Tag Archives: reflection

ADVENT 2012: Reflection for Christmas Eve, December 24

Posted on December 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

By Sr. Jamie Phelps

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 | Luke 1:67-79

On this eve of Christmas, the seventh chapter of Second Samuel and the first chapter of Luke remind us of God’s gratuitous love. During the whole history of Israel, God’s love was so unlimited that no matter how many times the Israelites broke their covenant with God, God continued to rescue them from their own self-destruction and the threat of their enemies. In Second Samuel, King David has ascended the throne and is enjoying a time of peace. Grateful to God, he proposes building a temple to honor God. Once again God’s altruism is revealed: God instead will continue to protect and “will establish a house” for David (2 Samuel 7:11). This house will be a long line of leaders of the house of David, ending finally with the birth of Jesus, the King of Kings whose reign will never end.

In Luke, Zechariah’s canticle celebrates the long history of God’s fidelity to God’s covenant with Israel and the promise to liberate the Israelites from their enemies and “all who hate” them (Luke 1:71). God’s promised liberation frees people to “worship without fear, and live holy and righteous lives all the days of [their] lives” (Luke 1:74-75). Love motivates God to send John the Baptist as a prophet who “will go before to prepare the Savior’s way, to give God’s people knowledge of salvation” (Luke 1:17). Love motivates God to “forgive their sins.” Love and compassion motivate God to send Jesus to guide the Israelites and us away from a culture of death and to embrace a culture of life.

Prayer: O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light and justice, come and shine on those who dwell in the ignorance of sin and the shadows of death. Come, Jesus, come, and teach us your way of gratuitous love and forgiveness. Come, Jesus, come, that we might live in the fullness of life.

This reflection is from Be Watchful and Alert – Seek God’s Spirit in Our World: Reflections for Advent 2008. Jamie T. Phelps, OP, Ph.D is a theologian, author and Director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies of Xavier University of Louisiana.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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ADVENT 2012: Reflection for Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 23

Posted on December 22, 2012 | Comments Off

By Doris Donnelly

“Repositioning”

Micah 5:1-4a | Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 | Hebrews 10:5-10 | Luke 1:39-45

The fourth week of Advent functions as a Grand Pause and returns us to the early days of Mary’s pregnancy. The altered time sequence moves us back, in the closing days of this season, to a more contemplative way of being, to roots, to silence, to mystery–all of which have a way of getting sidetracked in the frenzy of preparations for the celebration. The fourth Sunday says–again and more emphatically–Be still. Let what is about to happen sink in.

Be still enough to listen to the story as if for the first time. Mary and Elizabeth recognize that Yahweh’s promise for each of them has borne fruit. In the excitement, the unborn John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb. Curiously, the word used in scripture to designate the leaping means “an exultant delight in the liberating God.”

The leap of joy in Elizabeth’s womb may be a conventional and even accidental biological response of the shifting of weight in utero; it may be the result of the bonding of Mary and Elizabeth and her unborn; or it could even be more than these things. Maybe it had something to do with an infusion of the Spirit of God who filled them and allowed them to experience a moment pregnant with hope and possibilities for liberation.

Mary’s “yes” changed the course of human history. Like hers, our “yes” is asked for. Christ will not be born again without our consent. The Christian assembly is given yet another opportunity in this last quiet catch-up week to join in stillness and wonder as the mystery of God’s coming draws to climax. “Blessed is the one who trusts that God’s words will be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45). For all of us, the moment of redemption is at hand.

Reflection: When have you experienced a moment “pregnant with hope and possibilities for liberation”? Describe. What possibilities for liberation exist today?

We are called to be still, to contemplate the Christmas story with a new heart…and to say “yes,” so that God’s word can be fulfilled in us. Sit silently; say the word “yes.” How did you feel? Does anything prevent you from giving all?

This reflection is from The Birthing of Justice: Advent 1988. Doris Donnelly is a theologian, author and former member of the Pax Christi USA National Council.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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ADVENT 2012: Reflection for Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 23

Posted on December 18, 2012 | 1 Comment

By Doris Donnelly

“Repositioning”

Micah 5:1-4a | Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 | Hebrews 10:5-10 | Luke 1:39-45

The fourth week of Advent functions as a Grand Pause and returns us to the early days of Mary’s pregnancy. The altered time sequence moves us back, in the closing days of this season, to a more contemplative way of being, to roots, to silence, to mystery–all of which have a way of getting sidetracked in the frenzy of preparations for the celebration. The fourth Sunday says–again and more emphatically–Be still. Let what is about to happen sink in.

Be still enough to listen to the story as if for the first time. Mary and Elizabeth recognize that Yahweh’s promise for each of them has borne fruit. In the excitement, the unborn John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb. Curiously, the word used in scripture to designate the leaping means “an exultant delight in the liberating God.”

The leap of joy in Elizabeth’s womb may be a conventional and even accidental biological response of the shifting of weight in utero; it may be the result of the bonding of Mary and Elizabeth and her unborn; or it could even be more than these things. Maybe it had something to do with an infusion of the Spirit of God who filled them and allowed them to experience a moment pregnant with hope and possibilities for liberation.

Mary’s “yes” changed the course of human history. Like hers, our “yes” is asked for. Christ will not be born again without our consent. The Christian assembly is given yet another opportunity in this last quiet catch-up week to join in stillness and wonder as the mystery of God’s coming draws to climax. “Blessed is the one who trusts that God’s words will be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45). For all of us, the moment of redemption is at hand.

Reflection: When have you experienced a moment “pregnant with hope and possibilities for liberation”? Describe. What possibilities for liberation exist today?

We are called to be still, to contemplate the Christmas story with a new heart…and to say “yes,” so that God’s word can be fulfilled in us. Sit silently; say the word “yes.” How did you feel? Does anything prevent you from giving all?

This reflection is from The Birthing of Justice: Advent 1988. Doris Donnelly is a theologian, author and former member of the Pax Christi USA National Council.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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ADVENT 2012: Reflection for Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 16

Posted on December 15, 2012 | 1 Comment

By Mary Jo Iozzio

Justice shall flourish in those days and fullness of peace forever

Zephaniah 3:14-18a | Isaiah 12:1-6 | Philippians 4:4-7 | Luke 3:10-18

“Exhorting them in many other ways, [John] preached good news to the people” (Luke 3:18)

Only last Sunday our readings directed us to the “voice crying out in the desert” (Luke 3:4). Yesterday too we heard Jesus confirming John in the line of the great prophets of Israel. And now we are reminded once more to do justice, to love mightily, to know our place before others and God.

Today the presider wears rose, we light the rose candle of the Advent Wreath, and we break into song: “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! . . . your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior.” The good news that John, the prophets, and psalmists preach is Emmanuel, God-with-us. Our joy, symbolized with a simple color of rose, anticipates the Incarnation made complete by the Nativity of our Savior and the Epiphany of God for us to all the world.

Uncover the scriptures for more. Zephaniah prophesied in the period between the fall of Samaria (the capital of Israel) and the fall of Jerusalem (the capital of Judah). Under the oppression of Assyria and then Babylonia, the people feared what imperial policies and their enforcement might impose. But Isaiah, whose words form our responsorial psalm and who himself experienced the insecurities of Samaria’s fall and expedient political maneuvers with subsequent occupational forces, reassures them: “With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). Fears will be relieved and oppressions lifted.

How are we to understand God’s desire to be near us? For a time we saw only through a glass darkly; now our vision is cleared with the lights of baptism, a rose-colored candle, the ever-present dayspring. Though he existed before the earth and the stars were made, the Word Incarnate did not count equality with God a privilege; rather, Jesus emptied himself of that divine status to be more than near: to be one with us, gather us, renew us in love and life. Good news indeed!

Rejoice, then, for God is with us—not just with the people who do what John and the prophets enjoin; no, God is with those who do and those who fail to do what justice, love, and humility require—with all peoples and with all of creation. God is with us: yesterday, today, and forever. How is it possible to not exult?

Reflection: As the prophets remind us to rejoice in season and out, what word or deed of joyful hope will you bring to those who are weary and in distress? What justice needs to be done for peace in your hometown?

If you are among the privileged (financially secure, well-educated, and unsuspicious), examine how that privilege is unearned and thereby illegitimate. How will you keep the exercise of the power that comes with privilege in check as you manage the remainder of this season?

If you are not among the privileged, if you are among those who people with privilege generically fear, examine how you have internalized that fear and other suspicions that a dominant power has imposed on you. How will you undo your own self-doubt?

This reflection is from Voices of Hope, Women of Wisdom: Reflections for Advent 2012. This booklet is available and can be ordered online here. Mary Jo Iozzio is Professor of Moral Theology at Barry University in Miami and has been a member of the Pax Christi USA Anti-Racism Team since 2004.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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ADVENT 2012: Reflection for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12

Posted on December 11, 2012 | 6 Comments

By Sr. Esther Pineda, CSJ

Zechariah 2:14-17 (or Revelations 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab) | Judith 13:18bcde, 19 | Luke 1:39-47 (or Luke 1:26-38)

Virgen_de_guadalupe1The message of Our Lady of Guadalupe is for the restoration of justice. She highlights the need to be present to those who are poor, to those devastated by war, to those whose voices have been silenced by the pillage of conquest, to those who are rendered invisible by social and political structures. Through Juan Diego, now St. Juan Diego—he was canonized August 2002—she becomes the visible love of God. She is God’s action on behalf of those who are poor. Our Lady of Guadalupe gathers the people and restores their sense of dignity and self-worth, reveals to them that they are both loved and loving and reveals to them the unconditional love of the One God who has not abandoned them.

This is the fundamental imperative of the Gospel.

Her presence becomes a conversion—a call to see the world upside down. . . “The meek shall inherit the earth, the last shall be first,” and so on. She calls on Juan Diego, a poor, uneducated, indigenous peasant and makes him an ambassador with the message for the Bishop of Mexico. The bishop is to build a church on the outskirts of what is now Mexico City . . . among the people who live on the periphery of the city, on the outskirts. Prior to her apparition, the church was located in the heart of the city, in the heart of the commercial and political arena. It was difficult for those living on the outskirts to attend liturgy and avail themselves of God’s word and sacraments. The Church is to be in the midst of the poor. As is often being said, “Option for the poor is not an option, it is a mandate.” It is a mandate from our God, the God who sides with those who are poor, who sides with the anawim of society.

As we continue to contemplate Our Lady of Guadalupe, as we continue to prepare for the coming of her Son, let us be about justice-making.

Sr. Esther Pineda, CSJ is a member of the Pax Christi USA National Council.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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ADVENT 2012: Reflection for Third Sunday of Advent, December 16

Posted on December 11, 2012 | 2 Comments

By Mary Jo Iozzio

Justice shall flourish in those days and fullness of peace forever

Zephaniah 3:14-18a | Isaiah 12:1-6 | Philippians 4:4-7 | Luke 3:10-18

“Exhorting them in many other ways, [John] preached good news to the people” (Luke 3:18)

Only last Sunday our readings directed us to the “voice crying out in the desert” (Luke 3:4). Yesterday too we heard Jesus confirming John in the line of the great prophets of Israel. And now we are reminded once more to do justice, to love mightily, to know our place before others and God.

Today the presider wears rose, we light the rose candle of the Advent Wreath, and we break into song: “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! . . . your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior.” The good news that John, the prophets, and psalmists preach is Emmanuel, God-with-us. Our joy, symbolized with a simple color of rose, anticipates the Incarnation made complete by the Nativity of our Savior and the Epiphany of God for us to all the world.

Uncover the scriptures for more. Zephaniah prophesied in the period between the fall of Samaria (the capital of Israel) and the fall of Jerusalem (the capital of Judah). Under the oppression of Assyria and then Babylonia, the people feared what imperial policies and their enforcement might impose. But Isaiah, whose words form our responsorial psalm and who himself experienced the insecurities of Samaria’s fall and expedient political maneuvers with subsequent occupational forces, reassures them: “With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). Fears will be relieved and oppressions lifted.

How are we to understand God’s desire to be near us? For a time we saw only through a glass darkly; now our vision is cleared with the lights of baptism, a rose-colored candle, the ever-present dayspring. Though he existed before the earth and the stars were made, the Word Incarnate did not count equality with God a privilege; rather, Jesus emptied himself of that divine status to be more than near: to be one with us, gather us, renew us in love and life. Good news indeed!

Rejoice, then, for God is with us—not just with the people who do what John and the prophets enjoin; no, God is with those who do and those who fail to do what justice, love, and humility require—with all peoples and with all of creation. God is with us: yesterday, today, and forever. How is it possible to not exult?

Reflection: As the prophets remind us to rejoice in season and out, what word or deed of joyful hope will you bring to those who are weary and in distress? What justice needs to be done for peace in your hometown?

If you are among the privileged (financially secure, well-educated, and unsuspicious), examine how that privilege is unearned and thereby illegitimate. How will you keep the exercise of the power that comes with privilege in check as you manage the remainder of this season?

If you are not among the privileged, if you are among those who people with privilege generically fear, examine how you have internalized that fear and other suspicions that a dominant power has imposed on you. How will you undo your own self-doubt?

This reflection is from Voices of Hope, Women of Wisdom: Reflections for Advent 2012. This booklet is available and can be ordered online here. Mary Jo Iozzio is Professor of Moral Theology at Barry University in Miami and has been a member of the Pax Christi USA Anti-Racism Team since 2004.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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ADVENT 2012: International Day for Human Rights, December 10

Posted on December 9, 2012 | Comments Off

By Sr. Dianna Ortiz, OSU

Isaiah 35:1-10 | Psalm 85:9ab, 10, 11-12, 13-14 | Luke 5:17-26

Serving in the Shadows

“Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus” (Lk 5:18-19)

In today’s Gospel we witness a genuine act of service. We learn of a paralyzed man who harbors hope that if only he can come into Jesus’ presence some miracle will occur. How is he to find his way to Jesus?

Little is known of those who respond to his plea, but journey with him they did. They carry him to the place where Jesus is teaching but are unable to edge their way through the crowd. They could have said, “We tried. It could not be done.” Instead, up to the roof they go, to create an opening and lower that hope-filled, paralyzed man to the feet of Jesus.

That we know nothing of the friends of the paralyzed man is significant for our peace-filled witness as Christians today. We live in a society of sound bytes and social media, where reputations are credited and debited as quickly as we swipe a credit card for a last minute gift purchase. The friends of the paralyzed man did not seek credit for their action. They simply did the work that needed to be done and moved on. As we journey through Advent might we follow their example?

Reflection: Can you think of an example where faith and action have combined to produce a positive outcome that few thought possible at the time?

It is commonly said that we should be of service to those who are less fortunate. What does this mean to you? How do you interpret this call within the framework of Pax Christi USA’s mission?

Think about those in need in your community—the marginalized, the mentally ill, the hungry and homeless, the elderly. How does your faith invite you to respond to their needs? Have you been able to do so either by yourself or in concert with others?

This reflection is from Voices of Hope, Women of Wisdom: Reflections for Advent 2012. This booklet is available and can be ordered online here. Sr. Dianna Ortiz is a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace.

For more Advent resources, click here.

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