Last
week, I mentioned that one of the ways of seeing this Christmas season is that
the circle around our Lord becomes wider and wider. It begins with Jesus, Mary and Joseph, then
the Shepherds, Simeon and Anna, the Magi, and, finally, all the world in His
cross and resurrection. Another way of
seeing this season is how deeply the Lord has entered our humanity by His birth
and incarnation. First, He is born in
time. Next Sunday, the Feast of the Holy
Name, He is given a name. When we know
someone’s name, we are able to know them, to enter into a relationship with
them. The following Sunday, the Feast of
the Holy Family, we reflect that so completely has the Lord entered into
humanity that He becomes the member of a family.
What a blessed hope this gives us, since there are times we do not understand what is happening with us, but the Lord is present. And how often have we worried about our loved ones, when we do not know what is happening with them? And yet, our Lord knows, and He is with them with His presence, His light, His guidance, His power to save us. What a blessed hope He gives us. So completely did our Lord enter into humanity that he did not even spare himself the human experience of death, but entered there, and re-interpreted death in His cross and resurrection, which is ours by our faith and baptism.
This is what we celebrate in the Christmas mystery, that the Lord has appeared, and so completely has He has entered our humanity that He has revealed to us His way, His power as God, and our blessed hope.
Today,
in the Feast of the Circumcision, we recall that, by this rite, He becomes a
member of His people, Israel. This was
the rite by which male children were initiated into Israel and the promise of
righteousness through the law and salvation, which it could not effect. Now, the Lord inters into this people and
this promise, in this first shedding of His blood, fulfilling His mission by
His cross and resurrection, into which we enter by our faith and baptism, the
rite of initiation into Christ for us all.
Even
in the Old Testament, the external rite of circumcision was to be accompanied
by an interior response. The prophets began
to speak of the circumcision of the heart, by analogy, removing the way of life
of the flesh, and living according to the way of life and law of the Lord. And that is what we have in our Epistle
today. St. Paul announces that the
Savior has appeared, therefore, we, denying ungodliness and worldly desires,
live soberly, justly, and godly, looking for our blessed hope.
The
saints tell us how to live in this way.
On this new year’s day, I always think of Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, who after many years of her work carrying the dying to her hospital
where they could die with dignity, was discovered by a reporter for the London
Times, an atheist, who asked her, “Mother, how did you do it?” And she replied, “We begin so well, we should
start over often.” The Savior has
appeared. Every moment is a moment of
grace, a new beginning. In every moment
we may encounter our blessed hope.
At
another time, when asked the same question, “How did you do it?” she said,
“One, by one, by one.” Our Lord says to
Martha, “You are anxious about many things, only one thing is required.” The next thing. Every moment is a moment of grace. We do the next thing which is before us, and
it all gets done, and wonderfully. Look
at what Blessed Mother Teresa accomplished, one, by one, by one.
When
I was in the seminary, we used to write prayers for various occasions. Once, one of my classmates wrote a prayer,
which was incorrect: “Lord, may we never
get so far from you that we cannot be saved.”
The priest spoke of this from the pulpit, that it is incorrect. By His birth and incarnation, our Lord has
entered into all our humanity, except sin, and there is no place in this life that
we can find ourselves that He has not been there first, with His light, His guidance,
His help, His grace, His power to save us.
What a blessed hope this gives us, since there are times we do not understand what is happening with us, but the Lord is present. And how often have we worried about our loved ones, when we do not know what is happening with them? And yet, our Lord knows, and He is with them with His presence, His light, His guidance, His power to save us. What a blessed hope He gives us. So completely did our Lord enter into humanity that he did not even spare himself the human experience of death, but entered there, and re-interpreted death in His cross and resurrection, which is ours by our faith and baptism.
This is what we celebrate in the Christmas mystery, that the Lord has appeared, and so completely has He has entered our humanity that He has revealed to us His way, His power as God, and our blessed hope.
