The Unbroken Word

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 30 DECEMBER 2022

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Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Lectionary: 17

When a Sunday does not occur between December 25 and January 1, this feast is celebrated on December 30 with only one reading before the Gospel.

Reading 1

Sir 3:2-6, 12-14

God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins,
and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,
and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;
he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.

My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you.

Or

Col 3:12-21

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.

Or

Col 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R. (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Alleluia

Col 3:15a, 16a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled,
He shall be called a Nazorean.

Teen Hope

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TEEN HOPE REVISITED

Once again, this weekend, I had the privilege of being involved in a confirmation retreat from a local parish. Due to the pandemic, we had to conduct the entire retreat outside, which was no problem given our location in Southern California. The weather was beautiful, and the teens were pleased to be out in nature and not locked in a classroom or a fixed gaze to a computer screen.

As this was their main confirmation retreat, we wanted to look inward rather than outward for inspiration. Each time I am involved with confirmation candidates, I see how much easier it is for a young mind to make deep connections with God by a redirect of their focus towards the inner life.

One monk who has done a great deal of helping countless retreat leaders in this journey is Fr. Thomas Keating. His book Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit helps us all, teens, in particular, see the importance of the inner life. He keeps the principles simple. One of which is that many in the world see God being absent in the world, particularly in their lives. Nothing could be further from the truth, but nevertheless, he challenges us to recognize this fact as a barrier to entry into the spiritual journey. He then further states the obvious, God is not absent but present. God is not near us, God is within us.

Keating reminds us that God is not just present but also very active. That the divine, as well as the human, dwells within us all. Fr. Thomas refers to this as the Divine Indwelling. We don’t have to go anywhere to find God; to get closer to God. Elvis (or, in this case, God) has not left the building. And yet, he explains how much of our lives focuses on the issue of trying to find God.

Even worse, he decries the activity of praying when we don’t believe that God is listening. All of this brings us to a place where our belief in the “Divine Indwelling” is crucial for our faith journey. Much of our rocky moments, particularly rocky faith moments, can be put down to believing God is absent or not within us.

As scripture tells us in so many places, God is Always with us (Mt 28:20); we can be assured this is true, but that does not always mean we accept it. Accepting God, the God within in, the parts of us made in his image, the Divine Indwelling, is perhaps the most essential first stage in our spiritual journey. It is always the point of return when we get off track. The Holy Spirit activates this Divine Indwelling, particularly with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Even when unrecognized by ourselves, providing these gifts activates the Holy Longing, the desire for God which we all have in our core. Let us begin the New Year remembering a line from the Baltimore Catechism which can bring us back where we should be:

Why did God Make Me: To know Him, Love Him and Serve Him.

God Bless. Mike

Hopes and Wishes

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Recently, while leading a retreat on Hope, someone gave great insight into the issue of hope. Rather, the topics of wishes and hope.

It seems today, more than ever, we replace the word wish with hope in our everyday language. I hope you pass that examination successfully; I hope you get that new job, I hope I get a promotion at work, you get the idea. Many of these “hopes” are, in reality, just wishes. So what is the difference between the two? For many, at least in a secular, everyday sense, there is little or no difference. The word hope has sort of lost its theological meaning, which is, it is a virtue and gift from God. Turning inward towards ourselves, many of us use the word which represents something compelling, into just a daily litany of requests for myself or others close by me.

One way I differentiate wishes from hope in this way is to consider wishes like butterflies. These are landing from one spot to another, many occurring during a day, week, or month. Some may be more meaningful than others, but they fall into a category of continuing requests, which seem to have little to do with God and the virtue of hope.

On the other hand, Hope is a gift that we cannot see; it is a permanent presence of an expectation of God’s action in our lives, even when we least expect it. Hope is there for us, perhaps not to see, but rather to feel. It is knowing that God is there for us. Providing us with a confidence which does not reside in our minds but instead emanating from our soul. This gift, which is not of our doing, is directly transmitted to our heart from our soul, thereby giving us this peace-filled confidence He will be there for us. Always. And when it matters most.

Perhaps this week, we can consider the gift of hope. It is a gift freely given to us, and how we can appreciate it without tying it to a bundle of our personal needs. Instead, it is there to give us innate confidence that God will always be there for us; regardless of the circumstances and conditions. All we have to do it have an open heart and an expectation. An expectation best expressed by the mystic Julian of Norwich when she said. “All will be well, all manner of things will be well.”