Mother of God. Christmas celebrates the incarnation of God becomes Man.  As the Catholic Church celebrates the Octave of Christmas solemnly for eight days, the concluding day on January 1st is the Solemnity of Mary the Holy Mother of God.       We see the expression of Mary as the Mother of the Lord, of God, in the New Testament. St. Elizabeth, then over six months’ pregnant with St. John the Baptist, greets the Blessed Virgin Mary, then early in her pregnancy with Jesus, saying, “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43.) We know from the Old Testament that the Hebrews and their descendants would not pronounce out loud the Divine Name (transliterated as YHWH) but would instead speak out loud “the Lord.” Even in almost all English Bibles, “the Lord” (usually written with all caps) is printed instead of the Divine Name used in the original text. Here Elizabeth specifies, "my Lord,” clearly denoting God. “Mother of m...

(5) Temple Prophecy, Foreign Kings, Herod's Rage. Later, 4 BC … The shepherd Samuel was back at his home in Hebron so I had a chance to visit with him and get the latest. They named Mary’s Baby, “Jesus” [Yeshua, Joshua, “the Lord saves”] ( Lk 2:21 ). I asked Samuel about the welfare of the little family – oh!, this winter has been so cold! His shepherd partner, Elijah, it turns out knew many people in Bethlehem, and a widow he knew gave the family a welcome in her home (cf., Mt 2:11 ). Oh, I couldn’t imagine a young woman giving birth in a stable and using a feed trough for the baby’s cradle! Ugg! ( Lk 2:7 , 12 , 16 .)  “But wait until you hear this!” Samuel said excitedly. “The Lord spoke again through prophets!” It seems Samuel was at the Temple in Jerusalem when Mary came for her purification and Jesus’ presentation as the firstborn male. ( Lk 2:22-24 .) Old Simeon was there. I met Simeon years ago – amazing he could still be alive – but, oh!, that’s right! He always said he...

(4) The Shepherds. The narrator, back home in Hebron now, Winter of 5-4 BC, and is telling his neighbors the story ..... How amazing! Amazing! Amazing! Yes, Samuel – you know the shepherd here in Hebron – he was there! He saw it all! Remember Elizabeth’s cousin Mary who was here last Spring helping them out when baby John was born? She is the mother! Samuel saw her, her husband Joseph, and the Baby! We were coming on the road home from the census and ran into Samuel and he told us the whole story! Ok, yes, yes, I’ll start from the beginning.  Samuel was with about a dozen shepherds and one of them, Elijah, had been with his flock earlier in the day when he said Mary – very much expecting! – and Joseph, her husband, came along the road. Elijah let their donkey pasture and got fresh milk from his ewes for Mary. When he learned they were going to Bethlehem for the census, he told them how crowded it was. But in case they can’t find shelter, he told them about the caves used as sta...

(3) Letter from Hebron.       Continuing our imagination of how God’s preparation for the coming of His Messiah might have been experienced at the time, we imagine another letter sent in the Fall of perhaps 5 BC....       Dear Friend, good to hear from you! Yes, indeed, I got word of the census also. Enrollment for a loyalty pledge to Rome. What next?! I was hoping that Herod’s moratorium on Caesar’s enrollment would be extended longer – two years was hardly enough! Herod’s paranoia hasn’t cooled. First he executes his wife, and two years ago their two sons. Good grief! Who will be the next victims of his paranoia?!       So now Rome appoints Varus as governor, but he can’t arrive for some time, and we have this temporary guy, Quirinius. Do you know anything about him? I guess he’s doing Rome’s bidding. Herod’s bound to be doubly paranoid now. Plus with the massive movements of people returning to their ances...

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 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...