Thank you for joining us this Advent season as we prepare our hearts and homes for the birth of the Messiah. These reflections, brought to you by author and theologian John Shea, will invite you to grow deeper in your prayer life during the busy Christmas season. This weekly Gospel reflection series will be centered around the themes of Advent: waiting, preparing, and celebrating.
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Jump to: First Sunday of Advent | Second Sunday of Advent | Third Sunday of Advent | Fourth Sunday of Advent
Christmas Day
Gospel – John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision
but of God.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
John testified to him and cried out, saying,
“This was he of whom I said,
‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’”
From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side,
has revealed him.
Reflection: Greater Than The Darkness
The Gospel for Christmas Day is a theological reflection on the birth and life of Jesus. (Jn. 1:1-18) The birth of Jesus is the Word Made Flesh whose purpose is to empower “children of God who are born not of blood, nor natural desire, nor the will of man, but of God.”
We are more than we know. We are empowered by the Word, and the Word is “life, a life that shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.”
This is the essence of the Good News and our Christmas trees want to communicate it.
The darkness of December can take its toll and strengthen what afflicts us.
But our Christmas trees push back. Their branches are full, leafy, strung with lights. The brightness is defiant.
We want a perfect world. But that is not what we always get.
We may experience catastrophic weather, pandemic, threatened health, overstressed work, dipping finances, struggling relationships, gratuitous violence, unrelenting conflicts, destructive wealth discrepancies, and a society and world either slightly or wildly insane.
These afflictions may even trigger depression.
But our Christmas trees glow. Their lights whisper: “Give all the things that afflict you their due, but do not give them your soul. You are greater than the surrounding darkness.”
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.”
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Gospel – Matthew 1: 18-24
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
Reflection: Naming the Child
In the gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Mt. 1:18-24) an angel tells Joseph to name Mary’s child “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Then the Gospel comments, prophecy says to name the child “Emmanuel”, which means “God is with us.”
Both names foretell the future. They point to the identity and mission of the man Jesus. He understands himself as the Beloved Son of God (“Emmanuel”) who will reveal to people that they are the beloved sons and daughters of God (“Salvation”).
In this way, he will save them from their sinful identities as alienated from God by being God with them. The meaning of the names “Emmanuel” and “Jesus” join forces.
When the child grows up, he will do whatever it takes to bring people into this truth about themselves. It may take forgiveness. It may take theological argument. It may take sharing meals. It may take confronting the powerful. It may take healing the sick. It may take embracing the poor. It may take parable after parable. It may take prayer on a mountain. It may take training disciples. It may take dying and rising.
Most likely, it will always take persistence and patient waiting.
There is a lot in us that resists the spiritual truth that we are loved by God. In one way or another we have been taught the opposite. We cling to these negative or neutral appraisals and scramble around human existence without ultimate purpose. We always sense something is missing.
What is missing has arrived.
This Gospel tells us a spiritually conceived child who is given the names of “Jesus” (salvation) and “Emmanuel” (God with us) is born to us.
How can we not follow him?
Third Sunday of Advent
Gospel – Matthew 11: 2-11
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
“Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,
“What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Reflection: What Are We Looking For?
In the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent, the disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus with a question from the Baptist, who is in prison, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?”
Jesus doesn’t answer.
Instead, he points to what is happening. “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news brought to them.”
If you are looking for inclusion, Jesus is the one. The blind, lame, lepers, deaf, dead, and poor are usually excluded, pushed to the side, dismissed, not thought to be worthy of attention. But for Jesus they are the center of his mission.
If you are looking for wholeness, Jesus is the one. These diminished folks are brought to a fullness they have lost or not previously known. Humanity is more complete and better. A community of universal dignity is being formed. People are loving their neighbors as themselves.
What Jesus does scrutinizes us. We have to look inside ourselves to see what we are looking for. When we do, we may not find yearnings for inclusion and wholeness. We may find desires of self-importance, security, and power.
“What are we looking for?” is a searching question.
But also, something else may happen. No matter what we find in our introspection, the actual arrival of what Jesus does may bring a shocking revelation. When we see and hear the healings Jesus pointed to, we may realize this is what we were looking for all along. But we only came to know it when it arrived.
This is how discipleship begins and develops. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves; and we come to know ourselves through following him.
What are we looking for?
Second Sunday of Advent
Gospel – Matthew 3:1-12
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.”
Reflection: Real Repenting
In the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist urges repentance as the way to welcome the “near” Kingdom of Heaven.
This repentance is for everyone. John the Baptist confronts those who think repentance does not apply to them. “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor.’” Nobody is off the hook.
This repentance also must be genuine. John the Baptist criticizes those who only feign repentance as a way to avoid any future judgment that might come with the Kingdom of Heaven (“You brood of vipers, who warned you to fear the wrath to come?”). Pretending repentance for personal gain won’t work
Real repenting is to “bear fruit worthy of repentance.”
But what does that mean?
Repentance is spurred by the “nearness” of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is love of God and love of neighbor and all the values and behaviors that come with these loves. But when people envision this Kingdom life and look at themselves, they see discrepancies.
This is the case with us too. Something inside us moves toward these discrepancies, toward the Kingdom possibility that calls to us. We want to change.
Repentance comes from a deep recognition of who we are and what we want. How can we be better than we are? This is where the drive to repent comes from. The result is “fruit worthy of repentance.”
So repentance should not be seen as negative. It is not merely a criticism of who we are, something that entails breast-beating and sackcloth and ashes and makes us feel bad about ourselves.
Rather it is an essential activity of our Kingdom identity and mission. We believe in something greater than we are. So we are always evaluating and changing to respond to it.
Real repenting is the companion of real faith.
First Sunday of Advent
Gospel – Matthew 24:37-44
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Reflection: Keep Awake
In the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent (Mt. 24:36-44), there is a strong pitch to stay awake in the midst of ordinary life. Something disruptive is going to happen while people are “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage … while men are working in the field and women are grinding meal.”
No one knows exactly what will happen. Some think it will be a calamitous end of the world with Jesus, the Son of Man, judging the living and the dead.
Over the centuries others have switched to milder expectations. They think as we go about our day-in-day-out lives something is going to happen that invites us into a deeper spiritual consciousness. Given the Christmas season of grace, this has been known to happen.
People tell of awakening experiences of love and gratitude. It may happen at a family or friend gathering, on opening or giving a gift, in putting up or just enjoying Christmas decorations, at a religious service, at a concert or play, while meditating on a Christmas poem or text, or just sitting in the quiet of an evening when a Christmas memory arrives and embraces us in love and tears.
This is how Spirit works. It always wants to illumine our minds, inspire our wills, relax our bodies, and gladden our hearts. Its agenda is our fulfillment. Although the exact nature and time of these experiences are not predictable, it seems the secret energy of Spirit is particularly active during the Advent/Christmas season.
So we must stay awake, ready to receive what will arrive. There are many practices to help us do this. But a start is to simply keep in mind: through all the hullabaloo of the season, Spirit is seeking us.
The grace of Christmas is on the make.
