God's Idea

They went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity...
Lk.2:39,40

After hearing the amazing prophecies of Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary take their baby back to ordinary but also amazing life in Nazareth. What was their assignment? To have Jesus mature in a home of love.

I've had a type of epiphany this Christmas. On Christmas Day our parish priest described Mary and Joseph as a couple deeply in love. They held hands. They had eyes for each other as well as their baby. 

In the past I've beheld the Nativity with Joseph being Joseph and Mary being Mary, not as a loving couple. They would have felt a profound, grounding connection, prioritizing each other's happiness, sharing vulnerability, moving beyond initial "falling in love". The other's joy became as vital as their own.

With this new vision of Mary and Joseph's love for each other, it made sense to me that God would choose no lesser environment in which to have his son nurtured. Also, this elevates marriage to the sacrament it is. 

Mum and Dad raising children is God's idea. I best give my all to it and support it in others. 

Mary and Joseph, please pray for us.

He Saw and He Believed.

Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
Jn.20:8

John the Apostle writes of the moment he came to fully believe that Jesus was all who he said he was. What was the final convincing evidence? The empty tomb.

John lived with Jesus for three years, heard his teaching, witnessed the miracles, but it was the absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, that convinced him that Jesus was God. 

The awe and wonder I have for Christmas is only possible because of Easter. Like John, it's the empty tomb that reveals to me who the baby in the manger really is. 

Jesus is God! O come let us adore him...

Saint John the Apostle, please pray for us.

Endure to the End

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Mt.10:22

Jesus warns his Apostles, and us, that being a follower will attract discrimination and hardship. So why follow him? The only honest answer I have... to be saved.

Being a Christian is no picnic in the park. Yes it's exciting, fulfilling, full of joy and hope, but a cakewalk? No.

Jesus says very clearly that being a follower of him requires endurance. This implies withstanding challenges or continuing to thrive despite them, as in "a love that endures" or "to endure a long delay". 

The saints are wonderful examples of what living with endurance to the end can look like, as with Saint Stephen. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and gazed into heaven seeing the glory of God! 

I can recall my life without Jesus. I was simply existing. Give me enduring any day!

Saint Stephen, please pray for us.

A Father's Blessing

And you, little child,
you shall be called Prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare the way for him.
Lk.1:76

Zechariah's canticle includes a prophetic blessing over his newborn son John. Preparing the way during Advent includes the hearts of fathers being turned to their children. Here Zechariah shows what that can look like. 

I grab any occasion I can to speak blessing over my children. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, family gatherings. When these opportunities arise, if I don't seize them they pass, never to be reclaimed. 

I remember on my son's thirteenth birthday, with extended family gathered, I made a "bar mitzvah" type speech with Matthew standing beside me. He initially felt awkward, but I saw his head lift up and chest expand as I spoke of how proud I was of him as he grows into manhood and how wonderful the plans are that God has for him.

A father's blessing is powerful.

A Yes Man

‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ 
Lk.1:38

Mary says yes and POW... the Word becomes flesh.

I am constantly amazed at the power of a "Yes". The other week I was approached to be the Archangel Gabrielle in a nativity play at our local Cathedral. I wanted to say no but was stunned when I heard myself say yes. The resulting pantomime was so much fun. I felt blessed to be a part of it.

Lord, let me be a "Yes Man", in the best sense of the phrase. 

Mumma Mary, Handmaid of the Lord, please pray for me.

Further Up and Further In!

He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
Lk.1:17

John the Baptist's prophetic role was to prepare the way for God by calling people to change. He cries out to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, the disobedient to wisdom, the unprepared to readiness. The status quo is not enough.

What held back my surrender to Jesus for years was a fear of change. I thought I was going to lose fullness of life and freedom. I was shocked to find when I made my step of faith, fullness of life and freedom were the very things I gained. 

John's cry in the wilderness continues to call me to change. The more I discover, the more I learn there's so much more to discover. Everything becomes grander and more beautiful the closer I get to God. 

As Jewel the Unicorn cries out in C.S. Lewis' book THE LAST BATTLE, "Further up and further in!"

John the Baptist, please pray for me.

A Man of Honour

Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour...
Mt.1:19

On first learning that Mary is pregnant, Joseph reveals why he was called to be the foster father of Jesus. He was a man of honour.

For such a pivotal person in God's plan for redeeming the world, it is surprising how little is said of Joseph in scripture. Yet, much can be learned of his character from the woman he married and the son he raised. Maybe in this context, "a man of honour" says it all.

 Oh that I could be worthy of those four words on my tombstone. 

Saint Joseph, please pray for me.