The Holy Family Is Not Plastic

Sunday's readings can be found here.

When we look at the crèche, it is easy to think that the life of the Holy Family was plastic — almost like the material out of which the little figures are made.  Of course, we know the story of how Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem; we know that St. Joseph had to take Our Lady and the Child Jesus to Egypt to flee the “Massacre of the Innocents” (the gospel reading this Sunday); we know that their lives were not easy.  However, it is still difficult to imagine them as human beings.  Yes, they lived in perfection and without sin, but that did not mean they did not laugh or have “bad days” or play together as a family.

I believe there are several reasons the Church celebrates this feast so near the Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord.  One reason is to remind us that the Holy Family was not angelic; they were, in fact, humans.  In the fifth joyful mystery of the holy rosary (Luke 2:41-52), the Holy Family goes on their yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  Notice: St. Joseph is not like a lazy dad who stays at home watching football and drinking beer while the wife and kids go to church.  He accompanies them to worship and to offer sacrifice.  Eventually, Jesus gets lost in the massive amount of crowds.  Does this mean Mary is a terrible mother or Joseph is a terrible [foster] father?  No.  But it means they were human, and things like this happen to human families — even to holy human families.

Jesus goes to the Temple to converse with the doctors about the Law and Prophets — and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:47).  (This is a reminder to elders that just because a person is young does not mean that that person has nothing meaningful to say.)  When Our Lady finds the Child Jesus, He explains that He must be in His Father’s house.  Nevertheless, He goes with Our Lady and St. Joseph and is obedient to them.  And Our Lady ponders all these things in her Immaculate Heart (Luke 2:51).

This feast helps us see the Holy Family as a model for our family life.  Yes, they were perfect in their obedience to God’s will, but they had problems and difficulties like we have.  Priests hear so many confessions of people who struggle with family problems and hurt [and are hurt by] the ones they love.  The people we love the most can sometimes be the ones hardest to live with!  And yet, the Holy Family shows us that when we strive for mutual respect and obedience, we can achieve virtue and allow the Holy Family to perfect our own fallen family.  Let us imitate Jesus, Mary and Joseph in our desire for a holy family – a family of saints – and always ponder – like the Blessed Virgin – the life of Jesus in our hearts.

"Christ" + "Mass" = Christmas

When I was a senior in high school, I remember being asked by a Mormon friend about the roots of the word “Christmas.”  He asked me if it was a Catholic word that means “Christ Mass.”  He was actually right.  The word “Christmas” that we use to describe the mystery of this season is indeed a Catholic word with Catholic roots.  When you attend Mass on Christmas Eve, Midnight, or Christmas Day, you are worshipping God in “Christ’s Mass.”  Of course, every Mass is a “Christ Mass” where Jesus is physically and spiritually present.  However, the sacred liturgy mystically transports us through the Mass to His nativity in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

The word “Christmas” is not joyful to everyone, though.  In an excessively politically correct society, “Christmas” can be a bad word — so much so that businesses, department stores, and other advertisements avoid using it.  Instead, they say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” to avoid offending atheists, and yet these companies earn a major profit from an essentially Christian holiday.  I was watching an atheist leader on TV the other day who said that he was tired of being forced to swallow Christian religion during December.  He also said that there are many so-called Christians who are really atheists inside and are forced to go to church on Christmas.  Hopefully none of you are forced to go to Mass!  (Except little brats, grumpy teenagers, and Protestant husbands – they need to be forced to go to Mass ;-).  Hopefully we all participate in Mass this time of year to rejoice that we have a Savior who became one of us.

So, what does Christmas – the Nativity of Our Lord – have to do with us today?  As 2013 comes to a close and we look forward to 2014, we are mindful that the world is getting more hostile towards Christ because the world is getting more hostile towards Christians.  It is not the first time and it is not the last time that this will happen.  We are reminded by the gospel that even Joseph and Mary were not welcomed in Bethlehem.  Like St. Joseph and Our Lady, we are called to bring Christ into the world, but we will not always be greeted warmly.  Many doors were shut in their faces, but God’s will is never prevented by human cruelty.  Even though a manger with animals is a pretty lame place to have a baby, God was not above being born there.  And when we have to accept sacrifices to live our Catholic faith, we will never be without the love and support of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

This Christmas, we have the opportunity to think about if we are shutting the door of our hearts to Christ.  If I have been away from the Church, have I closed the door to come back?  If I practice my Catholic faith, am I content with my sins or am I trying with God’s grace to overcome them?  If I am a non-Catholic, have I considered joining Catholic Church?  Wherever we are in “holding the door open” of our hearts, we ask that the Child Jesus help us to welcome Him inside.  Come let us adore Him.

Our Lady of Guadalupe's Significance for Today

For historical account of the apparition, please go here. 

In the history of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church, out of all her apparitions (e.g., at Lourdes or at Fatima), there has been only one apparition in which our Lady left us a miraculous image of herself — and that is at Tepeyac in 1531, which later would be called Guadalupe.  Tepeyac is not a place in France (where there has always been deep devotion to Our Lady), nor a city in Italy, nor even in Catholic Spain — but a place in the New World that would eventually be known as Mexico.  You may know that December 12th is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and that she is the patroness of Mexico, but you may not know that she is also patroness of all the Americas and even of the Philippines.  So, a few questions may arise:  Why did the Blessed Virgin appear to the Aztec peoples and not to the Indian tribes in Virginia?  What was the reason for her visit to Mexico?  And why did she choose this occasion to leave us a miraculous image of herself?  It was certainly not for us to worship her (Our Lady always directs us to adore God alone) and it was not just to have a day each year to eat, drink and dance in her honor (although these festivities are good).  There is an ardent purpose for our Lady’s apparition and for leaving us this holy image.

Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego and left a miraculous image of herself – not to bring glory to herself – but to lead the indigenous peoples of that time (and peoples centuries later) to her divine Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe, the Savior of the world.  She wanted them to abandon paganism and superstition, and to accept the true religion by embracing Jesus Christ and entering His holy Church through baptism.  In the last few decades, scientists have looked at the holy image  imprinted on the tilma under the microscope to examine it.  The most interesting findings are those objects they have found in her eyes.  When examined using digital imaging, there are several figures that can be seen in the cornea of the Blessed Virgin’s eyes.  You can see the Bishop and his interpreter, a black slave woman, St. Juan Diego, and two other witnesses of the unveiling of the miracle.  However, the scientists found an interesting image in the pupil of the eyes of the Blessed Virgin.  In the center of her eyes is a family: a husband, a wife, and children.  Many believe that, since these images were not visible until modern technology could discover them, our Lady intended us to see them in modern times.  Today, the family is under attack because of the wide acceptance of extra-marital sex, cohabitation, adultery, divorce, and the homosexual lifestyle.  The eyes of the Blessed Virgin show her intention of bringing not just individuals into Jesus Christ, but whole families into the Lord — especially amidst current challenges.

In 1999, Pope [St.] John Paul II named Our Lady of Guadalupe “Protectress of Unborn Children” to combat the the attacks on life.  How fitting that we as Catholics – North Americans and Mexicans – are able to celebrate this feast during Advent as we make room for Christ in our hearts.  Jesus is the “reason for the season,” the end of the miracle at Tepeyac, the One who gives life to roses in winter, the One whom St. Juan Diego loved with all his heart, mind, and soul.  With Our Lady of Guadalupe, we celebrate Jesus Christ who comes to be the center of our lives and to be the center of our families.

Stay Awake!

The day's readings can be found here.

Today begins the Church’s holy season of Advent, a time of delightful and eager waiting.  Many Catholics and other Christians think Advent is just a time of preparation for Christmas, but this is only partly true.  The last seven days of Advent are focused on preparation for the Lord’s first coming as a babe in Bethlehem, but until then, we are preparing ourselves in a special way for the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Notice the color of vestments: purple.  It is the color of kings’ and queens’ robes in the ancient world.  It indicates that we wait patiently for Christ the King of kings, who rules all creation.  It is also the color of a night sky (indicative by the shortness of days this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere).  Notice the increased sobriety of the musical selections during Mass and the bareness of the sanctuary (no flowering plants adorn the altar).  Like Lent, we simplify during this holy time of preparation.

Listen closely to the readings during the Liturgy of the Word (and try not to “zone out”!).  They do not refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel, nor to the birth of the Savior.  Rather, they speak of what is to happen during the “end times” and how we should be found when Christ comes in glory.  The prophet Isaiah is speaking of the coming judgment of our God (Isaiah 2:4) and St. Paul is exhorting us to rid ourselves of “works of darkness” (Romans13:12).  We are told by Christ, “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).

So, what does “stay awake” mean?  Jesus gives the example of people  having meals, getting married, men plowing in the field, women grinding at the mill — folks doing normal things, going about their everyday lives (Matthew 24:37-42).  The difference is that some of them are sanctifying their daily lives and some are not.  Therefore, if upon His glorious return Jesus finds us sanctifying our days with prayer and living His commandments, He will judge us worthy of Himself; if not, He will leave us to eternal punishment.  However, He knows how we humans can be.  We get busy with earthly affairs – with our jobs, our classes, our pastoral work, our hobbies and entertainment – and then we do not have time for God.  When we are not making time for the One who gave us life, how can we expect Him to think we love Him and are ready for His glorious return?  Think about it: We show people that we love them by making time for them; so, why would we ever think of cutting out our time with God?  And yet we do it all the time.  As St. Paul says, we have to wake from sleep – the sleep of our own spiritual complacency – and we need to make this time holy!  If you have been “slacking” in prayer, then get back into it.  You may not have another chance!  If you have been “slacking” in your moral life in Christ, make a good confession this Advent.  You may not have another chance!  And most importantly, if you have been giving yourself over to distractions during the Mass, ask for God’s grace to participate fully and actively, and to receive Jesus Christ worthily.  You may not have another chance!

Christ Must Reign

“Viva Cristo Rey!” — “Long live Christ the King!”  These are the words of the Cristero movement during the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico during the 1920s.  These were also the words of the Jesuit priest, Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, as he was executed by firing squad (caught on video!) by the Mexican government during this tumultuous period.  He was among the hundreds of priests, nuns, and laity who were executed on account of their Catholic faith under the Mexican President Calles.

Even though we live in the United States in the 21st Century, we live in very confusing and uncertain times.  The unbelievable lack of transparency – not to mention the hidden abortion agenda – of the Affordable Care Act is only “the icing on the cake.”  However, a definitive beginning of persecution of the Catholic Church (and many other devout Christians) in America began on January 20, 2012 when HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (a supposed “Catholic”) announced the mandate requiring that health plans provide coverage for all contraceptives (sterilizations and abortifacients included) as part of “preventive health services for women.”  This was the first time in the history of our nation that government had attempted to coerce the Catholic Church to comply with a practice that is against her teachings.  Despite a so-called “compromise” in February 2012 and other delays for compliance, the Obama Administration has not relented in ultimately executing this unjust law.  At the end of the USCCB meeting earlier this month, the bishops reiterated the problems with the HHS mandate: “[I]t establishes a false architecture of religious liberty that excludes our ministries and so reduces freedom of religion to freedom of worship; it compels our ministries to participate in providing employees with abortifacient drugs and devices, sterilization, and contraception, which violates our deeply-held beliefs; and it compels our faithful people in business to act against our teachings, failing to provide them any exemption at all.”  Furthermore, this Administration has acted deviously by selecting the most controversial teaching of the Catholic Church – namely, her teaching against artificial contraception – to divide her members and to draw negative public attention.

If this is not enough to convince you of some scary tactics on the part of the government, just look at the media and Hollywood.  Almost always, Christians – particularly Catholics and Evangelicals – are portrayed as either ignorant (primitive people “who cling to their guns and religion”) or as fanatical (people who have irrational, outdated morals and who condemn “women, gays and lesbians”).  This is because the liberal elites who control the mass media and the entertainment industry are banded together with many who are our political leaders.

So what does this have to do with today?  The Solemnity of Christ the King is a reaffirmation that – no matter what happens – Jesus Christ is still Universal King and no one can take His place.  Christ told Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom does not belong to this world” (John 18:36).  Likewise, we who belong to Christ’s Kingdom must not submit to unjust laws.  We as Catholics will fight for our right to conscience in this country, and – as the U.S. bishops have said – we will not back down!  We hope that the persecution of the Catholic Church in the United States never has to go where the persecution went in Mexico in the 1920s, but one thing is sure . . . If it does happen, we better be prepared.  Whatever prevents Christ from reigning in our lives, our families and our nation, we better deal with it with God’s grace and we better do it soon.  Time may be running out.