Reflection on Jan. 3, 2010 Mass Readings

Reflection on January 2010 Sunday Mass Readings:
Is 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

We have been blessed with unimaginable grace, grace upon grace. Our light, our glory has come to us! The Lord is with us, within us, around us. Others see it, realize it. Do we? If we do, do we show it? Do we live it? Now, what are the concrete ways of living and witnessing God in us, with us, among us?

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13.
(cf. 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

For those of us who have been given a sharing in the Lord’s authority, do we serve or “govern” with God’s wisdom, with God’s justice? Do we promote peace – among brethren, within the Church, in all the earth? Do we offer our God-given gifts in service and homage to God? Do we use all that He has given us to in compassionate generosity to liberate the poor, the afflicted, the lowly from the social, economic, political and spiritual structures that keep them in bondage, from one generation to the next?

Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Beyond wealth, beyond power, beyond authority, beyond the material and the worldly, we have been entrusted with a stewardship of a gift so precious that all that the world can offer pales before it. It is our stewardship of the mystical presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose person we have been graced to personify, whose Gospel we have been commissioned to preach, whose love we have been commanded to freely give, whose ministry we have been ordained to share, whose gifts we have been equipped in the service of the common good, and whose Spirit joins us, links us, unites us with Him and with all believers, regardless of race or time, so that together we may constitute His mystical body.

Are we up to such undeserved stewardship? How could people like us who are so undeserving rise up to that stewardship?

The answer is in the models the Gospel narrative gives us.

Gospel
Mt 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

It is in the model of the Magi- who, trusting an ancient prophecy that a new King would visit the earth, ventured out for a long journey of faith, following nothing but the light of Christ, until that same light led them to a humble house in Bethlehem. Upon finding the newborn King, they realized what grace has visited them, and in homage opened up and offered their treasures to Jesus. Like the Magi, we too have been given the Word- a prophecy fulfilled through Christ among us. Do we know it? Do we live our lives in homage to the ever-present King?

It is in the model of Mary- whose participation in the plan for our salvation was so vital to our liberation. She was visited by the Lord in her very being, bearing God in her womb, nursing Him with her breasts, cradling Him in her arms, nurturing Him with Her values and raising Him to manhood. Yes, she knew it, she lived it, ever quietly, unassumingly, humbly, giving her everything in homage to her child, her God, her King.

It is in the model of Jesus, God, who for our sake came to mankind, coming in human form, a helpless Babe, glorious, divine, born in the humblest circumstance. He began His life in humble and obedient faithfulness and homage to His Father, our Father. He came as our Redeemer, who sacrificed everything- His very own nature, His very own life, so that He may win for us His everything!