Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - Year B

Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

Some years as a member of the Legion of Mary has inscribed on my heart the beautiful antiphon of the Catena Legionis which is said every day by Legionaries. It reads: Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?

These words are borrowed from the Song of Songs (6:10) and the liturgy applies them to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The demons are terrified of this woman, they run from her and, as the exorcists tell us, they dare not even pronounce her name. To them she is terrible as an army set in battle array; she makes them quake in fear. Do you know why?

The Jerusalem Bible translation is intriguing and helpful: Who is this arising like the dawn, fair as the moon, resplendent as the sun, terrible as an army with banners? Yes, an army with banners; and on each of these banners blazes a word abhorrent to Satan – humility, obedience, love, mercy, recollection, purity, peace, compassion, adoration, faithfulness, light. On and on it goes … and Satan flees in terror.

Another arresting aspect of this delightful line from the Song of Songs is the almost haunting question ‘Who is she…?' with which it begins. This question has drawn Christians down the centuries to deepest contemplation while the Church herself strives to penetrate the mystery of God’s action in this humble maiden who gave birth to the Redeemer.

Who is she? The first answer to this question is: She is the Mother of God. It is her Motherhood, the greatest of her privileges, which attracts to Mary all the other graces associated with her; chiefly – her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual Virginity and her Assumption into heaven.

The second answer to this question must always be: She is my Mother, too. If Mary can be set among the stars, standing on the moon and clothed with the sun, in recognition of her cosmic status as Mother of the Saviour, she can be as easily set on a dusty road in Galilee, pushing open the door of her cousin Elizabeth’s house, or standing under the Cross of her agonising Son. Mary knows us; she knows our name and our needs and does not hesitate to 'stoop' to our necessities.

Mary is the Mother of Jesus and she is our Mother too; this is the rôle God has assigned to her and for this reason, because she is an essential part of God’s redemptive plan, we honour her not out of a kind of ‘optional’ devotion but from the heart of the Catholic Faith. Devotion to Mary does not start ‘in us’ but in God's Will.

If we wish to sing the praises of the God who saved us we must sing the praises of Mary through whom he chose to do so by making her the Mother of the Saviour. If only this were better understood, especially by those so-called ‘mature and adult’ Catholics who no longer desire to know her and honour her.

Some years ago I had the pleasure of standing at the top of Niagara Falls watching the thundering waters pouring over the cliffs into the depths below. To me it was an image of how grace pours into Mary’s soul, freely and abundantly, making her the Mother of God.

But these waters did not just pile up below; they flowed out for the benefit of others, for your benefit and mine. Mary does not hoard grace; she passes on to her children what she receives from God because she is truly our Mother.

This ‘letting go’ of Mary included even the God-given gift of her divine Son. If St Paul can say: Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give (Rm 8:32); then surely we can say: ‘Since Mary did not spare her own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that she will not refuse anything she can give.'

All that Mary receives from God she passes on to us, to the extent that we are willing to receive and respond to these gifts of grace. Even here she comes to help us. As she formed Jesus in herself so she will, if we ask her, form him in us.

Let me conclude in a very practical way. If you really wish Mary to be your Mother on your journey through life, so that you may reach heaven your goal, then don’t get into bed tonight, on this first day of the New Year, without having given yourself to her to be her child. Kneel down and say, ‘Mary, all that I am and have is yours. I belong to you. I am your child. Please be my Mother and keep me safe for heaven.’

Christmas Mass of the Day - Year B

Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news…

Good is always beautiful – and that’s why the Good News is beautiful. And the beautiful Good News makes beautiful the one who bears it. This is what Isaiah meant when he said those fascinating words: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news…

Beautiful … feet …on the mountains …

The feet, of course, belong to Jesus, who brings and who is himself – the Good News.

He comes to us from God, from heaven. His human feet which touch the earth are the feet of God. What a mystery!

Isaiah had prayed (63:19): Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down…

And now he is here.

In our imaginations we gaze … and ponder. It is only the humanity, the feet, we see; the divinity is hidden. How clever of Isaiah to use this image!

Isaiah 62:11-12; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:15-20

And how tempting to use of Jesus the words of the Song of Songs: How beautiful are your feet in their sandals; or to do as the ‘woman who had a bad name’ (Lk 7:38): She waited behind him at his feet weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

In this woman the whole of humanity finds a poignant expression of the love and devotion to which we too are called. How beautiful are the feet of God!

John the Baptist spoke with profound humility, in fear and trembling: I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals.

God had revealed through Isaiah that heaven was his throne and earth his footstool (cf. Is 66:1).

No wonder there were so many who threw themselves down before his feet.

The demoniac who: Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet…(Mk 5:6).

Jairus, the synagogue official, who came up: and seeing him, fell at his feet…(Mk 5:22).

The woman healed from a haemorrhage: came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet….(Mk 5:33).

• The woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit who: came and fell at his feet….(Mk 7:25).
• And after the resurrection: the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet (Mtt 28:9).

And no wonder Satan, full of jealousy, tempted the Lord Jesus: I will give you all these…if you fall at my feet and worship me (Mtt 4:9). How easily applied to Satan the words of Prov 6:18: a heart that weaves wicked plots, feet that hurry to do evil…

Poor Satan! Did he not realise what Paul was later to make so clear about the Lord: He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything…(Eph 1:22).

Yes, indeed, he has put all things under his beautiful feet; feet which Satan, in a last ditch effort to stop them bringing the Good News to the world, would incite the Jewish elders to nail to the cross.

But all to no avail. Satan might more easily have stopped the sun from rising, that sun of which Zechariah spoke when he foretold that the Father: Will bring the rising Sun to visit us, to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace (Lk 1:79).

Yes, when all is said and done we see that it is really all about ‘our’ feet. As Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles at the last supper he commanded them: If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other's feet (Jn 13:14).

With these words Jesus gave us our mission: you should wash each other’s feet.

Satan as he does even today, tried his hardest to impede the spread of the Gospel.

So, following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks (Acts 16:24).

Our Mass usually ends with the words: Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. These are the Lord’s own words spoken now through his Church; words which we should take not just as a command but as a promise of power.

Let us go, then, as St Paul says: wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15).

Christmas Vigil Mass (for children) - Year B

Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17.22-25; Matthew 1:1-25

Today I’d like to direct my thoughts to the young people here.

When I was a  teenager I remember watching a movie about a spaceship which landed on earth. An alien came out carrying a box on his chest. He walked down the steps from the spaceship carrying this box and soldiers were ordered to shoot him – and they did.

Later on they discovered that in the box was a cure for cancer! Can you imagine, a cure for cancer? But it was too late; they had killed the alien and now they couldn’t open the box.

What do you imagine God would give to humanity if he came to us from heaven with a gift? Would it be a cure for some horrible disease, or a way to stop tsunamis or earthquakes?

Well, of course, God has come down to earth and he has given us a present - not possessions or money or health – but a Baby – a human baby who is also God!

God gave us a baby:

• firstly, because he doesn't want to frighten us and no one is frightened of a baby. How often does he say in the Christmas story ‘Do not be afraid’? To Zachariah, to Mary, to Joseph, to the shepherds. God says ‘Do not be afraid’.
• secondly, because every baby is a promise of new possibilities, a new future -  this baby especially, because he is the future. Baby Jesus wants to take us to our future where all our dreams are realised.
• because every baby is a sign of love; this is the secret of babies; babies are made by love. It is the love of a mother and father which causes a baby to come into the world and, in the case of Baby Jesus, it was the love of the blessed Virgin Mary which cooperated with the love of God himself.
• because a baby knows how to just be - without ambition, without plans -  just to be happy. In this way babies show us what it will be like for us in heaven - just happy to be there together, in our Father’s house.
• because every baby is innocent and totally accepting of us – non-judgmental. A baby does not compare us to other people but takes us just as we are because they are innocent themselves and happy to be themselves – and especially this baby because he is Innocence.
• because every baby is powerless – weak, helpless, vulnerable, dependent. That’s why we are happy to accept this baby, because it needs us to give it a home.
• because every baby, but especially this baby, is an invitation to friendship; this baby wants to be our friend; to be loved by us.

Let’s think a bit more about this invitation to enter into friendship with Jesus.

Because Jesus is so attractive we want to be friends with him; in fact, we want to become like him so that our friendship will become more and more solid.

That’s why Baby Jesus is so endlessly fascinating. He captures our heart because he is everything we would like to be, everything we are meant to be.

Once we are friends with Jesus our parents can relax; they have no more worries about us because with Jesus as our friend we are safe.

Friendship with Jesus gives meaning to our lives. It’s what we were created for. ‘To know him, love him, serve him … and to be happy with him forever.’

Dear parents: this relationship is not easy – it’s not a game. You can’t play at it at Christmas and Easter Time – it won’t work that way.

Friendship with Jesus is demanding, we have to work at it – it is a total commitment – you can’t turn it off and on. For a Catholic it means coming to the Eucharist every Sunday and celebrating with Jesus’ other friends. It means being ready to say sorry in the sacrament of Reconciliation when necessary. It means daily family prayer and good works.

You, dear parents, will have to answer for how you gave your child an opportunity to come to know Jesus. You have a serious responsibility which you took on when you asked for Baptism for your child.

Jesus is not someone else’s baby – he is ours; we can’t hand him back – he claims us. We can’t pack him up in the cupboard after Christmas like the plaster baby in the crib.

Friendship with Jesus calls us to change our ways, our habits, our life; it calls us to be different from the world. It makes us grow on the inside and gives healing to our own woundedness. Jesus makes us whole again. He gives life and peace – already here on earth but especially in heaven. That’s where we can all truly say, ‘Merry Christmas!’

4th Sunday of Advent - Year B

2 Samuel 7:1-5.8-12.14.16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

As Christmas approaches what troubles you most about the world? About our culture? About your family? About yourself? As a year comes to a close and a new year begins, what troubles you most about the future? We all have plans for the future. Our anxiety about the future is that something is going to come along and wreck our plans.

Today’s readings tell us one very important thing. God has plans for us and nothing will wreck his plans. The way to real peace in our hearts is to make God’s plan our own; to make a conscious decision to relinquish our own plans for our life and to let God’s plan rule. As the Lord’s Prayer says: Thy will be done.

King David conceived what he thought was a wonderful plan; he was going to build a house for the Lord to dwell in. He had it all worked out.

God hears of David's wonderful plan; he is aghast: It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous …

Will you build me a House? No! If there’s any building to be done, it will be done by me!

If God does not build the house, in vain do the builders toil… (Ps 127:1)

2Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

God's plan is to build David into an everlasting house, a house which will stand for ever; a house from which will be born the Messiah.

You see how our plans are nothing beside those of the Lord. They say that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

God has a Master Plan which began with creation and was first revealed to us in the Garden of Eden; a plan of salvation involving a Woman and her Offspring. We see this plan swing into action with the opening words of today’s gospel: The angel Gabriel was sent by God… .

Sent by God – yes, it is truly his plan – and as we listen we hear it unfold for us: You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the house of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.

You are to conceive … you must name him .. he will be great … he will be called … the Lord God will give him the throne … he will rule .. his reign will have no end. Do you recognise the sharpness and clarity of the angel’s message? Do you sense the non-negotiable, unstoppable, irresistible thrust of God’s plan?

The Holy Spirit will come upon you … and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.

As it was promised, so it will be, and so it is. Truly, nothing is impossible to God.

And so we read: The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Lots of proper nouns here – Gabriel, God, Galilee, Nazareth, Joseph, David, Mary – a plan foreknown and prepared before anything was created; realised in time, and set in the mortar  of obedient love.

Mary’s plan had been to live a single life in the service of God but she immediately yielded to his plans: I am the handmaid of the Lord … let what you have said be done to me.

Mary’s womb becomes a Temple more beautiful and lasting than any Temple we could possibly build; God’s plan is always a living plan, constructed from the lives of his children.

In the face of newspaper headlines which daily threaten disaster and doom we should rejoice that there exists for us the possibility of throwing away our finite and fragile plans and surrendering to the beautiful and eternal plan of the Almighty.

Let us not forget the words of St Paul: and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit (Eph 2:22).

And again: there is a house built by God for us, an everlasting home not made by human hands, in the heavens (2 Cor 5:1).

3rd Sunday of Advent - Year B

Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11; 1Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

Today is Gaudete Sunday; Joy Sunday! It is a day for considering all that we as Christians can rejoice about and, of course, when all is said and done our greatest joy, our only final joy, is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This truth can be expressed in many ways and so I asked a few people how they would express their joy and here are a few of the answers I got.

"I rejoice because God is looking for me. I sometimes feel like I imagine Stuart Diver must have felt when he was buried all that time in the avalanche in the snow fields; helpless, doomed, alone, cold and desperate. He must have been so glad to hear the noise of the people looking for him. The Scriptures tell me, and so do the prayers of the Eucharist, God is looking for me. He has sent his Son Jesus to find me. I lie there trapped in all the weakness of human life and I long to be rescued and to see the face of my rescuer. I know he will find me one day; he will come for me and save me. Not everyone has this longing for him or this trust in him. I rejoice that I have been granted this gift."

"I rejoice because he is near. This is exciting! He is not far away. He is near because my stay on earth, however young I am, will soon end. Death is not a falling asleep, it is a waking up. And he is near in his Second Coming. He has promised and I believe his promise. This gives me so much joy. Many people do not have the gift of this sense of meaning in their life. They wait for death. Christians wait for life and life is coming; it is near."

"I rejoice because he is here. As the Scripture says: He stands among you. Jesus is in our world but he is not recognised. He is here already among us actively working to save us in all sorts of ways. What a gift this presence is! He is also present in my heart, in my life."

"I rejoice because He is my Redeemer, my Saviour. He will save me from all those things I am so afraid of - my weakness and sinfulness, Hell, Satan, death. He is my Saviour and he is stronger than any other person or thing. He is Lord of all and has power over all. I rejoice that my God is THE God and that in Him I am safe."

"I rejoice that I am a member of such a big lovely family, God’s family. Whenever I meet a catholic who believes as the Church believes I am immediately at home. I click with that person, we are friends. We understand each other - we ‘love’ each other."

"I rejoice that I have a gift to give God that is worthy of him, the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist. I know that when I give this gift to God it is pleasing to God and it expresses my love for God in a way that God accepts. The Eucharist is the gift that God wants me to give him and it is the gift I want to give him."

"I rejoice that I have a place to confess my sins where he is waiting for me with the priest. He always forgives me. He understands me. He is gentle with me. He helps me. I rejoice in this sacrament because it gives me a new start. It is God’s mercy at work on my behalf."

"I rejoice that I know where I am going in life. My life is a journey and I know it’s destination. So many people don’t know where they are going. I do. And I have all the help I need to get there from the Church and from the sacraments."

"I rejoice that Jesus has taken the one thing I don’t like about life i.e. suffering and made it into a kind of treasure for me, fuel for my relationship with him. He could have taken any aspect of human life and turned it into this treasure but he chose suffering. I am so glad that I have found joy in suffering. I never thought it was possible but it is. He has given it meaning because I find him there."

2nd Sunday of Advent - Year B

Isaiah 40:1-5.9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

• Isaiah declares: Here is the Lord coming with power …
• St Peter says: So then, my friends … do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace.
• St Mark tells us: A voice cries in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

No one has ever thought of a better way of preparing for the Lord’s coming than by the confession of sin: All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and … they confessed their sins.

The call to repentance will not come from the busy, pleasure-seeking, money-making world; it comes as a clear, unambiguous call from Christ through his Church to the recollected, uncluttered places within our heart. There is no doubt about it, no confusion; it is the simple call the Gospel makes to all of us today, “Repent and confess your sins.”

So today, let us together examine our consciences and resolve to go to confession if we recognise our guilt.

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

• Do I pray to God every day?
• Have I thanked God for His gifts to me?
• Did I engage in superstitious practices, such as palm reading, tarot cards, ouija boards or fortune telling?
• Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the Church?
• Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?
• Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

• Did I take the name of God in vain?
• Did I curse or take a false oath?
• Have I been angry with God?
• Have I wished evil upon another person?

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

• Did I miss Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation through my own fault?
• Do I fully participate at Mass?
• Did I fast and abstain on the prescribed days?
• Do I do needless work on Sunday?

4. Honour your father and your mother.

• Do I honour my parents?
• Did I disobey my parents or lawful superiors in important matters?
• Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
• Have I given my family good religious example?
• Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
• Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?

5. You shall not kill.

• Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?
• Have I physically harmed anyone?
• Have I abused alcohol or drugs?
• Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
• Have I been angry or resentful?
• Have I harboured hatred in my heart and desired revenge?
• Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
• Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

6. You shall not commit adultery.

• Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?
• Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
• Did I use artificial means to prevent conception?
• Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
• Am I careful to dress modestly?

7. You shall not steal.

• Have I stolen or wilfully damaged what is not mine?
• Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen or damaged?
• Do I waste time at work, school or at home?
• Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?
• Do I pay my debts promptly?
• Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

• Have I lied?
• Have I gossiped?
• Have I spoken behind someone else's back?
• Have I been insincere in my dealings with others?
• Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
• Have I broken confidentiality?

9. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.

• Did I wilfully entertain impure thoughts, or commit impure acts, alone or with others?
• Did I wilfully look at indecent pictures, watch immoral movies, or read immoral books or magazines?
• Did I engage in impure jokes or conversations?

10. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.

• Am I jealous of what other people have?
• Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
• Am I greedy or selfish?
• Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
• Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and spiritual needs?

Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, through his Church, is calling us to repent and, if necessary, to confess our sins now! Let us be humble and wise and follow his call.