First Reading - 1 Samuel
1:20-22,24-28 ©
Alternative First Reading
- Ecclesiasticus 3:3-7,14-17 ©
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm
127(128):1-5 ©
Alternative Responsorial
Psalm - Psalm 83(84):2-3,5-6,9-10 ©
Second Reading - Colossians
3:12-21 ©
Alternative Second Reading
- 1 John 3:1-2,21-24 ©
Gospel Acclamation - cf. Ac
16:14
The Gospel of the Day - Luke
2:41-52 ©
(NJB)
If you were to take the reading from Samuel
and regard it only as narrative extoling the virtue of giving thanks to God, the
creator of the universe, giving thanks for the good things we receive in this
life, if you were to go no further than to accept the piety of Hannah as a
woman intent on keeping her promises then you would be reading this passage
well.
If you go further, and you sink into the
notion that God actually granted her prayer when she became pregnant with
Samuel, then you would be mistaken. God does not intervene in the lives of
human beings. God does not work miracles like magic in the wombs of barren
women.
If you were to accept the piety of the
sacrifices she rendered at the temple as a thanksgiving for what she perceived
was God’s direct hand moving over her in answer to her prayers than you would
be compounding your mistakes. There is nothing pious in the act of an animal
sacrifice, God does not desire it, and unless the food you offer is distributed
to the poor, then nothing good comes from it.
Listen:
There is wisdom in the writings of
Ecclisasticus and there is also falsehood, they present themselves as binary messages
in the same reading.
Honor your father and mother, but do not
expect a reward for it, neither from heaven or even from them, for there are no
guarantees in this life.
Honor you mother and father, your sister and brothers,
your cousins, your aunts and uncles, your nieces and nephews, honor them all.
Honor your teachers, and your classmates, your co-workers and your employers,
honor the stranger who comes into your midst, honor them.
To honor people is good in its own right. You honor
yourself in doing so, and through the service you give to everyone, near and
far from you, through that service you also serve and honor God.
Do it without the thought of reward to
yourself, because you will not be rewarded.
Remember:
Do
not fear God. There is no blessing in it. Fear is not a blessing but rather the
path to sin and darkness.
Trust
in God, have faith and confidence in God’s love and in God’s word.
Remember
God’s servant; Job. Remember that the Sun will burn you, as readily as it will
warm you; scorch the earth as easily as it will feed the crops.
God
sends the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.
If
you find yourself asking: Where is the house of the God? Know this, it is not a
palace, or a temple. God, creator of the universe does not dwell in Zion;
Israel, God is not a king, not a lord, and not a god among gods or the ruler of
many gods.
God
is infinite and beyond our comprehension, God is in all places at all times and
in the hearts of each and every one of God’s children.
God
dwells in the human heart, the heart is the temple of God, and that is where we
true worship takes place.
Look
into your own heart, and into the heart of your neighbor, you will see the face
of God peering back at you.
Happy
are they who dwell in the place of God.
God, the creator of the universe, is loving,
compassionate, and wise. God created all of us with the capacity for each of these
qualities, but God also created us in freedom and we are capable of much more.
We are capable of their opposite and find it far to easy to fall into their
darkness/
God has chosen you as God has chosen everyone.
We are all of us, God’s children, it is for each of us now to choose God.
Be loving and compassionate, show genuine good
will toward all of your sisters and brothers. Do not just mimc the expression
of love you are most fond of finding in the world, this is the way to proceed
in life, let it unify everything that you do as a servant of God, in the service
of humanity.
A life of faith requires support and
nourishment, we need it from those near to us. It is not absolutely necessary,
but it is most helpful. You may practice your faith in isolation, but it is
more difficult. The life of faith is not meant to be lived in a vacuum, it is
meant to be lived through relationships and in community.
Be aware:
Live a life of prayer; yes, but the Apostle is
wrong to ask you to do all things in the name of God.
Do what you do in your own name. Take
responsibility for your actions, both good and bad, whether they were well
intentioned or ill, whether you have succeeded or failed.
Strive to live a life of prayer.
If you are living and working for God. In
whatever industry, in whatever capacity, at whatever calling has come to you
through the world, you will be doing it on behalf of your neighbor, your
sisters and brothers, your fellow human beings.
You will be working for the benefit of all
people, now and in all generations yet to come.
If your work does not allow to you to do
this…abandon it. Remember this always and hold it close to your heart.
When you are preaching and speaking to others
about the faith, you are speaking to the children of God, the creator of the
universe.
There is nothing you can do to affect their
salvation. There salvation, as yours, has already been accomplished by God.
Love is its own reward, do not seek anything
else in return for love, accept it as you find it in the spirit with which it
is given.
Nothing good at all comes from believing in a
name, it is only in loving, and in the act of caring that good things come
through us and to us.
God is alive in all people, no one is excluded
from the love of God. There is no proof of this, it is only faith that informs
us that it is true.
Faith is not belief in a particular doctrine,
or article of dogma, faith is trust in God. Faith is trust.
Trust and yet be discerning:
Beware of false prophets, go, look to everyone
around you, especially those who claim to be “true believers.” Look to
yourself. We are all imperfect, and we all have false understandings of who God
is.
Each of us in our own way confounds our
knowledge of the truth with our hopes and desires for ourselves.
Trust God, and be mindful God is beyond the
propositions we generate about God.
The purpose of the church is to foster belief in
God, which means to nurture faith, and faith is trust.
Trust God, trust the image of God that was
present in Jesus. That same image that is present in you.
Trust God and forgive.
Accept forgiveness.
Allow yourself to love, and be loved.
You are worthy of it, as is everyone, and you
no-more than anyone.
God lives in the obedient and the disobedient,
the faithful and the unfaithful alike. Remember this, God lives in all people,
God knows you and God knows them, God knows us, even as we know ourselves.
God knows us better.
God will hear you, God is with you.
Take
the things we have been preaching on and apply them to the Gospel for today:
The
narrative is a myth. It does not give us any reliable information about who
Jesus was, or about his relationship with his parents; even though it purports
to do so.
This
is unfortunate but it is the normative experience of reading the gospels.
The
reading for today does tell us something about what the author of Luke wanted
us to believe about Jesus. That his parents were faithful and observant Jews. He
wants us to believe that they obediently went to Jerusalem for the Passover as required
of them by the law, where they were counted and made their offerings to the
temple.
The
authors of Luke were also trying to tell us that Jesus was wise beyond his
years, that he was capable of self-direction, that he had a sense of mission
and purpose for his life, even as a child. The authors of Luke also want us to
believe that Jesus understood at this early age, long before his adult ministry
began, that he was, in a unique way, a child of God. Finally, Luke wants us to
understand that his submission to the authority of his parents was voluntary.
What
is unfortunate about this narrative is this; instead of informing us about who
Jesus is, it muddies our understanding by mythologizing him, and instead the
reading only tells us what the authors of Luke wanted us to believe, what their
followers hoped was true.
Though
the authors of Luke could not foresee this, these writings would come divide
the Christian community, to divide it from itself and precipitate centuries of
bloody conflict over the question of Jesus’ divinity, his humanity and the
relationship between the two.
I
contend that the man who was Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua son of Joseph, would
have been aghast at those developments. Jesus, the man spent his life and went
to his death as a champion of justice, an advocate for mercy, as a healer, as
an advocate for the poor, for the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the widow and
the orphan.
Luke’s
narrative is therefore a cautionary tale, reminding us of the necessity to
cleave to the truth at all times, to separate our hopes, our desires, and most
importantly our fears, from values we wish to convey.
Then
and only then do we honor God, then and only then do we show the reality of our
faith.
First Reading - 1 Samuel
1:20-22,24-28 ©
This is the Child I Prayed
For: He is Made Over to the Lord.
Hannah
conceived and gave birth to a son, and called him Samuel ‘since’ she said ‘I
asked the Lord for him.’
When
a year had gone by, the husband Elkanah went up again with all his family to
offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfil his vow. Hannah, however,
did not go up, having said to her husband, ‘Not before the child is weaned.
Then I will bring him and present him before the Lord and he shall stay there
for ever.’
When
she had weaned him, she took him up with her together with a three-year-old
bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple
of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the bull
and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said, ‘If you please, my lord. As you
live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord.
This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I
make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the
Lord.’
Alternative First Reading
- Ecclesiasticus 3:3-7,14-17 ©
He who fears the Lord
respects his parents
The
Lord honours the father in his children, and upholds the rights of a mother
over her sons.
Whoever
respects his father is atoning for his sins, he who honours his mother is like
someone amassing a fortune.
Whoever
respects his father will be happy with children of his own, he shall be heard
on the day when he prays.
Long
life comes to him who honours his father, he who sets his mother at ease is
showing obedience to the Lord.
My
son, support your father in his old age, do not grieve him during his life.
Even
if his mind should fail, show him sympathy, do not despise him in your health
and strength; for kindness to a father shall not be forgotten but will serve as
reparation for your sins.
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm
127(128):1-5 ©
O blessed are those who
fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
O
blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
By
the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.
O blessed are those who
fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
Your
wife will be like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your
children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
O blessed are those who
fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
Indeed
thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May
the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
O blessed are those who
fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
Alternative Responsorial
Psalm - Psalm 83(84):2-3,5-6,9-10 ©
They are happy who dwell
in your house, O Lord.
How
lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord, God of hosts.
My
soul is longing and yearning,
is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
My
heart and my soul ring out their joy
to God, the living God.
They are happy who dwell
in your house, O Lord.
They
are happy, who dwell in your house,
for ever singing your praise.
They
are happy, whose strength is in you,
in whose hearts are the roads to Zion.
They are happy who dwell
in your house, O Lord.
O
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer,
give ear, O God of Jacob.
Turn
your eyes, O God, our shield,
look on the face of your anointed.
They are happy who dwell
in your house, O Lord.
Second Reading - Colossians
3:12-21 ©
Family life in the Lord
You
are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in
sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear
with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has
forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them
together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in
your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of
one body. Always be thankful.
Let
the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each
other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing
psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives,
give way to your husbands, as you should in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives
and treat them with gentleness. Children, be obedient to your parents always,
because that is what will please the Lord. Parents, never drive your children
to resentment or you will make them feel frustrated.
Alternative Second
reading
1 John 3:1-2,21-24 ©
We are Called God's
children, and That is What We Are
Think
of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s
children; and that is what we are.
Because
the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My
dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the
future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we
shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.
My
dear people, if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience, we need not be
afraid in God’s presence, and whatever we ask him, we shall receive, because we
keep his commandments and live the kind of life that he wants.
His
commandments are these: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and
that we love one another as he told us to.
Whoever
keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him.
We
know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.
Gospel Acclamation - cf. Ac
16:14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open
our heart, O Lord,
to
accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel - Luke 2:41-52 ©
Mary Stored Up All These Things
in Her Heart
Every year the parents of
Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve
years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way
home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his
parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after
a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and
acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking
for him everywhere.
Three days later, they found him in the
Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them
questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and
his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him,
‘My child, why have, you done this to us? See how worried your father and I
have been, looking for you.’ ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied ‘Did you
not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not
understand what he meant.
He then went down with them and came to
Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things
in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God
and men.
The First Sunday of
Christmas
Feast of the Holy Family
