Faith

On the Seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Jesus who came and saved me – John 1:1-18

How you begin a book and position the first few pages makes all the difference. The beginning of book gives you its setting, its purpose, its style. It may not reveal the plot but sets you in the mood to sit back and read on or to sit up and study intensely.

Prologues however, stand out especially in ancient writings because they were often used to introduce the important characters in the narrative, situate them within the story, and give some understanding of their importance. But most of all, prologues as in the case of this text of St John, would project the plot by explaining both seen and unseen forces within the action. In short, we are given a sneak preview into the ‘behind the scene’ activities of God. Before we meet Jesus in Jerusalem or in Galilee, we meet him “In the beginning … with God.”

But central to this text is verse 12. Christ had come to his own, he came as the light and yet his own did not receive him. The hero of this story is met with tragic rejection in chapter one and so the plan of God had to change. So, to all who did receive him; the gentiles and prostitutes and tax collectors and sinner, you and me; for all of us, he changed the game. To these who believed in his name, a name which is above every other name, he gave them the power, the right, the privilege to become the children of God.

This is a game changer. Up until now you had to be a Jew, a descendent of Abraham to sit at the table. But all that changes in the prologue, now you just have to believe in the name of Jesus to receive the power to become his children. It will be from the East and the West and the North and the South that God will welcome his children who accept his son Jesus, to be their saviour.

Wherever Jesus went, the crowds that followed him or listened to his teaching got split into two groups — a large group of Jews who refused to believe in Jesus, claiming to be “Abraham’s descendants”; and a smaller group of people who believed in Jesus. The apostle John calls the former group “Jews.” The latter group too were from the same Jewish background. But John refuses to call them “Jews.” He called them “disciples” or the “flock” that belonged to Jesus, or the “branches” of the true vine. Even John did not wish to be called a “Jew”; he wanted his readers to know him as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a Holy family.

Many of us live in a world of idealism. The presentation of the most flawless skin, perfect home, restful holiday and romantic meal is driven by the need to meet sales targets and executed by the best in the advertisement industry. You can’t change the colour of your skin no matter what the label on the cream claims nor can you control the security of your family no matter what the insurance company tells you. But we fall prey to such propaganda and live in a world of peaches and roses only to be woken up when the briars poke us.

No matter what the media says, there are no perfect people or perfect families. Families are what we make of them by investing in the needs of one another. We build the foundation of love when we stretch ourselves for each other. Some roles come naturally; the altruism of a mother and father for a sick child as they sit the night in vigil besides their baby burning with fever. Some roles are learnt along; the need to share your toys with your sibling. Some roles are thrust upon us, the role of learning to be a nurse to an ailing and aged parent or an elder sister or brother who has to become the de-facto parent to her or his siblings because their mother died tragically.

The family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus are airbrushed today. The statues to honour them show this perfect and peaceful trio as if they had no trial or tribulation thrown at them. The Gospel on the feast of the Holy Family is not a narrative of perfection. It is the story of a plot to kill baby Jesus, a midnight flight into a foreign land under the cover of darkness. A family becomes refugees; driven out of their land and their source of income only to be told to return several years later and then to find that the threat to their lives had not entirely been eliminated. They then had to choose Nazareth as their home, an obscure village with not more than twenty families in a district of Galilee which had lost much of its Jewish heritage over the years and had become more secular in its approach.

There are no perfect families but families that that called to perfection. There are no families that have no challenges but families who challenge the situation they are faced with by faith. The perfect studio pictures that hang in your home are but a presentation of a day we dressed up for that photo shoot, the rest of our days are filled with the reality of struggle, challenges and chores.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me the Holy Spirit – Luke 2:22-35

The narrative of this Gospel is marked by a superscription or a title that reads in the RSV Bible as, ‘Jesus is presented in the temple.’ It encapsulates the religious ceremony of purification that took place forty days after the birth of the first born. While first born animals had to be sacrificed, first born sons had to be ‘redeemed’ by paying five shekels to the priesthood.

Also read https://www.pottypadre.com/the-fourth-day-of-christmas-my-true-love-gave-to-me-instructions-to-follow-to-the-tee/

The bulk of this narrative surrounds the life of one ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. The Gospel of Luke does not call him explicitly a prophet but just a man with holy attributes. We are told his name is Simeon and we are told that he is from Jerusalem and was ‘righteous, devout and looked forward to the consolation of Israel.’ But then in rapid succession we are told that the Holy Spirit had an important role to play in his life. It was the Holy Spirit that ‘rested’ on him, the Holy Spirit that ‘revealed’ things to him and the Holy Spirit that ‘guided’ him.

The focus of the Christmas story has often been on the babe in the manger; Jesus. But that is an incomplete narrative of this faith story. Remember it was God who so loved the world that he gave his son and it was the Holy Spirit that came upon Mary and overshadowed her. It was the Holy Spirit that filled Elizabeth, revealing that the child in Mary’s womb was the saviour. It was Zechariah who was filled with the Holy Spirit when he Blessed and praised God in what has come to be known as the Benedictus and it is the Holy Spirit that plays a pivotal role in the narrative of the Gospel of the day.

One should ask, why Simeon? Why was he chosen? Our life in the spirit is a journey and not a moment. God does not just randomly pick people for a mission. Simeon, we are told, was already on a spiritual journey and he is described as righteous and devout. He was not simply one that was chosen in the Bible but rather one who chose to be righteous and devout. As righteous, he was blameless in God’s eyes and was devout in his spiritual duties.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

The fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… instructions to follow to the tee.

Think about it! What if Joseph said to himself, I don’t need to listen to the angel, after all it is but a dream. But here is a man who had already experienced an angel in a dream once before. He was told then, as he is told now in a dream, to simply follow instructions. Joseph saw the first message of the angel come true. He was to take Mary home to be his wife and she was to bear a son who would save his people from their sins. Now just a few days later Joseph is revisited in a dream and asked to follow a new set of instructions.

Most of us live life on our terms. God wants us to live life according to his terms. Our life is a gift from God; it belongs to him and when he so desires, he can, as he does, demand it back. This does not mean that we are puppets, for God also gives a value based frame work in which we live our lives and in which we choose to respond to his call. At the heart of that framework is our acknowledgment of him as the source of all life.

St Joseph understood his calling. He understood what God wanted of him and he understood the demands of obedience and fidelity. But he also learnt that God spoke to him in a unique way; God’s messages were delivered to him in a dream by an angel. He had learnt to listen to the voice of God over the buzz of human voices. His closeness to his maker gave him that edge to recognize God’s voice when directed to him. Think about it, how does God speak to you?

Joseph, who had surrendered his life to God, now surrendered ever task demanded of him. He had come to trust God’s will for him and it is this trust that made him wake up Mary and flee with the child by night. What a long night that must have been for he had to flee from a despotic King for whom murder was second nature. Into that dark night of fear and uncertainty, Joseph stepped out in faith with the light of the world wrapped in swaddling clothes. He was a father fiercely protecting his new born son and the wife that God had entrusted to him.

On the fourth day of Christmas, our true love, God, teaches us to trust him, to follow his commands, to tune our ear to his instructions, to step into darkness. God has a plan and he wants us to cooperate with him. He does not twist our arm, but if we are in tune with him then discerning his will is easy-peasy.

Joseph listened to God and Jesus was saved from the clutches of death. Yet that day many innocent children died. We may ask, why did not God step in? As I said before, God does not treat us like puppets; free will is ours to act upon. We can choose to do good or choose to do evil. Herod used his position and power to bring death and destruction all because he was insecure. Imagine, insecurity led to a massacre.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

The third day of Christmas my true love gave to me……more love.

Today we celebrate the feast of St John the evangelist, the author of the fourth Gospel and one who was known as ‘the one whom Jesus loved.’ What a lovely and endearing title to have. What pangs of jealousy it must have caused among the other apostles; and we can assume that jealousy among the apostles did exist because we know that the apostles were not perfect but were called to perfection.

Jesus showed St. John particular instances of kindness and affection above all the rest. He had the happiness to be present with Peter and James at the Transfiguration of Christ, and was permitted to witness His agony in the Garden. He was allowed to rest on Our Saviour’s bosom at the Last Supper, and to him Jesus confided the care of His holy Mother as He hung dying on the Cross.

Yet in some way we get a glimpse of his imperfections. John was a man who had a past and perhaps one that could best describe him as an ‘angry young man.’ Remember that he and his brother wanted to call down brimstone from heaven because the Samaritans were not welcoming. John had to learn love and he learnt it from the best; from Jesus. When he did that’s all he wrote and spoke about.

Saint Jerome, while living in Palestine in the late 300s, relates a touching anecdote still being told at that time about John the Evangelist. When John was old and feeble, Jerome recounts, and no longer able to walk or preach, he would be carried among the faithful in church and would repeat only one thing over and over again: “My little children, love one another.”

The season of Christmas is the season of love. ‘God so loved the world’ is a statement that introduces the tremendous love of God. God so cared for us, so valued us, so protected us that he gave! He gave not just a partridge in a pear tree or two calling birds or three French hens; he gave the best; he gave his ONLY SON.

Think for a while what love really demands. It demands that love should be passionate. It demands the love gives. It demands that love gives the best. It demands that love gives the one thing we don’t want to part with. It demands sacrifice. When we do this and more, we too become the beloved, the ones that Jesus loves.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading