3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C - REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel,

Rejoice! - a commandment

(Fr. James McTavish)

Zeph 3:14-18a Isa 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6 Phil 4:4-7 Luke 3:10-18

At the moment I am teaching Catholic morality. Often when we think of morality what comes to mind are a set of rules and regulations, do and don’ts (and mostly don’ts!). How interesting to note what we are commanded to do on this Sunday of Advent, which is commonly known as gaudete Sunday, is to ...rejoice! This is a commandment.

In the first reading of the prophet Zephaniah we have. “Shout for joy, sing joyfully, be glad and exult with all your heart!” Wow! Let’s party! It is a time to be joyful. What can be the reason of our joy? Thinking of the gifts we will receive? Usually we enjoy them for a while but then later we lose interest. Thinking of all the nice food we will eat? Yes, but we also know that in January we have to begin the year with a diet! There are many things that happen to us every day that can make us really joyful like last night, for me to see two missionaries in my community in the chapel late at night preparing the Word of God in Chinese for a retreat they will give today. I was so happy to see them there dedicated to the Word of God. How great is this! We are called to share the Word of God in another language, helping prepare a way for the coming of the Lord. That is why we pray, “Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus!” As soon he will, so scripture tells us: “The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty saviour; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.” (Zephaniah 3:14-18a).

St Paul in the second reading continues this theme of joy: “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Sometimes we find it hard to rejoice because we have many worries. In one moment this week I found myself burdened with anxiety about all the things I had to do. I was taking myself a bit too seriously. Sometimes we have genuine concerns but at other times it can be because we give ourselves too much importance, we can feel that we are the only ones doing anything. We are reminded: “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7). Present all your worries to the Lord. Don’t say to God that you have a big problem but say to your problem you have a big God! Then we will experience that peace that only Christ, the Prince of Peace, can bring.

Our preparation for the coming of the Lord is not only manifested interiorly but also exteriorly. All the people were asking John the Baptist that important question, “What should we do?” What shall we do for Christmas to really prepare our lives for his coming? John gives them some advice; “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none” (Luke 3:10-18). St Basil the Great said, “The coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests, belongs to the naked; the footwear mouldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes.” Of course it is not enough to know these things but to put them into practice so this morning I checked through my closet. I only have one pair of shoes but I did find 4 shirts that I don’t use, so I washed them and tomorrow will give them to a nearby congregation of sisters who will distribute them to the poor who live near us. It is scandalous that many Christians are living in excess yet so many have nothing. “Luxury corrupts more than poverty,” my African friend told me.

To the tax collectors John said “Exact no more than your rate,” which is not only good advice for taxi drivers but for all Christians in business. One insurance representative in Manila told me she could not pay money as compensation for the flood victims because the flooding is classified as: “an act of God.” In fact many here agree that it was “an act of man” as due to corrupt use of government funds there are no proper drainage systems in place. I told her not to hide behind the letter of the law, as doing so can even be a cover for greed, but to do what is just and right in her conscience, where God speaks and in following it lies our very dignity.

To the soldiers, John said, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.” How many workers in rich countries complain about their pay! How many times we practice extortion to get our own way! Come, Lord Jesus and save us. Let us be like John the Baptist, helping to prepare the way of the Lord in the lives of many people. Sometimes we feel ill-prepared, and it is true we need to prepare our own lives first so often we desire to wait until we are more perfect. When will that be?! Even John was not perfect. Theologically he was announcing a salvation of wrath and repentance when in fact the Lord came wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger announcing a message of mercy and compassion. We should just do what we can, knowing, as John did, that one greater than us is coming. He is so great that our imperfections will not stop his arrival but then again he needs us to help prepare the way in the lives of many. May this be our great joy. Rejoice, we all have a mission and there is work to be done. Don’t be anxious, the Lord is near. He is coming soon. Let us help prepare for his coming. Amen.

2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C

Prepare for his coming!

(Fr. James McTavish)

Bar 5:1-9 Ps 126:1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5, 6 Phil 1:4-6, 8-11 Luke 3:1-6

One day this week I was feeling a bit discouraged and sad as I could not work out what the Lord was asking from me. In a moment of prayer I was telling Jesus that I felt disheartened.  The first line of the first reading of today helped me - “Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendour of glory from God forever” (Baruch 5:1). It was Jesus himself responding to my prayer, telling me to cheer up, to be patient “as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ” as we say in every mass. Sure enough after a few days things became much clearer and I felt enlightened.

The psalmist today proclaims: “The Lord worked marvels for us, indeed we were glad” (Psalm 126). Something essential for every one of us is to recognize these little marvels that God works in our lives. What little marvels has the Lord worked in your life this week? Can you answer that question? Stop for a moment. Don’t be in such a rush. What wonders is God working in your life? Many people in our world of today are seeking only the big wonders. But if we fail to spot the obvious little wonders of every day do you really think we will spot the big ones? As G. K. Chesterton commented, “The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder.”

This week a priest friend shared to me the wonderful thing God did in the life of his family recently. He is a missionary and thus is far from his own country and family. His father fell fatally sick and was about to die. The priest asked the family to put the cell phone next to his semi-comatose father’s ear and said to him “Don’t die. Please hang on. I will be there in one day.” His father hung on to life, even surviving a cardiac arrest. The priest arrived and was able to be with his father, who actually went on to make a full recovery. Many staff in the hospital were amazed at his recuperation. The priest said to his dad, “If you want, I will stay at home from now on.” Do you know what his dad replied from his hospital bed? “No son, the Lord has entrusted you a mission. Go and fulfil your mission.”

Well we can reply, what about the many who don’t recover? That is why I said go and discover the wonders God is doing in your own life first or you will never be convinced, even if a man came back to from the dead!!!

Come, Lord Jesus, come into the world as light. Two thousand years ago the light came but was rejected by many. John the evangelist reminds us, “He came among his own but his own did not welcome him” (John 1:11). Before, they did not recognize him as a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, and still today, many times we do not recognize the Lord’s coming in the preaching of the word of God, in the smile of another, in a kind word. How much the world of today needs us to be like John the Baptist! Yes - to prepare the way of the Lord. In today’s gospel, from St Luke, we hear the prophet announcing: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:1-6).

This is the task of every Christian, to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. How can we do that? One young woman was sharing her experience in the office. A workmate was flirting with many men. She told the woman that she did not think it was right to play around with the feelings of others. At first the other woman just laughed but then the girl said “You are playing around because your heart is empty.” Later on the colleague thanked her for being so honest with her and came to realize that her truly her heart was empty as she was lacking the love of Christ.

Many Christians are growing in their sensitivity to the Word of God. The Word did not only come to John the Baptist but to many Christians who are trying to cultivate that loving friendship with Christ. Sometimes we doubt that our lives can really be of help to Jesus and his mission. Perhaps our lives are a little chaotic, maybe spiritually barren or deserted. Even we can feel that our life is a bit too wild. But the word comes to John when he is in the desert! When he is in the WILD-erness! The Word does not only come to those souls that are pure, holy and in order. Where did the Word choose to be born 2000 years ago? In a sterile and clean incubator of Jerusalem Maternity hospital where everything was under control and in good order? Or was it not in a cold, damp, dark manger, which was a bit smelly and full of wild animals? That encourages me so much! Lord, there is room in my heart for you. Please be born in the manger of my heart this Christmas!

Let us make the most of this time of preparation. May we become more and more in love with our mission to prepare the way of the Lord in the life of many of our brothers and sisters. Let us ask for the intercession of St John the Baptist, that we too can be these voices in the wilderness helping prepare the way of the Lord in the life of many people. Amen.

1st Sunday of Advent, Year C

Your liberation is near at hand

Jer 33:14-16 Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10+14 1 Thess 3:12–4:2 Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

All things can be born patiently when liberation is close at hand. Many of the older generation here in Manila remember the moment of their liberation during the occupation of World War II. They kept their hope alive in a difficult moment because they knew that the American army was close by and liberation would come soon. When they were eventually liberated it was an experience of great joy and freedom.

Have you ever been liberated? The other day I went to celebrate mass and afterwards had to organize a moment of Eucharistic adoration. I was not so familiar with the rite, especially the part in Latin and I had to ask for help. I felt liberated! Liberated from the idea that I should already know everything, freed from my concern about what others might think. What is liberation all about? Ask William Wallace and he would cry out “Freedom!” Is there anything that you need to be freed from?

Once we went to a prison on a pastoral visit. The prison was enormously overcrowded. In a room the size of a tennis court there were perhaps 250 men living. So tightly packed that not all could lie down and sleep at the same time such that they had two shifts and took it in turns to sleep while the other group stood standing. In the prison the prisoners gave us such a warm welcome, dancing, singing and cheering that I reflected that they seemed very “free!” Many times we are imprisoned in ourselves, in small concerns and worries. Many times we are held captive by fears but the Spirit desires our freedom.

In the moments of difficulties and trials, when it seems that the world will collapse we should know that “our liberation is close at hand.” The Lord is near - have no anxiety at all. In the gospel one interpretation of the apocalyptic end times with the sun falling, the moon becoming darkened is the situation of a humanity that suffers. “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” But in these moments what is the advice of the Lord? “But when these signs begin to happen, stand firm and raise your heads because your liberation is at hand.” What do we need to stand firm in the moment of trial? Courage and faith! Once St Paul wrote to the community in Greece and said, “Always be courageous” - not just sometimes but ALWAYS. Later he said, “do not be intimidated in ANY WAY by your opponents.”

Hope my soul, hope. The gospel today reminds us “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Let us be vigilant as we wait for the coming of our liberator. We close with the words of Cardinal Newman:

“They watch for Christ who are sensitive, eager, apprehensive in mind,

Who are awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in honouring him,

Who look for him in all that happens,

And who would not be surprised,

Who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed,

If they found that he was coming at once.

This then is to watch: to be detached from what is present,

And to live in what is unseen;

To live in the thought of Christ as he came once,

And as he will come again; to desire his second coming,

From our affectionate and grateful remembrance of his first.”

4th Sunday of Advent

Fr James McTavish, FMVD

God is with us!

One Christmas two missionaries were driving from Spain to Lisbon in Portugal. Arriving in the beautiful city of Lisbon towards evening the car stopped at a traffic light. A by-stander, seeing that they did not have their car headlights switched on, starting making signs by the side of the road, opening and closing his hands to mimic the flashing of the headlights. The Spanish missionary who was driving commented to his Portuguese companion “Wow, the people here in Portugal are so friendly! I don’t even know that man there yet he is waving to us.” This made me reflect that sometimes in life the signs are right in front of our eyes yet we don’t see them.

Today in the first reading we have God speaking (Isaiah 7, 10-14). It is a reminder that God speaks. He is not a silent God but at times he shouts. In the middle of the Christmas hustle and bustle we must not forget to listen to our Lord, to listen to his Word. Once in Rome we had a gathering of different congregations. I was asking their names – “Gesù ama” which is Jesus loves, another was “Gesù vive” – Jesus lives. “And what about you guys “Verbum Dei – Gesù parla - Jesus speaks!” God spoke to the King Ahaz. At that time, Jerusalem was under threat of attack but instead of trusting in the Lord, King Ahaz preferred to put his trust in the help of a powerful neighbour. “The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!” Ahaz refuses and the prophet Isaiah tells Ahaz that he is making God weary! Sometimes I think God becomes weary with me when I lack faith. When our Lord was with those who did not believe he did not work many mighty deeds because the people lacked faith. The prophet Isaiah then makes the famous Immanuel prophecy “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7, 14). In the reading from Isaiah the Hebrew text uses the word almah which means “a young woman” not a virgin but later when it was translated to greek, the word parthenos or virgin was used and prepares the way for the understanding of the virginal birth of our Lord. It also reminds us that God is a God who is with us, Immanuel. He is not a far off God but a God who becomes flesh in the baby Jesus.

There are many signs around us of God’s presence. Yesterday the teenagers and their friends from our School of the Word organized a Christmas party. These teenagers recently had a retreat with us. They enjoyed so much to listen to the Word of God, to reflect on it and their sharings were very profound. We were so joyful to have the privilege of working with them. After the retreat they were determined to keep the fire very alive! They started to come for prayer at our centre and to help organize a rosary for the children of the poor neighbourhood nearby. Yesterday the teenagers organized a Christmas party for 60 of these children. Wow! God is working, a God is who with us and among us - it is easy to see how the Word has become flesh in these teenagers and is dwelling among us. For these young teenagers the words of the second reading (See Romans 1, 1-7) apply well to them – to be chosen and set apart to share the Word of God, to be receive the grace of apostleship, and to spread the love of God among many and then as the gospel tells us “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about”. Jesus is born every time we love, when we share the Word of love and help make it flesh in us and others.

The gospel recounts the wonderful episode of how Joseph came to understand what happened to Mary. Joseph was betrothed to Mary. The New American bible explains betrothal thus: “betrothal was the first part of the marriage, constituting a man and woman as husband and wife. Subsequent infidelity was considered adultery. The betrothal was followed some months later by the husband's taking his wife into his home, at which time normal married life began.” So Joseph is betrothed to Mary, or we might say today engaged to her. He discovers that she is pregnant and decides to divorce her quietly. This is very noble of Joseph as he could have denounced her and this may have led to her be stoned to death. After making his decision, lo and behold, the angel arrives and appears to him in a dream. In the early Old Testament dreams were a common way for God to communicate his message. Some like this concept as it is biblical support for them falling asleep in prayer time! The angel explains to Joseph what has happened ““Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” (see Matthew 1, 18-24)

It must have been a challenging moment for Joseph, perhaps beset with perplexity. Joseph’s response to his own dark night shows us how to avoid common errors: action without reflection and reflection without action. In his decision to “divorce Mary quietly,” he was neither impulsive nor indecisive. He instead exercised prudence. After the angel explains everything Joseph showed another characteristic which we strive to imitate – prompt obedience of faith. He did exactly as the angel directed, overcoming any temptation to doubt, hesitate or avoid the consequences. When the Lord shows me a different path am I willing to change direction? Yesterday we were invited to a house to visit a manger. At first I did not want to go but I remembered earlier in the week I was sharing about the value of community and like the Magi, to travel together, I was reminded by the Holy Spirit of that word that I had shared and I changed my mind and went. After the visit I understood the Lord’s wisdom as the woman we visited was anxious about her son’s recent hospitalization and perhaps the visit of 7 missionaries brought her some peace and consolation. I hope so! The Word is really a light for our path, a lamp for our feet, and a sure guide in our decision making.

Let us rejoice this Christmas. We have a God who is with us. We know well the song based on this prophecy, “Emmanuel, our God is with us...” and it is true that we have a God who walks with us, who is present in history, sometimes acting right in front of our eyes but we need faith to see it. We are reminded of the permanent presence of God with the last words of Matthew’s Gospel “Behold, I am with you always until the end of time” (Matt 28,20). May we be happy that we have a God who is close to us, close to our realities. As we hear in Verbum domini (no.12) – “[the] Word, the Logos: the eternal word became small – small enough to fit into a manger. He became a child, so that the word could be grasped by us. Now the word is not simply audible; not only does it have a voice, now the word has a face, one which we can see: that of Jesus of Nazareth.” Merry Christmas!

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

3rd Sunday Advent A (12 Dec 2010)

Fr James McTavish, FMVD

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

To be disappointed is a common experience in life. It can happen because something or someone fails to meet our expectations. We can be disappointed when our boss fails to meet our expectations and the person or the way they work ‘is not what I expected.’ Somehow we have our criteria, standards and we can even say our bias and slight prejudice. In this light it is amazing the question of John the Baptist to Jesus today in the gospel of the third Sunday of Advent “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (See Matt 11,2-11). Should we expect someone else or is this it, are you the real McCoy, is that it?

We invited our parish priest who is Filipino to our house for lunch. We cooked some pasta and afterwards served some Italian coffee. As it is expresso we served it in a small cup. When he saw how little the quantity was he asked “Is that it?” He was expecting more! John the Baptist was expecting more. He had been preaching hell fire and damnation, brood of vipers, repent and all that. Then comes Jesus in his public ministry, eating meals with sinners, forgiving and spreading the mercy of God. Jesus brought fire, but not a destructive fire, not a fire of vengeance or anger but the fire of a heart burning in love with humanity. Jesus himself said “I have come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it was already blazing!” (Lk 12,49). The sinner is not burnt up instead Christ himself is the living holocaust of love. One Saint from the 4th century, St Ephrem the Syrian, a poet theologian recognized the presence of the fire of God’s love in the Eucharistic species "In your bread hides the Spirit who cannot be consumed; in your wine is the fire that cannot be swallowed. The Spirit in your bread, fire in your wine: behold a wonder heard from our lips... The fire came down with anger to destroy sinners, but the fire of grace descends on the bread and settles in it. Instead of the fire that destroyed man, we have consumed the fire in the bread and have been invigorated"

It is understandable perhaps the reaction of John the Baptist. He asked his question if Jesus was really the expected Messiah while John was still in prison and the evil King Herod was still in power. If this episode had been written by Hollywood, at least Herod would be taken out, John freed from prison and all would live happily ever after. In our lives too we experience situations of disappointment when things don’t quite work out. One teacher we know had prepared her class to meet the President. On the day they were to perform a song and dance number for him, some students had a protest and the President had to change his schedule. When we suffer and experience contradiction it seems to be an enemy of joy. We wonder how we can rejoice in the Lord when we feel sorrow for some of the situations in our lives.

How to find a deeper joy? In fact this Sunday is called “Gaudete Sunday” from the Latin word for joy. We are encouraged to be joyful because our salvation is near. The second reading from the letter of James reminds us to be patient - “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (See James 5, 7-10). When we are patient, and find a moment to take stock of the situations at hand we perhaps can get a glimpse of what God is actually doing.

When John questions Jesus, it is interesting how Jesus responds. Jesus says to the disciples of John ““Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” There are many signs that God is working, that the Messiah is really here to save. Do we notice them? We don’t know what to do, we are blind, then the light comes. We find ourselves stubborn and little by little we start to hear oour conscience talking to us. A situation of hopelessness, all seems dead and lo and behold the person picks themselves up and starts to walk again. There is a song is Spanish – “don’t just give me a new world, but give me new eyes to see,” eyes of faith, ears that can listen.

In the busy-ness of Christmas we are to also find time to be in silence and listen to the Word of God. One busy businesswoman came to our house yesterday for prayer. After she was so thankful as she received clarity and so much joy. Prayer is fruitful as the prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading today “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.” (See Isaiah 35, 1-6a, 10). Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Celebrations can be organized but not joy (Verbum Domini 123).

John the Baptist had to be open to that experience of conversion. In the words of one psychotherapist, Eugen Drewermann, “Here is a man, John the Baptist, who tied himself to a way of hoping, a yearning for the future and of proclaiming this future in the name of God, and then, when this promised future finally came, it looked completely different from what he expected. Indeed, it was hardly recognizable. This happens to us and our expectations too. Do we have the power then to once again change ourselves, from law to grace, from morality to understanding, from human striving to simple being? ...What John wanted to pass, but entirely from within. It is not whipped into being with the rod of fear; instead, it grows out of the power of a milder climate”
Let us be open in this season of patient waiting. The Messiah is coming. He will fulfil all our expectations. Amen.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

1st Sunday Advent A

(28 Nov 2010)

Fr James McTavish, FMVD

Expect the unexpected!

So we start a new liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent. We have a few weeks to get in shape, to get spiritually fit, to lose a few pounds of unwanted baggage and have the manger of our heart in tip top shape for the coming of the Lord. Are you excited? Sometimes not so much and that is why we have to pray and prepare. The Lord exhorts us in the gospel today “Stay awake! You must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (See Matt 24, 37-44)

It is important to stay awake. This week I got a taxi from the airport to downtown Manila. Being sleepy I was dozing off until I seen the fare – triple what it should have been! It is important to stay awake. One German seminarian I know was told that the Bishop would come. When he told his fellow seminarians that he did not know what he looked like they told him to just keep an eye out for the guy with the mitre, the staff and a big Bishop’s cross. He was waiting at the main gate of the seminary and hardly noticed a man arriving in jeans and T-shirt. Imagine the seminarians surprise when he got a call 10 minutes later telling him that the Bishop was already in the seminary. Yes, the guy in the jeans and T shirt was the Bishop! Perhaps God will come in a way we will not expect and that is what we have to stay awake.

In the film called the Nativity, the 3 wise men arrive at the scene of the manger. One of them said “Look, the King of Kings in the most humble of places.” Many missed his coming 2000 years ago. Will it be any different today? This is why we need to prepare well our hearts for the coming of the Lord. In the military there is the adage of the 5 P’s – “Previous preparation prevents poor performance.” Let us prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord, flattening the hills and filling in the valleys to make straight his path.

When we talk of the coming of the Lord we can think of the first coming, his birth as a little infant over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. There is also the second coming, at the end of time, when Christ will come again in all his glory, the cosmos will end, the dead will rise and there will be the universal judgment. When this will be Jesus said only the Father knew. Many sects have gained popularity by predicting the day and the hour of this second coming. Perhaps the coming that we have to stay awake for though is the coming in the here and now. Let us listen to the words of a twelfth century Saint, Bernard of Clairvaux – “We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible... In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself ways: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him”... If you keep the word of God in this way, it will also keep you. The Son with the Father will come to you.”

An attitude of vigilance keeps us attentive and on our toes. Sometimes surprises come along. Many were surprised at the comments of Pope Benedict XVI on the use of condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention. How great that the Pope is not afraid to dirty his hands with contemporary moral issues. Fr Ronald Rolheiser once said that good theology is not meant to be a safe non-contact sport. Theology needs to get bruised by reality, especially by suffering.” The Catholic Church is in a good position to speak about the suffering of HIV/AIDS. After all which organization takes care of more than 25% of all cases of AIDS in the world? Yes, the Catholic church. Pope Benedict XVI said that if a HIV infected prostitute uses a condom then it is the first step towards in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility. It does not mean in any way that he is advocating condoms for artificial contraception. We will follow this debate with keen interest and give a big thumbs up to B16 (as Fr Stan the rapper affectionately calls him) for not being afraid to enter into this important debate. As the letter of Peter reminds us - to always be ready to give reasons for our faith.

This time of Advent is a time for our expectations to grow. How wonderful if our attitude could be like the novel of Charles Dickens – Great...expectations! Isaiah the prophet of the first reading today (Isaiah 2, 1-5) has great expectations for the coming of the Messiah – “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

How are our expectations for the coming of the Lord? When the Lord comes things change, things cannot remain the same. Imagine the power of the Word when we let it enter into our hearts. Today's second reading is from St Paul's letter to the Romans (Rom 13, 11-14). It was the passage that coverted Augustine! Let us listen to his conversion story "I felt that I was still enslaved by my sins, and in my misery I kept crying, ‘How long shall I go on saying “Tomorrow, tomorrow”? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins this moment?` I was asking myself these questions,weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I heard the sing-song voice of a child in a nearby house. Whether it was the voice of a boy or a girl I cannot say, but again and again it repeated the chorus, ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. I stemmed my flood of tears and stood up, telling myself that this could only be God’s command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall …I seized it and opened it, and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes fell: ‘No orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy. Take up the weapons of the Lord ]esus Christ; and stop giving attention to your sinful nature, to satisfy its desiresf I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, as I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of faith flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.”

May the coming of the Lord in his Word not leave us unchanged or indifferent. Let us prepare the way of the Lord! Jesus is coming! Let us prepare the manger of our hearts to receive him. Amen

4th Sunday of Advent

 Fr James McTavish FMVD

“Mary went in haste to the hill country”

This week we were invited by some religious sisters to go carolling with some young children in their school. The mini-bus was full on the way to the shanty town where we would be singing – full of kids and full of joy. Their faces lit up the darkness of the evening. How eager they were to bring the joy and excitement of Christmas to the poor families we would visit. This eagerness to bring a joyful message to the world is seen in the life of the young Mary, as she travels through the hill country to be with her cousin Elizabeth. Luke the evangelist states that “Mary set out and travelled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of her Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (See Luke 1, 39-45).

The journey made by Mary is one of four days but she made it “in haste”. The greek text gives us the word “spoude” which means zeal, enthusiasm, bubbling over and fervour. Mother Theresa of Calcutta commented that joy gave Mary haste. She was full of joy because she was full of Christ. Not only did Mary carry Christ in her womb but also in her heart. How great if we too had this motivation, to go into the hill country of challenging situations and not stop in our efforts to bring Jesus to this world of today. What things stop us moving with haste? What factors tend to slow us down? There are three things or attachments which tend to make us lose our joy and enthusiasm – attachments to false pleasures, honours and riches.

False pleasures includes the desire for an easy life, to relax too much and take things easy. As St John of the Cross noted it only takes a little thread tied to the leg of a bird to stop it flying. Attachments can stop us loving. I like chocolate. One day a person was sharing their problems with me at the dinner table when the chocolate mousse arrived. As the problems became more serious so did the look on my face as the choco-mousse was vanishing fast! Many things can enchain us. The statue of Blessed Matthew Talbot, the Irish labourer who overcame his alcoholism shows him with chains around his body and empty bottles at his feet begging the intercession of Mary. For those tee-total, non-smoking, chocolate haters there are many interior chains that bind us. The false pleasure of judgments, of not forgiving, not taking the first step to reconcile all stop us living others. What chains of pleasure bind you?

False honours can enchain us. The desire for all our titles to be recognized can be like a huge ball and chain around us. A man introduced himself to me here in Manila. He gave me so many credentials and titles that at the end he forgot to tell me his name. We can forget that beneath all our honours and awards we are dust and held together by the glue of God’s mercy! Mary would have been considered a nobody in her society. As a young virgin coming from the town of Nazareth with perhaps 150 inhabitants she had no family name to rely on. Our world of today worries so much about what people will say. A friend of ours had an older second hand hire car while his executive car from work was being repaired. His boss told him “I understand if you want to park that old hire car a bit away from the office as I am sure you are embarrassed to be seen in it”! Many times we will not speak about Jesus because we are too worried about what people will say to us. It is hard work being a people pleaser. Like the man walking with his son who was riding a donkey. The townsfolk said it was awful that the old man was walking. He changed places with his son and others frowned that he was making the young boy walk. He invited his son on the donkey with him until the people complained that the donkey was overburdened with the two of them on its back. The story ends with the father and son walking off into the sunset, carrying the donkey! Are you a people pleaser?

The last great slavery is false riches. The treasure for Mary was to bring Jesus to the world. What is my treasure? A man I saw once in the emergency room after a motorbike accident went crazy when we told him we had to cut off his leather jacket. He was seriously injured and the standard procedure is to examine the body fully to see the extent of the injuries. He threatened to kill the staff! He was putting his life in danger. His riches was in his image. Perhaps the jacket cost some money but his life and health was surely more precious. Sometimes our richness can be our self-image and how we look. I remember going to help give a retreat in England. Just before leaving, I was wrapping a gift and bit off a piece of sticky tape. In my haste I bit too hard and my front tooth fell out. I had to preach with a tooth missing. For 2 days I was so self-conscious that I could hardly open my mouth. At the end of the retreat, after 5 days, I had gotten quite used to it. Sometimes our richness can be all in appearances and how we look. Lord Jesus, come this Christmas and free us from our slaveries. Out of the attachments mentioned, for you, which one enchains you the most and stops you loving? The chains of false pleasures, honours or riches?

May the example of Mother Mary help us. Her pleasure was to bring Jesus to the world, her honour was doing the will of the Father, her true riches was to be filled the Holy Spirit. For us what we need to grow in freedom is not to acquire more things but to get rid! To get rid of many useless attachments that clog us up on the journey. As we hear in the movie Braveheart “Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it!” Mary, refuge of sinners, may the coming of Christ free us to love others, may his birth in our hearts break the chains that stop us reaching out to love others. Amen

Homily for 3rd Sunday of Advent (13 Dec 2009)

Fr James McTavish FMVD

“Rejoice!” - a commandment

At the moment I am teaching Catholic morality. Often when we think of morality what comes to mind are a set of rules and regulations, do and don’ts (and mostly don’ts!). How interesting to note what we are commanded to do on this Sunday of Advent, which is commonly known as gaudete Sunday is to ...rejoice! This is a commandment.

In the first reading of the prophet Zephaniah we have “Shout for joy, sing joyfully, be glad and exult with all your heart” Wow! Let’s party! It is a time to be joyful. What can be the reason of our joy? Thinking of the gifts we will receive? Usually we enjoy them for a while but then later we lose interest. Thinking of all the nice food we will eat? Yes but we also know that in January we have to begin the year with a diet! What can we be joyful about? That Christmas is coming and Christ will be born in our lives! What does that mean? The Word becomes flesh. He becomes man, for us and for our salvation! St Augustine said “For what greater grace could God have dawned upon us than that he, who only had one Son, made him the son of man, and in turn made the son of man a son of God”. This is the best gift that God can give this Christmas, to allow us sons of men to become children of God. It is to share in the divine life, to share in the very life of God and for this we should be joyful!

St Paul in the second reading continues this theme of joy. “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Sometimes we find it hard to rejoice because we have many worries. In one moment this week I found myself burdened with anxiety about all the things I had to do. I was taking myself a bit too seriously. Sometimes we have genuine concerns but at other times it can be because we give ourselves too much importance, we can feel that we are the only ones doing anything. We are reminded “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (See Phil 4, 4-7). Present all your worries to the Lord. Don’t say to God that you have a big problem but say to your problem you have a big God! Then we will experience that peace that only Christ, the Prince of Peace, can bring.

Our preparation for the coming of the Lord is not only manifested interiorly but also exteriorly. All the people were asking John the Baptist that important question “What should we do?” What shall we do for Christmas to really prepare our lives for his coming? John gives them some advice; “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none” (see Luke 3, 10-18). Christmas is a wonderful time to remember the poor. There is a couple near our house who organized a street party for poor children. Twenty years ago they had 15 kids coming. This year there will be 500!

St Basil the Great said “the coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests, belongs to the naked; the footwear mouldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes.” Of course it is not enough to know these things but to put them into practice so this morning I checked through my closet. I only have one pair of shoes but I did find 4 shirts that I don’t use, so I washed them and tomorrow will give them to a nearby congregation of sisters who will distribute them to the poor who live near us. It is scandalous that many Christians are living in excess yet so many have nothing. “Luxury corrupts more than poverty” my African friend told me. How great to be generous, not like the stingy Scrooge in the novel 'Christmas Carol' by Dickens, but to be kind at Christmas to the poor and needy.

Let us be generous, not simply materially but also spiritually. We can help others prepare for the coming of the Lord. Last night I was so happy seeing two missionaries in my community in the chapel late at night preparing the Word of God ...in chinese! Wow! How great is that, to help prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. The Lord is coming “The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.” (See Zeph 3, 14-18a).

Let us prepare well our hearts like John the Baptist, help to prepare the way of the Lord in the lives of many people. Sometimes we feel ill-prepared, and it is true we need to prepare our own lives first, often we desire to wait until we are more perfect. But don’t wait too long! Even John was not totally well prepared. In fact theologically he was announcing a salvation of wrath and repentance when in fact the Lord came wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger announcing a message of mercy and compassion! But John kept announcing because he knew that one greater than him was coming. And this too is our boldness, and what makes our joy complete. Our imperfections will not stop the coming of Christ but then again he needs us to help prepare the way in the lives of many. May this be our great joy.

Rejoice, we all have a mission and there is work to be done. Don’t be anxious, the Lord is near. He is coming soon. Let us help prepare for his coming. Amen.

Feast of Immaculate Conception

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Fr James McTavish FMVD

"Let it be done to me as you have said"

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate conception. This feast has been celebrated since the 8th century although it was only in 1854 that Pope Pius IX published the dogma of the Immaculate conception. This dogma is not about the virgin birth of Christ but that Mary was conceived without original sin. The gospel of today is taken from Luke (Luke 1, 26-38) where the angel Gabriel announces to Mary the birth of Christ. The angel greets Mary with the words “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you”. What does it mean to be ‘full of grace’? Many times here in Manila I hear about people who have received many graces, or blessings. When a person has money, a good career and a big house they are said to have received many graces or blessings. But Mother Mary was poor, lived a simple life and was not welcomed as someone important when she arrived in Bethlehem heavily pregnant – there was no room at the inn. Today someone we called blessed would book themselves in to a 5 star hotel! Perhaps we have to revise our understanding of graces and blessings.

Christmas is a time of gift giving. Have you bought your gifts yet? If I was to ask you do you think that God likes to give us gifts? What is the best gift he can give us? For sure it will be the best gift. A nokia phone, an iPod, a laptop, no greater than all these things. For sure it will be a gift that lasts. A promotion, but you can lose your job. Money, you can lose it. Health but one day we will lose even that. What is the gift that God gives us this Christmas?

St Augustine said “For what greater grace could God have dawned upon us than that he, who only had one Son, made him the son of man, and in turn made the son of man a son of God”. This is the best gift that God can give this Christmas, to allow us sons of men to become children of God. It is to share in the divine life, to share in the very life of God. The gift that he gives is the life of Christ. This is the point of Christmas, God descends and becomes flesh so that our flesh can ascend and become divine. It is like the glass elevators in the fancy hotels. Once I was in a hotel and there were two glass elevators, one going up and the other going down. How do I go up? The other one was at the top and as it came down, I went up. This is the incarnation. God descends from heaven to earth, to show the way. To lead us back to heaven. The Word became flesh for us and for our salvation.

Sometimes in life when we have problems we say “I am only human!” But if we truly knew the dignity of being human. Since the son of man became a human being all the angels got jealous! The fashion in heaven was to become human. Jesus came to show us the way, to help us. Imagine you are playing basketball and are losing, it is the last quarter and then on the sidelines you see a player. They tell you to invite him on. You say no. They say it is Kobe Bryant! If you are not so good at shooting, rebounding, dribbling all the more reason to ask him on. His presence on the team raises the standard of the whole team! The presence of Christ in our humanity raises the standard of what it means to be human. He is the reference point. Christ is the perfect man and whoever follows him become more human. That is why he said “I am the Way”. The other day I got irritated with a brother. I recognized my mistake and remembered that Jesus said “Don’t go to the altar without reconciliation” so before the mass I asked forgiveness. He is the way bit we have to follow that way to experience the peace and love of Christmas. How different our work would be, our office if we did the same, going to ask forgiveness. That is a great gift to offer this Christmas, to say I am sorry! You can’t buy that gift in SM but many families need it! Saying sorry really makes us more humble – we may go down in the eyes of the world but we ascend in God’s eyes.

Christmas really is a time of reconciliation, of peace. I always remember the soldiers of World War one, fighting each other but when Christmas day arrived, they stopped, came together, exchanged gifts, played soccer and sang Christmas carols together. How great if this Christmas we could do the same. Put down our arms and work for peace.

Sometimes we have wars in the office. No need for machine guns, just our tongue alone can kill many! And sometimes our comments are like hand grenades. I like very much the attitude of Socrates towards communion. He could not tolerate chismies. A man tried to gossip and Socrates told him he would listen if it met three criteria 1. Is it true? 2. Will it give me a positive opinion? 3. Does it spring from a good motivation?

All of us have weak points as the first reading reminds us. The serpent is always trying to trick us. The response on our part should be vigilance. We are invited to share in the divine life and one sign of this is communion. To work together in harmony. To remember that we are Christians not only in mass on a Sunday but at work, at home, when out with our friends. Otherwise we live a double life, like a man I know who reads in mass in Sunday but then after was involved in cyber-dating and things on the Internet that he should not be! How great to be a testimony in life of Christ’s presence. In our work place to be a witness to his love, to raise the standard in the office. When some want to spend the day surfing the net and being lazy why not be a good example of enjoying working hard? Also you don’t have to join in when the conversations are distasteful - you can improve the standard of the whole team. Don’t just stand on the sidelines! Get stuck in and remember what the angel Gabriel told Mary “Don’t be afraid! The Lord is with you”.

Let us ask Mary our Mother for this gift of trust in God’s will – “Let it be done to me as you have said”. In this way God’s love can continue to incarnate itself in our humanity, that the love of God can continue to become flesh in the world of today through each one of our lives.

Homily for 2nd Sunday of Advent (6 Dec 2009)

Fr James McTavish FMVD

PREPARE A WAY FOR THE LORD!

One day this week I was feeling a bit discouraged and sad as I could not work out what the Lord was asking from me. In a moment of prayer I was telling Jesus that I felt disheartened. The first line of the first reading of today helped me - “Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever” (Baruch 5:1). It was Jesus himself responding to my prayer, telling me to cheer up, to be patient ‘as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ’ as we say in every mass. Sure enough after a few days things became much clearer and I felt enlightened.

The psalmist today proclaims ‘The Lord works marvels for us, indeed we were glad’ (Psalm 126). Something essential for every one of us is to recognize these little marvels that God works in our lives. What little marvels has the Lord worked in your life this week? Can you answer that question? Stop for a moment. Don’t be in such a rush. What wonders is God working in your life? Many people in our world of today are seeking only the big wonders. But if we fail to spot the obvious little wonders of every day do you really think we will spot the big ones? As G. K. Chesterton commented “The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder”.

This week a priest friend shared to me the wonderful thing God did in the life of his family recently. He is a missionary and thus is far from his own country and family. His father fell fatally sick and was about to die. The priest asked the family to put the cellphone next to his semi-comatosed father’s ear and said to him “Don’t die. Please hang on. I will be there in one day”. His father hung on to life, even surviving a cardiac arrest. The priest arrived and was able to be with his father, who actually went on to make a full recovery. Many staff in the hospital were amazed at his recuperation. The priest said to his dad “If you want, I will stay at home from now on”. Do you know what his dad replied from his hospital bed? “No son, the Lord has entrusted you a mission. Go and fulfil your mission”.

Well we can reply, what about the many who don’t recover? That is why I said go and discover the wonders God is doing in your own life first or you will never be convinced, even if a man came back to from the dead!!!

Come Lord Jesus, come into the world as light. Two thousand years ago the light came but was rejected by many. John the evangelist reminds us “He came among his own but his own did not welcome him” (John 1, 11). Before they did not recognize him as a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger and still today many times we do not recognize the Lord’s coming in the preaching of the word of God, in the smile of another, in a kind word. How much the world of today needs us to be like John the Baptist! Yes. To prepare the way of the Lord. In today’s gospel, from St Luke, we hear the prophet announcing “A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” (See Luke 3, 1-6).

This is the task of every Christian, to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. How can we do that? One young woman was sharing her experience in the office. A workmate was flirting with many men. She told the woman that she did not think it was right to play around with the feelings of others. At first the other woman just laughed but then the girl said “You are playing around because your heart is empty”. Later on the colleague thanked her for being so honest with her and came to realize that her truly her heart was empty as she was lacking the love of Christ.

Many Christians are growing in their sensitivity to the Word of God. The Word did not only come to John the Baptist but to many Christians who are trying to cultivate that loving friendship with Christ. Sometimes we doubt that our lives can really be of help to Jesus and his mission. Perhaps our lives are a little chaotic, maybe spiritually barren or deserted. Even we can feel that our life is a bit too wild. But the word comes to John when he is in the desert! When he is in the WILD-erness! The Word does not only come to those souls that are pure, holy and in order. Where did the Word choose to be born 2000 years ago? In a sterile and clean incubator of Jerusalem Maternity hospital where everything was under control and in good order? Or was it not in a cold, damp, dark manger, which was a bit smelly and full of wild animals? That encourages me so much! Lord, there is room in my heart for you. Please be born in the manger of my heart this Christmas!

Let us make the most of this time of preparation. May we become more and more in love with our mission to prepare the way of the Lord in the life of many of our brothers and sisters. Let us ask for the intercession of St John the Baptist, that we too can be these voices in the wilderness helping prepare the way of the Lord in the life of many people. Amen.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

Homily for 1st Sunday of Advent (28 Nov 2009)

Fr James McTavish FMVD

“Your liberation is near at hand” (Lk 21,28)

All things can be born patiently when liberation is close at hand. Many of the older generation here in Manila remember the moment of their liberation during the occupation of world war two. They kept their hope alive in a difficult moment because they knew that the American army was close by and liberation would come soon. When they were eventually liberated it was an experience of great joy and freedom.

Have you ever been liberated? The other day I went to celebrate mass and afterwards had to organize a moment of Eucharistic adoration. I was not so familiar with the rite, especially the part in Latin and I had to ask for help. I felt liberated! Liberated from the idea that I should already know everything, freed from my concern about what others might think. What is liberation all about? Ask William Wallace and he would cry out “Freedom!” Is there anything that you need to be freed from?

Once we went to a prison on a pastoral visit. The prison was enormously overcrowded. In a room the size of a tennis court there were perhaps 250 men living. So tightly packed that not all could lie down and sleep at the same time such that they had two shifts and took it in turns to sleep while the other group stood standing. In the prison the prisoners gave us such a warm welcome, dancing, singing and cheering that I reflected that they seemed very ‘free’! Many times we are imprisoned in ourselves, in small concerns and worries. Many times we are held captive by fears but the Spirit desires our freedom.

In the moments of difficulties and trials, when it seems that the world will collapse then know that ‘our liberation is close at hand’. The Lord is near have no anxiety at all. In the gospel one interpretation of the apocalyptic end times with the sun falling, the moon becoming darkened is the situation of a humanity that suffers. “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” But in these moments what is the advice of the Lord? "But when these signs begin to happen, stand firm and raise your heads because your liberation is at hand.” What do we need to stand firm in the moment of trial? Courage and faith! Once St Paul wrote to the community in Greece and said “Always be courageous” not just sometimes but ALWAYS. Later he said “do not be intimidated in ANY WAY by your opponents”.

Hope my soul, hope. The gospel today reminds us “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Let us be vigilant as we wait for the coming of our liberator. We close with the words of Cardinal Newman:

"They watch for Christ who are sensitive, eager, apprehensive in mind,
Who are awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in honoring him,
Who look for him in all that happens,
And who would not be surprised,
Who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed,
If they found that he was coming at once.

"This then is to watch: to be detached from what is present,
And to live in what is unseen;
To live in the thought of Christ as he came once,
And as he will come again; to desire his second coming,
From our affectionate and grateful remembrance of his first."

4th Sunday of Advent

“Through Mary’s yes God becomes man 

and we become sharers in the Divine nature” 

(by Fr. James McTavish FMVD)

Christmas is nearly here. Today's Gospel is the annunciation, the first Christmas in the history of salvation, when Mother Mary agreed to the plan of salvation. She conceived in her heart before conceiving in her womb. With her yes the Word would become flesh. This really is a great mystery and needs to be approached with gentleness and respect. When you enter a chapel in Asia you need to take your shoes off. We need the same delicacy approaching the mystery of the Incarnation. St Ignatius of Antioch said that the great mystery of the childbearing of Mary is discovered only in the silence of God, and is hidden from the princes of this world. The mystery is only revealed through love. 

If we want Christmas to be more than turkey, bloated stomachs and fairy lights then let us follow the advice of the Advent preface "let us prepare to celebrate his birth so that when he comes he may find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise”. Two thousand years ago the Scribes of Herod knew that the Christ would be born. They knew the Scripture but they missed his birth. The same can happen to me. I know that Christmas is 25th December but I can miss the birth of the Saviour. It is an invite to live Christmas in an attitude of listening. Of silence, of "going placidly amid the noise". It is the time for the mystery to be lived anew, "the mystery kept secret for long ages" (Romans 16,25). 

What is the content if this mystery? As the poem by Robert Southwell describes it, “Behold the father is his daughter’s son, The bird that built the nest is hatched therein…Eternal life to live does now begin, The Word is dumb, the joy of heaven is found crying, Might feeble is, and force does faintly creep”. The moment of the Annunciation is a privileged moment in the history of salvation. It is the moment when with Mary’s yes, God becomes man. God comes to share in our humanity so that we can share in the Godhead, in other words we become participator’s in the divine nature. As John the evangelist would explain it “to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God” (John 1,12). Our participation in the divinity is also represented in the mass when we mix the water with the wine. Here the priest asks the Lord that we may be able to “share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity”. It means that our lives are elevated to a supernatural level too. 

We cannot remain only in the visible, the natural because we are also sharers in the divine nature! Our lives have a supernatural and eternal vocation. Our life and our living is to be a sharing and participation in the love of the Trinity. Jesus’ incarnation is our ticket of entry into the Trinity. We are sharers in the Trinitarian communion. Our actions need to express this. Let us be concrete for fear that one may not see the relevance of this great truth. Recently the Vatican published a new document on Bioethics called “Dignitas Personae” (“The dignity of the person”). In the numbers 6-10 of this Instruction it speaks about marriage and the generation of life. It recalls the mystery of the Incarnation through which the “the Son of God confirmed the dignity of the body and soul which constitute the human being. 

Christ did not disdain human bodiliness, but instead fully disclosed its meaning and value” (D.P. 7). Thus we can only understand human in reference to the Word made flesh - “In reality, it is only in the mystery of the incarnate Word that the mystery of man truly becomes clear”. The love between husband and wife is a mystery. As my mum joked when I asked her why she married by dad “I don’t know it is a mystery”. Why one person is attracted to a particular person and not another is mysterious. Human love is called to participate in and be a reflection of the mystery of divine love. It is a sharing in the mystery of the Trinity. Thus in the married couple, their love for each other needs to be considered not only and exclusively from a natural point of view but also from a supernatural one. Married love is called to be a participation in and reflection of the Trinitarian love! Often in the media love and sex are only considered from a carnal or merely natural point of view! This is an incomplete vision. The married couple is an icon of the Trinity. Their love is called to be a true expression of inter-personal communion, to be open to the transmission of life. The couple is called to participate in the divine life! Their union is not to be understood just from an earthly perspective because it has an eternal dimension which is often not fully appreciated. 

It is through Mary’s yes that we have been given the opportunity to participate in the divine nature. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The eternal God steps into time as a little baby. He becomes man so that we may participate in the Godhead. This is the gift of Christmas. This is the drama of Mary’s yes. St Bernard describes it thus “The angel is waiting for your answer. We too are waiting. If you consent, straightaway we shall be freed. On your lips is hanging the consolation of the wretched, the redemption of the captive, in a word the salvation of all Adam’s children. Answer, O Virgin, answer the angel speedily. Let your humility put on boldness. Open, O Blessed Virgin, your heart to faith. And Mary said ‘Behold I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your Word”.