Homily on “The Gift of Jesus in the Ordinariness of Our Lives”

4th Sunday of Advent,  Is 7:10-14,  Rm 1:1-7,  Mt 1:18-24    “A”  12/22/2013

I   Introduction      “Can anything good come from Nazareth?’  This was the nagging question thrown at us “unbelievers” who couldn’t imagine a “home-towner” born to lowly parents, a carpenter and a young Jewish girl, could be trusted to bring change to the world and lead us to God’s Kingdom.  “Incredibly Preposterous!” would have been a justifiable reaction.  

It was the same question posed by Nathaniel to Philip when he talked about Jesus as “the One about what Moses (and also the prophets) wrote in the law.” (Jn 1:45-46)  Philip after realizing Nathaniel’s sarcastic reaction, replied with a challenge, ‘Come and see’, meaning “Come and see for yourself.’  This is the challenge that Philip is actually throwing at all of us now, in the 4th and last Sunday of Advent, when the truth of God in Jesus Christ is to unfold and be revealed in his birth, 3 days from today.   So what do we come and see for ourselves, in the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ?

Do we see how an unknown town of Bethlehem in Nazareth was chosen as Jesus’ place of birth?  Or why a little, young Jewish girl, barely 14 years old named Mary said “Yes” to giving  birth to the Son of God from her virgin womb?  Then also, why a manger in a cave; far from the glitzy lights and glamour of City life, in the dark of the night and not in a well-furnished hospital or a well-lit inn?  And aside from Mary and Joseph, why was the birth of the Son of God witnessed only by farm animals and by the shepherds who were tending their flock and then followed the “the Star of Bethlehem, to pay homage to the King of Kings, as did the Wise Men - the Magis.  Then why did Joseph, a modest carpenter betrothed to Mary, accept the angel’s message of taking Mary into his home as his wife, even if she was with child?

What we do see for ourselves makes us more skeptical so that more questions need to be answered.  Did God commit an inglorious oversight of choosing all these ordinary people in an unknown and  seemingly forsaken little place to pave the way for the birth of the Messiah, the Son of God?

II    The Gift of Jesus’s Birth in Our Lives        Or, do we need to look at the BIG picture in this manner?  That God is the Lord of History and what has happened more than 2000 years ago was no mistake at all.  God is no longer a distant God, for God in Christ Jesus has come to us in the ordinariness of our lives, the closest that he could ever be – by being with us in our poverty, in our families in need, in our daily struggles and challenges, in our careers, in our successes and failures, in our joys and in our pains, in feast or in famine.  He came literally and physically to be one of us, in everything else except in sin.

Our ordinariness is what especially appeals to God.  He wants to be loved by ordinary men and women, for the unworthy like you and me.  Take the Blessed Mother for instance.  She was a simple Jewish girl who was young and innocent but was open to hear God’s message.  Humble to consider herself a handmaid of the Lord, her simplicity and humility found great favor with the Lord. 

Joseph, on the other hand, was also a humble and hard working person.  He was betrothed to Mary (husband and wife without living together) and was willing to divorce her to spare her life.  For a woman betrothed to a man, who is with child that is not his, was committing adultery under Jewish laws which

                                                                                                                                                         Page 2 of 2                                                                                                

was punishable by death, being stoned to death.  Until the angel of the Lord in the 2nd annunciation story of Matthew’s Gospel of today, appeared to him and told him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home as his wife, because she has conceived this child through the power of the Holy Spirit and will give birth to the Son of God.  And Joseph did as he was told.

III    The Message of Christmas        In our lives, we at times receive unexpected news and are being challenged to embrace this, for it is during these circumstances that we encounter the Lord.  Like Joseph, we can become fearful when our laid-out plans are being changed.  We have to learn to be still and listen to the soft voice of our Savior.

During this advent season, a time of expectation and of awaiting the remarkable, we learn to be patient, to persevere through prayer and fasting. for without our being aware of it, God in Jesus Christ will be born daily in our lives so that no matter what the circumstances we find ourselves in, our lives are filled with hope and joy because we know that God lives among and within us.

God promised that a child will be born whose life will show us that He, God, is with us.  The promise was fulfilled and our horizon was completely changed.  We now have a God who led and had lived with ordinary people.  So when we look at our lives and feel that we do not amount to anything, then we can look at Mary and Joseph and know that we can also be instruments of God’s Divine Love.

Therefore, the message of Christmas is a message that tells us that God wants to be loved by us in our ordinariness with all our frailties and vulnerabilities.  God even sent his only begotten Son to suffer and die on the cross.  He was treated like an ordinary criminal stripped of all respect and dignity.  The story of Christmas gives special meaning to what is ordinary and unspectacular - a simple Jewish girl, a carpenter for a foster father, a little town of Bethlehem in Nazareth, a baby boy born in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes witnessed by shepherds and farm animals.  All very ordinary and non-spectacular!  What makes it meaningful and special is that this is our story too.

V    Conclusion        So brothers and sisters,  Christmas indeed celebrates the meeting of the divine and the human, of heaven touching earth, of God embracing us and we embracing God.  The Christ Child born in the manger brings us tidings of great joy. He came to heal the broken hearted, to feed the hungry, to find the lost, to bring light to the darkened world and to bring hope and love in our hearts.  If the Christ-child born in the stable is not born in our hearts, then Christmas becomes useless.  

And so, may we love the Lord God in the everyday and regular things we do.  May we accept ourselves and others for what we are and what God has intended for us to be.  The Kingdom of God, as Jesus said, is at hand.  So let us come and see it for ourselves that indeed, something good has come out of Nazareth.  For with the Christ Child born in our hearts, we are not far from the Kingdom of God.  In fact, the God in Jesus Christ, is here with us.  May the peace and joy of the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and your family always.  Amen.

Deacon Donnie Geaga        St. Peter & St. Paul Parish, Alta Loma,       Diocese of San Bernardino

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ, 

Deacon Donnie Geaga from the San Bernardino Filipino Cursillo Movement has kindly shared his homily for today’s Mass on the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and also a talk titled, “Portrait of a Servant”, that he gave at a retreat for leaders in Filipino Ministry in the Diocese of San Bernardino.  As usual, his talks are thoughtfully written, insightful, and well worth reading by all in our Cursillo communities.  You will find them attached to this email.  Please feel free to forward them to your family and friends.  Thank you, Deacon Donnie, for sharing them with us.

Congratulations and thank you to the members of the San Francisco Filipino Cursillo Movement who collected $1,010 during their November 23, 2013 Ultreya to be sent to Catholic Relief Services to aid our brethren in the Philippines who were devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.    While they are no longer in the news, medical aid and reconstruction efforts will be a long-term project.  Please keep the typhoon victims in your prayers and remember to provide them with financial and material support throughout the coming new year.

 
Homily on Repentance for Our Advent Preparation

Sunday of Advent, “A”, Is 11:1-10, Rm15:4-9, Mt 3:1-12 12.08.2013


I  Introduction  Today is the second Sunday of Advent and we are about 2 ½ weeks from Christmas, the birth of Our Lord Jesus. But first, let us focus on the word “Advent”. What does “Advent” really mean to each one of us? How does it help us prepare for the coming of Christ?

Advent is a time of eager anticipation. We are awaiting and preparing for the arrival of Jesus not only in our families and communities, but also more importantly, in our hearts. However, nowadays, this is the hardest thing to do. There is so much urgency even in the little and non-essential things in our lives. We all dread waiting- we hate waiting in lines in the grocery, in the malls, and absolutely hate waiting for the red light to change to green. We get impatient when our children do not get it, when our co-workers cannot get the work done in our time. We are frustrated when a loved one is not healed of their illness and we even get impatient with God when our personal petitions are not answered as soon as we verbalize it to Him . We just do not have the time to wait. This is the road that is least travelled.


II The Need for Repentance     In today’s Gospel of Matthew – John the Baptist is challenging us to change our ways. He challenged the people to go down to the river Jordan, to repent for their sins and be baptized by immersing them in the waters of the river Jordan. Water was so significant during the time of the old testament, years before the time of Christ . If you remember in the Old Testament, Naaman was cured of his leprosy by being immersed in the waters of the river Jordan seven times. The Israelites were saved from the onslaught of the Egyptian army when Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea and the people were freed from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

In this gospel however, John was not baptizing Gentiles who were converting to Judaism rather he was baptizing the Jews. So he was telling them that being a Jew and claiming that they are descendants of Abraham, is not enough. They had to be completely purified again by the water if they are to enjoy the redemption being offered by God. 

All this work for God in the desert and around the River Jordan made John the Baptist popular and the most sought-after preacher of God. But he did not take advantage of his popularity, nor did he attempt to mislead the people. By their confessing their sins and being baptized into God’s life and grace, he was actually preparing them to be ready to commune with someone who was greater than him who was yet to come. He was humble enough to admit that he was not worthy to even untie the thongs of his sandal. And we all know that that someone is Jesus Christ himself. So today, he is reminding us that being just a Christian is not enough. We need to be baptized or cleansed by the waters of repentance and repentance needs a total change of mind and heart and turning our lives over to God.


III What Christmas is really all about        This season of Advent which is preparing for the arrival of Christ, is more than just putting up the lights and getting all our presents wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. Most if not all of us, were caught in the frenzy of the Black Friday/Thursday Sales - madness. Malls and shops creatively lured the buying public with their hard-to-resist discount sales. Christmas songs fill the air waves, home and office parties are arranged, home-made delicacies prepared and thoughts of time together with family and loved ones fill our hopes and imagination. All of these are good, bringing us closer to one another.

But in all this mad frenzy, aren’t we forgetting something or someone who is actually celebrating his birthday which is the “reason for the season”? Do we need to be reminded, as John the Baptist did, of the gifts that we can offer to the birth celebrant himself-Jesus Christ?
My dear friends, the greatest gift or gifts that we can offer to Him is the gift of ourselves and
the gift of our time with Him and how we can share our stories of Him with others.

Therefore, this is the season of cleansing and purifying our lives so that when Christ comes, our hearts are worthy and ready for Him to dwell in us. The first coming of Christ in Christmas has a lot of lessons for us. Christ did not choose recognition and adulation for His birth. Rather, He chose silence and poverty. He chose a cave and a manger as his place of birth, far from the glare of city lights. His birth was announced to poor shepherds in the hills, not to kings . The word incarnate- the second person of the Holy Trinity, chose to be laid in the manger of poor repentant hearts who prepared for His coming. This, is the message of John the Baptist.


IV Conclusion     Brothers and Sisters, may this be our prayer for Advent: “Lord, we thank you for the
John the Baptist that spoke to us and is still speaking to us in our wilderness so that we may
rethink and re-evaluate our lives so that it reflects the life that You intended it to be. Lord, we thank you for those who bring the gospel message- which is the message of hope and joy which the birth of Jesus brings. Thank you for making us people of Hope.

Lord, thank you for sending us people like Nelson Mandela and Pope Francis I- people who have worked and are working tirelessly for reconciliation and forgiveness so that peoples’ lives are transformed that they become agents of change in their environment.

But most of all Lord, thank you for loving us and forgiving us, even when we are so unworthy to be loved and forgiven. You never tire of waiting for us - to receive you in our hearts and in our lives. In the precious name of your son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray . Amen”.