The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas – A

Now, just a little word about that. Did Jesus not love all the disciples? Of course He did. And who wrote down the words “the beloved disciple” or “the disciple that Jesus loved”? John himself (cf. Jn 13:23; 19:26; 21:7).

Now, it would sound pretty arrogant and full of himself and cocky if he was excluding everybody else. But what he is actually doing is inviting his audience—in particular the people he wrote to, the people he was addressing through his Gospel—to place themselves in his shoes. And that is so that they too can draw close to Jesus. They can lean on His breast at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13:23). They can receive His Mother from the Cross (cf. Jn 19:26–27). They can be witnesses to the presence of the Risen Lord in their lives (cf. Jn 20:19–29).

This is what John intended when he called himself the beloved, because he wants you to see that you are the beloved disciple, invited by Jesus to draw near, to pray, to really spend time with Jesus.

My brothers and sisters, we get so lost in the distractions, the alienations, the frivolous and the ephemeral nature of this passing world. All the sounds, colours, sights, and sparks distract our attention from the spark that gave rise to the universe, the origin of all things, the God and King who created all things (cf. Jn 1:3). And we get lost.

And the beautiful things that God has created for our edification and to draw us closer to Him, we take out of context to our own detriment. So that instead of nature and everything God has created helping us to elevate our hearts to Him, we get intoxicated by beautiful things taken out of context. Intoxicated and hypnotized, so that a beautiful woman cannot just remain a beautiful woman. No—she has to be used in the mind, in the heart, exploited, turned into an object. Someone beautiful that God has created, taken out of context, is the beginning of our moral demise.

Saint John, in his first letter that we read today, urges the children, the fathers, and the young men and women “not [to] love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away” (cf. 1 Jn 2:15–17).

So Saint John is trying to wake us up from our spiritual slumber. He is trying to remove us from the opium of society—the true opium of society—the enticements of the world. And rather, he turns our attention to the will of God. And he says, “whoever does the will of God remains forever” (cf. 1 Jn 2:17).

Now, my brothers and sisters, as I have often said, seeking the will of God, finding the will of God, doing the will of God, and finally loving the will of God is what will make us more and more like Christ. The more we seek, find, do, and love the will of God, the more we become like Christ (cf. Jn 4:34; Phil 2:5). But it is not easy, because it involves a dying to ourselves (cf. Lk 9:23).

We are told in the Gospel today that there was a prophetess by the name of Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, and she was advanced in years. She lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. And we are told that she never left the temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer (cf. Lk 2:36–37).

Here is a woman who sought, found, did, and loved the will of God. And when she saw our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph walking into the temple, she stepped forward. She gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem (cf. Lk 2:38).

Are we speaking to people about the Saviour, the Redeemer—the One who has power over death and has given us life (cf. Jn 11:25)? Do we speak to people about how He has changed our lives, and about all the graces and benefits that He sends us each day? Do we take the time to make Jesus our priority number one (cf. Mt 6:33)?

Let us go on with today’s Mass asking the Lord to give us the grace to grow in our spiritual lives with Jesus by our side. He Himself took upon Himself our human nature, and He Himself, as we are told at the end of today’s Gospel, “grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon Him” (cf. Lk 2:40). That human nature He assumed was a true human nature, which needed to grow, to learn, and to become wise. But hidden beneath that true human nature was God, who existed before anything else existed, the One who brought forth all existence, who has no beginning and no end, who is the Alpha and the Omega (cf. Rev 1:8), the One who simply is (cf. Ex 3:14).

May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace.