• Sirach 24: 1-4, 8-12. Wisdom proclaims her life with God before the creation of the world. Afterwards she wandered the world restlessly until she fixed her abode at the Jerusalem temple.
• Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18. Before creation God predestined us in Christ as the object of his love and as his very own adopted children Paul prays that we can be enlightened in the great hope to which God has called us.
• John 1:1-18. In the beginning before creation the Word was with God and the Word was God. This Word came to dwell in our midst and offered us a share in his fullness.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

This week’s readings we celebrate the mystery of Christ as the “Logos” or as John put it in his Gospel, “The Word.”  Last week we reflected on Jesus as the child of Mary and Joseph and his role within the dynamics of the Holy Family. This week we contemplate Christ as “The Word” that became flesh and the “Logos” that is the second member of the Holy Trinity. Within these reading the contemplative philosopher among us will be drawn to the words of Sirach who himself was a famous Jewish Philosopher in the second century BC. Sirach, who like Socrates was drawn to wisdom, comprehends the vast mystery that is the Divine Wisdom.

The first man never finished comprehending wisdom, nor will the last succeed in fathoming her. For deeper than the sea are her thoughts; her counsels, than the great abyss.

In reflecting over these readings we are forced to consider the concept of predestination. Paul’s letters to the Ephesians talk to us about how we have already been “destined” by the Will of God to be His adopted children. Sirach and John reinforce this notion by remind us that the “Logos,” The Wisdom of God, has been active at the foundation of the world in carrying out God’s destined plan for creation. And yet, in Jesus’ public ministry, we hear Jesus inviting us all to share in God’s perfection. Throughout the Gospel, in the Beatitudes, in the Last Judgment reading of Matthew, in the Good Samaritan parable in Luke, in the exhortations made by Paul, James and Peter in their respective epistles, time and time again we are freely invited to partake in the Kingdom of God by living a life of charity and social justice. This is the theological tension that our faith has wrestled with regarding “Predestined Grace” and “Free Will,” the same tension that brought about the great split between the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations. How should we understand our motivation and incentive towards an expression of Love through acts of charity and social justice if our salvation is indeed predestined?

This past week I had the pleasure of speaking to a neighbor who is also an architect and who in the last few years designed architectural plans for his new house. It surprised me to learn that as he began the construction of his new house unforeseen conditions popped up everywhere forcing him to redesign his plan again and again. Ultimately his goal was accomplished and a new house was built for his family but the final plan had evolved greatly from his initial design. As he was telling me his I thought of the passage in Jeremiah where God instruct Jeremiah to visit a potter’s house. As the potter shaped his clay Jeremiah witnessed the potter reshaping it because the original design did not come out as plan. God reminded Jeremiah that as the Potter did to this clay so too can God act with regards to His own creation.

The wisdom of God is beyond human comprehension. God’s wisdom has us destined towards a perfect social union. Yet this union is based on our ability to freely develop this union. God’s revelation, and more specifically the revealed example of Jesus Christ, offers us the plan for constructing this union which of course God designed and which he may have to redesign based on the unforeseen conditions of our own free actions. Actions of charity and social justice are not methods for us to achieve our own salvation but rather they are the expressions of God’s ultimate social plan (the Kingdom of God) which we are invited to live out. The Biblical passages mentioned in the second paragraph remind us what actions are expected from this union. We may not be able to fully comprehend the final plan, but fortunately for us God supplements our ability to reason with the revelation of “The Word” that became flesh and whose “life was the light of the human race.”

• Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14. Obedience and honor are due to one’s parents, patient consideration especially in their old age when their mind fails.
• Colossians 3:12-21. We are to clothe ourselves with patience, humility, kindness and especially forgiveness within our families.
• Luke 2:41-52. When the boy Jesus was found by Mary and Joseph in the temple, he relpied that he had to be in his Father’s house.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

The lectionary reflections that are provided by our Passionist office of justice, peace and integrity of creation typically are based on our spirituality of social justice. For that reason many of these spiritual reflections are offered through the lens of our social concerns. With the readings for this weekend however it is appropriate to narrow the focus of our reflection to the family vs. the social unit. This weekend which immediately follows the solemnity of Christmas, our liturgy celebrates the feast of the Holy Family. The readings offer us instructions of essential virtues that are socially relevant but which are an important observance within the family dynamic. Two virtues that stand out in both Sirach and Colossians are patience and forgiveness. This week’s Gospel offer us an interesting demonstration of Patience that Jesus had to have with his own parents. This episode concludes with Jesus applying these virtues and experiencing their formative impact on himself in return.

“He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them… And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”  

Our Church teaches us that the family unit has a prominent place within our community. Our family is considered the “First Church” for many of us since the initial development of our faith usually begins at home through the actions and instructions that are provided by our parents. Our family becomes the incubator from which we initially develop our sense of being. Our spiritual, personal and moral development has its origins within the interactions of our immediate and extended family. Catholic teaching tells us that the family is “the primary living cell of society.” Even in the realm of justice and peace the Church teaches us that the family experience becomes the source of our initial understanding of these social concepts:    

Indeed, in a healthy family life we experience some of the fundamental elements of peace: justice and love between brothers and sisters, the role of authority expressed by parents, loving concern for the members who are weaker because of youth, sickness or old age, mutual help in the necessities of life, readiness to accept others and, if necessary, to forgive them. For this reason, the family is the first and indispensable teacher of peace.  – Pope Benedict XVI, The Human Family, A Community of Peace, #3

If we strive wholeheartedly towards the “bond of perfection” then our social attitudes must find their immediate application within the family. And yet this can be a very difficult challenge for many of us. Many times our parents, spouses or community members get the brunt of our own stress and frustration because we are closest to them. We are comfortable in their presence and so we sometimes lash out and make greater demands on them than we would with clients, customers or friends. Ironically we sometimes seem to exhibit less patience and forgiveness with them than with others. But the beauty of the family interaction is that this is the unit where we develop ourselves with the greatest sense of integrity, reflecting who we really are. With customers and clients we create an image of professionalism. Even in religious communities we may offer pastoral services but we still maintain a distant professionalism. This is not so with families. Our families know us more intimately so there are no professional airs to keep us distant. For this reason the call to patience and forgiveness within the family becomes a real challenge to truly engage in the acts of Christian humility and to refine our ability to develop authentic patience and forgiveness.

Peace and justice exist when we work with the human community to serve the common good that benefits us all. To do this we must have the patience to honor the experience and comprehend the needs we each have. We must also be able to forgive our brothers and sisters when we each fall into natural patterns of self interest and control. Of course in theory and in the realm of the head we may be able to express these social virtues. I have often said that I love and enjoy the theories of human dignity and rights while I find humanity itself quite frustrating and draining. Authentic peace and justice challenges people like me to move away from the head and to actualize in the heart the ability to be patient and forgiving with people so that together the common good can be truly served. If I cannot be patient and forgiving with my own family member what hope can I have in developing this authentic virtue with others? As our families continue to gather and celebrate let us be mindful of the call to imitate the Holy Family and to develop the virtues of patience and forgiveness with those closest to us.

• Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14. The 144,000 from every tribe of Israel are the ones who have survived the period of great trial.
• 1 John 3:1-3. We shall see God as God is, for we are God’s children. All who have hope keep themselves pure as God is pure.
• Matt 5:1-12. Jesus teaches the disciples the blessedness of following him as poor in spirit, sorrowing, single-hearted, peacemaker.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week our Church celebrates the communion of the saints. The Apostles’ or Nicene Creed that we recite at the beginning of the liturgy of the Eucharist reminds us that the communion of saints is a fundamental tenet of our Faith. Each of this Sunday’s readings reminds us that we are called to be part of this sacred community. Christ invites us all to be saints. This Sunday we recall the great men and women who have come before us and whose own lives were a powerful witness to the Kingdom of God. Some of these people may be famous people who are well known within the Catholic Community such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Paul of the Cross. Others may be more obscure and perhaps known only to us, parents, relatives and friends whom we remember for their own powerful testimony of being Christ like in our midst. These are all people who selflessly gave of themselves for their family, community or society. We recall these saints not for their own sake, but rather because they exist as living examples to us of how to be Christian.

The first reading comes to us from the Book of Revelation. This book, along with Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures, are perhaps two of the most complex books in our own Sacred Scriptures precisely because they are eschatological books. They are rich in symbolism and because they are prophetic writings many lay readers get caught up in looking for clues and answers related to the end time. This week we read about the saints or the elect who number 144,000. This number has had the unfortunate effect of demoralizing many of us who believe that we have almost no chance to be part of this small community. The 144,000 mentioned in verse 4 indicate the elect from the twelve tribes of Israel, where each tribe has been given 12,000 elect. Verse 9 however, tells us that that there is another group of elect “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” Scripture scholars have argued that the first elect is symbolic of the Jewish community of saints, whereas the second group is the broader gentile community.

What is important for us is not how many elect there are but who they are. “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress.” In this world that we live in, all of us are subject to suffering of one form or another. We are all being tested and challenged to live our Christian vocation. Our early Christian martyrs suffered simply for being Christians. We suffer from the secular counter-cultural challenges to imitating Christ. We live in a society focused on individualism, value is given to material possessions, praise and reward is offered for those who gain the most for themselves. We may have the freedom to be Christians and to attend Church services but the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience stand in stark contrast to our own social values. While these two forms of suffering are very different they are both very real in their own way and just like our Christian ancestors were tested in their discipleship from the persecution of their day we continue to be tested in our own way today. We who are called to be saints are very much being challenged to live the Christian values of simplicity, fidelity, and mutual collaboration. Will we survive this time of great distress?

The second reading reminds us that as part of the communion of saints we are called to be children of God and to imitate the purity of Christ. The Gospel goes on to offer a description of this pure lifestyle through the beatitudes. The beatitudes identify a special grace to the aspects of suffering that we face in this world. The beatitudes are not telling us that we are blessed simply because we suffer. Instead the beatitudes are inviting us to redeem society through our own response to suffering. All members of the human family suffer; it is a common element of all creation. How shall we respond to the personal and social suffering of our world? Should we take a defeated stance and allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by our own limitations and the social injustice of our world. No, again we are called to live the values of the saints, humility, compassion, simplicity, righteousness, mercy, integrity and peacefulness. By being a lived witness to these values not only will we be ensuring our own participation in the communion of saints but we will be bringing society one step closer to the kingdom of heaven.