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THE WORD

 Gn 3: 9–15.20 / Eph 1: 3–6.11–12 / Lk 1: 26–38

In the sixth month, 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, favored one! 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.

 

IN OTHER WORDS

In a pilgrimage to Europe, I was asked to celebrate a mass using a big gold antique chalice encrusted with stone jewels. It seemed to be one of those used by popes before. While I considered it a privilege, I admit I felt it a bit superfluous to have such an extravagant vessel to celebrate a mass with when a simple chalice would do. That thought changed, of course, when I considered what that chalice would hold. Would the Blood of Christ deserve anything less?

The feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary reminds me of the chalice, because in a way, when Mary was carrying Jesus in her womb, she was a vessel of God. Would the Incarnate Son of God deserve anything less than the Blessed Virgin Mary? Nobody is perfect, we say. Everybody has their faults and sins. This is true only if we exempt the Blessed Virgin Mary. Because God made her the perfect vessel from whom the Son of God was to assume the flesh of our humanity.

The privilege of Mary being conceived in the womb free from the stain of original sin from the first moment of conception was granted to her in view of her becoming the Mother of God. The point was made twice in the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. “You will bear a son…and he will be called the Son of the Most High.” The honor of Mary being sinless and conceived immaculate, therefore, owes to the holy child that she was to bring forth into the world.

We hold Mother Mary with much devotion and love because God conferred such a great honor on her. The angel’s greeting revealed that she was the favoured one, chosen by God, filled with grace and the Holy Spirit. Could this be said of Mary if there were any sin in her? We look to Mary with pride because God chose a simple humble woman, human like us, and made her great in holiness. We thank Mary, for by her “Yes” the hope of salvation was made possible to us. It is only right that we call on her: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

  • Fr. Emil Lim, SVD (Hong Kong)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

 

THE WORD

Is 35: 1–10 / Lk 5: 17–26

One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set (him) in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus.

When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?”

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ he said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.

 IN OTHER WORDS

There are people, and there will always be people, who will see the bad rather than the good side of things. There will be those who will criticize anything and everything that I do whatever real merits I or my work may have. They probably are just jealous, so they will look for and find fault here and there and everywhere.

If I try to please them, I will never succeed. I will try to weigh what they say but I may not waste my time aching for their approval. Let me rather recognize the positive things happening around me, the beautiful things that other people are doing. In time, I hope the nasty ones will learn the good in their own way, in their own time.

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law in today’s Gospel episode look at Jesus. They seem to be doing so sincerely, trying to see the good in what Jesus is doing. And yet they also seem to be alert to possible wrongdoing. Though He would address them eventually, Jesus sees something else first: their faith. Whose faith? That of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law? Oh no. The faith, rather, of those who carried the paralytic all over town to be healed by Jesus, but not finding a way to Jesus through the door, let their companion down through the roof – right down to where Jesus was.

I imagine the process. They leave the paralytic on the ground. They climb up the roof, they undo the tiles, and when there is a big enough hole on the roof, come down to the ground and lift their friend on the stretcher up the roof and down the opening to where Jesus was sitting inside the house. I imagine this must have been a rather large hole the paralytic’s friends made – the length of a man’s body lying down in a stretcher. But they do what they have to do and make that laborious but loving gesture to have their paralytic friend delivered right in front of Jesus.

It was their faith that Jesus first saw. And because of their faith – not even that of the paralytic, if he had faith at all – he said “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” Who does Jesus mean by “you”? The paralytic? Perhaps. But more probably, Jesus meant those who were on the roof who had just lowered their friend on the stretcher. It was their faith that Jesus saw, so it must have been their sins that were forgiven.

Only a short while later does Jesus directly address the paralytic himself and heal him, making him able to walk. To his credit, too, the healed paralytic goes home, glorifying God.

What do I learn from this? That by our faith and love, we help one another and ourselves. As John Donne once wrote, “No man is an island. Each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” And a song continues, “Each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own. So, I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend.”

Oh, Jesus, did the people on the roof put the tiles back on? I hope they did.

  • Fr. Roderick Salazar, SVD (CKMS, QC)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

 FIRST READING Bar 5: 1–9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on forever the splendor of glory from God: wrapped in the mantle of justice from God, place on your head the diadem of the glory of the Eternal One.

For God will show your splendor to all under the heavens; you will be named by God forever: the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship. Rise up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from east to west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God.

Led away on foot by their enemies they left you: but God will bring them back to you carried high in glory as on royal thrones.

For God has commanded that every lofty mountain and the age-old hills be made low, that the valleys be filled to make level ground, that Israel may advance securely in the glory of God.

The forests and every kind of fragrant tree have overshadowed Israel at God’s command; for God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with the mercy and justice that are his.

 SECOND READING Phil 1: 4–6.8–11

Praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

 GOSPEL READING Lk 3: 1–6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. He went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

 IN OTHER WORDS

Luke makes a lengthy presentation of John the Baptist as precursor of Christ, dropping off important historical names of people with significant stature both from the imperial (civil) government and the religious ranks. From the imperial side we have Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, and Lysanias. From the religious side we have Anna and Caiaphas.

This method of presentation does not only introduce John into the world stage but it also puts the greatness of John on equal footing with these leaders. John is introduced as great and to be the precursor of someone much greater than he or his message. If the precursor is great, then the one to follow is even greater. By placing Jesus in the background and putting John forward, the gospel writer highlights not only Jesus’ humility but also his great importance. The irony plays out well because as Jesus highlights John’s role, Jesus’ greatness becomes more nuanced, enhancing a different dimension of greatness not all of us realize.

The greatness of John, however, lies in his proclamation of the message of conversion and not in anything else. The task of John is difficult. The temptation to take on the honor and glory must have played in his mind, human as he was, while he was preaching. He started already to gather followers and many perceived him to be influential and therefore someone who wielded power through a flick of a finger and/or by a simple command. It must have been the same with Jesus; to claim and to correct wrong impressions or perceptions must have suggested themselves to him, if only to put everyone on the same path. Unfortunately, this “would have been” scenario is purely hypothetical. The fact is that Jesus acknowledged John, as every person should, to be someone of great significance.

How easy is it for us to focus only on the appearance of a person? How often do we forget the importance of someone when we face other people? How many times have we been tempted to take upon ourselves the praise and honor for a certain project or event, to the detriment of another person or group?

Perhaps we should keep at the forefront of our minds the old adage “Do not judge a book by its cover” as a reminder that we should never prejudge the worth of others by outward appearance alone.

  • Fr. Joey Miras, SVD (Toronto, Canada)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

Is 30: 19–21.23–26 / Mt 9: 35–10: 1.6–8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.

 “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

 IN OTHER WORDS

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” This is the call of the Lord in this first week of Advent and indeed the call is getting more urgent in our time. I was sent here in Botswana 8 years ago and until now the local clergy are still few. Divine Word Missionaries have been here for more than 30 years already. It is the vision of our congregation to help the local church while their personnel and other resources are still inadequate. We can only pray that some of our young people here will accept the challenge. But considering the situation in Botswana where the Catholic population is less than 10% of a 2-million population, we really need to pray hard.

Being in foreign mission makes me realize that indeed the harvest is abundant. Just recently, our congregation opened a new mission in South Sudan. Undoubtedly, there’s a need for laborers in the Lord’s vineyard especially here in Africa. I remember my first attraction to the African mission. It was the time when I was discerning what to do with my life. I was still a primary school teacher when I saw a poster of African children. Some of the children looked sickly and really needed help. I felt pity for them. The caption on the poster caught my attention. It said, “You want to help them but you feel so small that you don’t know how? Then join us and we shall do it together!” And I did.

The first part of the gospel today speaks about Jesus feeling pity for the people of God because they are like sheep without a shepherd, and then he asks his disciples to pray that the master of the harvest will send out laborers for his harvest. This is also how the Lord called me. He made me see the need. He moved my heart with pity. He asked me to pray for laborers in his vineyard. And then he called me to be one of them. How about you?

  • Fr. Ariel Tampus, SVD (Botswana, Africa)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

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  5. November 30, 2015 Monday
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