Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Packed inside this tiny parable are a few important reminders for the Church today.
First, notice the source of the shepherd’s joy. It does not come from passively tending to his flock; rather, from the active pursuit of the lost.
Meaning, faith prevents us from standing idly while others wander away from the Church. We have to seek them out until they’re found.
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Second, consider who wandered off – one of the original members of the flock. This parable is not about bringing new souls to the faith; it’s about caring for those who already belong, but have strayed.
I’m sure we can all think of someone who is either on the margins of the Church, on their way out, or has lost their faith. While Christ commands us to have a missionary spirit, we must also be intentional about not losing those already baptized into the Church.
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What would it look like for the Church to care for Catholics on the margins? How can we re-invigorate the faith of those who’ve fallen away?
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Finding concrete answers to such questions should make us rejoice.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The Gospels do not deal directly with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Although today’s passage tells us of Christ’s conception, what we celebrate today is actually Mary’s.
Catholics believe that she was born without Original Sin, making her a worthy dwelling place for Christ in the womb. For nine precious months, she served as God’s tabernacle on earth.
As the archangel Gabriel foretells today, “Hail, full of grace!” Gabriel is not the one imparting grace to Mary; he is acknowledging who she already is.
Full of grace.
The favored one.
The worthy – and potential – ark of the new covenant.
This is why Mary is able to surrender freely and joyfully to his proposal, because she bears no sin in her heart. Her entire being is dedicated to God. As she herself says, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
This mysterious story of an angel tearing open the veil of heaven and coming down to earth raises further questions: How was Mary born without Original Sin? Where did this singular grace come from?
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The answer to these questions only brings us deeper into the shroud of mystery. Mary was full of grace – and free of Original Sin – because of the grace that will flow from the Cross.
Thus, when Gabriel praises her, he praises Mary for being in possession of something that will happen in the future…
Let that sink in.
It’d be like me walking into the locker room of the LA Dodgers before game seven started, congratulating them for winning the World Series.
But, as the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, “My ways are not your ways.”
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Now Mary reigns as Queen of Heaven, perhaps a role she even intuited in that sacred encounter with Gabriel. As Queen, she serves as the most powerful intercessor in the halls of heaven.
This, too, was foretold.
In the Old Testament, the king’s mother was considered the second most powerful figure in the nation, next to the king himself. She was the one who spoke directly to her son’s heart, interceding on behalf of his subjects.
Thus, in heaven, Mary not only has direct access to Christ, but she also holds a maternal pull on his heart strings.
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As great as Mary is, she is a humble model for us all. Her life was sinless, leaving us an example to follow. As Saint Paul says in our second reading, “God chose us… before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
In baptism, we are all washed from the curse of Original Sin. The rest of the Christian life involves living out the calling we received then – “to holy and blameless.”
As we move deeper into the Advent season, may our resolve be strengthened by Mary’s intercession that we, too, would be a worthy dwelling place for the Lord on earth.
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Image credits: (1) Dreamstime.com (2) The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, 1660 (3) Saint Anthony Shrine
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.
When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Out of curiosity, I Googled, “funny Christmas card greetings.” Here’s what I found.
One card had a dog sitting in front of a snowman with a twig for an arm. A thought bubble emerged from the dog, who was wondering, “Is he ever going to throw that stick?”
Another said, “Three wise men?” … “Be serious.”
Perhaps my favorite was an older woman seated with sunglasses on, a string of pearls, and a cigarette on her lips. Next to her was the caption: “This year instead of gifts for Christmas, I’m giving everyone my opinion. Buckle up.”
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Any of those Christmas cards would be better received by family and friends than a card sent using the language of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel.
“Repent, you brood of vipers! Merry Christmas!”
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John the Baptist is widely known for his brutal honesty and fire-and-brimstone style of preaching.
But, as stinging as his words can be, he is one of the most important figures in the Bible leading up to Christ. In fact, it’s he who opens the door, allowing Jesus to take center stage. Before John, there had not been a prophet in Israel for four hundred years.
So, when people realized a great prophet was in their midst, they flocked to him in droves.
Today we find John baptizing people along the banks of the Jordan River. Imagine a large group of people standing in line, idly shuffling their feet, their clammy hands in their pockets awaiting their turn.
The simple fact that each has made the journey into the desert is an external admission of an internal wilderness. Something in their life had gone awry.
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Here Matthew makes a sharp distinction between the Jews who genuinely want to amend their lives and the snooping scribes and Pharisees, who are described as merely “coming” to John’s baptism.
The crowds, on the other hand, are soaking wet; they’re actually being baptized after acknowledging their sins.
The religious leaders’ insincerity is what provokes John’s sharp criticism of them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you of the coming wrath? …Produce good fruit of your repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ “
There was a belief in Israel that simply being a descendant of Abraham entitled them to participation in God’s covenant, freeing them from divine judgment. It was other nations – not them – who were defiled or impure.
It would be like Christians saying today, “I had twelve years of Catholic schooling.”
“I was an altar boy.”
“I’m a priest.”
As if having had an experience of the Church, or being culturally Catholic, is enough to get us into heaven.
John brazenly puts that belief to bed.
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Jesus himself speaks about the gate leading into heaven as being narrow. Those who presume themselves safe will say, “Lord, we ate and drank in your presence!” (A possible reference to Eucharist…) And, “We taught in your streets and synagogues!”
Yet, sadly, the Lord may say to some, “I do not know you.”
While the path to salvation has been paved by Christ’s bloody, loving march to Calvary, any person who hopes for eternal life is expected to repent and amend their life. This verb, “repent,” literally means a re-ordering of priorities.
Anyone who does not consistently live with God as number one in their life is in need of repentance. I know, at times, I am. I can hold myself, my schedule, my interests, even my sins as more important or desirable than the Lord.
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Still, we need to temper the fear of divine judgment with the true nature of the Judge. The tribunal we face is not that of public opinion; rather, the pierced, merciful heart of Christ, who has, “loved us and given himself for us.”
Divine judgment is far more about God’s infinite mercy than it is about our shortcomings.
In fact, Christ is so merciful – as evidenced by eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners, and forgiving people like the woman caught in adultery – that, when John the Baptist was being held captive in Herod’s prison, he sent a messenger to Jesus, asking:
“Are you the one who is to come?”
It seems even John, a doomsday prophet, was humbled by Christ’s infinite compassion for humanity.
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Today we might consider: “Where has my life taken a turn into the wilderness? In what ways do I need to repent, returning God to first place in my heart?”
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Many Christmas cards will be sent this season, perhaps even the card warning, “Instead of gifts, I’m giving everyone my opinion. Buckle up.” But the message the Lord sends to us is this:
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.
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Image credits: (1) scottandsadie.wordpress.com (2) My Merry Christmas (3) The Skit Guys
