A Christmas Reflection

I prayed this week over the readings for Mass at Midnight, because I have always loved the midnight Mass. There is just something about it.

As I was listening to God's word in scripture and praying, the fact that Jesus is our Savior kept coming back to me over and over again. This is something I don't think we as Catholics think enough about. At least, we don't verbalize it as explicitly as our non-Catholic brothers and sisters do. I imagine many Catholics today hardly ever think about the fact that Jesus came to save us. Yet it is explicit in our readings.

In the fist reading from the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah describes how the Lord has come to remove the yoke under which we have been enslaved, the rod of the taskmaster that beats us down. This child that is born has come to set us free.

The responsorial pslam, which is called "responsorial" because it is a response to the first reading, rejoices, "Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord."

The second reading, St. Paul knocks us right between the eyes with it, "The grace of God has appeared, saving all..."

The angels rejoice in the Gospel according to St. Luke as they proclaim to the Shepherds, "For today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord."

Savior. In the Gospel according to Matthew, the angel told Joseph that Mary had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and to name the child, "Jesus, because God has saved his people from their sins." Even his name literally means, "God saves." So why don't many Catholics, and indeed many Christians, think more about the fact that Jesus has come as Savior? I would wager that most, when presented with the idea that Jesus has come to save us, would respond, "Save us from what?"

Sin, my friends. Seems like a weird message for Christmas, but we can't get around it. I think that we in our culture have lost sight of our sinfulness. The whole broo-ha-ha over Phil Robertson's comments these past couple of weeks...I believe the real reason that so many people were offended is because Phil Robertson dared to express his belief that there is sin. He called homosexuality sinful. Whether it is or it isn't is irrelevant to this reflection. The bottom line is, we don't like being told that we are sinners. Alcoholics and addicts could have just as easily been offended because he pointed out that drunkenness is listed. He also mentioned heterosexual promiscuity, which is a large number of Americans in these "sexually liberated" times. He talked about the swindlers, adulterers, and slanderers, which should have offended most folks in politics these days.

Nobody likes to be called a sinner.

Let's take a moment to look at what sin is in its essence. To do this, let's go all the way back to Genesis, chapter 3, in which we see that first sin.

Sin, first and worst, seperates us from the God who created us and has given us all good things. This is symbolized in the story of the original sin by Adam and Eve hiding from God when they heard Him walking in the garden. God must have walked with them in the garden before, because they were familiar with the sound of His movement. This time, rather than going out to greet Him, they hid. They were now separated from the God who lovingly created them.

Sin also separates us from each other. We were created to be one with all humanity, to share in each others' burdens and joys. This unity is expressed in the creation story by the sharing of the rib in the creation of the woman from the side of the man. It is also expressed in Adam's and Eve's nudity. They were able to be with each other, and though they were both naked, they felt no shame. The first thing they did after sin was create clothes for themselves. Sin caused them to be separated from one another, a division between them that would create strife. Rather than living in equality as a harmony and melody are equal in a song, the woman's desire would be for her husband, but he would rule over her.

Sin also separates us from all of nature. We were created to live in perfect harmony with creation, to care for and cultivate the garden in which God placed us. Instead, all of creation is touched, so that to bring forth food is a toilsome activity, and the earth often rejects us. Instead of living in harmony with nature, we are expelled from that perfect garden, and must get bread through the sweat of our brow.

Lastly, sin creates a disunity within the person, a lack of integrity, which is most explicitly experienced in death, when the soul leaves the body. In a much less obvious way, this lack of integrity is experienced through sickness and suffering.

Jesus is our Savior, having come into the world to save us from our sins. His birth, life, death and resurrection is the cure for the disease of sin that we bring into the world through our disobedience of God's holy will. We no longer need fear death, because of Jesus. Death has simply become our pathway to eternal life, where we will be reunited with a glorified body that can never become sick and never die again.

Jesus calmed the storms and brought forth fish from the sea for food. Jesus came to restore that relationship with nature that we have broken.

Jesus came to restore us to one another, too. During the time of Jesus, sickness wasn't just something for which you went to an urgent care clinic. Sickness often meant ostracization from the community. The death of a loved one meant isolation and poverty for many. When Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, it wasn't just to restore the integrity that sin has so damaged in us. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead to restore these people (and their loved) ones to the community. He saved the person from death, and saved the community in the process.

We also know that Jesus is our Emmanuel, a name that literally means, "God with us." We are no longer separated from God. The veil to the Holy of Holies has been torn down. All people can come to the Lord God of Hosts now. No one who wants Jesus is rejected, condemned or abandoned by Him. No one.

No one.

Jesus has brought us back to God. Jesus has saved us from our sins.

The birth of that baby in that manger 2,000 years ago are not just nice stories that give us warm fuzzies in the dead of winter. That birth has cosmic implications. What God wanted originally, and we rejected in sin, that birth in that manger 2,000 years ago has restored. The pain of life, the pain of death, the pain of isolation and ostracization, the pain loneliness and sadness and sickness and grief...Jesus saves us from it all.

This Christmas and Christmas season, when you look on that manger scene, I challenge you to look a little beyond that quaint little creche. See instead your salvation. See the cosmic meaning of that baby's birth.

That baby's birth changed THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, and if you open your heart and mind to HIM, it can change you, too.

Thoughts on This Sunday's Readings

      I've been looking at this coming Sunday's readings for Mass, and something has struck me enough to finally write a post reflecting on them.

    What struck me is the juxtaposition of Ahaz in the first reading from Isaiah to Joseph in the gospel according to Matthew. Some context might help this be more apparent.

     Ahaz was King of Judah, and was beginning to feel the pressure of being between two growing superpower nations, Egypt and Assyria. Israel and Judah were centers of trade and commerce, so they were actually quite wealthy. Think of it this way, any trade activity, whether it was from North to South (Assyria to Egypt and back again) or from West to East (the Arab world to the Helenized world and back again) would have passed through Israel and Judah at some point. King Ahaz feared Egypt and their intentions, and so had decided to make an alliance with Assyria.

     The alliance, however, would have subjugated Judah to Assyria, making Judah a vassal nation. Judah would have had to pay dues and taxes to Assyria, and in return Assyria would offer its protection from Egypt.

     The problem, however, is that God did not want His nation to be subject to anyone but Himself. God did not want Ahaz putting his faith in any superpower but the Power of the God of the Hosts. Isaiah the prophet comes to Ahaz and tells him this, and says that God wants Ahaz to ask for a sign as proof that the Lord is willing to protect His people, "Ask for anything," Isaiah says, "Let it be deep as the netherworld or high as the sky!"

     At first glance, Ahaz's response seems to be a good one, "I will not ask. I will not tempt the Lord." We all know that we're not supposed "to tempt the Lord." I mean, even Jesus said this, right. The reason, though, that Ahaz did not want to tempt the Lord, is because he had already made up his mind about what he wanted to do, and didn't want a sign that would cause him to change his mind. He didn't care anymore about what God wanted.

     It reminds me of that Simpson's episode where Homer goes to prayer about something. I don't remember what, but basically he tells God what he wants, and then says if it's ok, that God should give him "no sign whatsoever." Homer waits about 2 seconds, and then says, "Thy will be done." Then he offers God a plate of cookies as a thanksgiving sacrifice and says, "If you want me to eat them for you, give me no sign whatsover." Again, he waits about 2 seconds, and ends his prayer with, "Thy will be done." He scarfs the cookies.

     Ahaz didn't want to know God's will. He didn't want a sign that would make him change his mind from what he had already decided to do. Then, in the gospel, we get Joseph.

    Jewish law stated that Joseph had the right to have Mary stoned to death, because she was pregnant with a child that was not his prior to their wedding date. Joseph, however, did not want Mary to die, so he made up his mind to go through with the marriage, and then divorce her quietly. That way, people would think the child she carried was his, conceived on the wedding night. Her life would be spared.

     The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and confirmed what Mary had told him, that the child she carried was in fact conceived of the Holy Spirit, and that Mary remained pure. Unlike Ahaz, Joseph was not so set in his ways that he would not consider the will of God. Joseph changed his mind, and obeyed.

     This message of the need for obedience is repeated in the 2nd reading. Paul describes himself as "a slave of Jesus Christ," which brings the images of an obedient servant. Paul also says that his mission as an apostle is to bring us, the Church of Christ, into "the obedience of the faith."

    The message of obedience to the will of God is a wonderful Christmas message. Zachariah and Elizabeth obeyed God, and John the Baptist was born and named. Mary obeyed God, and Jesus was conceived. Joseph obeyed God, and provided Mary and Jesus with a home. Even Jesus's incarnation was an act of obedience "in fulfillment of scriptures."

     The bottom line is that we are called to obey, too. I don't mean in some non-committal way that tries to explain away the harder things we may be called to do. "Obedience means to listen." That's true etymologically, but just listening to God is not enough. My kids listen to me all the time, and occasionally, they actually turn off the Wii or the DVD and DO WHAT I ASK THEM TO DO. We are called to obey the will of God, in heart, mind and action. We are called to do what God asks us to do.

     "But how do we know what God is asking us to do?" Well, I'm glad you asked.

     The first answer is through the Church, and more specifically, through the office of the Successors of the Apostles, the Bishops. We may not like them, shoot, we might have outright disdain for some of them, but they are the Bishops, the Successors of the Apostles, who have been given Authority by Jesus Christ himself to help us discern the will of God. If we're not listening and acting on the teachings of the Apostolic Office, we're not obeying Jesus. Jesus said to the Apostles, "Whoever hears you, hears me." That authority has been passed down for 2,000 years now.

     The second answer is through personal prayer. God wants to speak to you, just as He spoke to Ahaz through Isaiah, and just as He spoke to Joseph in a dream. God wants to make His will known to you in your heart. In order to do that, we must return to the etymological definition of obedience, "to hear." We must spend time listening to God in prayer. God wants to speak to our very hearts. The only time I find myself loathe to listen is when I am more like Ahaz than Joseph.

     I know this, though: the times in my life when I have listened most closely and acted on the promptings of God that I feel stir in my heart, I have known only peace, strength, goodness in my life. The times when I have been headstrong, not listening to God, are the times that I have hurt those around me, and deeply hurt them.

     Advent is a wonderful time for listening. Even in all the hussle and bussle of Christmas time preparations, the earth seems to be a little quieter this time of year. But don't "just listen," do the will of God. I promise you that whatever He has in store for you is more wonderful than anything you could plan for yourself.