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.

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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.

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Faith

And THIS IS WHY we have a Christmas Day – 4th Sunday of Advent – Isaiah 7:10-14/ Matthew 1:18-24

The Gospel of today practically tells you the Christmas story except of course for that one verse which says that Jesus was born. It you read the infancy narrative in the Gospel of Matthew you will begin to feel a bit lost if not cheated. There is no manger, no shepherds, no long journey to Bethlehem, no angels proclaiming glory to God, no cows or sheep or donkey. Yes, it does mention the wise men but it also mentions the despot Herod who wanted to kill Jesus and then killed the children in and around Bethlehem and then mentions the flight in Egypt. All in all, there is no sparkle or tinsel to this Christmas story in the Gospel of Matthew. So, what’s the point in proclaiming this Gospel at all so close to Christmas?

Matthew had one purpose and one purpose only, to proclaim the fulfilment of the promises of God. The narrative took place in fulfilment of the promises that were spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.”

God keeps his promises even if they are not tied in beautiful bows and delivered on a one-horse open sleigh. That’s the point of today’s Gospel; God is faithful. Interestingly, the way he works in our lives is often strange and even scandalous. Here is a narrative of an unwed mother, a reluctant fiancé who now wants to divorce his to be wife, a rather pushy angel that wants to communicate the will of God.

God communicates to us that if his own son’s birth could be fulfilled when everything seemed impossible then how much more will he deliver in our lives when we think all is lost? That is the Christmas miracle, that is the Christmas story and that is the Christmas promise. God always keeps his promise because God loves us.

What is it that seems lost to you today? What is it that you think God has bailed out on you? What is it that you are struggling with, gasping for breath as you feel yourself being sucked underwater? There is a promise that we are reminded, “Look the virgin SHALL conceive.” There is no if and might and maybe. It is a firm promise. The virgin SHALL conceive so that God will forever be with us; Emmanuel.

While the Gospel of Luke will focus on the big yes of Mary, the Gospel of Matthew will tell us of the silent acceptance of God’s will in Joseph’s life. The poor chap does not a spoken word recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. His name appears seven times in the entire Christmas narrative but his voice is not heard once. He certainly had doubts and perhaps negative thoughts and even wanted to divorce Mary but was told to do the will of God. His obedience is recorded in one line, “when he awoke from his sleep, he did a s the angel of the Lord commanded him” and this was not the only time he was spoken to in a dream.

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Faith

Christmas Vigil Mass – The nature of sin, the need of a saviour – Isaiah 62:1-5/ Matthew 1:18-25

By human standards, the Christmas story is filled with scandal. It is the stuff that tabloids would relish as they publish. Newspapers would be selling like hot cakes. The headlines would read, “an expectant bride an enraged fiancé.” The bi-line would proclaim, St Joseph to divorce Mary.

There is nothing sentimental or romantic in the first Christmas story; it is uncensored, not airbrushed, filled with scandal and then even when the marriage is salvaged; thanks to no less the intervention of Gods own angel, the story of Christmas is one of poverty, homelessness, refugees, attempted murder, mass murder, selfishness and fear.

Today, none of that is reflected in our celebration. The Church is decorated with tinsel and lights, the altar is adored with flowers, food and drink will flow, music will fill the air and dancing feet will burn a hole in the ground. We have bought new clothes and dolled our faces. There is no sign of the pain and fear and struggle of that first Christmas.

So why then do we celebrate that day with such rejoicing? What gives life and colour to this day? Just one sentence; “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given!” A son, who as St Matthew tells us, “Will save their people from their sins.” The tinsel, the bells, the lights, the music, the kulkuls, the vindaloo are simply our way of telling the whole world WE ARE SAVED. God gave us HIS son to be OUR brother, to SAVE US and take us to heaven. All of what we do is just an external expression of the internal reality.

But what if that internal reality is nonexistent. What If I am sitting here in Church just because it is something that I do every year at Christmas? What if I have not accepted the truth of Christmas that Jesus has come to save me, to free me from my sin? What if I am here right now in the most beautiful dress and the latest bespoke suit, what If my menu at home for Christmas lunch is the best I have ever cooked and the decorations in the house is beyond spectacular but I have not accepted Jesus for WHY he came and WHO he is to me? He came to SAVE ME, he is my SAVIOUR!

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Faith

The second day of Christmas – My true love gave to me a crown of martyrdom

Right off the bat, let me wish you all a Happy feast my dear parishioners here at St Stephen’s Church, Cumballa Hill and also to you, our well-wishers. Today, we step into the 75th year of this faith community being raised to the status of a parish.

We have been reflecting on the joy of Christmastide. Don’t let the commercial world dictate terms to you. They may take down their décor from their stores but you continue with the joy of Christmas. Their business has cease, our ministry never ends. To that effect we continue to embrace the message of the incarnation and continue to receive the gifts that Jesus gives us at Christmastime. Yesterday he gave us the gift of his light, today he gives us a shining example of Christian life in the martyrdom of St Stephen.

The English word martyr is derived from a Greek word which literally means “witness.” St Stephen is presented to us as the first witness who is soaked in blood. Ironically, the Christmas story is soaked in blood; Stephen is stoned and then the innocents are massacred.

The name Stephen is Greek and translates as ‘crown.’ It was to him that the crown of martyrdom was given. According to Acts 6, Stephen is a foreign-born Jew or a Hellenist who spoke Greek. The Hellenists were a minority in the Christian community and they complained that their elderly widows were been neglected. Stephen was one of the seven men chosen by the apostles to be a deacon or steward to help with this task of distribution of food so that the apostles might be able to carry on with their ministry of prayer.

St. Stephen, following on the heels of his Master, died for the sake of the Gospel. He died for the sake of being true to Christ. Stephen is correctly accused of following the Christ, but he is falsely accused of preaching that Jesus would destroy the Temple and taught against the law of Moses. His accusers twist the teachings of Christ for their own benefit.

St Stephen was full of the spirit. St Luke explicitly mentions this fact four times in the two chapters in which he appears in the Acts of the Apostles.

We might wonder how short the ministerial life of Stephen was. Even though he was filled with the Holy Spirit and had abundance of wisdom, he was still stoned to death by the angry mob of the city who were unwilling to soften their hearts and let his words reach their hearts. We might wonder at our own circumstances when we try to convince people of the truth of the gospel. We need to understand that logic, wisdom and even miracles are not enough to convert a sinner. Only God’s mighty power can do that, as He later proved with through the life and work of a bystander who consented to Stephen’s death; Saul later became St Paul.

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