LIGHT IN DARK TIMES: SOLEMNITY OF CHRISTMAS B

Dear Friends in Christ,

All of us dear friends have habits. Some of these habits are good – and some bad. Generally speak, good habits, are often, hard to acquire – Whereas, bad ones are very easy to learn –  Sin is something that can become habitual. And unfortunately for us many sinful things are accepted in our culture and society today. Consequently, it takes great courage and resolve to break with that culture and to eliminate ingrained habits of sin! All the scriptures for today have much to say about cultural – and habitual – sin in our society and in ourselves. The central theme of today’s readings is that our salvation is the free gift of a merciful God, given to us sinners through Jesus, His Son. The readings stress God’s mercy and compassion and remind us of the great love, kindness, and grace extended to us in Christ.

In the first reading,  from the Second Book of Chronicles (chapter 36:14-16,19-23,) we see the compassion and patience of God. God chose Cyrus the Great, a pagan conqueror, to become the instrument of His mercy to, and salvation of, His chosen people exiled in Babylon.

 In the second reading, St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians (2:4-10) tells us that God is so rich in mercy that He has granted us eternal salvation and eternal life as a free gift through Christ Jesus. 

 .  Today’s Gospel tells us how a perfect God sent  His perfect Son, Jesus, in order to save an imperfect world and an imperfect people - a people whose lives is filled with mistakes, sin, and helplessness but we are still precious  – so precious that He sacrificed his Son to save them. 

Brothers and Sisters, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn us – but to save us. Jesus is the revelation of God’s Light and Love. But to live in this Light and Love, we must break with the darkness that sinful habits always bring.May God’s Love inflame our hearts and souls – so that we may strive daily to live each moment according to whatever God is asking of us!

Today’s readings from Holy Scripture teach us that Lent is the ideal time to clean out the Temple of our own hearts and to offer to God proper Divine worship by obeying His Commandments. 

Today’s first reading teaches us that the Ten Commandments are the basis of our religious and spiritual life. Instead of restricting our freedom, the Commandments really help us to love and respect our God and our neighbour.

The second reading reminds us that we must appreciate the Divine “foolishness” of the crucified Christ and obey His commandment of love as our expression of Divine worship.

 The Gospel gives us the dramatic account of Jesus’ cleansing the Temple of its merchants and moneychangers, followed by a prediction of his death and Resurrection. 

Today’s readings challenge us to keep our Covenant agreement with Jesus Christ, just as the Israelites tried to keep the agreements of the Old Testament Covenant with Yahweh by promising to obey the Ten Commandments. We become people of the New Covenant by loving others as Jesus did

Friends in Christ,

We were not born to be isolated from others. We need close connections with loved ones, family, and friends – And we will suffer if we are cut off. Isolation can lead to loneliness, leading to anxiety and depression and general mental decline. 

The readings this Sunday talk to us about faith, and about love. 

In the Gospel, the leper who was isolated, cut off from his family, possibly depresed, anxious and lonely, showed great faith that Jesus could heal him, and the great love of Jesus for this man moved Jesus to go against mosaic law to touch and to heal him.

As the First Reading makes clear, the scaly skin condition was not just another physical ailment. The colouring and condition of the skin reminded people of death and so was subject to a taboo that caused people, irrationally, to treat a person with the condition as a social outcast. 

When we read the Scriptures, we are reminded over and over again how much God loves us. As God’s children baptized into the Body of Christ, Let us allow this knowledge to sink into our hearts and change us. Let us root everything we do in faith so that all of our actions point to God and to building his kingdom.  How do we do this? 

It’s hard to say it much better than Paul does in his letter to the Corinthians today: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Give it a try: Love as Jesus loves.

Brothers and sisters, 
We can all can recount experiences in which we had our hearts broken; whether it was the untimely death of a loved one, the break in a relationship, the loss of a job we love, failing our exams, severe illnesd etc. One very common reaction to suffering is the use of these 2 words "WHY ME?

The readings today talk about suffering and how to best respond to it. 

In the first reading Job states that human life is "no better than hired drudgery" and laments that his  "eyes will never again see joy".

In the second reading St Paul offers some words of wisdom as to how we approaches suffering. He says that to "the weak I made myself weak"

In the Gospel, we see Jesus curing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law of her illness, healing and driving out demons but many of us don’t have our prayers answered like that. Instead, we may relate more to Job in today’s first reading.

Brothers and sisters, when we are tempted to feel like Job, what should we do? What should our reaction be? Why is Job’s reaction not desirable to God? 

Nowadays, everywhere we turn people are competing for our attention. Advertisers, politicians, youtubers, influencers, celebrities, sellers of all sorts, even religious leaders. We are often torn, we find it difficult to discern what is true and best and most worthwhile for ourselves. What comes from God and what is from the evil one.

The readings reassure us and urge us to take comfort in the fact that God is more powerful than anything that may demand our attention or worry us. And that we should give all our undivided attention to God. 

In today’s Second Reading, Paul, inspired by God, encourages the Corinthians, and us, to understand the importance of an undivided devotion to God, to care for him above all things – no matter if we are married or single – so that our whole life is devoted to holiness.

In today’s first reading, Moses promises the people that the Lord will raise up for them, from among their own kin, a prophet who will speak God’s own words and to whom the people will listen.

In the gospel, we witness, Jesus, Son of God, embodiment of wisdom and truth, grabbing the attention of the people because he spoke with authority.  

Friends, we all are invited to recognize and submit to the authority of Jesus Christ - the ultimate Prophet, the Son of God. May we always listen to, follow his commandments, and allow him to free us from the power of sin because He only has the authority to transform our lives and lead us to eternal life with him.

Brothers and sisters,

No one wants to be criticized, not especially if it is with my acid tongue. But now and again we all need a Jonah in our lives, someone who will come along and shake things up; someone who will nudge us and say, hey, you’re doing it wrong! I fell foul to this this recently.

The three readings today are doing exactly that. They all underline our absolute need of repentance and our immediate need for a prompt response to God’s call to change our ways - To repent .

In the 1st reading we hear how God converts Jonah and gives him the unpleasant task of pointing out to the people of Nineveh their failings.The wicked people of Nineveh, accepted Jonah's message, and promptly responded to God’s call to change their ways.

In the second reading, Paul urges the Christian community in Corinth to lose no time in accepting the message of the Gospel and in renewing their lives with repentance because Jesus’ second coming may occur at any moment. 

In today’s Gospel according to St Mark, Jesus arrives in Galilee after John the Baptist's arrest and began preaching and telling the people "The time has come’ and challenging them to "Repent, and believe the Good News.’  

Who has God our Creator placed in your lives/ in my life in the role of Jonah?Do we have the grace of open ears and hearts to receive the message? Are we redeemable? What is your response? Oh that today you would listen to his voice, harden not your hearts. 

Dear friends,
Meeting someone for the first time or after a long time, conjures all sorts of emotions in us. 
Do you remember the feelings and reactions after meeting a boyfriend or girlfriend, a never-seen sibling, a long lost family member, a primary school mate, a work colleague who appears as a stranger and reveal their identity?

Today in the readings, God reveals himself to the world. And this revelation triggered all sorts of reactions. 


The prophet Isaiah in the 1st reading prophesies the unbelievable scenes when the glory of the Lord is reveal on his Holy city Jerusalem-
The nations come to your light
and kings to your dawning brightness.
all are assembling and coming towards you
Daughter being tenderly carried,
people grow radiant
everyone in Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing the praise of the Lord

In his 2nd letter to those in Corinth St Paul reminds them what God's revelation means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Jesus Christ, through the gospel.
 
In the Gospel God's revelation to the Magi – foreigners and pagans –triggered enquiry, adoration, respect, gift-giving. But triggered bewilderment from the scribes and Pharisees and violence violence from King Herod. 

What is your reaction to Gods revelation to you?

Dear Friends,

On the last Sunday of the year, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. 

Some of you, like myself, have been brave enough to enter into a relationship with the hope of having a family and thank God, we have been blessed with one. Others have found themselves unable to do so, or the relationship did not continue and you have been left disappointed. Others have had children but suffer the hurt of having their family broken for reasons over which you have little or no control. Others for religious or personal reasons have been unable have families and so have no children of their own. 

Family can be the place where we experience our deepest joys and also our most profound and lasting hurts.

The scriptures today teach us about all things family life. They remind us that not only are we members of our biological family but that we are also members of an extended family , the human family, brothers and sisters, children of God. And that God our Father has a plan for each and every one of us.

In the first reading we hear God’s promise of numerous descendants to Abraham and its fulfillment when Abraham’s wife, Sarah, gave birth to Isaac. 

In the letter to the Hebrews (2nd reading) we are shown the trusting faith of Abraham in 3 ways,  1st in his willingness to move his whole family; 2nd, in the way Abraham and Sarah trusted God’s power  and finally, in his obedience, without hesitation, to sacrifice his only son.

Today, the Gospel of Luke teaches us how important it is to honor God’s plan for our children. 

As we celebrate this feast, let us offer all the members of our own families on the altar for God’s blessing and ask forgiveness for the many times we have made life difficult for them. And sovresolve to try our best to make life pleasant for them from today.

Dear Friends 
All of us here AT PTTSOTW WISH YOU ALL A VERY MERRY AND A BLESSED CHRISTMAS.

But it won't be a merry Christmas for many people and families in these dark and difficult times we live in, where warfare is rampant; War in Cameroon, DRC, YEMEN, UKRAINE, PALESTINE and orher partsoftheworld. It won't be a merry Christmas for the victims and their families of the Mass shootings in Prague and needless deaths from gang violence. It won't be a Merry Christmas for the many victims and the families of the ever -increasing deaths from suicide of young and the older generations. What about the homeless, the drug and alcohol addicts on our streets, what about – our severely polarized nations? – where there are demonstrations of ethnic hatred in many cities – people so poor they can't even feed their own families? People are upset and very unhappy – 

But the darkness in our world – and in our hearts and spirits – can never be the last word. Because God cares about us. And those who have faith can survive and overcome the power of this darkness. That is the message in the scripture readings today. 

In the first reading Isaiah spoke words of hope to the Chosen People, he told them "shout for joy...for the Lord is consoling his people, the one who brings good news, heralds peace, brings happiness ...returns to Zion"

In the letter to the Hebrews, we hear some soothing words and assurances that through his Son, Jesus, the radiant light of of his glory, God has destroyed the defilement of sin. 

And in the gospel, we bear witness to a beautiful gift-giving, gift-sharing, gift exchange between God and Man. God taking on our humanity so that He could give us His divinity. God becoming Man. John tells us; 

"In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God.The Word was made flesh, he lived among us"

Friends, in these dark and difficult times, God gives us His Word, the Light, to brighten our darkness. God assures us that He is among us because He cares. In honour of God's self- giving, let us bring Him to the world by not only our  gift-giving but by giving ourselves to others. Amen