Feast of the Epiphany

The feast of the Epiphany is really Christmas for the Gentiles while what we know as Christmas is in fact Christmas for the Jews. The wise men arrive in Jerusalem through physical sciences but they need the Scripture to show them the rest of the way so they may find the child whom they seek. In the same way our society in New Zealand, dominated by materialism, consumerism and scientism, cannot find Christ through natural theology/revelation alone. It needs the Scripture to show it the way. How can it know this unless someone preaches to them?: "But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?... So, faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the Word of Christ." (Rm 10: 14-15, 17) All Christians are called to be missionary disciples who are prepare to share the Good News with others. King Herod has access to the Scriptures but his desire is only to kill the Christ child just as on Good Friday the Jewish authorities sought to and succeeded in silencing Jesus as an adult. The wise men, once they have found Jesus no longer need direction from the corrupt and psychopath king. They return "by another road" keeping in their hearts what they knew when they knelt in homage to the real king.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

This feast occurs on the Octave of the Nativity. Just like Divine Mercy Sunday (after Easter Sunday) and  Queen of Heaven (after the Assumption) the Octave celebration teases out the theological implications of the main feast. The message from this feast is that since Jesus, Second Person of the Trinity and Word made Flesh, is God then Mary, as his mother, is Mother of God. The key to the theology is not something to do with what DNA Jesus has but that in his Incarnation he is truly human, and truly divine. This doctrine is hard for some to swallow, especially if they have Arian, Docetist or Gnostic tendencies, but it must be received and believed if we are to be Christians. While the memories, glitter and wrapping paper of secular/pagan Christmas recede, we are left as Christians to continue to ponder on the immense mystery of Emmanuel - God with Us - which will accompany us throughout the liturgical year as we journey with Christ through Easter towards the feast of Christ the King..

Feast of the Holy Family

Today's feast helps to tease out the implications of the Incarnation. Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, participates in family life and grow up in the context of all the relationships and variables that this aspect of human existence entails. Although the liturgy speaks of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph I think we can also think of Anna and Joachim and the parents of Saint Joseph participating in the life of the family and being there as part of the family group that will gather in Jerusalem on the occasion that Jesus is lost in the Temple at the age of twelve. What can we learn from the Holy Family in 2020-2021? We have already learnt prior to the Nativity of the courage of Our Lady in saying "yes" to the angel Gabriel. We have already heard of Joseph's obedience to the angel in his dreams to take Mary as his wife. We subsequently are given notice of the hardships of the Holy Family as they go into exile in Egypt and eventually return to take up residence in Nazareth. In all this they journey together and grow with Jesus, Son of God, being obedient to his loving parents. let us, too, be courageous, faithful, obedient and prayerful in our families in the coming year.

Welcome to the Christmas ceremonies in the Catholic Parish of Hastings. Christmas, as always, is a wonderful time to gather as family and community and Catholics are no exception. We also rejoice, as many do, to show hospitality to others and so we welcome people of all backgrounds and faith traditions or none who wish to join us in this moment. The opportunity to rehear the Bible story is both a reminder of what God did over two thousand years ago but also how the Holy Spirit is at work in us today. Christmas forms part of the whole Church year. To this end we can understand that Jesus was not only born for us but also died and rose for us. Thus, the gift of Jesus is also the gift of life – a life that knows no end. It tells us that the love we give, the joy we share and the gifts we receive have meaning that goes beyond our tangible, finite and all too fragile physical reality. Saint Paul wrote: “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Rm 5: 9) May you all receive the gift of God’s love this Christmas so that 2021 will be a year of hope and joy transformed by the amazing love of God.

4th Sunday of Advent

The gospel for today usually causes us to focus on Our Lady. The lowly virgin of Nazareth is asked by the archangel Gabriel if she will accede to bearing the Messiah. Another aspect, however,  of the reading is the focus on David. Joseph is mentioned as being of the House of David (Lk 1: 27) and that Jesus will receive the "throne of his ancestor David." (Lk 1: 32). With the Davidic dynasty no longer on the throne of Israel at that time we need to look elsewhere for the significance of this reference. The Church helps us by giving us the First Reading from the Second Book of Samuel. David is promised that one of his descendants will establish an everlasting kingdom: "Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne, David, shall be established forever." (2 Sam 7: 16) Today's readings speak, therefore, of the fulfillment of God's promises to the Jewish people. The Incarnation is placed in time and space. Jesus is born into a society and culture which found its identity and ability to survive on the basis of God working through historical individuals so as to ultimately bring about a new, enduring and divine reality. In our baptism we are incorporated into the people who received these promises and rejoice to see them fulfilled as we celebrate the birth of the Messiah: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God." (Gal 4: 4-7)

3rd Sunday of Advent

 As we live out our vocation as missionary disciples we are called to be witnesses of Christ in the society in which we live. In this way we, like John the Baptist, are called to be prophetic because we are sending a message to those around us of God's plan for humanity and for the Church. Just as the Jewish authorities of the day questioned John, so might people ask of us: "Who are you?" (Jn 1: 19) or "What do you say about yourself?" (Jn 1: 22) This is a good question and one for which we need to have an answer: "Always be ready to make a defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence." (1 Peter 3: 15-16) The answer, however I may phrase it, should include a reference to joy. On Gaudete Sunday we are reminded of the gift of joy that should suffuse the life of every Christian because it is through our encounter with Christ that our hopes are fulfilled. Regardless of the trials and tragedies that beset us we have God's love, manifest and personal in Christ Jesus, to sustain us: "No, in these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rm 8: 37-39) So we can also say with St Paul: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." (Phil 4: 4-5)

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

There is a clear contrast between the dialogue Eve has with the Serpent and that which Our Lady has with the angel Gabriel. The serpent places doubts in Eve's mind about God's motivations for forbidding the first humans to eat "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Gen 1: 17) He says: "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3: 4-5) He makes out God to be jealous of his power; afraid that humans will become like him. This is in fact a projection of the serpent's own jealousy of God's omnipotence and holiness. The angel Gabriel, by contrast, greets Mary and is open about God's plan for her. Mary is perplexed but not afraid. She wonders how such a marvelous things can be done: "... since I am a virgin." (Lk 1: 34) The angel responds and Mary, acknowledging herself to be "the servant of the Lord" agrees to bear the Son of God in her womb. The openness, courtesy and humility of the exchange is totally opposed the to the sneaky, furtive and deceitful dialogue between the serpent and Eve. The plan of God to overthrow this sneakiness and broken trust started from the beginning. A big part in that was God's plan for Mary so that she had none of the obstacles to his grace common to the rest of the children of Eve.