Dec 22-27:
Dec 22 Monday: Lk 1:46-56:
Catholic reflections on Luke 1:46-56, also known as
the Magnificat, focus on the song of praise from Mary which
expresses her humility, God’s justice, and the fulfilment of His promises.
The Magnificat is seen as a prayer inspired by the Holy
Spirit, celebrating God’s power to lift up the lowly and scatter the proud, and
reflecting Mary’s personal joy at being chosen as the mother of the Messiah.
The passage is a key part of the Catholic Church’s prayer, liturgy, and
understanding of Mary’s role.
Expression of praise and humility: Mary’s song begins, “My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” This
powerful statement of Mary’s deep humility and reverence, recognizes that all
glory belongs to God, not herself, even though she has been chosen for a unique
role.
God’s justice and the reversal of fortunes: The Magnificat is
famous for its message of social and spiritual reversal. Catholic teaching
emphasizes that Mary’s song highlights God’s consistent action of exalting the
humble and bringing down the proud, filling the hungry and sending the rich
away empty.
Fulfilment of Old Testament promises: Mary’s words are
deeply rooted in the Old Testament and especially in the Psalms. Her words show
that she understands her role within the long history of God’s promises to
Israel, and that she is a part of a lineage of faithful servants in whom God
has shown mercy.
A personal and universal prayer: While deeply personal to
Mary, the Magnificat has become a universal prayer for
Catholics. It serves as a reminder that God’s mercy is ever-present and
extends “from age to age,” so the Magnificat is
meant to be a part of the regular, joyful prayer of all believers.
God’s action through the lowly: The Magnificat also
celebrates God’s favorable “look” (attentive awareness) of Mary’s
“lowliness.” This “look” reflects a broader theme in Luke’s Gospel in which God
works through the marginalized and unexpected to bring about salvation, and
invites reflection on how/where/when God is at work in our own lives and
communities.
Dec 23 Tuesday: St. John of Kanty, Priest
]Lk 1:57-66:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the birth and
naming of St. John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, who was given
the mission of heralding the promised Messiah and of preparing the Chosen
People to welcome him. It was by preaching to everyone the need for repentance
and the renewal of life that John fulfilled his mission. John was born to the
priest, Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth in their old age a miracle indicating
the importance of this child in God’s plans. Today’s Gospel passage describes
John’s birth, Circumcision, and Naming ceremony.
A miraculous birth and an event of double joy: His elderly
parents rejoiced in John’s birth, as he was a gift from God in their old age.
Since the child was a boy, all their neighbors rejoiced with them, and the
village musicians celebrated the birth by playing their joyful music. On the
eighth day after his birth, John was Circumcised and Named. The neighbors
assumed that the boy would be named Zechariah after his father. However,
Elizabeth insisted firmly that the child should be named John (= “the
Lord is gracious”), the name given him by the Archangel Gabriel when he
spoke to Zechariah. Appealed to by the gathered people, the mute Zechariah
approved that name by writing, “His name IS John.” At that
action of obedient surrender to the Lord God, the priest’s speech was restored,
God for blessing him with a son, and Israel with her Deliverer, Whose herald
his son would be.
Life messages: 1) We need to pray for our
parents and be thankful to them for their gift of life, the training, and the
discipline they have given us, and the love and affection they have lavished on
us. Let us ask God’s pardon if we are, or were, ungrateful to them, do/did not
take proper care of them in their illness or old age or ever inflicted pain on
them. 2) We need to remember and pray for our godparents who sponsored us in
Baptism, which made us children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, heirs of
Heaven, and members of Jesus’ Mystical Body, the Church.
3) We should have the courage of our Christian convictions
as John the Baptist did, and we should become heralds of Christ as the Baptist
was, by our transparent Christian lives. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 24 Wednesday: Lk 1:67-79:
The context: Today’s Gospel gives the prophetic
hymn which Zechariah, filled with Holy Spirit, sang on the eighth day after his
son John’s birth when all had assembled for his Circumcision and Naming
ceremony. Although the Jews generally believed that Elijah the prophet would
return to earth to prepare the way for the Messiah, Zechariah prophetically
sang here that it was his son, John, who was going to prepare the way for the
Messiah, Jesus.
Zechariah’s prophecy contains four steps of the Christian
Way we are supposed to take. 1) Preparation: Our life must be a preparation,
leading us to our eternal salvation, enabling us to walk through/with/in
Christ, the only sure Way.
2) Correct knowledge of the only true God: Jesus Christ is
our Lord and Savior who taught us that God His Father is a loving and forgiving
Father Who saved us through His son Jesus.
3) Forgiveness of sins: The restoring of our broken
relationship with God, was accomplished through the suffering, death and
Resurrection of Jesus. We experience this forgiveness particularly in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation received devoutly and frequently.
4) Walking in the way of peace: Peace is not the absence of
trouble. It is the fullness of everything needed for man’s highest good. Jesus
instituted in His Church all the means necessary for us to attain our highest
good. He gave us the Holy Spirit, the Holy Bible, the Sacraments, and the
centralized teaching authority of his Church, with Mary and the saints as role
models and praying companions for our journey.
Life message: 1) As happened to doubting Zechariah,
let us be filled with the Holy Spirit by asking for His daily anointing and
strengthening. Let us prophesy (speak the truths of God and His will for us) as
Zachariah did, by conveying to others the reason for our Christmas celebration
as rebirth of Jesus into our lives. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 25 Thursday: Christmas Daytime Mass: Jn 1:1-18:
The context and the content: Bible scholars
generally agree that the Prologue (1:1-18) of John’s Gospel is a hymn, the
overall purpose of which is to highlight the historical and theological
significance of Jesus’ origins as “Word,” “true Light,” and the
“Only-begotten Son,” thus tracing Jesus’ genealogy to God Himself. The
Navarre Bible commentary summarizes the main teachings in the prologue
thus: 1) the Divinity and Eternity of the Word; 2) the Incarnation of
the Word and His manifestation as man; 3) the part played by the Word in
creation and in the salvation of mankind; 4) the different ways in which people
react to the coming of the Lord — some accepting the Word made Flesh with
Faith, others rejecting Jesus; 5) finally, John the Baptist as witness-bearer
to the presence of the Word in the world.
The significance of the text: Verses 6-9 introduce
John the Baptist in a manner that clearly distinguishes him from Jesus – “John
himself was not the Light, but he came to testify to the Light. The true Light,
which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…” Some scholars
maintain that the author of the Gospel may be making such a forceful
differentiation in order to counter a sect claiming that John the Baptist was
the Light and the Messiah, and not simply the one testifying to the Light. In
all he did and said, the Baptist always bore witness to Jesus and Jesus’
messianic identity: “John testified to Him and cried out, saying, ‘The
One Who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because He existed before me'”(Jn
1:15). Verses 19-28: an Advent and Christmas text that calls us
to remember the origins and purposes of Jesus and His coming with the kind of
devotion that challenges us to be witnesses for Jesus. John the Baptist
demonstrates what it means to bear witness to the true Light coming into the
world.
Life messages: 1) We need to bear witness to
Christ the Light: By Baptism we become members of the family of Christ, the
true Light of the world. Jesus said: “You are the light
of the world.” Hence, our mission as brothers and sisters of Christ
and members of His Mystical Body, the Church, is to reflect Christ’s Light to
others, just as the moon reflects the light of the sun. 2) It is especially
important during the Christmas season that we reflect on Christ’s unconditional
love and forgiveness. Very many people live in spiritual darkness and poverty,
lacking real freedom. There are others who are deafened and blinded by the
cheap attractions of the world. Still others feel lonely, unwanted, rejected,
useless, and marginalized. All these people are waiting for us to reflect the
light of Christ on and into them, thus turning their lives into experiences of
joy, wholeness and integrity.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 26 Friday: St. Stephen, the first Martyr:
Mt 10:17-22: Life and death of St. Stephen:
Today’s first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles,
describes the death of Stephen, the first martyr in the history of the Church.
Stephen was a zealous Greek convert from Judaism to Christianity. He was chosen
by the community and accepted by the Apostles to serve as one of the seven
earliest deacons in the Church. These Deacons were meant to help meet the
material needs of Greek Christian widows in Jerusalem who had complained that
they were being slighted in favor of Hebrew Christian widows in the matter of
Church assistance. Stephen was chosen for this ministry of helping the poor
because he had good character and was filled with the Holy Spirit. But he was
arrested by the Sanhedrin because he was converting numerous Jews to
Christianity, and the Jewish leaders could not win against him in debates. The
jealous Jews arranged false witnesses against Stephen. These men accused him of
blaspheming against Yahweh and Moses. In his final defense speech before his
judges in the Sanhedrin, Stephen, inspired by the Holy Spirit (as Jesus had promised
all His disciples they would be when called to bear witness to Him), bravely
and eloquently defended his belief in Jesus as the promised Messiah. He accused
the Jews of unbelief and explained that the sacrifices and sacrificial Laws
given by Moses were temporary. When Stephen suddenly announced that he could
see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father, the infuriated Jews mobbed
him, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him to death. During the stoning,
Stephen bore heroic witness to Jesus, first praying, “Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit,” and then, obeying the command of Jesus, prayed
loudly for his executioners, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” With
that, he “fell asleep.”
Life message: St. Stephen teaches us how to bear
witness to Christ bravely in our lives, when our Faith and its practice are
questioned or challenged. St. Stephen’s martyrdom is celebrated on the day
following Christmas to remind us of the consequences of giving our lives to Him
who was born an Infant in Bethlehem — that we must give Him everything, holding
nothing back, even if it means persecution and death.
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Dec 27 Saturday: St. John, Apostle, Evangelist: Jn
20:2-8:
John was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Salome, a
close relative of Mary. John and his brother, James the Greater, were
fishermen, partners of Peter and Andrew; they were disciples of John the
Baptist before they were called by Jesus as his Apostles. John’s name is
mentioned always after his brother’s name in Matthew, Mark and the Acts of the
Apostles. John was the Apostle beloved by Jesus and one of the
three constituting Jesus’ inner circle of friends who witnessed Jesus’ raising
of the daughter of Jairus from the dead, His Transfiguration on the mountain
and His agony in the garden of Gethsemane. After fleeing with the others from
Gethsemane, John returned. He remained faithful to Jesus at the palace of the
High Priest during Jesus’ trial by the Sanhedrin, and he had the courage to be
at the foot of the cross, supporting and consoling Mary. He was entrusted by
Jesus with the care of His mother, and, after the Resurrection, John was the
one who first recognized the risen Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Missionary activities: With Peter, John played a prominent role in founding and guiding the Church. John was with Peter when the latter healed the lame man (Acts 3:1), was in prison with him (Acts 4:3), and was with him when Peter visited the new Christians in Samaria (Acts 8:14). John left for Asia Minor and Ephesus when King Herod Agrippa I started persecuting Christians. He returned to Jerusalem in AD 51 to attend the Jerusalem Council. According to tradition, when the attempt of Emperor Domitian to murder John by putting him in boiling oil failed, John was exiled to Patmos Island. As an Evangelist, John wrote five books of the New Testament: The Gospel according to John, three epistles and the Book of Revelation. He preached always about God’s love in his old age. Returning to Ephesus, John lived there, dying when he was one hundred years old. John reminds us of the greatest commandment of love given by Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Fr. Tony)
