Daily Reflections

Tuesday 8 December

Luke 1:26-38  •  Immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Solemnity)

Today we pray with heartfelt conviction and joy: ‘O God, by the unforeseen merits of the death of Christ, you shielded Mary from all stain of sin and preserved the Virgin Mother immaculate at her conception so that she might be a fitting dwelling place for your Son.’

Mary was conceived without sin not because of her own merit but because of the merit of her Son. It is a remarkable truth of our faith, handed down to us by Scripture and the tradition, that her Son’s future death won for Mary this special gift of grace. The Church invites us through the liturgy to ponder this truth and, in so doing, raise our hearts and voices to heaven in worship and praise. 

God chose to bless Mary in this way not for her own glory but so that she would be the most perfect dwelling place for her Son. We don’t tend to spend very much time thinking about theology, relegating it perhaps to the realm of priests and theologians, but in fact we are all called to be theologians by the very nature of our calling. With the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we can all probe into these rich mysteries of our faith.

Pope Benedict is truly a great theologian and he leads the way as we probe this mystery. He recalls that when, at the Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI declared Mary to be the Mother of the Church, ‘the Fathers leapt out of their chairs applauding, paying homage to the Mother of God, our Mother, the Mother of the Church.’ In words that can perhaps help us to reflect on this wonderful and important feast in the Church’s liturgy, he went on to say: ‘Being totally united to Christ, she belongs also totally to us. Yes, we can say Mary is closer to us than any other human being, because Christ became man for us and all his being is a “being for us”. Mary gave herself entirely to Christ and with him she is given as a gift to all of us.’

‘Lord God, on this holy day of celebration we thank you for the great sign of your goodness which you gave us in Mary, our Saviour’s Mother and Mother of the Church. Like Mary, may we become a light to our needy world. Amen.’
 

Genesis 3:9-15, 20  •  Psalm 97(98):1-4
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12  •  Luke 1:26-38

Monday 7 December

(Memorial) St Ambrose  •  Luke 5:17-26

The paralysed man in today’s Gospel is healed not because of his own faith in Jesus but through the faith of his friends. This fascinating incident highlights how forgiveness is a fundamental human need which strikes at the very core of who we are. And who are we? We are persons created in the image and likeness of God but fallen sinners in need of the grace first of repentance and then forgiveness.

The Pharisees have to be given credit for getting to the heart of the matter very quickly indeed. They figured that no mere human being could forgive sins and that this power and grace belonged to God alone (v. 21). Many centuries later William Blake captured this idea in the way that only a great man of letters can: ‘There is not one moral virtue that Jesus inculcated but Plato and Cicero did inculcate before him. What then did Christ inculcate?  Forgiveness of sins. This alone is the Gospel, and this is the life and immortality brought to life by Jesus.’

There is a very real way in which forgiveness is our greatest need, and when we receive God’s forgiveness our greatest achievement is in turn to forgive those who sin against us. At the heart of receiving God’s forgiveness is taking hold of how great is God’s mercy towards us. God delights to forgive sins and rejoices when we turn to him in sorrow and repentance. Perhaps it is because in receiving God’s forgiveness we grasp reality and come in touch with the truth that it was because of our sin, our rebellion and our waywardness that God sent his only Son.

The cost of the grace of forgiveness and reconciliation was no less than the cross of Jesus. Without the cross there would be no forgiveness. In forgiving us God sets us free, and we are invited to forgive others as we have been forgiven. This is why the cross is truly a symbol and sign of forgiveness and freedom. ‘When Christ’s hands were nailed to the cross, he also nailed your sins to the cross’ (St Bernard of Clairvaux). On this his feast-day, we leave the last word to the great and wise pastor St Ambrose:
‘As often as the Lord’s blood is shed, it is poured out for the forgiveness of sins; so I ought to receive it always, that my sins may always be forgiven.’ (St Ambrose) 
 

Isaiah 35:1-10  •  Psalm 84(85):9-14
Luke 5:17-26

Sunday 6 December

Luke 3:1-6  •  Second Sunday of Advent

St Augustine of Hippo said, ‘Before God can deliver us we must undeceive ourselves.’ Repentance is precisely this process of undeceiving ourselves. The ministry of St John the Baptist was focused on proclaiming the message of repentance and turning back to God – probably not the most popular message in any age and certainly not in ours!  

Pope John Paul II, who was one of the great prophets of the Christian life, exhorted us to examine the way in which we as a society and as individuals have lost a sense of sin and, consequently, can lose the impetus to receive the grace of forgiveness available to us in the sacrament of reconciliation. Was the society, culture and time in which St John the Baptist ministered any different from ours in this regard?

The human condition is such that it instinctively resists the idea that we are sinful and need to repent. In all of us there is a certain in-built self-righteousness which finds it hard if not impossible to say, ‘I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son/daughter.’ This resistance and self-righteousness is why God has to prepare the way.
He did so in the first instance through the ministry of St John the Baptist and he does so today in the liturgy of the Church. The message and call will always be the same: repentance for the forgiveness of sins (v. 3). How do we examine our conscience? We don’t want to get immersed in introspection and a kind of pseudo mea culpa attitude, as if repentance was simply about saying the word ‘sorry’.

St John Chrysostom said: ‘Repentance ranges from regretting obvious sins like murder, adultery, abuse, swearing and stealing to the realization that not loving (your neighbour as yourself) is a murder. “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15), and that an evil look is adultery and the love of praise is stealing God’s glory.’ Repentance is both a gift and grace of God leading to peace, a clear conscience and freedom from self-deception. Advent is the perfect season to recover the gift of repentance and to discover anew the grace and freedom of the sacrament of reconciliation.

‘Repentance is not the work of man: as the prophet Jeremiah said, “Make me repent, my Lord, and I shall repent.”’

Baruch 5:1-9  •  Psalm 125(126)
Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11  •  Luke 3:1-6

Saturday 5 December

Matthew 9:35–10:1, 6-8

Jesus had compassion for the harassed, helpless crowd that followed him. They reminded him of sheep without a shepherd. His response was to call his disciples together and to ask them to pray to the Lord of the harvest that more workers would be sent out into the harvest-field. In other words, God’s response to a broken, harassed and helpless humanity is to show compassion and mercy practically expressed by proclaiming the gospel. God needs evangelists – he can’t reach a broken, harassed and helpless world without them. Just as the Father needed Jesus to proclaim the Good News, so too he needs us. God’s answer to every human problem or predicament is the proclamation of his Son.

What does this mean, though, in the day-to-day realities of most of our lives? For those who are called to be priests, deacons and religious the demands of their vocation invite them in whatever sphere they work to witness to Christ and live impeccable lives. A priest, deacon or religious who is a witness of joy, hope and the happiness which Christ gives has the power to win hearts and minds. If, sadly, they are not good witnesses, then the opposite is certainly true.

Those of us who live and work in the world however and who do not have a religious vocation are still called to evangelize. We too are called to labour in the harvest-field. We too are to be witnesses of joy, hope and happiness. Pope John Paul II, prophet and visionary that he was, understood how powerful and effective lay witness is in winning the world for Christ: ‘The eyes of faith behold a wonderful scene: that of countless numbers of lay people, both women and men, busy at work in their daily life and activity, often times far from view and quite unacclaimed by the world, unknown to the world’s great personages but nonetheless looked upon in love by the Father, untiring labourers who work in the Lord’s vineyard. Confident and steadfast through the power of God’s grace, these are the humble yet great builders of the kingdom of God in history’ (Christifideles laici 17).

‘Holy Spirit, you are the agent of evangelization in our hearts and in our midst. We give thanks and praise to you for creating in us a heart which burns for love of the gospel so that our lives may give witness to the beauty, power and creativity of God’s Word.’