen? Amen!

My friends, as I said in the bulletin, this Sunday is called, “Gaudete” in the Latin, and it means, “rejoice.” And as said in previous homilies, Advent in its entirety is about joy – and a joy that continues to build throughout this wonderful season of expectant waiting. 

   I would call our attention to our sister/mother, Mary and her spouse, Joseph, and of how, as any set of expectant parents await a coming birth – there is the beginning joy of learning that a pregnancy has occurred, and with each passing week/month as the woman’s body begins to change, as the baby develops, and eventually moves for the first time – there is joy that continues to grow until the baby comes, usually screaming into this world, hungry for nourishment and comfort in many ways.  This my friends is what we celebrate during Advent – life and love in many ways. 

   There are books available that question the whole story of God and a human mother uniting to give birth to our brother Jesus, making him effectively Divine and Human at the same time.  As a Franciscan sister once said to me, “There were no video cameras available then, so we simply don’t know if what we have been told and believed for so long is actually true.” Into this enters “faith,” that ability/gift we might say, to believe what we can’t prove.  And being that we can’t prove this astonishing claim, I choose to believe the Christmas story pretty much intact – that our loving God, for no other reason than, over-the-top love and concern for us, entered into human existence, choosing to-be-one-of-and with-us, and to show us how to become our best selves. 

   Now, whether our sister Mary needed to be proclaimed as a “virgin,” probably a fact, for some, that is a bit incredulous, because after all, when a woman gives birth, she is no longer “a virgin,” and it really adds nothing to the beautiful story of Jesus becoming “one-with-us” to know that Mary was somehow, “a virgin” throughout the process.

   Unfortunately, what it does say is that the hierarchy of our beloved Church had and continues to have trouble with sexuality in expression.  That somehow, our God would find anything wrong in uniting with humanity to create Jesus in the manner that each of us were created, and continue to do so, makes the whole beautiful story of co-creation less than it can be.  And for that reason, these same powers-that-be, “need to clean up” this otherwise most beautiful and precious story, by sanitizing Mary in feasts such as the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and having her for all time remain, “a virgin,” untouched  by sex.  One does have to ask, if the way that our loving God chose to have us co-create and enjoy the physical comfort of another, was so bad, why would this same God, who in other places we name as, All Wonderful, Perfect-beyond-measure, have chosen such an “imperfect” method?

   In my mind, my friends, the method, in its very best sense is nothing short of beautiful, wonderful, and life-giving except for “small minds” that can’t image a totally self-giving, Creator God. 

   Isaiah, in today’s 1^st reading tells us, “Look, your God is coming” – “joy and gladness will” [be with you].  The psalmist in 146 says, [this One is coming] “with divine justice”[!]

   My friends, part of what Advent calls us to, is, “going deeper,”  and James in today’s 2^nd reading calls for “patience.” The “looking” that the prophet Isaiah asks for today, assumes that “patience” will be necessary.  We humans are capable of so much, yet we often choose the easiest, safest way out.

   Through the generous gift of friends, Robert and I travelled to St. Paul this past week, and we able to attend the Ordway’s opening night presentation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s production of Jesus Christ, Superstar.  Through fantastic and energetic action, this rock musical portrayed Jesus becoming one-with-us, “trying so much, for 3 years, seems like 30,” to quote lyrics, to help us humans see that we are loved, just as we are.  The disillusionment that we humans feel at times, when we aren’t understood or appreciated for the ways that we have tried, was, in my mind, portrayed so well by the Jesus character, Jack Hopewell, in the play, and really a highlight for me. 

   In Matthew’s gospel today, Jesus, in uplifting the life of John the Baptist, expounds on how much each of us is loved by our God in saying that, even though history will record no one greater than John, the least born in this world is, in fact, greater than John!

   Simply put friends, each of us humans is equal in God’s sight; loved, appreciated, worthy, and wanted! We, in our humanity, might find this hard to wrap our heads around.  It is one of those things that must be laid on our hearts. 

   This is what touched me so in Jesus Christ, Superstar, in Jesus’ song of lament – reflecting his “weeping over Jerusalem – there was so much he wanted to give them, and seemingly, in the end, they didn’t get it, or couldn’t grasp it at that moment. 

   For this reason, we have such a model and friend in our brother Jesus, because if he, as one of us experienced disillusionment, depression, and chaos in his life, we as his followers should expect the same. 

   But, along with the realization that life can bring sadness and discouragement, it can also bring much joy and hope, if we can be patient and sincerely, “look” for it.  Advent teaches us all this. 

   Guarding the ending of this new version of  Jesus Christ, Superstar, for any of you who may be going to see it, let me just say, there is always “hope” for each of us, no matter what life may have been, or will be, and this was portrayed most beautifully in a twist on the “resurrection” of Jesus.

   So, my friends, in the concluding half of Advent, I invite you to stay close to the crib for all that it can teach us … Amen? Amen!

      My friends, as I said in last week’s homily, “I love the Season of Advent!” And here is just one of the reasons why: It is a season of hope and that hope is displayed so appropriately in churches like ours, that remember the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, with the royal blue color for vestments and liturgical drapes.  And we should do this because Advent is not a “little Lent,” wherein we “beat our breasts”, moaning, “mea culpa, mea culpa,” and for those who have forgotten their Latin, “through my fault, through my fault,” but a season for “building joy,” day by day, as we remember once again the coming of our extravagant God into human existence in the person of our brother, Jesus, and as someone recently said of him, “our Way-shower,” for living our best lives.

   All of this Sunday’s Scripture readings speak of “justice” in general, and explain in more obvious ways exactly how we are to bring this “justice” about. 

   Recalling Isaiah’s reading from last week, we were asked to consider, “making war no more,” a seemingly near impossible task, it seems, as we look at our present world and see wars raging across the planet. 

   This week, Isaiah calls us to consider another set of seemingly impossible happenings: wolves and lambs, calves and young lions, cows and bears, all lying peacefully together, and often, our first reaction to hearing of this idyllic image is to say, “Yes, how wonderful that would be!” We might want to ask though, “why does Isaiah do this? – giving us unrealistic pictures of seemingly impossible things.”

   I believe what Isaiah is prophesying about is his belief, inspired by the Spirit, that we humans are capable of so much, more, good than we usually show.  He is basically telling us that we must “envision” what we hope for, in order to make it happen.

   This reminds me of when, in the past, I misplaced things, and I kept looking, but just couldn’t find them.  Robert usually tells me in these cases, “Kathy you have to believe it is there!” When I approach it this way—believing, I often find what I am looking for in the same place I was looking previously, to no avail.  And for us all, friends, we have to believe too that the “goodness” we hope for, in our world, our nation, our city, and our families, can actually come about—and very likely, it will need to come through us!  And when I say, “us,” I mean, all of us, each doing our part—together!

   Isaiah goes on to say that we won’t need to do this alone, another bit of hope: “A shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse, and the Spirit of God will rest there.”  Isaiah goes on to describe how this “shoot,” that we know to be our brother Jesus, will act – he will bring “wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and reverence for God.”  Additionally, “justice will prevail” for the suffering and the lowly. 

   Earlier I stated through another’s words that Jesus is our, “Way-shower” and the challenge seems to be, for each of us, to keep our eyes on him, doing as he did.  If we don’t try as much as possible to do as Jesus did, then the good work that he began, may simply end.  We must remember that Jesus’ coming was all about, “showing us the way,” and if we follow his lead, all will come to fruition in giving the justice to all that they deserve. 

   And again, it is for this reason that the prophets of the Second Vatican Council, in their Spirit-led wisdom encouraged the Church to update, moving away from an institution bent on guilting people for their human condition, and become rather, a joy-filled community of people striving to become their best selves, even when we fail at times, but always believing, and encouraging others to believe, that we are capable of so much more! Becoming stuck in a theology of guilt and allowing one individual to basically, “take the rap” for all of us, simply does nothing to help us become the people in our world that Jesus expects us to be.

   Paul, in his letter to the Romans says as much – all that is in the Scriptures was written down to give you, “hope and encouragement.”  And when did we need, hope and encouragement more? 

   Advent calls us my friends to great hope in all that we can be, in following our brother, Jesus, not to “remembering his dying for us, but more so, his living for us. I have said this many times, but it bears repeating; if we believe that Jesus’ coming among us was simply,  “to die, in reparation for our sins,” then we do our awesome God such a disservice – One who loved us beyond measure in sending us Jesus, for no other purpose but to “show us the way.”  Beginning to “pre-guilt” ourselves in Advent, symbolized by the liturgical color, purple, which you will see used in most Catholic churches during Advent, is in my mind, not a reflection of our God’s great love for each of us. 

   Today’s gospel from Matthew tells John the Baptist’s story, who’s coming was also foretold by the prophet, Isaiah, “A herald’s voice cries, prepare the way for our God.” Advent my friends, is a time “to prepare” our hearts, minds, our whole beings to once again say, “yes” as our sister, Mary did to God’s call that she give our world, a wonderful son.  This truly is what tomorrow’s Marian feast, “The Immaculate Conception should be about – Mary’s “yes!” If our God cared enough to enter into our existence, to become, “One-with-us,” then that same God had no trouble being born from a “less-than-perfect” human – love gets beyond all that!  Perhaps we could rename this feast, “Mary’s Yes!”  We will sing of her “yes” in the recessional today. 

   And as Mary did, we each have the possibility of “giving birth” in a spiritual way to Jesus in our world, “making straight his paths,” as John advocated – “giving some evidence” as he said, that we intend to truly follow in Jesus’ footsteps.   Amen? Amen!

Friends, I was reminded today, that I didn’t share my homily as usual to the web yesterday. All I can say is that I was coming off a long, lovely weekend of Thanksgiving with family, and the first snowstorm of the season that caused us to cancel Mass due to wanting to keep people save….have a good week! Pastor Kathy

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My friends, those of you who have been part of our parish for a while have heard me say over the years that I love the Season of Advent, and for the newer folks, now you have heard it too!  I think a part of why I love this season is that it calls us to be counterculture, slowing a bit at a time that is all about rushing.  Enter Advent, and the call to balance – to slowing down so as not to miss the true joy that Christmas time can bring. 

   I am of course talking about our culture’s tendency to rush Christmas’ coming – which can be so wonderful that we can’t wait!  Advent, almost a full four weeks this year, gives us the time to prepare well, a step at a time.  Having just finished a Church Year that at its end gave us opportunity to ask, “How did we do this year in basically, being our best, and how might we like to do better this next year?”

   I personally find what helps me most in getting ready for Christmas is a balance between what I will call “Advent things and Christmas things,” and they do overlap a bit.  The Advent preparation might be as simple as reading the Sunday Scriptures and then thinking on how the themes found in the gospel stories for instance affect us here and now.

• Mary traveling to be with her aunt Elizabeth to both comfort her in her pregnancy come late in life, and Mary’s search for belief and confirmation in the miracle that has befallen her.
• John the Baptist’s journey “finding a straight path in the wilderness of life,” not unlike our own personal searches for meaning and truth. 
• Joseph and his seemingly dashed dreams of fulfillment – something we all experience in life from time to time.

     All these stories my friends are only meaningful if we let them become so –if we try to see how they are like our own stories. 

   In the beginning I mentioned that it is important to prepare, little by little for a big event.  Perhaps a personal story will make this clearer.  About a month ago, Robert and I were visiting our son Isaac and daughter-in-law, Lauren. She and I came upon a wonderful sounding recipe for Pecan Cream Pie.  Since we were there for a long weekend, we decided to make this treat that comes right out of the Amish Cookbook which tells you immediately that it would be very rich in ingredients. 

   There were several steps in making this wonderful treat and Lauren and I decided to split up the sections to make it easier and go quicker. “Cutting to the chase” so to speak, this recipe needed much fine-tuning, it wasn’t something you could rush – each step had to be done in order to make it turn out. 

   It took us most of the day from reading the lengthy recipe to actually doing each part.  We decided that the recipe was poorly written and because we wanted to make it for Thanksgiving, I would rewrite the recipe and we would tag-team on it, each doing a part as was suggested, slowing it down.  Taking our time made it come together in a much better way.

   Advent calls us to this kind of slowing down, not rushing to the joy that Christmas time brings before we have really prepared.  Anything that is really important takes time to bring about –I think of awaiting a new baby, studying to earn a degree that may lead to a job, and so on.  I find that sending out Christmas cards and letters helps me do this slowing down, connecting with many that I only do, once a year.  For others, it may be something else.

   The Scriptures for today speak of  “dark and light;” encouraging us to move, evermore toward “the light.”  It is an interesting concept, here in the Midwest, as we live, at this time of year more in physical “darkness,” than light. 

   Isaiah, in today’s 1^st reading encourages [walking] “in the light of our God.”  And to him this would mean, “not [raising] the sword against another, nor [training] “for war again.”

   In a better world, can we imagine a time when “we train for peace, instead of war?”  Many times, we find that after long wars end, conflicts still remain – all too true in our world today.  From Alcoholics Anonymous comes the following wisdom –  “to keep doing the same thing, expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity.”

   Paul in his letter to the Romans says basically, [it’s time] “to wake from sleep.”  Matthew’s gospel for today tells us to “be prepared.”  Had we met today, we would have sung that prayer at the beginning of Mass. 

   Isaiah’s mention today of God’s home being on a “high mountain,” exegetes tell us is not so much about a place, but more so about us, as God’s people working evermore to be about love – a higher good – as opposed to hate in our lives.

   Dan Schutte, former active Jesuit priest and composer, who in recent years has given on-line retreats said of Advent [it’s all] “about joy, as God created us for this.”  He too though, speaks of preparing well – “There is always more in us that needs light shed upon it.”  And he concludes that thought with, “All who choose to accept the light, share it and spread it.”  As we said last week, it is not enough to say, “Here I am,” but, “we are ready” to do our part to make our world better. 

   A final thought as we begin this holy season – Advent really calls us, “to be aware” of all that is around us, over and above the upset and distrust, even meanness which may be around us.  Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, hopefully you found much, or at least, some things to be grateful for.  And that brings us back to awareness and not rushing through life.  George Carlan I think said it well. [It’s] “ not the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away!”  Awareness – my friends, preparation, and joy!  Amen? Amen!

   My friends, in most Catholic and Christian churches today, except for ours,  you would hear that we are celebrating the feast of, “Christ the King.”  Here, we name this feast, Jesus, the Christ, our Brother and Friend, and we do that for a definitive reason – Jesus never claimed to be a “king” and never wanted that title.  This Church feast is, in fact, just 100 years old this year! 

   Pope Pius XI, in 1925, established this feast as he felt that Catholics were forgetting about Jesus and that this feast would re-establish his place in our lives.  It is too bad that the emphasis was in “Jesus’ power over us” rather than uplifting his life and encouraging us humans to “walk in his footsteps.” 

   So, as always, let’s look at the Scriptures.  Each selection today speaks in one way or another about what the people, in the times of the book of Samuel in the Old Testament, Paul in the New Testament, and in the gospel of Luke would expect from a would-be king or leader. 

   In the 1^st reading from Samuel, the people come to David, their would-be king and ruler and tell him that he will “shepherd” them – an interesting take and connection to David’s earlier occupation of “shepherd to the sheep” – now he will “shepherd” people.  The peoples’ response is “Here we are” [!]

   As an aside, in the early days of Roman Catholic Women Priests ordinations, many of us, me included, placed the words, “Here we are,” on banners, and added, “We are ready” as our statement of faith in what God was doing within us. 

   These words, “Here we are” seem appropriate today, indicating that in response to our baptisms, not only are “we here,” but that, “we are ready” to do our part.

   As we think about David and his call, “to shepherd” his people, we realize another of the reasons for using the right, perhaps more correct names for our leaders.  There is the human tendency to, “take power,” if we are given it, and “run with it,” forgetting “why” this power was entrusted to us in the 1^st place.  If we recall the story of David, we remember that he forgot “to shepherd,” for a time, and opted for “reigning,” as in “king,” instead, until he once again found his way. 

   It is interesting in this light, to consider the term, “reverend,” a term that many priests, both male and female use as a title.  “Reverend” comes from the Latin, reverendus, meaning [one who is] to be revered/must be respected.  For me, it seems that, just because “one is ordained,” doesn’t mean they should automatically, “be respected,”  but rather, by their actions. 

   And for that reason, I use the title, “pastor,” as it continuallly reminds me, to try “to pastor” folks, not “rule them.”  A small example to this point is of a newly ordained male back a few years ago who told me that he “demanded” that his parishioners call him, “Father” – it always struck me that his stance of “demanding,” was all wrong. 

   The second reading from Paul to the Colossians shows us his relationship to Jesus, as, “the Christ” – as this was the only way Paul knew Jesus, as they had never met as humans, one to the other.  If we reflect on “the Christ” as theologians and Franciscans, Sister Ilia Delio and Father Richard Rohr speak of Jesus, we realize, “this” Christ is a “big enough” God for all believers, “a Cosmic Christ,” yet Paul’s understanding is more narrow –Paul’s “Christ” is one who came “to save us from our sins” “through Jesus’ death on the cross,” as he speaks of it in today’s 2^nd reading, as if that was the only reason for Jesus becoming human.  We know today from modern exegesis that in one sense, Jesus did “come to save us,” but, in a larger sense, “from ourselves,” by showing us, “the way” to live and to love. 

   In Luke’s gospel selection for today, it is clear that the soldiers ridiculing Jesus as he dies, didn’t understand either why he came.  Interestingly though, one of the men dying alongside him did! “This one has done nothing wrong” [as he spoke of Jesus’ earthly life of justice, mercy, compassion and love for us humans.

   The fact is, though, what he said about Jesus is not entirely true—that “Jesus had done nothing wrong.”  In the eyes of the powers-that-were in Jesus’ time—he had done plenty wrong! Jesus was advocating that the leaders deal out justice for all, especially the least among them, and criticizing them for not being the “servants” that true kings and leaders should be.  The only way to silence such a one, or so they thought, was the punishment that Jesus was suffering. 

   So, my friends, if we are to be true followers of our brother Jesus, then we cannot get caught up in the theology “that God sent Jesus to die for our sins.”  If we stay there, then Jesus “does” it all—there is nothing for us to do, but live, without ever questioning, never looking at ourselves, never taking the responsibility for our own actions and doing our part. 

   Jesus came to show us how to live our human experience in the best way.  Sometimes that may get us into trouble, as it did Jesus, but we are expected as his followers to get out into our world, in the midst of the sometimes mess we find there, as in our present time, and to do our part to make things better.  Jesuit and social activist in the 1980s, Dan Berrigan, was known to have said,  “If you want to follow Jesus, you better look good on wood!” 

   In conclusion then, let’s home in on Jesus’ true mission for each of us—anything that isn’t ultimately about attempting to be our best through kindness, mercy, and justice for all, including ourselves—basically about love, should not be wasting our time.  And you will notice that I included, “ourselves,” as we can’t be there for others if we forget ourselves. It’s a balance.

   So, also as we said last week in concluding another, Year of Grace, this “being a Christian” isn’t easy – it will at times call us to some hard decisions, most likely, not “crucifixion,” but sometimes standing alone, even among family and friends.  But we must remember that we have strong shoulders to stand on in our brother and friend, Jesus, the Christ!” Amen? Amen!