4th sunday of advent

Posted on by Cassie

As we get ready to celebrate Christmas, the Church has us read the story of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. There was no easy way for Mary to travel from Nazareth to Judea.  The most direct route was very hilly, and took one through hostile Samaria.  The more level route along the Jordan Valley meant a climb from Jericho to Jerusalem through the Judean wilderness, a haven of robbers.  Yet Mary sets out on her journey without hesitation.

The Holy Spirit inspires Elizabeth to grasp what God is doing through Mary, and Elizabeth hails Mary as specially blessed by God.  Mary is blessed because she believed that what was “spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Mary is the model for us of believing and acting on God’s word.

It was a journey of faith for Mary.  Gabriel had told Mary of two children conceived each in his special way: John and Jesus.

In this meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, the elderly Elizabeth represents God’s work among the people of ancient Israel.  Mary represents the new work that God will do in the sending of the Messiah.  In Elizabeth, the old esteems the new; in Mary, the new honors the old.

What better message for us to think about as we get ready to celebrate Christmas.  Mary is the model of discipleship for us.  After receiving the good news, she hastens to share it with another.  She is full of gratitude for all that God is doing within her.  She surrenders her life to God’s plan.

As we once again receive the Good News of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas morning,  let us, like Mary, hasten to share it with others.  Let us be grateful to God for all He has done for us.  Let us surrender our life to God’s plan as did Mary our Mother.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!

Msgr. Powell

3rd Sunday of Advent

Posted on by Cassie

WE ARE CALLED TO REPENTANCE

John The Baptist preached repentance and baptized people in water as a sign of cleansing and repentance.  John insisted that true repentance must mean a change in how one behaved, and laid out how repentant people should behave.  They must share what they have with the needy; they must not use their power for their own gain.

John announced that one far greater than he was coming, one who would “Baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire” instead of water.  John goes on to describe the one who would come as an agent of Gods’ judgement, separating the wheat from the chaff and burning the chaff in a unquenchable fire.  Even now, John tells us the ax was beginning to fall.

There are times in our lives when God may speak to us as directly as John spoke to the elders of the people of Israel.  It may be that he might want to call us to repentance, but we are just not listening.  So God turns up the volume – through a Scripture passage that jolts us, the words of a friend that convicts us, or an unexpected event that shakes us up.  We know that it is God speaking to us and not the devil trying to condemn us if along with the message comes a promise of love and mercy.

When this happens, there is only one thing to do: Repent!  Get to Confession as soon as you can!  Then you will be ready for whatever gift the Holy Spirit wants to give you.  There is nothing better than getting right with the Lord and experiencing His Spirit more deeply.  Though it may be difficult, repentance always bears “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).

MAY GOD BRING US ALL TO REPENTANCE.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

2nd sunday in advent

Posted on by Cassie

THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS

The ministry of John the Baptist provides the prelude for Jesus’ public ministry, and Luke carefully specifies the historical setting.  Some of the names of rulers may mean little to us now, but they make the point that Jesus lived at a definite moment in history, in a definite place.

John preached repentance and baptized people in water as a sign of cleansing and repentance.  John the Baptist came to prepare the people of Israel for the Messiah and point him out to the people as the “Christ.”

The Jewish people’s homeland was occupied by the Romans.  There was oppression.  The procurator was Pontius Pilate.  Herod the King was brutal and ruthless.  Ananias and Caiaphas were not the most revered high priests.  The world that Jesus was born into was a difficult one.

John was a prophet.  He prepares the way for the Messiah.  He  fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament.  One prophecy in particular is associated with John, that of Isaiah Chapter 40.  In that prophecy we hear about the “voice” who calls out in the wilderness the to prepare for God’s coming back to His people.

Certainly John’s location in the Judean wilderness by the Jordan would evoke great hope and expectation from the Jews of his day.  The specific location was where Joshua led Israel across to enter the Promised Land.  The Jordan was the threshold of the promise, and John’s summoning Israel to return to the waters of the Jordan for the forgiveness of sins meant that he was asking the people of Israel to make a fresh start.  He invited them to a new beginning. Once again, at the Jordan, a new Joshua (Jesus) would lead them to the longed for promises of God.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell