Blessed in His Name

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today return us to the Christmas Crib and challenge us to live the New Year energized by the blessing we have in relationship with the one named as “Yahweh saves”.

From Blessings to Blessings

The reading from the Book of Numbers is the Priestly Benediction of Aaron.

* [6:26] Peace: the Hebrew word Shalom includes the idea of happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and general well-being. To use this term as a greeting was to pray for all these things upon the one greeted. (Numbers, CHAPTER 6, n.d.)

In Psalm 67 the Nations are called to Praise God.

* [Psalm 67] A petition for a bountiful harvest (Ps 67:7), made in the awareness that Israel’s prosperity will persuade the nations to worship its God.

* [67:2] May God be gracious to us: the people’s petition echoes the blessing pronounced upon them by the priests, cf. Nm 6:22–27. (Psalms, PSALM 67, n.d.)

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians proclaims us an heir, through God.

* [4:1–7] What Paul has argued in Gal 3:26–29 is now elaborated in terms of the Christian as the heir (Gal 4:1, 7; cf. Gal 3:18, 29) freed from control by others. Again, as in Gal 3:2–5, the proof that Christians are children of God is the gift of the Spirit of Christ relating them intimately to God. (Galatians, CHAPTER 4, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is named on the eighth day.

* [2:11] The basic message of the infancy narrative is contained in the angel’s announcement: this child is savior, Messiah, and Lord. Luke is the only synoptic gospel writer to use the title savior for Jesus (Lk 2:11; Acts 5:31; 13:23; see also Lk 1:69; 19:9; Acts 4:12). As savior, Jesus is looked upon by Luke as the one who rescues humanity from sin and delivers humanity from the condition of alienation from God. The title christos, “Christ,” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew māšîaḥ, “Messiah,” “anointed one.” Among certain groups in first-century Palestinian Judaism, the title was applied to an expected royal leader from the line of David who would restore the kingdom to Israel (see Acts 1:6). The political overtones of the title are played down in Luke and instead the Messiah of the Lord (Lk 2:26) or the Lord’s anointed is the one who now brings salvation to all humanity, Jew and Gentile (Lk 2:29–32). Lord is the most frequently used title for Jesus in Luke and Acts. In the New Testament it is also applied to Yahweh, as it is in the Old Testament. When used of Jesus it points to his transcendence and dominion over humanity. (Luke, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

Steve Scholer asks that If we are molded in God’s image, should we not strive to emulate God in how we comport ourselves? What a better world it would be if we thought of and treated our family, coworkers, neighbors and even strangers the way God does us.

…If we were to let our faces shine upon those in need and let them know we were there for them, willing to serve and assist them.

…If we were kind and gracious to all and shared our peace with each of them, so they might know that the world is not filled with the wicked people and acts of brutality that dominate our news.

…If we shared the same compassion and forgiveness that God pours down upon us in an unending stream, on those who have wronged us.

This year, in addition to the usual exercise more, lose some weight, learn a new language resolutions, let’s resolve to make one to be more conscious about sharing the infinite blessings we receive from God with everyone we come in contact with.

Happy New Year! (Scholer, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “By Christ's faith, hope, and love we are purified,” by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.

"He therefore received in the flesh the circumcision decreed by the law, although he appeared in the flesh absolutely without any blemish of pollution. He who came in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) - not in sinful flesh - did not turn away from the remedy by which sinful flesh was ordinarily made clean. Similarly, not because of necessity but for the sake of example, he also submitted to the water of baptism, by which he wanted the people of the new law of grace to be washed from the stain of sins...

"The reason 'the child who was born to us, the son who was given to us ' (Isaiah 9:6), received the name Jesus (that is, 'Savior') does not need explanation in order to be understood by us, but we need eager and vigilant zeal so that we too may be saved by sharing in his name. Indeed, we read how the angel interprets the name of Jesus: 'He will save his people from their sins' (Matthew 1:21). And without a doubt we believe and hope that the one who saves us from sins is not failing to save us also from the corruptions which happen because of sins, and from death itself, as the psalmist testifies when he says, 'Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases' (Psalm 103:3). Indeed, with the pardoning of all of our iniquities, all our diseases will be completely healed when, with the appearance of the glory of the resurrection, our last enemy, death, will be destroyed... We read that circumcision was done with knives made of rock (Joshua 5:2), and the rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). And by Christ's faith, hope and love the hearts of the good are purified not only in baptism but furthermore in every devout action. This daily circumcision of ours (that is, the continual cleansing of our heart) does not cease from always celebrating the sacrament of the eighth day. (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.11) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 2:16-21 comments that it is not always easy to include praise in our daily prayer, especially if we are not accustomed to it. We might not know what to say. We can begin by thanking Jesus for our blessings. We can also praise him for forgiving our sins. And we can rejoice in his faithfulness and unending love.

As you add praise to your prayer, you can always ask Mary, Mother of God and your Mother, for help. You can use the Magnificat, her own song of praise, as a model as you set out to magnify the Lord (Luke 1:46-55). And you can take comfort in knowing that Mary is praising Jesus right along with you—all year long!

“My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord! My spirit rejoices in you, my Savior!” (Meditation on Luke 2:16-21, n.d.)

Peter Edmonds SJ reflects on the readings for the second week of Christmas. 

We close Christmas week by returning to the Christmas crib. Again we meet the shepherds; we meet unnamed bystanders. We meet Mary, to whom we dedicate this day as Mother of God. The shepherds come, see, praise God and disappear. The bystanders, astonished, like the shepherds, disappear. Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart. In the gospel story, Jesus praises her for hearing the word of God and keeping it. We welcome her into our company this new year. (Edmonds, 2022)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the priestly blessing given to Aaron that calls on the Presence of God and wishes shalom. This blessing was adopted by Francis of Assisi for the friars who followed his order. Friar Jude reminds us that Mary as the Jewish mother, is the inherited path of Jeshua, Yahweh saves.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares his understanding of the theme for this year’s Daily Meditations: The Prophetic Path, and what it means to him. He has long described the prophets as those who offer a “third way” beyond competitive, us-and-them thinking.

There is a third way beyond fight or flight, conservative or liberal, and it probably is a way of “kneeling.” Most people would just call it “wisdom,” which is always distinguished from mere intelligence. It demands a transformation of consciousness and a move beyond the dualistic win/lose mind.   

We come to this “third way” of the prophetic path only over time. In the words of W. H. Auden, “For the garden is the only place there is, but you will not find it / Until you have looked for it everywhere and found nowhere that is not a desert.” [2] The gospel accepts this essentially tragic nature of human existence; it is willing to bear the contradictions that are imprinted on all of reality. It will always be a road less traveled. Let’s call it “unstable stability”! But for some reason, it is only the real stability, because it is a truthful map of reality, and it is always the truth that sets us free. It is contact with Reality that finally heals us. And contemplation, quite simply, is meeting reality in its most simple, immediate, and contradictory form. It is the resolving of those immense contradictions that characterizes the mystics, the saints, the prophets, and all those who pray. The result is always a “third something.” [3] (Rohr, 2020)

We recall today that we live in the tension of trust in the always present love of God and the great challenge inherited from the Theotokos to ponder these mysteries.

References

Edmonds, P. (2022, December 29). Christmas Week 2. Thinking Faith. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/christmas-week-2 

Galatians, CHAPTER 4. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/galatians/4?4 

Luke, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/2?16 

Meditation on Luke 2:16-21. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/01/01/572940/ 

Numbers, CHAPTER 6. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/numbers/6?22 

Psalms, PSALM 67. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/67?2 

Rohr, R. (2020, July 11). The Prophetic Path. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/choosing-the-prophetic-path-2023-01-01/ 

Scholer, S. (n.d.). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/010123.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 1, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=jan1 

Faith for Life

 

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to unexpected directions in our journey with Christ.

Journey in faith

 

The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah calls for faith in a future righteous branch of David to bring new life to the Babylonian exiles.

 

* [23:1–8] With the false rulers (shepherds) who have governed his people the Lord contrasts himself, the true shepherd, who will in the times of restoration appoint worthy rulers (vv. 1–4). He will provide a new king from David’s line who will rule justly, fulfilling royal ideals (vv. 5, 6). “The Lord our justice” is an ironic wordplay on the name of the weak King Zedekiah (“The Lord is justice”). Unlike Zedekiah, the future king will be true to the name he bears. Verses 7–8 may have been added during the exile.1

Psalm 72 is a prayer for guidance and support for the King.

 

* [Psalm 72] A royal Psalm in which the Israelite king, as the representative of God, is the instrument of divine justice (Ps 72:1–4, 12–14) and blessing (Ps 72:5–7, 15–17) for the whole world. The king is human, giving only what he has received from God. Hence intercession must be made for him. The extravagant language is typical of oriental royal courts.2

In the Gospel of Matthew, the birth of Jesus the Messiah is revealed to Joseph in a dream.

 

* [1:18–25] This first story of the infancy narrative spells out what is summarily indicated in Mt 1:16. The virginal conception of Jesus is the work of the Spirit of God. Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary is overcome by the heavenly command that he take her into his home and accept the child as his own. The natural genealogical line is broken but the promises to David are fulfilled; through Joseph’s adoption the child belongs to the family of David. Matthew sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment of Is 7:14.3

Steve Titus imagines Joseph was caught off guard when he learned this news.  From Joseph’s perspective, Mary must have been with another man.  When we are caught off guard, it is easy to lose perspective, to see things narrowly, and to be closed off to possibility or alternatives.  It is easy to become afraid when we feel confused, hurt, betrayed, angry or embarrassed.

 

Perspective can help in these times.  Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem, “You are the future”, is one of my favorites with respect to perspective.  The final two lines of the poem reminds me that “…how you look depends on where you are:  from a boat you are shore, from the shore a boat.”  I don’t know if Joseph is the boat or the shore.  But we know that Joseph was awake, open and obedient to new perspectives.  In difficult times, Joseph widens his perspective to include hope and new possibilities by trusting that God was with him and with Mary.  Mary will bear a son through the Holy Spirit and they shall name him Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us.”  This is the best news I’ve heard all year.  Thanks, Joseph, for helping to widen my perspective and sense of gratitude for the gifts and graces of this year amidst the confusion, hurt, anger, and uncertainty.4

Don Schwager quotes “The righteous branch of David is Christ,” by Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D.

 

"There was only one remedy in the secret of the divine plan that could help the fallen living in the general ruin of the entire human race (Jeremiah 23:5-8). This remedy was that one of the sons of Adam should be born free and innocent of original transgression, to prevail for the rest by his example and by his merits. This was not permitted by natural generation. There could be no clean offspring from our faulty stock by this seed. The Scripture says, 'Who can make a clean thing conceived of an unclean seed? Isn't it you alone?' (Job 14:4) David's Lord was made David's Son, and from the fruit of the promised branch sprang. He is one without fault, the twofold nature coming together into one person. By this one and the same conception and birth sprung our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom was present both true Godhead for the performance of mighty works and true manhood for the endurance of sufferings." (excerpt from Sermon 28.3)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 1:18-25 comments there must have been something very unusual and convincing about Joseph’s dreams for him to follow them. But still, as powerful as those dreams were, he must have still had doubts. Was it crazy to think that they were really from God? Maybe people around him questioned his judgment. It would have been a leap of faith to take Mary as his wife and then, later, leave family and friends behind to start a new life in a foreign country. These choices took Joseph in directions that were completely unexpected and unplanned. But Joseph trusted God, and the world is different because of it.

 When you have a big decision to make, you can trust God to help you, just as Joseph did. Look for the signs that he may put in your path. They may not be as obvious as a vivid dream, but he has other ways to reach you—maybe through the advice of a good friend or with a passage of Scripture that tugs on your heart. And if you’re still not sure what to do, trust that God will guide you along whatever path you take. If you seek his guidance and try your best to follow him, God will not condemn you, even if things don’t work out the way you planned. He will still continue to bless you. That’s how faithful and loving he is. “God, help me to discern your plans for me.”6

Friar Jude Winkler connects the words of Jeremiah to a Second Exodus and he explains the geography of the captives being in the land of the north. As a righteous Jew, Joseph could have sought stoning for Mary. Friar Jude reminds us of the connection of Matthew’s Gospel to Isaiah’s son, Emmanuel.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the art of letting go is really the art of survival. We have to let go so that as we age, we can be happy. Yes, we’ve been hurt. Yes, we’ve been talked about and betrayed by friends. Yes, our lives didn’t work out the way we thought they would. Letting go helps us fall into a deeper and broader level at which we can always say “Yes.” We can always say, “It’s okay, it’s all right.” We know what lasts. We know who we are. And we know we do not want to pass our pain on to our children or the next generation. We want to somehow pass on life.

 

I think we need at least six kinds of liberation:

Inner liberation from ourselves (letting go of the centrality of the small self)

Cultural liberation from our biases (which involves letting go of the “commodity” culture and moving into the “personal” culture) [1]

Dogmatic liberation from our certitudes (letting go of the false self and discovering the True Self)

Personal liberation from the “system” (letting go of dualistic judging and opening to nondual thinking)

Spiritual liberation for the Divine (some form of letting go happens between each stage of spiritual growth)Liberation for infinite mystery (the mystery that what looks like falling is in fact rising), which is really liberation for love.7

The openness of Joseph to move on in faith and let go of natural human understanding is a model for our creation of life from faith in God.

 

References

1	(n.d.). Jeremiah, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/23
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 72 | USCCB. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/72
3	(n.d.). Matthew, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/1
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - Online Ministries. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/121820.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2020&date=dec18
6	(n.d.). The Word Among Us. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://wau.org/meditations/2020/12/18/177602/
7	(2020, December 18). Letting Go Is Liberation — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://cac.org/letting-go-is-liberation-2020-12-18/