Virgin Birth       Christmas celebrates the miraculous birth of Christ Jesus our Lord over two millennia ago. Miraculous meaning not in the ordinary course of nature. As the angel Gabriel told Mary, “With God, nothing will be impossible” ( Lk 1:37 ). Jesus puts that truth this way: “What is impossible with men [humanity] is possible with God” ( Lk 18:27 ; cf.. Mt 19:26 ; Mk 10:27 ).       Last week we discussed Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [Emmanuel]” ( Is 7:14 ). The Hebrew word translated “virgin” here is “ almah ,” which can mean “virgin” or “young woman,” and virginity was expected of every young woman. There is a separate word, “ bethulah ,” that means a virgin specifically, and the two terms can be used interchangeably as with Rebekah ( Gen 24:16, 43 ).       The Greek Septuagint translation (3rd Century ...

The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 2       Last week we began discussion of Jesus’ command to the Apostles to baptize, given during the forty days between His Resurrection and Ascension. An observant person may have asked, Why does Jesus command to baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:20), and yet at Pentecost Peter said to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ (Ac 2:38)?       There are at least two answers. First, any time Jesus Christ is mentioned in the New Testament, as Son of God He is always in reference to the Father; and in the context of baptism, Peter here, and the New Testament elsewhere, speaks of the Holy Spirit given in baptism. Therefore, one can truly say that to baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ is to reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Perhaps for this reason, or because of the clarity of Jesus’ command, the early Church records that the words spoken while administering baptism ...

The Gospel of the Forty Days: Jesus is LORD!       Elements of Judaism historically, and orthodox Judaism today, believe that God gave both a written Torah and an oral Torah to Moses, His chosen messenger, during the forty days Moses was on Mount Sinai. A First Century Jew reading from the beginning of the book of the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus “had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen,” and “during forty days” was “speaking of the Kingdom of God” (Ac 1:2-3), could not help but see parallels to Moses on Mount Sinai: forty days, chosen messenger(s), giving commandment/Torah and teachings/oral Torah. And, of course, there is the parallel of God and Jesus. So now, exactly who is Jesus?       St. Luke tells us in his Gospel that at Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven, all those who were there “worshiped Him” (Lk 24:52). Everyone knows worship is due to God alone (Ex 20:3; Deut 5:7, 6:5). The Shema  – “Hea...

The Transfiguration        This Sunday is the Second Sunday of Lent in which we read the Gospel of Jesus’ Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-9). It probably occurred around February 29 AD. Use your imagination to picture the scene:   It is early morning. Perhaps Spring was early that year. Jesus and all His disciples are coming from northern Galilee, heading south towards Mt. Tabor which is southeast of Nazareth. At the foot of Mt. Tabor, Jesus says that Peter, James, and John will go with Him, and He sends the rest of the disciples along the roads to preach the Good News.       Peter, being the oldest, is out of breath much more quickly than young John, James, or Jesus, then maybe 32. Jesus says to them to rest in the shade and goes over to a large rock at the summit of the mountain to pray. The warmth and exertion soon have Peter, James, and John cat-napping in the sunshine. Suddenly they are roused by a brilliancy that is so striking that it...

The Two Waits of Advent        Advent is a time of waiting. While we wait for the coming of Christ, the Church reads from the prophet Isaiah during Advent as the clearest prophetic expression of Christ. Isaiah 30:18 has an interesting take on this waiting. It says: “Blessed are all those who wait for” the Lord, which we hear often from many passages in Scripture. But this verse actually begins by saying an astonishing thing: “The Lord waits to be gracious to you.” We wait for the Lord; but first the Lord is waiting for us so that He might shower us with grace. Part of our Advent reflection, then, is: how open, receptive, and available are we to this God of grace who is waiting for us?       The Christmas and New Year’s schedule for Our Lady of Lourdes Church is as follows:       This Saturday, Dec. 21, our Pastor, as Vicar of the High Desert Region, must be in Fresno for a priestly ordination, and therefore ther...