This Sunday we see a distinctive Marian focus in the readings and the prayers of the Church, even the alternative Opening Prayer for Mass invokes the role of Mary in God’s plan of salvation. The Gospel is of the Visitation of Mary to announce the Good News to Elizabeth.
In the Gospel for this Sunday Elizabeth acknowledges in Mary the dwelling place of God’s promise fulfilled. Mary, like her ancestors in faith, believed that God’s promise would be fulfilled, and by God’s graciousness bore the Savior of the World. How does that have anything to do with us today? Well, in three ways we can be specific. First, Mary is the sacred vessel that God chose to bring His only Son into the world. It is in this human person, Mary, that the Incarnation of God will (and has) taken place. Humanity and Divinity meet—and the world is changed for all eternity. Human history and human salvation have a new beginning. Second, like Mary, each one of us is called to carry the Lord’s presence into the world and to others. We are called, in both our words and our deeds, to make Him known to the temporal world, to change and transform the hearts of others by the ex-ample of our lives in how we follow and trust in Him.
In the first reading today, from the prophet Micha, we hear of how God intervenes in our lives in ways that are unexpected. The God of all power and might, the Creator of the stars of night, has come into human history—as Micha foretold—by the birth of a infant child born to lowly people in a backwater town. And then this same God extends His reign into the world and the lives of humanity not with control and power, but in a form of authority that has as its foundation the work of peace. No military weapons. No supreme legislative body. No central government control. His only weapons are Truth, Love, and Forgiveness. This is truly a gift from God. And as such, the Church in today’s Responsorial Psalm acknowledges the ongoing gift from God and continually asks for the gift of God’s presence in our lives with the power of the Sacramental Life of the Church, which Christ Himself has given to His Church.
In the letter to the Hebrews, today’s second reading, the author talks about the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the Cross—a sacrifice of obedience to God—which He offers to all mankind. Jesus gave Himself on the Cross for our eternal happiness. And as Jesus did, we too are called to offer our obedience to the Truths of God in how we live our lives out in this world, recognizing God’s will in our lives and then attempting to follow that will in what we say and do. The Church calls us to unite our lives and sacrifices with the life of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice on the Cross, the Tree of Life.
What the Church is asking of us is to really look deeply into the actions of Christ, the examples of His life on earth, and then to mimic as best we can the ways of Christ in all our relationships: living out our marriages, as imperfect as they may be, with the love of Christ so that they can grow ever strong and so that we can see in the daily routines of life the opportunities to make God’s love shine in and through us. The same holds true for all our relationships—with children, at school, in the boardroom or on the shop floor, and even in the marketplaces of life. Honestly, “perfection” is not the goal. Rather to make our everyday human existence opportunities of imparting God’s compassion and mercy, His love and His esteem, into whatever comes our way. Difficult for sure, but rewarding here and in the life after.
Many Thanks to Carol Yachanin who for the past eight weeks or so was our acting music director and organist while Susan Zybert was on maternity leave and preparing for the birth of her second child, Ethan Joseph.
Carol is a wonderful musician with many, many talents not the least of which is having a great source of knowledge in the Church’s liturgies and her skills at working well with the choir members, cantors and a particular pastor. I want to publicly thank Carol for her generosity and her talents which she so kindly shared with our worshipping community during these months. I know Susan was also very relieved that she could go about the busyness of being a new Mom, (she and her husband, Jason, have two young boys both under the age of two), leaving much of the details of work to Carol. With these two professionals at the or-gan, it certainly made my life easier and carefree when it came to planning and executing the music ministry here at Saint Catherine. We are blessed to have them both—and fantastic choir members—and I thank Carol for her efforts during this time. Many, many thanks!
Advent into Christmas Brings Some Important Changes. As we move all too quickly from Advent into Christmas time, you will note some spectacular changes in the Church, particularly in the sanctuary. Gone will be the purple and rose colored bows and candles, and the oddly-shaped grapevine wreaths—all symbols of penitence and inward reflection on who we are as Catholics and where we need to be as true disciples of Christ. White, gold, red, and green are the colors of Christmas. We will see the outside of the Church decorated with evergreen wreaths, which the circle is a symbol of unending life and is adorned with greenery that does not die in the harsh winter climate. Red or gold bows give more than a festive touch as they symbolizes joy and give us a glamorous feeling—which should also resonate in our hearts as we proclaim the birth of our world’s Savior—as we come to understand His love for us. Outside of the Church the Crèche welcomes parishioners and visitors alike, though the Christ child is not present until Christmas Eve Mass (and technically the three Magi who are still en route to Bethlehem should be off to the side). Inside the Church the entrances will welcome visitors with greenery and bows to signify the high season of hope. In the sanctuary, Christmas trees with solid white lights only (colored lights, while beautiful, are inappropriate for the meaning of Christ’s light coming into the world), poinsettia plants and an interior crèche will adorn the sanctuary, and the Crucifix and altar itself will be dressed in festive colors and mate-rials to welcome the feast of Christmas. The color of gold, which is one of the gifts of the Magi, signifies today, as it did at that first Christmas, the station of this new born babe—a King (the two remaining gifts of the Magi, Frankincense and Myrrh, signify Christ’s future roles as priest and healer, respectively).
The liturgical environment very much includes the music of the season. The choirs (adult, children, and contemporary) have been practicing for a long time already and are prepared to elevate our music from the somberness of Advent to the spectacular sounds of Christmas—trumpets, horns, and voices reaching the heavens—theirs and ours! Sacred music and secular melodies will fill our worship space before and during the Masses at Christmas culminating in a wonderful celebration of God’s gift of Christ the Savior to each and every person in all ages and in every generation. This is a great season of hope, of family, and of faith. May we all be blessed now and forever.
And just a friendly liturgical reminder…Christmas is more than one day; the Church’s celebration of Christmas continues until January 10, 2010, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord!
Merry Christmas! -Fr. Michael
