The Holy Family (Luke 2:22-40)

Simeon and Anna have been waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled. They represent all that has happened in Israel’s history before this moment. What kind of Messiah were they expecting? Simeon had been assured that he would not die before this moment came and he is there to welcome this family who must have seemed ‘ordinary’ and poor. Simeon can see that this child will be ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel’. Already there is a note of reversal; of boundaries being stretched. Mary is told that this child ‘is destined for the fall and the rising of many’. There will be trouble ahead; there will be challenges for many. Simeon knows that many thoughts will be exposed, what people really think will be revealed, who they welcome and who they exclude will be challenged; for God’s invitation and welcome has no boundaries. Anna rejoices for all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. In this statement she knows that this child will overturn systems of oppression and exclusion.

Luke is interested in how humanity responds to the Gospel. If Jesus’ message is really good news, then this requires a shakeup; a shakeup which challenges comfortable assumptions about the way God works. God’s abundant invitation to all may not sit comfortably with many. While Anna prays and fasts for a change of heart in the way Jerusalem operates, Simeon warns Mary that this will not be an easy road.

Let us go now to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-14)

If you were to put together a guest list for the birth of the Messiah 2000 years ago, many would find it completely unbelievable and shocking that the shepherds would be included. Shepherding was a disreputable trade; shepherds were outcasts, considered ‘unclean’ because of their profession. People instead would have expected political leaders like Caesar Augustus, religious leaders such as the Chief Priests and the Pharisees and so on. Yet for Luke, the shepherds are the first to hear the Gospel of Jesus and they are the first ‘preachers’ of the Good News. At first they were terrified, but the angels reassured them: ‘do not be afraid’. The response of the shepherds was immediate: ‘let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing which has taken place’.

Jesus did not find hospitality in his own city, yet he will be the one who will show the abundance of God’s hospitality. The poor, the marginalised, the outcast will be the first to experience it and the shepherds come in their name. We are told that people were amazed by the shepherds and their words. Their journey didn’t end in Bethlehem, for them it was perhaps only the beginning as they returned ‘glorifying and praising God’. We are invited to Bethlehem today, to open up our hearts to the One who has come to bring hope and joy. And we return, like the shepherds ‘glorifying and praising God for all they have seen and heard’. Shalom.

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Luke 1:26-38)

We sometimes distance ourselves from the real encounter in today's Gospel. As Margaret Silf notes, we sometimes “put Mary into a glass case, surround her with flowers, and avoid the personal consequences of this moment”. And there could have been very severe consequences for Mary, even death by stoning. Mary’s yes is an example of completely surrendering to God’s will. She surrenders her motherhood, her entire life to God.

We can think today of those who mother against the odds in our world. In places where there is no food, no clean water, the threat of disease, of torture; those who watch their children suffer from addiction or violence. And we remember those who are the angel Gabriel’s of the world, bringing good news and hope that ‘nothing is impossible’.

“Hail Mary, woman of Nazareth, home maker, cleaner, preparer of food, fetcher of water, God is with you in your everyday excursions in this ordinary town. Blessed are you among women and blessed indeed are women in their everyday lives, in the confines of family life, in the ambivalence of decision making, in the silences and blessed are the fruits of all our labours”. Janet Lees

‘A witness to speak for the light' ~ Third Sunday of Advent 2014

There is so much darkness around us: in the church, in the troubled parts of the world, in our own families and even in our own hearts. It is easy to become cynical. The Gospel today tells us that John the Baptist was someone who was ‘a witness to speak for the light.’ He gave hope to people. We can think of many people in society today who witness to the light. One that comes to mind is Malala Yousafzai. Malala was shot by the Taliban on her way to school in Pakistan. She was targeted for speaking out on the rights of women to education. She has said: “We realise the importance of our voices only when we are silenced. I was shot on a Tuesday at lunchtime, one bullet, one gunshot heard around the world.” Malala was in her chemistry class when she heard she was to be the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. She celebrated by going on to a physics class.

Look around your families and communities and you will see many who witness to the light. We each have the capacity to do the same, however dark the situation may be. The Gospel challenge is to bring hope and good news. We should take example from the Malala’s of the world.
“They bear witness to the rest of us that somewhere in the dark a light always shines, a light that darkness cannot overpower, and therefore we can all believe again.” Michel de Verteuil.

Advent 2 (Mark 1:1-8) "Prepare a way"

John the Baptist is an interesting character. He was not someone who kept up with the latest fashion. We are told he wore strange clothes, ate insects and lived in the desert. And yet John was very popular as we hear that ‘all of Judea’ came to him. There was obviously something very attractive about John. People could see something in him; something that inspired them; something that gave them hope. John is clear that he is not the one they are looking for; rather he is someone who is pointing to the one they are looking for. John shows the way for people, he is a signpost to God.

The world says to God, ‘we no longer need you, we know what is best’. And then we look at the wilderness of our modern world and hear the voice of one crying, “Prepare a way”. How do we prepare for welcoming God’s love into our hearts? God is crying out for us to welcome him again and again. It is us who are blocked; we put so many things in the way. John is urging us to clear the path, to let go of all the things that are preventing us from experiencing God’s love. John is calling people out from despair into hopefulness.