Advent: Week 3-Day 2

Today I'd like to focus on a somewhat under-appreciated hero of the Christmas story, and that hero is St. Joseph. Yes, he is always included in Nativity sets etc., but I would suggest that we don't truly appreciate the role he plays in the birth of Christ. We have a fair amount of songs about Mary or from her perspective (some of which I like, some of which...I don't) and rightly so, but how many songs do we have from the very unique perspective of St. Joseph?

Joseph is entrusted with the extraordinarily unique task of protecting Mary and the baby Jesus. In today's Gospel the angel Gabriel appears to him to say, "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife." When Jospeh discovers that Mary is with child and decides to divorce her quietly, we tend to interpret that action as Joseph suspecting Mary of infidelity and divorcing her out of his disappointment with her. However, therefore is an alternative interpretation which suggests that Joseph did in fact believe that Mary was telling the truth and that he wanted to divorce her because he felt himself to be unworthy. This interpretation makes more sense of the angel's words, "Do not be afraid". This poor humble carpenter is suddenly entrusted with the great task of protecting the Son of God and his mother. But he is always quick to rise to the occasion and follow God's will, in wherever it leads him and in whatever it asks of him.

Today I'd like to invite you to consider the unique role of St. Joseph and ask him to help you prepare for the coming of Christ this Christmas. He is a perfect example of how God likes to take the humble and the lowly and do great things with them. If we approach the coming of Christ with a humble heart like St. Joseph, willing to go wherever he leads, God can do great things with us too. This Christmas, let St. Joseph show you how to stay close to the Son of God and to his His mother, as he so intimately was.

Pax Vobiscum

Advent: Week 3 - Day 1

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a day set aside during the Advent season to acknowledge that even though we are still very much in Advent mode and still not yet in the full blown celebration of Christmas, we are getting closer and closer. "Gaudete" means "rejoice". This day reminds us that even though we are still awaiting the coming of Christ, we do so with joy. We rejoice on this day because we know that our Savior is getting closer to us, like the joyful exception of two lovers who will soon be reunited.

This is a good day to recall and reflect on the meeting of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. At this beautiful meeting, John the Baptist, a mere infant in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, leaps for joy at the presence of Jesus, also an unborn baby in the womb of His mother. We too are called to leap for joy at the presence of Christ among us. Once again, the whole celebration of Christmas is that God Himself, our Savior, has come among us, and this is an occasion of great joy.

After this, Our Lady, filled with the Holy Spirit, says her famous "Magnificat", "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior." This Christmas, our souls too are meant to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Our spirits too are made to rejoice in God our savior. On this day, invite the Holy Spirit to fill you with His presence, as He did Mary. Ask Him to fill you with the joy that only He can give, knowing that the One who comes to save us is near at hand. Our lover is coming to hold us close to His heart. Yes, we are still waiting; but we do so with great rejoicing, asking the Holy Spirit to help us proclaim the greatness of the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior, so that when He comes at Christmas, we too may leap for joy.

Pax Vobiscum

Advent: Week 2-Day 7

Well my timing has been shaky the past couple of days, but I'm back on track today (praise God). The opening prayer at mass today says, "May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts, we pray, almighty God, that all shadows of the night may be scattered and we may be shown to be children of light by the advent of your Only Begotten Son." Christ comes to us on Christmas Day like the dawn that rises and overcomes the darkness of night.

There are many "shadows" in our life that can haunt us and keep us in the darkness, keep us from fulling living that Christmas joy. Jesus comes to us to scatter these shadows, to defeat all the forces of evil and to send them far from us, so that we may be "children of light". In other words, He comes to us so that the darkness and the shadows of our life may no longer cast a cloud over us, but that we may live in the great freedom of the children of God and live only in His light, which overcomes all darkness.

As we draw closer and closer to Christmas, bring to Jesus the shadows in your life. Invite Him into every corner of your heart so that His dawn may dispel every shadow of darkness from you and that you may live only as a child of the light, knowing the intense, passionate freedom known only to the children of God. This Christmas, may the splendor of God's glory dawn in your heart, that all shadows of the night may be scattered and that you may be shown to be a child of the light by the advent of the Only Begotten Son of God.

Pax Vobiscum

Advent: Week 2 - Day 6

Well once again, this post turned out to be very late indeed; but here it is nonetheless. At Christmas we celebrate the Incarnation (no not reincarnation). The Incarnation is the act of God becoming man; God takes on our flesh and becomes one of us. The name Emmanuel means "God is with us". We celebrate the fact that God loves us too much to leave us alone. He loves us too much to stay comfy in heaven, while we suffer here below.  So great and so intimate is God's love for us that He wants to literally unite Himself with us. As a lover and beloved unite to become one flesh, God unites Himself to our mortal flesh and becomes one with us, out of His great love for us.

On Christmas Day we celebrate the great mystery that God and man have become one, in the person of Jesus Christ. God's love for us is so great that He pursues us from heaven all the way down to earth, to bring us back to His heart. In the remaining time leading up to Christmas, try to see the Incarnation as more than just an abstract theological teaching. Try to see it as the relentless pursuit of a God that loves us, or better yet, as the relentless pursuit of a God that loves you. Jesus wants to be one with you this Christmas; He wants to make His home with you. The Love that we all crave deep down comes to us on Christmas Day. In these remaining days of Advent, let your heart long for that Love; and when Christmas finally comes, let your heart rejoice at its coming.

Pax Vobiscum

Advent: Week 2-Day 5

Well I'm a bit late with this post, but nonetheless here it is. Today, the Church recognizes the feast of St. John of the Cross, who was known for his great emphasis on embracing suffering and uniting it to the cross of Jesus. Suffering is a reality of life, whether we choose to face it or not. St. John understood that the only way to overcome suffering is to embrace it. Only by seeing suffering as a way of drawing closer to Christ can we find meaning in suffering.

As we approach this Christmas season, we certainly do so with a spirit of joy and hope. However, it is always worth bearing in mind that's Christ's coming, while it is a source of great joy, will also lead to great suffering, for Jesus comes to die for us; it is only by His death on the cross that Jesus sets us free. Joy and suffering are therefore not always mutually exclusive. Christ alone, by His coming, shows us how to embrace suffering and find joy in the midst of it. Only when we are willing to suffer for Christ can we find great joy.

Our lives do not altogether stop for Christmas. There could be many things in our life that cause us suffering. The coming of Christ is the only thing that can give us hope and joy in the midst of that suffering. That doesn't mean we deny or negate the reality of suffering in our life; but it does mean that we can find meaning in it, if we allow Jesus to show us how. This year, when suffering comes your way, do not just ignore it or let it defeat you but rather invite Jesus into your suffering. Let Him carry your cross with you. He comes this Christmas to set you free, but only through the Cross. Do not run from that Cross, for that is the source of all our joy.

Pax Vobiscum

Advent: Week 2-Day 4

The First Reading from last Sunday begins with the word, "Comfort, give comfort to my people". From this passage, we have the beautiful hymn for Advent, "Comfort, Comfort, O My People". Isaiah assures us that our God is coming to bring us not condemnation but comfort. Similarly, Jesus says in today's Gospel, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

Our hearts can often be restless. We can crave rest and comfort, perhaps in a particular way during this season, but we look to the wrong sources for that comfort, ultimately to things that leave us still feeling empty or restless. Jesus comes this Christmas to give us the comfort that we crave. He comes to give us the rest that we need. Nowhere else can we find the rest that we truly desire; as St. Augustine says, our hearts are restless until they rest in Christ. We will never find true comfort or rest by indulging our appetites or by distracting ourselves with entertainment or by seeking the approval or attention of others. If we find our comfort in anything other than Christ, our hearts remain restless.

Today is the feast of St. Lucy (I wrote a blog post about her last year). She has the twofold distinction of giving her body to Christ by remaining a virgin throughout her life and by dying for the name of Jesus. This young girl had the strength to give herself so heroically for Our Lord because her comfort was in Christ alone, not anything else that the world had to offer her. And so she gave Christ everything she had.

Christ wants to give you His comfort this Christmas. He wants you to find your rest in Him alone, so that your heart will no longer be restless. He comes this Christmas to give Himself to you, but He also invites you to give yourself to Him, as St. Lucy did, holding nothing back. Only then will you find the comfort that you so desperately crave.

Pax Vobiscum

Advent: Week 2-Day 3

Well today is the beautiful feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Last year, I did a YouTube video in honor of this day; you can check that out here . Without repeating everything I said in that video, I would like to focus on Our Lady of Guadalupe for today's reflection on Advent.

Part of the story of this apparition, which I summarize in the video, is that Mary appears to a young man named (now Saint) Juan Diego. She sends him to the bishop of Mexico to spread the message of her love and protection over the lands of the Americas. When the bishop requires proof from Juan Diego, that this is indeed the Mother of God who is appearing to him, Mary shows him where to find a large amount of roses, growing in the cold dead of winter; and he takes these miraculous roses back to the bishop as the proof he requires.

I mentioned in one of my posts last week the beautiful Advent/Christmas song "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." Jesus is that Rose that blooms in the dead of winter. Mary is the one who brings that Rose to us. I know I spoke of her at length a few days ago, for the Immaculate Conception; but I'd just like to add to that by inviting you, in these days leading up to Christmas, to walk through these days with Mary. She above all knows what it means to prepare for the coming of her Son and to know the fullness of the joy that His coming brings. As she brings St. Juan Diego to the miraculous roses, growing in the dead of winter, let her bring you to the true Rose that blooms among us this Christmas. Imagine yourself taking the journey to Bethlehem with Mary, walking with her through the long, arduous road. And finally, imagine yourself with her when all her trials are rewarded by the miraculous birth of her Son. May the face of that Son shine upon you this Christmas, and may that Rose bloom in your heart.

Pax Vobiscum