Last updated:December 25, 2016
“A child is born to us. What do I see? The monarch of heaven hidden in a humble dwelling: the first-born of the Most High wrapped in stiff straw! … Why does the supreme King of Glory have a cave for a palace, a manger for a throne, poor clothes for His purple and two animals for His court? … Will He who feeds a world of creatures depend upon the breast of a virgin?
A child is born to us. While He is the great, in fact the greatest, He has made Himself small for us; though rich, He has made Himself poor for us. …He lies on the hay that we might tread upon the stars. He whimpers among animals that we might converse with angels. He trembles in His nakedness to clothe us with light and immortal glory… Oh, divine, most ingenious love! You changed the immutable God from a lion to a lamb, from a thunderbolt to a flower, from a Lord of vengeance to a Prince of Peace, from monarch of angels to a servant of men.
Yet, who would believe it? That love which overcame the omnipotence of a God does not have the energy to overcome the ingratitude of men. … Most divine infant, with a ray of your loving glance shatter the hardness of our hearts. … Give us strength never more to offend you and a heart always ready to love you.”
Christmas meditation given to the women of Montefiascone by St. Lucy Filippini, founder of the Religious Teachers Filippini
Copyright © 2010
Sr. Josephine Aparo, MPF
The readings of the Fourth Sunday of Advent speak to me of God’s overwhelming grace pouring into our lives and the trust required of us to receive the grace offered. In other words, every gift received requires a trust in the giver of the gift. My gut feeling tells me Ahaz had trouble in this department. He lived in fear of his enemies even when God, speaking through Isaiah, tells him to trust. When God tells Ahaz to ask for a sign, Ahaz, acting out of fear, refuses. God’s mercy prevails and the sign is given for the people. “A virgin shall conceive and bear a son…..His name shall be Emmanuel.”
In contrast to Ahaz, the Gospel presents Joseph’s struggle with Mary’s pregnancy and his determination to save her from stoning by putting her away quietly. God’s grace meets Joseph in a dream. As impossible as everything seems to Joseph he receives the grace and brings Mary into his home as his wife. How different from Ahaz. Joseph’s trust in God opened him to receive grace.
Paul tells us that we belong to Christ and that is grace for us. These readings remind us that God’s grace is constantly meeting us where we are in life. The question is, “How do I respond?”
Copyright © 2010 Sr. Josephine Aparo, MPF
I recently came across this statement. “To be a Christian and a disciple of Jesus means to prepare for the coming of the Lord every day of our lives.” This resonates in the second reading from James as he urges us to be patient and wait for the Lord. Wait for the Word of God to bear fruit in our lives and in the world. I see the underlying message to be that we must keep planting the Word of God in our minds and hearts. We must nurture that seed through the winter of our lives and wait for it to bloom. Further, James tells us to stop complaining about one another. Stop judging one another. These are the blocks to growth. Instead we are to be loving, compassionate, encouraging and accepting of one another. Only then will the blind see the truth, the deaf hear the gospel message and the poor receive justice. Only then will the desert of the world in which we live bloom with the life of the gospel we live each day. Are we up to the challenge!
Copyright © 2010 Sr. Josephine Aparo, MPF
If we were offered the key to the kingdom of heaven who of us would refuse it? In this Sunday’s gospel John the Baptist’s voice comes to us down through the centuries offering us such a key. REPENT! Daily repentance, continual conversion is the key to making the kingdom present in our lives, for repentance calls us to turn away from all that is not good and to turn toward God who is all good. John challenges us to allow the Spirit to breathe new life into our being bringing forth a new way of living….a change of heart and attitudes.
When we allow the spirit of God to invade our being we must be ready to experience the fire of God which illumines our minds to see the truth, warms our hearts to experience the presence of God in all things and melts away all that is not God in our lives. This way of living will bring peace, compassion and love into all our relationships so that we can live in harmony with one another. Then, right in our own families our swords will be turned into plowshares, the lion will lie down with the lamb and peace will reign in our homes and in our communities. This is the Kingdom of God in our midst. The key is repentance.
Let us repent so that this Christmas we will experience the birth of Jesus on a deeper level.
Copyright © 2010 Sr. Josephine Aparo, MPF
Come let us walk in the light of the Lord. This is the invitation presented to us on this First Sunday of Advent. It is an invitation “to put on the Lord Jesus” by immersing ourselves in the Word of God, thus allowing ourselves the opportunity to meet Jesus again and again. Then we will be able to heed the Gospel command to “Stay Awake”…awake to God’s presence in our lives.
I learned something recently while listening to the fishermen and boaters in the shore community. The talk was about a quart of paint that brushed on the bottom of the boat would keep it free of barnacles. One quart cost $100. Needless to say, this would be an expensive undertaking since most boats required more than one quart. But, they told me, it was well worth it in terms of maintaining their boats. As I reflected on this I realized that walking in the Light of the Lord affords the disciple of Jesus the same opportunity. Like that special paint, God’s light allows the disciple to walk through the world remaining free of the barnacles … worldly values and behavior. However costly, and it will be costly since this keeps us on the narrow road, it is worth it.
So as we begin our Advent journey toward the celebration of the Birth of Jesus, let us walk in the Light of the Lord.
Copyright © 2010 Sr. Josephine Aparo, MPF