December 25, 2023; Christmas Day (Year B)

                                     Readings: Is. 52:7-10; Heb. 1:1-6; John 1:1-18  

Christmas is about sharing God’s Love! 

 

1. Today, we celebrate the birth of Christ the King. The birth of a child, especially the firstborn, always brings great joy to the parents and family. The first reading captures this joy thus: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation and saying to Zion, 'Your God is King!”” The birth of Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, brings us peace and joy. Yes, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. It brings people together to share what they have: cards, food, gifts, and songs of joy. Let us sing with the Psalmist, “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.” 

 

2. The readings at this Mass all have the theme of joy and triumph. The birth of Christ is the dawn of a new day; it is much more than a superficial celebration of joy. The joy of Christmas goes deeper in all its ramifications. It shows God has a love for humanity, transcending mere emotions. For Christ is the communication of God to the world. The second reading tells us that God speaks to us through his Son, “Whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.” Therefore, Christ came into the world primarily to “Save his people from their sins.” (Mat. 1:21). He came for the liberation of his people: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk.4:18-19). 

  

3. We must have the proper disposition to celebrate Christ's birth fittingly. That means being for others what Christ has been to us. As he was sent to bring solace to the oppressed and the poor, we must do whatever we can to alleviate the sufferings of others in our midst. Christmas is the beginning of living for others, not the end. Our Christmas songs should not end on Christmas day but should initiate us into a life of service for others. Howard Thurman captured what should happen after Christmas in these words: “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all, to make music in the heart.” 

  

4. Let me end this reflection with this Christmas story. “A certain company has a tradition of holding a party and a lottery every Christmas Eve. The rules of the lottery draw are as follows: each employee pays ten dollars as a fund. There are three hundred people in the company. In other words, a total of three thousand dollars can be raised. The winner takes all the money home. On the day of the lottery draw, the office was filled with a lively atmosphere. Everyone wrote their names on a slip of paper and put them in the lottery box. 

  

5. However, a young man, Karl, hesitated when he wrote. He thought that the company’s cleaner had a frail and sickly son who was going to have an operation recently. Still, she needed the money to pay for the operation. This made her very troubled. So, even though he knew that the chance of winning was slim, with only a three percent chance, Karl wrote the name of the Cleaner on the note. The tense moment came. The boss stirred the slips in the lottery box and finally drew out a note. Karl also prayed in his heart: I hope the Cleaner can win the prize… Then, the boss carefully announced the winner's name. A miracle has happened! The winner turned out to be the Cleaner! Cheers broke out in the office, and the Cleaner hurriedly came to the stage to accept the award. She burst into tears and said movingly: I am so lucky! With this money, my son has hope to live! 

  

6. Karl paced to the lottery box as the party was in progress while thinking about this "Christmas miracle." He took out another piece of paper and opened it casually. The name on it was also the name of the Cleaner! Karl was sincerely surprised. He took out several pieces of the slip of paper one after another. Although their handwriting was different, the names were all the same. All of them were the names of the Cleaner! Then Karl's eyes were red tears of joy. “He understood there was a Christmas miracle in the world, but the miracle would not fall from the sky. People are required to create it by themselves.” On this Christmas, let us go out and join the many whose concern is to create a Christmas miracle in the lives of the many who need it. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year! 

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP 

December 24, 2023; 4th Sunday of Advent (Year B) Morning Mass

          Readings: 2 Sam 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

‘May It Be Done to Me According to Your Word’

1.     Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, begins with the vigil this evening. Christmas is the celebration of the love of God the Father for humanity. God so loved the world that he sent his only Son not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through him. For God’s will to be done on earth, he needed the cooperation of human beings. The Blessed Virgin Mary was chosen and given the singular honor and privilege of being the mother of Jesus. “I am the handmaid of the Lord,” was Mary’s response. Yes, “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, sister, and mother.” (Matt. 12:50).

2.     In the first reading, David demonstrated his willingness to build a house for the Lord. He wanted the Ark of the Covenant to be in a temple where God would dwell. According to Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, “This passage attempts to explain why the Jerusalem Temple was not built by King David but by his Son Solomon. More importantly, it communicates how God takes the initiative to encounter humanity – not principally using a shrine, but in a person, David’s heir. Chosen by God, kings in the Davidic succession were to occupy the throne in Israel forever (“Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me”). 

3.     Christmas is the celebration of God dwelling among us. “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end.” Mary, not understand what that meant asked: “How can this be since I have no relations with a man?” The Angel’s explanation was simple yet complicated, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” 

4.     The word “overshadow” was used in Exodus 40:34 to indicate the presence of God as He filled the Ark of the Covenant. In the Gospel reading, Luke compared Mary’s body to the tent in which the Ark was kept. He compared Mary’s womb, where Jesus will be housed, to the Ark, in which the tablets of the Ten Commandments were housed. Thus, when God’s power overshadows Mary, The Lord’s presence fills her. The Lord’s presence in Mary is the flesh-and-blood presence of Jesus at his incarnation. And all Mary could say was, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your Word.” When Mary said ‘Yes’ to God, the impossible became possible. A virgin was with child, and an old lady who was barren was pregnant, and the liberation of God’s people was begun. 

5.     Sometimes, we have great plans for ourselves, our family, and our friends, but God’s plans for us must scrutinize those plans. David planned to build a house for the Lord. To Solomon, he said: “My son, my heart was set on building a house for the name of Yahweh, my God.” (1 Chronicles 22:7). But God said no, it is Solomon who will build a house for me. Mary was betrothed to Joseph to be married and raise a family as his wife. But then the visit of an angel changed all that, and she became the mother of the Son of God instead. So, friends, when you plan, always subject your plans to God’s will and say, let your will be done, not mine. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Is. 55:8).  

6.     Christmas is about God making his home with us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” It is about hospitality, generosity, kindness, and availability. We humbly give of ourselves to God, like Mary, our mother, and so reciprocate God’s self-giving and selflessness to us. When we say yes to God, we let go of ourselves and become like clay in the hands of the potter. (Jeremiah 18:5-6). We must allow God to turn us into worthy instruments for his glory. We should be available to God and say ‘Yes’ to him because we do not know the day or the hour. We make ourselves available to others in service and love by saying yes to God. After saying yes to God, Mary went to assist her elderly cousin when she heard that she was with a child. Because Mary’s child was holy, the Son of God, by doing God’s will, we too will begin to do religious things, for Emmanuel is with us. We will start to do the impossible things, and our lives will reflect God the Most High. “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!” (Is.64:4). Amen

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

December 10, 2023; 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year B)

                                Readings: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

The Voices in Our Life

1.     On this second Sunday of Advent, we meet John the Baptist again, as we do every year. John was humble but courageous, a defender of the truth and a fearless preacher. His dressing and eating habits looked simple and austere, but he was passionate and committed to his mission. John was the voice crying in the wilderness, calling people to repent. His preaching was direct and urgent: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” (Mk. 1:3). He proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. For fear of being mistaken for who he was not, John was quick to add: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mk.1:7-8).

2.     In the first reading, Isaiah assured the people that God was coming into the wilderness – their land of captivity in Babylon and bringing them out of exile. “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.” (Is. 40:1-2). Isaiah urged his listeners to prepare the way for the Lord in the desert. “Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, abroad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.” (Isaiah 40:3-5). Isaiah was told to “Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, herald of good news! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.” (Isaiah 40:9-10).

3.     We see another herald of good tidings in the Gospel in the person of John the Baptist. The recipient of John’s good news had to confess their sins. We, too, must prepare the way for the Lord in the desert of our hearts. We must also be heralds of good tidings. Good heralds must pay attention to the positive voices in their lives. The voice of conscience is warning, begging, and encouraging us to stop making bad decisions. We hear these voices crying, not only from the wilderness but from the pulpit, from street corners, from men and women of integrity, telling us the truth about our life and our relationship with God. Do we always listen? No, only if they tell us what we want to hear rather than what we ought to hear. The message is simple: repent, make a U-turn, change your mind, change the course of your life, be alert, be watchful, and pay attention; you are on the wrong path, the wrong trajectory; stop and think before you act. Those who listen and prepare the way will receive the Messiah when he comes, either at his birth or at his second coming.

4.      Today, dear friends, we must listen to the voice of the one crying in the wilderness. He calls us to do the right so that the Messiah will find us waiting in readiness for him when he comes. Peter tells us in the second reading to be eager and be found without spot or blemish before him at peace when he comes. It was on account of Jesus our Messiah at the Transfiguration that the Father’s voice was heard from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5). There are different voices that compete for our attention. The voice of our doctor gives us medical advice. The voice of our lawyer gives us legal advice, and our teacher’s voice directs us in our academic pursuits. The voices of our parents point us in the right direction in life. The voice of our therapist helps us to maintain a balanced mental state. The voice of our pastor, re-echoing the voice of the Church, enables us to achieve and maintain a stable spiritual and religious well-being. The discordant voices of politicians, confusing at times, should allow us to make up our minds and decide the best way to live our lives. We are not bound to follow anyone incapable of telling the truth.

5.     Despite all the voices of our life, it is Christ that we must ultimately listen to. John the Baptist has told us to make a pathway for Jesus in our hearts. By so doing, we realize the meaning of peace and joy at the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. May the voice of John and the many positive voices of our lives challenge us to bring down the mountain of pride, fill in the valley of deceit, and make straight the highway of corruption and dishonesty so that our Lord may dwell in our hearts made clean by works of charity and penitence! Remember to read a chapter of John’s gospel a day for 21 days and the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians chapters 1-4. Be blessed!

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

December 17, 2023: 3rd Sunday of advent (Year B)

                Readings: Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11; 1 Thess. 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

Rejoicing amid adversity. 

1.     There is always anticipation, anxiety, and sheer joy when Christmas comes around. The joy and anticipation of families and friends describe the few remaining days before Christmas. On this Gaudete Sunday, the Church calls on us to rejoice, for the Lord is near! 

2.     December is the month of expectation, anxiety, and anticipation. It is the month of lights, festivities, gift-giving, Christmas trees, carols, shopping, traveling, and merriment. While preparing materially for Christmas, we must not forget that Christ is the reason for the season. Because of him, we rejoice. According to the first reading: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God.” We rejoice because when the Messiah comes, “He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the lands afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips, he shall slay the wicked.” (Is. 11:4-5). We rejoice with the Messiah in our midst, “The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea.” (Is. 11:6-9). “In his days, justice shall flourish and peace till the moon fails.” (Ps. 71). Our God is coming to save us, indeed! 

3.     It is not surprising that the preaching of John drew so much attention. “People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.” (Mark 1:5). John’s preaching brought rich and poor Jews and Gentiles, friends and foes alike, sharing the same space to listen to him. He provoked a change of heart even as they asked, “What then should we do?” (Lk. 3:10). He made them forget their differences as they searched for happiness, peace, and joy. 

4.     Could John be the Messiah? Is he Elijah, the long-awaited Prophet Prophesized in Malachi 3? “Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of host.” The Gospel narrated that the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John if he was the Messiah, Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet. He said he was none of those personalities; instead, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.”

5.     John told us his mission, “I baptize with water, but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” He testified to the light because he was not the light. The real light was coming into the world, and that light was Christ. Therefore, Christ must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn. 3:30). Christ himself said, “I am the light of the world.” (Jn. 8:12). John’s mission was to make Christ known “so that all might believe through him.” We are waiting anxiously with joy for Christ. He is our joy, our peace, and our love. Once we find Christ, we have all the happiness and joy we need. He will change our lives. 

6.     So, dear friends, on this third Sunday of Advent, we rejoice, not because life is perfect but because we share the life of grace with Jesus. He came into the world for our salvation. He tells us, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10). Despite our troubled world, the uncertainties of daily life, our disturbing political environment, violence, unemployment, fears, anxieties, and all other vicissitudes of life, we know that we must rejoice in the Lord. Hence, in the second reading, St. Paul tells us to “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances, give thanks.” Our world may not be free of worries and anxieties, but we can be agents of the change and transformation we desire. If we have the knowledge and fear of the Lord in ourselves and begin to live according to God’s grace, we will create that perfect world we all long for. It may not be in this world, but we will share a life of grace with God in the next. May God bless and guide us now and always. Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP