This reflection is based on John 6:41-51).
I think you know what I mean when I say that today’s Gospel reminds me of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, “Sweeney Todd: The Devil Barber of Fleet Street.” All this talk about eating the Lord’s body and drinking his blood makes me think of Mrs. Nellie Lovett’s meat pies, whose secret ingredients are–of all things–the body parts of rich people murdered by Sweeney Todd.
The lives of saints have much to teach us, some saints more than others. If you grew up in a Jesuit parish like Mary the Queen, maybe St. Ignatius of Loyola has something to teach you. If you studied in a Jesuit school like Xavier School or Ateneo de Manila, or perhaps Georgetown University, certainly St. Ignatius would have something to say to you.
But even if you’re from La Salle, but went out on some date sometime ago with an Atenean or Xaverian, maybe St. Ignatius still has a message for you on this eve of his feast.
Today’s Readings
2010 December 25
How would you like to spend Christmas in a trench? Imagine yourself a soldier fighting a war on Christmas eve. It’s a bitter cold December night. You and your fellow soldiers are out there in the snow, in the front lines with your enemies just a few hundred feet away.
Not exactly the best way to spend Christmas!
Today’s Readings
2010 December 23
I’ve been trying to figure out this guy Zechariah. As you probably know, Zechariah was the father of John the Baptist, and the husband of Elizabeth, who happened to be Mary’s cousin. He’s the very first character we meet in the Gospel of St. Luke.
In that opening scene, the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the temple, and Zechariah was told the surprising and wonderful news that his wife Elizabeth was finally pregnant, after enduring years of being called “barren” by their neighbors. But then he asked: “How can I be sure of this?”
We’re often told that it was his lack of faith that led the angel to strike him mute so that Zechariah was unable to speak until his son was born. But I wonder if that was the only issue. After all, for a devoted Jew like Zechariah, becoming a parent at a late age wasn’t too far-fetched: think Abraham fathering Isaac.
KILLJOY (Matthew 3:1-12): 05 December 2010 (2nd Sunday of Advent)
There’s something strange about our Gospel reading today. Did you notice what was wrong with the picture?
We’re supposed to be in the season of Advent, preparing for Christmas. And when we say Christmas, we think of such familiar characters like the angels proclaiming good news, shepherds leaving their flock to check out the baby Jesus, and wise men following stars and bearing gifts. These are feel-good characters and what is Christmas if not the season for feeling good?