Faith

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me a call to come and see – John 1: 35-42

The author of a play takes great care with the first words spoken by the main protagonist. These words must grab our attention and they usually reveal something of that person’s character. Here we read the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John. It begins with Jesus addressing John’s disciples who are following him. Jesus always asks pointed, direct questions in the Gospel of John. The question is not a teaching, a precept, or a challenge (as we might expect), but a simple question address directly to them: “What are you looking for?” or “What do you want?” That’s a good question, isn’t it? The two disciples are asked a deceptively simple question.

Jesus asks about our desires so that he can respond to them. At one level, the question asks why are they walking after him or following him. But fundamentally, this is the existential question asked of any potential disciple: What do you seek when you come to follow Jesus? Are you looking for a comfortable life? Are you looking for the glory that comes from being one of God’s servants? Are you looking for praise and recognition? Or are you ready to do whatever it takes to serve in God’s kingdom – even if it means suffering the way Jesus did? Are you ready to take up a cross in order to follow Jesus?

Such a searching question, ‘what are you looking for?’ may also have many responses, ‘I’m not looking for anything! I am just trying to survive.’ But in sober moments we realise that we would like our lives to amount to more than just getting and spending, eating and sleeping.

Today, the call of Jesus is written all over this and every Gospel. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus calls the disciples away from their fishing boats to follow him (Matthew 4:18-22). In the Gospel of John, the disciples come to Jesus as the result of John the Baptist’s witness rather than in response to Jesus’ call. Instead of leaving their boats, the disciples leave their apprenticeship under John the Baptist. Our lives of witness are therefore imperative to evangelization.

Note the pattern of witnessing that occurs in these verses. John the Baptist witnesses to two of his disciples concerning Jesus. One of these disciples, Andrew, witnesses to his brother, Simon Peter, who becomes a key figure in the Gospel story. The ripples move ever outward, and only God can predict how far they will reach.

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Faith

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a lesson in humility – Luke 2:21-24

 

John the Baptist has clearly defined his ministry as simply ‘a voice that cries in the wilderness.’ He is emphatic, he is not the Messiah, nor Elijah or a prophet. As a voice he has a message to proclaim not a mandate to execute.

 

In today’s Gospel, John bears testimony to Jesus. On seeing him approach the river where he was bearing witness, he declares him to be THE LAMB of God with the power to take away the sin of the WORLD. In order to understand the power of these two words in today’s text I suggest you read a reflection that I wrote some time ago. You can do so by clicking this link https://www.pottypadre.com/sharing-the-stage-of-salvation-history/

 

But for today, I want to focus on a very practical reflection that we can take away. Each of us has a mission in life. This mission comes with a title and a tenure. The title or tenure serves as a reminder of the mission we are called to serve or the time frame in which we can execute the desired goals.

 

The Prime Minister has a tenure and a title that defines clearly a mandate or mission and a time frame in which his election manifesto is to be fulfilled. The Holy Father has a title but not really a tenure as he is Pope (which translates as father) for life. There are endearing titles like mother that are not instituted in a ceremony but comes by virtue that birth is given and that mission is for life.

 

St John the Baptist has a title with no fixed tenure. His title was that of being ‘the voice’ but his tenure was unsure. He took on a role but had no clue when it would end. John 2:29 tells us that the day after he encountered the Levites and priests who wanted to know who he was, Jesus walks into the scene. In that one verse, the mission of John ends. The curtain falls on John’s ministry. There was no notice period nor any time to pack and move off the stage.

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Opinion

Compliments of the Season- It that an appropriate greeting this season?

Straight off the bat; the school of WhatsApp is back in action, the discussion on the star of David which plagued us just before Christmas is now well behind us; like all news it did its ten days of fame on WhatsApp. Post-Christmas, the forwards are about greeting each other with the words ‘compliments of the season’; is that appropriate or not? I was asked by several people to weigh in on the debate.

The matter at hand are the words ‘compliments of the season.’ This according to the floating viral message is an attempt to secularize the faith and underscore the mystery of the incarnation. In other words, this is secular propaganda created to misled Christians into believing that we need to be more inclusive and less in-your face with our faith celebrations.

I am no scholar and the internet is no authority but common sense is an application that ought to be applied in this and any case. I am 52 years old and all through my growing years my mum taught me that a day after Christmas right up to New Year we wished each other, ‘compliments of the season.’ Would it be wrong to say “happy Christmas?” I think not. We don’t go around saying, ‘compliments of the New Year’ after the first of January; we continue to say ‘happy new year,’ well into the new year.

So, what is the point I want to drive home? Simply this, that as Christians, we have to stop playing the victim card whenever we suspect that the secular world is out with its knives to stab our Christian character. It makes perfect sense to wish any one a Happy Christmas days after the day itself has well passed; it is after all Christmastide and you have a right to wish someone a Happy Christmas and they have a right to reciprocate your greetings or not. Yet wishing someone ‘compliments of the season’ does not deny the truth of what we celebrate as Christians.

What would I prefer? I would prefer that we wished each other a Happy Christmas well after the day itself but without the victim card being thrown in. It makes sense to assert what we celebrated; the happiness that Christmas brings in our life. I am proud of my faith and if you ask me, I would rather say the words, ‘Happy Christmas,’ without weighing in heavily on the victim card that the secular world is out to get me. While words are important our actions that flow from these words are equally important. THE WORD became flesh to dwell among us as a prince of peace and not one that draws daggers of division.

The next time you get a forward on WhatsApp apply the principle of common sense. Think things through and perhaps add your own thoughts. You may agree or you may not but think and apply your mind to it.

Happy Christmas

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Faith

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, John as a witness to me. 1: 19-28

Read also by clicking on this link another article on this topic  https://www.pottypadre.com/a-fingerpost-pointing-to-the-true-way-saturday-january-2nd-john-119-28/

The ministry of John the Baptist in Bethany, across the Jordan was certainly making news in the headquarters of the Jewish faith. We are told that the ‘Jews’ sent in the Levites and priests to enquire as to who he was. In the Gospel of John, when we read the word ‘Jews’ it refers to the religious establishment in opposition to Jesus. In verse 24, St John tells us that the ‘Jews’ who sent the priests and the Levites belonged to the super conservative group called the Pharisees who had spiritually ‘separated themselves’ from the rest of Judaism in order that their practices and beliefs in the faith were not contaminated.

If you understand the longing and waiting for the Messiah among the Jewish people, you will be able to decipher precisely the focus and intention in the line of questioning. The Levites and priests did not want to start a national sensation by asking a direct question. Asking John the Baptist if he was the Messiah would have ramifications both on the political scene with the Romans as well as an overthrow of power in Jerusalem’s temple. Hence the ‘discreet’ question, ‘who are you?’

John knew what the purpose of the question to him was. There was a longing for a Messiah and while some wanted a warrior King that would overthrow the Romans many others longed for redeemer. John knew who he was in the larger plan of God and he was not the Messiah. This is his ‘confession,’ “I am not the Messiah.” That line was enough to deflate the hopes of a nation all at once. Think of hopes of the French people being dashed to the ground with that penalty shoot-out against Argentina. However, the matter at hand remains, who then was John?

Jewish aspiration and hope had rested on the belief that it would be Elijah who would usher in the reign of the Messiah.(Malachi 4:5-6). If John was not the Messiah, was he then Elijah? Could the Jewish people still hope for the best? John confesses that he is not Elijah. Yet Jesus noted that in a sense, John was Elijah, ministering in his office and spirit (Matthew 11:13-14 and Mark 9:11-13).

Perhaps if John was not Elijah, was he then a prophet of God? The last prophet of God walked this land 400 years ago and since then there was no Prophecy. In these four hundred years without prophetic voices the Pharisees arose as interpreters of God’s will. If John was not the Messiah, nor Elijah perhaps he was the spokesperson of God to his people? In Deuteronomy 18:15-19, God promised that another prophet would come in due time. Based on this passage, they expected another Prophet to come, and wondered if John was not he? But John confesses he none of the above.

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Faith

On the eight day of Christmas my true love gave to me, the Blessed Virgin, Mother Mary- Luke 2:16-21

Even as we slip into a secular new year, the Gospel continues to proclaim the Christmas story though clearly with one purpose, to honour our Blessed Mother who co-operated with God’s plan of salvation that gave us so great a saviour.

The spotlight falls on Mary today as we celebrate, on this the eight day of Christmas another gift from our true love; God. In 1970, Pope Paul VI instituted the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. In his encyclical on devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, ‘Marialis Cultus’ (1974), he wrote, “This celebration, assigned to January the first is in conformity with the ancient liturgy of the city of Rome. It is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the holy Mother … through whom we were found worthy … to receive the Author of life.”

The gift of Mary is not just a gift given to us by God alone but a gift that Jesus, the second person of the divine trinity also gave us from the cross when he said to John, “behold your mother.” Yet from the cross we were not just given ‘a gift’ but an inheritance. Here was Jesus dying on the cross and from the cross he was dictating his last will and testament given not just by his own hand but in his own blood.

Inheritances can be stolen but this was given to its legitimate heirs; to you and me, for we are the brothers and sisters of Our Lord. This inheritance cannot be usurped yet it is so great that many more can share in this inheritance especially those who freely become children of God. They then share in this inheritance by virtue that they accept the name of Jesus (John 1)

What do we do with a gift?
This is a question we need to ask ourselves. Gifts come wrapped in lovely ribbon and paper. A gift invokes a certain sense of curiosity, you want to know what is inside. No one takes a gift and leaves it on a shelf hoping that someday the wrapper will fall off miraculously. You need to open it and behold what lies behind the sheets of paper. On this Holy Day, God gives us Mary under the title of Mother of God. While our Blessed Mother is loved by many, there are still so many who have left her like an unwrapped gift on a shelf. You have to discover her by pondering like she did on what might seem simple and ordinary and yes perhaps repetitive and as some say boring; namely the rosary.

Recently an artist who painted a portrait of Pope Benedict was given access to his personal effects in order to get the details right. The staff around the Holy Father gave even his pectoral cross to be studied but when it came to his rosary, they were unable to give it. “How can we give you something that he never let’s go of throughout the day and night?”

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