The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the transition we are being called to accept in our lives as we prepare to return to Nazareth after the Christmas season.
Prepare for After Christmas
The reading from the First Letter of John alerts members of the Community to the dangers of the World and Desire.
* [2:16] Sensual lust: literally, “the lust of the flesh,” inordinate desire for physical gratification. Enticement for the eyes: literally, “the lust of the eyes,” avarice or covetousness; the eyes are regarded as the windows of the soul. Pretentious life: literally, “pride of life,” arrogance or ostentation in one’s earthly style of life that reflects a willful independence from God and others.1
Psalm 96 praises God Who comes in Judgement.
* [Psalm 96] A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (Ps 96:1–3), who is the sole God (Ps 96:4–6). To the just ruler of all belongs worship (Ps 96:7–10); even inanimate creation is to offer praise (Ps 96:11–13). This Psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Is 40–55, as does Ps 98. Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chr 16:23–33.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Anna encounters Jesus before His return to Nazareth.
* [2:22–40] The presentation of Jesus in the temple depicts the parents of Jesus as devout Jews, faithful observers of the law of the Lord (Lk 2:23–24, 39), i.e., the law of Moses. In this respect, they are described in a fashion similar to the parents of John (Lk 1:6) and Simeon (Lk 2:25) and Anna (Lk 2:36–37).3
Tamora Whitney comments we have just come from Christmas, where the focus should be on the birth of Jesus, but the focus more and more seems to be on the worldly aspects of gifts.
Our Christmas focus should be on the birth of Jesus. We should be like those in First John, focused on Jesus from the beginning, following him from the start, and more focused on eternity. We should be more focused on what’s in the manger than on what’s under the tree. We should be like Anna with our whole focus on Jesus, the baby born last week, and the one who will redeem us. Our greatest Christmas gift is the gift of God. Our greatest hope for the new year is redemption.4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus, though rich, became poor for us,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"Anna, who, by reason of her years of widowhood and her virtues, is set before us as wholly worthy of belief, announces that the Redeemer of all people has come... Not without purpose, however, does he make mention of the eighty-four years of her widowhood, because both the seven twelves and the two forties seemed to imply a number that is sacred."(excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.62)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 2:12-17 comments that this letter is a sort of sermon to the earliest Christians about what life “after Christ” should look like.
John reminds us that if we want to love the world less and love God more each day, our hearts need to change. It can be hard to let go of selfish ways of thinking and acting. It can be hard to change behaviors that reflect the values of the world. But God always gives us the grace to step into his light. He always gives us the grace to begin to make small but concrete acts of love for him and his people.6
Friar Jude Winkler notes that age in the passage from 1 John may be a measure of experience in the faith. The world is that experience we have of concupiscence as understood by Augustine. Friar Jude notes that Luke’s emphasis on Jerusalem may explain his difference from Matthew in the story of the Holy Family.
Brian McLaren is convinced that something beautiful lies “unveiled” on the other side of complexity and perplexity. He writes about the harmony that arises after struggling with and accepting doubt as a part of our faith journey. The good news is that this spirituality is available to everyone, like wind, rain, and sun, because it is the presence of grace and the creative current of the Holy Spirit that flows like a song through all of creation. It is here. Available. At hand. Within reach. Right now. If those of us who have found this treasure in our religious traditions can begin to sing it, speak it, pray it, celebrate it, and live it out loud, perhaps together we can lean into Harmony as a civilization. Perhaps we can sing the song of Harmony in genuine harmony as a multi-faith visionary choir.
Right now, much work waits to be done. In politics, we’ve been studying war for centuries. We must now study how to create the conditions for deep and lasting peace. In many sectors of religion, we’ve been obsessed for centuries with escaping this day-to-day life on earth for an afterlife in heaven (or an experience of personal bliss). We must now cherish life on earth and engage with it by focusing our best energies on learning to love neighbor, self, earth, and God, who is Love. In education, for centuries we’ve been focused on basic morality, technology, and critical thinking. Now we must learn how to teach our children not just to know right from wrong, and not just to be able to make a living, and not just to be able to think critically, but also to live well with ourselves, one another, and the earth, discovering and cherishing the “sound of the genuine” in all things.7
We seek the Holy Spirit to maintain our sharing of the Peace of Christmas with the people we encounter as we prepare to begin a New Year.
References
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