December 31, 2017

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Genesis 15: 1-6; 21; 1-3; Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; Luke 2: 22-40 2017 is leaving us shortly; 2018 is ready to come into our lives. The newspapers, periodicals and the social media encourage us to look back and also to look ahead. Do we do this in gratitude? God has been present to us in unbelievable ways this past year. Have I expressed my thanks for His love and presence? God has always promised that He would be with us. There would never be any moment that He isn’t with us sharing His love, care, forgiveness and grace to live and grow closer to Him. How many times do I reflect on these moments? I will try to do this in the quiet minutes that come to me Growing up, the Holy Family was presented as the ideal family. This seemed, even at my young age that missing something or a little misleading. Today we would describe them as not your typical nuclear family. This was a family of a birth mother, and an adoptive father. Yet they lived as other faith-filled families in their communities of Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth and the other places they stopped for a while. Scripture said they went to the temple in Jerusalem. This was a long trip, and not easy going from the hill country, down through the valleys and up into the rocky very high hills surrounding Jerusalem. They were led by their deep faith. Jesus grew in the faith and was led by the example of Mary and Joseph. In the first reading we hear of another family of faith, Abram and Sarah. They were very well connected and had been blessed by God, but they had no children. This was looked upon by the people as being a curse from God because of their sins or their family’s sins. They kept on praying and received word that they would have a child. Like every family, trials, health problems and difficulties became a part of daily living. They put their trust in God. Paul relates how Abraham obeyed when he was asked to pack up his bags, family and possessions and travel to the land God had promised them. It is always hard to move: we don’t know the people, their customs and even their native language. It takes time to develop special people to be classified as friends and faith companions. They did. Then Abraham was tested by God. We are all tested, perhaps not as severely as Abraham, but the bottom line is that God is always with us. Do we trust God? Paul writing to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:13) says, “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial He will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.” God is constantly helping us, gracing us to live our lives each day in trust and faith. In the Gospel we encounter two elderly people who have been waiting patiently for a long time. Abram and Sarah waited patiently. Now we hear of Simeon and Anna. Joseph and Mary come with Jesus for the purification ceremony prescribed by the Law of Moses. Simeon holds ‘hope’ in his hands and realizes it. Anna realizes that God’s promise of redemption now in Jesus has been fulfilled. Out of God’s compassion for everyone and total love and care, God becomes one of us. He ‘empties’ Himself as Paul tells the Philippians, to take on our humanity. His ministry as our Messiah teaches us how we can transform His creation into God’s people. A people totally exempted by love, forgiveness, compassion and care so that all know that they are loved by God totally. Unless they see it from us, they will never see it. So what are we to do? How are we to live our life each day in 2018? I was given this article about Pope Francis that helps so much in this. “Pope: Let go of grudges, stop whining, find joy with Jesus Dec 11, 2017 by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service Spirituality VATICAN CITY — Christians must be strong and let go of all the bitterness and negativity that prevent them from experiencing God's consolation and joy, "So many times, we cling to what's negative, we hold on to the wound of sin inside of us, and many times, the preference is to stay there, alone," he said in his homily Dec. 11 at morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Instead, Jesus always tells people to "get up" and have no fear, because He is there to offer salvation, consolation and joy, the pope said. The pope's homily focused on the day's reading from Isaiah (35:1-10) in which the prophet foresaw the glory of the Lord, who will come "with vindication; with divine recompense, He comes to save you." This is why people must "strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak" and "be strong, fear not" because of the coming of the Lord, the pope said. Often it is easier, however, to console others than to let oneself be consoled because "we are afraid." "We are masters" when it comes to the negative, and impoverished "beggars" when it comes to the positive, he said. There are two things that prevent people from letting themselves find solace with God: resentment and complaints, Francis said. When people choose to be resentful and bitter, "We stew our feelings in that broth of bitterness," preferring to be left alone to sulk undisturbed and defeated, he said. Then there are people like Jonah -- "the Nobel Prize winner of complaints" -- who choose to make griping and grumbling the soundtrack accompanying their lives, he said. Francis said he once knew a priest who was a very good man, but he was "pessimism incarnate.” He said the priest would always “find the fly in the milk” that is, point out whatever was wrong or out of place. His brother priests, the pope said, would joke that instead of greeting St. Peter in heaven, this priest would probably ask to see hell and then complain, "Oh, salvation, what a mess!" because of the lack of condemned souls there. Instead, God asks people to be strong, get up and trust in Him. People need to ask themselves, "How is my heart? Do I harbor some bitterness there? Some sadness?" the pope said. And what is on one's lips, he asked. "Is it praise to God, beauty or always complaints?” So I reflect on: • Today we celebrate what it means to be family? What does family mean to me?Who makes up my family? • How has God been present to me in good times and in difficult times? How is God present now? • How can I go about dedicating my life to God? How would dedicating my life to God change the way I love in the world? Would this make it easier to live in the world? Why or why not? • How am I Jesus’ presence in the world? Sacred Space 2018 says: “Jesus comes not in splendor, but as a baby in His mother’s arms. Lord, I see You here in the vulnerable flesh of a child, a sign that will be spoken against. Already the shadow of Calvary falls on Mary as Simeon tells her that a sword will pierce her soul. Jesus, You share my humanity in every way. Like You, I want to grow and become strong, filled with wisdom. I still have miles to go before I sleep. May the favor of God be with me as with You.