Readings & Reflections: Christmas Octave Mass & St. John Kanty, December 23,2019

“Lo, I am sending my messenger.” The divine destiny of the Baptist resounds in the conviction of his mother’s voice: “He will be called John.” Elizabeth and Zechariah recognizes in this infant the one who “shows sinners the way.” The friendship of the Lord is with us – the new covenant.

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Opening Prayer

Father, we contemplate the birth of your Son.
He was born of the Virgin Mary
and came to live among us.
May we receive forgiveness and mercy
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.  Amen

Reading 1
Mal 3:1-4, 23-24

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14
R. (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees. The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their instruction.

R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church;
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Lk 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – God sees into our souls

God sees into our souls and knows our sins even more than we do. He knows what needs to be removed in our lives and what we would require to be nourished by His grace so we may be in the original form that He has designed us to be. He wants us to be new, from the inside out, and He can do it if we give Him the chance to work on us.

There are times when we feel intense heat in our lives – stress, conflict, grief, pain or heavy pressure – and we ask God why He is allowing us to experience such sordid and pitiful events. We become restless and may lose hope. A number of us may even turn around and forego whatever relationship we may have had with our Lord. But there are those of us who will endure the heat as it is not designed to burn us or hurt us but is designed to melt away the impurities of our lives and make us more valuable than we have ever been.

God is allowing some heat in our lives not because something is wrong but because God thinks we are worth refining. He sets us on fire because He believes in our worth and loves us. He sees the goodness that is deeply imbedded in us. He is very much aware of what we could be, if we just lose the impurities that have polluted us. God loves us so much and takes care that we are refined to perfection, but not longer, nor more intense than is needful for our good.

As we await the birth of our Lord Jesus, we are reminded that Jesus is the fulfillment of the New Covenant. Those who seek Jesus shall find pleasure in Him and He shall prepare us to be His temple through the ministry of His Word and the convictions of His Spirit. By His gospel, He shall purify and change us and by his Spirit working in us, we shall have new life as our souls are cleansed. He will take away the dross that is found in us and He will remove everything that has incapacitated us and have rendered our faculties worthless and useless.

Just like the way He refined Zechariah, He will refine and purify us! He will remove any un-belief in us till such time that we shall proclaim his great glory!

“He is like the refiner’s fire or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord.”

Maranatha! Jesus is coming!

Direction

Let us maintain a close relationship with our Lord Jesus as “the friendship
of the Lord is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their
instruction.”

“In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is at hand.

Prayer

Oh, Emmanuel, “God-with-Us,” You have touched me; you are God-with-Me.

Thank you for these weeks of prayer. In the spirit of the season
my waiting, my patience, feels sacred.

Refine and purify my heart with the hottest flame of your love. Give me the courage of your prophets and let me do what is right even when others don’t understand.

Bless my heart with generosity and make me ready to receive you.

Heavenly Father, your ways, O Lord, make known to me. Teach me your paths and guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior. In Jesus, I pray, hope and live. Amen.

Reflection 2 – Great expectations, great potential

Every child is born with great potential. What that child will ultimately be depends on many circumstances: the home environment, educational opportunities, cultural forces, economic conditions, political climate, and so much more. But ultimately, whether the potential of the child will be realized depends on the “hand of the Lord.”

In the case of Elizabeth’s child, we know the rest of John the Baptist’s story: raised by elderly parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth; called to a prophetic ministry; prepared the way for Jesus; executed after confronting the immoral lifestyle of Herod. John the Baptist grew in age, wisdom, and grace because the Holy Spirit was upon him.

The prophet Malachi (3:1-4,23-24) reminds us that often the hand of the Lord brings about purification and refinement. So many obstacles block us from reaching our full potential. Sometimes those stumbling blocks are the capital sins: pride, anger, lust, jealousy, sloth, gluttony, or greed. These obstacles involve a turning away from the Lord. Our challenge is to remain open to divine grace and allow the Lord to turn our hearts and minds to truth, goodness, and beauty.

One of the great tragedies of life is to see gifted children (and adults) not reach their full potential. Call it a wasted life or anything else, the world is diminished because of unrealized potential. John the Baptist grew to maturity and did his life’s work in just a few years. By doing so, he glorified God. John is a model of discipleship for us.

The principal agent of growth is the Holy Spirit. Thus, the need to invoke that Spirit to enlighten us to see, to enkindle us to be on fire with God’s love, and to empower us to live the divine commands, we call this the work of sanctification; we attribute that work to the grace of God’s Holy Spirit.

Meditation: What gifts has God given us? Are these gifts being nurtured and shared with others? In what ways has the hand of the Lord been upon you?

Prayer: Gracious God, you are extravagant with your gifts. More, you send your Spirit into our lives to nurture those blessings. Help us to be open to your Spirit and to take responsibility for what you have given us. May we bring you glory by living full, mature lives. Purify our hearts; refine our minds, we pray.

Reflection 3 – Time to believe in miracles again

John the Baptist was a revered figured in the early Church. Many followers of the Lord had originally been disciples of the Baptist. Many remained followers of the Baptist even after his death. John represents the continual need we have for repentance to prepare for the irruption of God’s presence into our lives. Secondly, John’s whole mission in life was to point the way to Christ. That is very much the heart of the Christian vocation.

In the gospel (Lk 1:57-66,80) when Zechariah wrote the name John his speech was restored. He had lost his tongue due to his disbelief and it was belief that untied his tongue. It was an outright miracle. In fact the whole episode was miraculous. John’s birth to the aging couple was hard to accept.

Just like every birth is a miracle, it takes stepping outside of our indifferent attitude to see what God has done. We are all God’s works of art. It takes a dose of faith to see what is exceptional and miraculous in every human birth. We have become so casual about new life that our culture stops and starts to play God’s handiwork whenever it is our pleasure. We think we know more about it than God and that attitude is the root of most sins. What makes us think we can control human life? Zechariah was a fool, but we are just as foolish in our attempts to play God.

Yet, John the Baptist came as a beacon of hope, a hope that is our heritage as believers in the gospel. Zechariah got his voice back when he believed the miracle of his little John. We, too, always have that hope when we trust Jesus with our lives, when we are forgiven and restored.

This feast is a celebration of a life that changed salvation history. Without John’s voice crying out in the desert, the people would not have been prepared to the Messiah. Without you, what would be absent from God’s kingdom? You were born to bring a gift to all of us. You are a miracle and your life is a part of redemption. John was a miracle, as is every child. It is time to believe in miracles once again. (Source: Jeanne Hunt, Weekday Homily Helps. Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, June 24, 2009).

Reflection 4 – Follow the signs

The name John means “the Lord is gracious.” In the birth of John and in the birth of Jesus the Messiah we see the grace of God breaking forth into a world broken by sin and death and without hope. John’s miraculous birth shows the mercy and favor of God in preparing his people for the coming of its Lord and Savior, the Christ. John the Baptist was the sign that points to the coming of the Messiah. How important is the sign to us?

When Britain was in danger of invasion early in World War II, the people were told to destroy all signposts and direction indicators in the countryside in order to confuse enemy paratroopers should they land.

In 1944 as soon as the danger had passed, the signs were immediately restored, since they were really vital to the successful life of the country. Just as we cannot travel about the country without signs, so we cannot make our journey through life without some laws to tell us the right direction to follow. A disordered life is like a journey that has no road signs. Fortunately, God has given us clear signs.

John the Baptist is a sign of the coming of the Messiah, Our Lord Jesus. Zechariah received a sign from the angel that he cannot talk. A time for prayer, fasting and sacrifice is needed before the experience of joy during the birth of John. After the birth of John, Zechariah was able to speak and celebrate the joy. John is the fruit of a long suffering and pain of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The Lord answers their prayers. But today, what is the significance of John the Baptist to us?

God involved John the Baptist as our guide. Often we are so wrapped up within our own very own self, our ideas, beliefs and perceptions that we fail to see the truth of our salvation. We fail to see and acknowledge sin in our lives that we care not to be forgiven. John the Baptist challenged the people and taught them what they really needed to be saved, how much they needed to repent. He showed them how to find Christ, the one who could bring them salvation. He was a model of selflessness and humility and said, “Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet” (Acts 13:25). John the Baptist was the forerunner for Christ and paved the way for His coming. He suffered imprisonment and beheaded as a witness to our Redeemer and gave his life for him. If John spoke God’s message with strength, conviction and without fear even in the midst of pain and suffering, what should be our action plan in bringing the Good News?

Today, let us make our lives to be a prayer in itself like John the Baptist. Like John the Baptist, it is only through a life of self-denial and self-giving that we will be able to set aside our shortcomings and be able to bring others to God and lift each other up to Him. It is only by one’s willingness to suffer and be persecuted and be set aside, all because of the truth, can we say that we have been the forerunner just like John the Baptist. Let us then ask the Holy Spirit to work within us and give us the power and the strength to endure the difficulties of life and be God’s instrument in bringing His Word and calling all me to repentance, so that we may truly be the bearer of truth at all times. One thing is certain, if we open our hearts to God and His call to serve his people, He will make us a light to the nations so that His salvation may reach the ends of the earth.

“Lord Jesus, you bring hope and salvation to a world lost in sin and suffering. Let your grace refresh and restore your people today in the hope and joy of your great victory over sin and death.”

Reflection 5 – What then will this child be?

Are you surprised to see the relatives of Zechariah and Elizabeth disagreeing over what to name their newborn child? Don’t we do the same thing? This child, however has been named from above! And Elizabeth is firm in her faith and determined to see that God be glorified through this child. The name John means “the Lord is gracious.” In the birth of John the Baptist and in the birth of Jesus the Messiah we see the grace and favor of God breaking forth into a world broken by sin, corruption, and death – a world lost without hope.

The Old Testament prophets foretold the return of the prophet Elijah (Malachi 3:1, and 4:5) who would announce the coming of the Messiah – the Savior and Ruler of the earth. John the Baptist fulfills the role of Elijah (Matthew 11:13-14). His miraculous birth shows the mercy and favor of God in preparing his people for the coming of its Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

When God acts to save us he graciously fills us with his Holy Spirit and makes our faith come “alive” to his promises. When we respond to his word with trust the Lord fills us with the joy of the Holy Spirit and renews our hope and gratitude for the mercy and gift of new life and salvation he gives us through Jesus Christ. Do you make your life an offering of thanksgiving to God, along with your family and all that you have and hope to accomplish? God wants to fill us with the joy of his saving presence all the days of our lives, from birth through death. Renew the offering of your life to God and give him thanks for his mercy and favor towards you.

“Lord Jesus, you are gracious and forgiving towards us. Renew in me the gift of faith that I may believe your promises and obey your word.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2019/dec23.htm

Reflection 6 – The spirit of Christmas

Reflection 7 – St. John Kanty (1390?-1473 A.D.)

John was a country lad who made good in the big city and the big university of Kraków, Poland. After brilliant studies he was ordained a priest and became a professor of theology. The inevitable opposition which saints encounter led to his being ousted by rivals and sent to be a parish priest at Olkusz. An extremely humble man, he did his best, but his best was not to the liking of his parishioners. Besides, he was afraid of the responsibilities of his position. But in the end he won his people’s hearts. After some time he returned to Kraków and taught Scripture for the remainder of his life.

He was a serious man, and humble, but known to all the poor of Kraków for his kindness. His goods and his money were always at their disposal, and time and again they took advantage of him. He kept only the money and clothes absolutely needed to support himself. He slept little, and then on the floor, ate sparingly, and took no meat. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, hoping to be martyred by the Turks. He made four pilgrimages to Rome, carrying his luggage on his back. When he was warned to look after his health, he was quick to point out that, for all their austerity, the fathers of the desert lived remarkably long lives.

Comment:

John of Kanty is a typical saint: He was kind, humble and generous, he suffered opposition and led an austere, penitential life. Most Christians in an affluent society can understand all the ingredients except the last: Anything more than mild self-discipline seems reserved for athletes and ballet dancers. Christmas is a good time at least to reject self-indulgence.

Read the source:   http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1238

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