“MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB …

… its fleece was white as snow; and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.” So ran the Nursery Rhyme. Many readers must recollect their childhood days, singing at the top of their voice this popular rhyme. I wonder what the poet, Sarah Josepha Hale, had actually in mind. I mean who was Mary? What, or rather who was the white-fleeced lamb ?

I feel convinced that the poet had in mind Mary of Nazareth, she did have a lamb, and a pure fleeced one. The cue was given by the teacher herself when the children at school asked: “Why does the lamb love Mary so?” The teacher answered: “Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know.” Reciprocal love; love can’t be called ‘love’ if it is not shared with others.

Now, God has the blue-print prepared of each and every human being on earth, from the first created man, till the last baby yet to be born … God knows when. HE has my blue-print; how HE dreamt Tony should be, but, alas, when God compares my present image with the original blue-print, He might find that it is hardly recognizable (God forbid) through sin and human weaknesses.

The only blue-print, of a human being, which was adhered to, kept strictly to the original must have been of Mary of Nazareth. No wonder God has chosen her to be His Mother. We find Mary at the very heart of the Mystery of Salvation, and she has done this out of her free will. For this reason, we can’t see Mary apart from the child, and we can’t see the child apart from His Mother; “Ad Jesum per Mariam”.

The mystery of the Incarnation only yields its full meaning, through the full cooperation and humble willingness of her, whom Tradition calls “Theotokos”. Today’s world needs to rediscover the face of its Saviour and of His Mother. The world is glutted with philosophies and ideologists which, no matter what they have to offer, do not answer its most vital need, its most fundamental questions.
To our contemporary world Mary offers the living and vibrant reality, the Incarnate Saviour of the world. She offers overwhelming proof that Christ is not, as some imagine, a ‘part God and a part man’, but He is wholly divine and totally human. Mary is the safeguard of the realism of the Incarnation. (L.J. Suenens)

As a Historical Note we have in this Gospel Text, Jesus as a baby undergoing three ancient rites which every Jewish boy had to undergo, namely Circumcision, Redemption of the Firstborn, and the Purification. These three ceremonies are strange old ceremonies, but all three have at the back of them the conviction that a child is always a gift of God. As parents we are all answerable to God for the ‘gift of every child’.

“ROSES, ROSES ALL THE WAY, THEY ARE WITH US HERE TO STAY …..

… in the merry month of May.” So goes the poem I wrote when I was young. Those were the days when I used to imagine that life was a bed of roses. But I was in my teens and feeling like standing on top of a mountain, I believed that I was Master of all I surveyed.

But life has taught me ‘the lesson’; that there is always the ‘last rose of summer’. Life, like the legendary tapestry is full of pin-holes, stitches, holes, knots, criss-srossing twine … but only from the back side, whilst looking at it from the face, the result is a work of art.

If God had wanted He could have given His beloved Mother and foster-father, Joseph, an easy way of life. Yet both were hand-picked from eternity because of their Faith in the Lord. And the testing continued all their life. Both must have had natural doubts. Let’s not take the ‘Annunciation’ of Mary lightly. Imagine your 14/15 year old daughter receiving the news that she is going to have a baby … without ever having contact with any man.

Every step of Mary’s life was guided by Faith, imagine her informing her mum and dad, her spouse about her being pregnant. Every Jewish girl wanted to get married and give birth to a boy, wishing and wanting that her boy would be the prophesied Messiah. But Mary felt she was unworthy of such an honour and instead offered to the Lord her virginity. If that is not humility, what is?

Volumes could be written about Mary, likewise about Joseph. He must have been chosen for a specific role; to be foster-father of the Son of God, Joseph was the father of the Most Sacred Heart, the father of the new Adam, Mentor of Jesus in his boyhood and teens. He accepted his role, not without doubts, but with Faith.

Both Mary and Joseph are Masters of Faith; they have no University degrees added to their name, they were poor, simple people. Joseph, one would expect, to have a Doctorate in Administration or even in Theology, as he was dealing with God-man.

Personally I believe that of all the virtues, they were endowed with, the outstanding virtue was ‘humility’. Jesus must have attended, and followed a course at the University of Nazareth, (which did not exist), and he specialized with First Class Honours in Humility, submitting Himself to a father-carpenter-builder and to a simple maiden … for thirty whole years, in an out-cast village.

He even carried this honour to the very end of His life, the Certificate was nailed above His head on the cross. No, for Jesus it was not ‘Roses, roses all the way.’   His foster-father is barely mentioned in the Holy Bible, the last reference was when the twelve year-old Jesus was found at the Temple, but then, Joseph, seems to walk out unobtrusively and quietly.

Mary, the world’s first love, it’s interesting to note that in the Liturgy of Mary we find writings about the creation of the world, and that Mary was present during the work of creation. For God there is no past and future, there’s always a ‘present’. Mary, the perfect human person, has always been ‘present’ in God’s mind and heart. 

The presence of Mary should be for us, “Roses, roses all the way , they are with us here to stay.”

THE CAVE-MAN, WHO CHANGED THE WORLD, IS BORN

We read, according to St. Luke: “In those days, Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole world.” Caesar ordered. But, actually and unknowingly, mighty Caesar, was himself being ordered by One mightier than he. No man can change God’s Divine Plan. God uses man’s pride, avarice and apparent power, to realise His Plan.

Have we ever stopped to think that the whole Roman world was affected, because of the census? The whole Roman Empire was in turmoil, and the one reason, was a Divine reason; Christ had to be born in Betlehem of Juda, according to what the prophets had spoken of, years before.

I believe it was Gilbert Keith Chesterton (G.K.C.), a convert to Catholicism, who once said ‘The human story began in a cave: the cave which popular science associates with the cave-man, and in which practical discovery, has really found archaic drawings of animals. The second half of human history, which was like a new creation of the world, also began in a cave. Incidentally (?) animals were present, for this cave was a stable in the uplands of Betlehem.’

It was here that a homeless couple had crept underground with the cattle when the doors of Betlehem were shut in their faces. ‘There was no place for them at the inn, ’ so goes the Gospel narrative.
And it was here beneath the very feet of the passers-by, in a cellar under the floor of the world, that Jesus Christ was born. We can say that God-man was also a ‘Cave Man’. A mass of legend and literature have been written and spoken of about ‘those hands’ that created the stars and sun, and yet were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle.

The first act of the Divine Drama was enacted, not only on ‘NO stage set’ above the sightseers, but on a drab curtained stage sunken out of sight. But this indescribable thing that we call the Christmas atmosphere only hangs in the air as something like a lingering fragrance or fading vapour from the exultant explosion of that one-hour in the Judean hills, circa two thousand years ago.

There is in this buried divinity an idea of ‘’undermining” the world; of shaking the towers and palaces from below, even as Herod, the great king felt that earthquake under him and swayed with his swaying palace.

To this very day if you want to visit the place where Christ was born, you have to bow low to enter the cave through the main door and the cave itself. And is that not a gesture of submission, a giving of homage to the Creator made-man? God’s Plans have been drawn up like an architect’s blue print, since eternity.

God-man was born like a Cave Man, under the earth, and died on top of the earth on top of a mount. But in the process of travelling from under the earth to the top of the mountain, HE did shake the whole world, and is still doing it. Whether you believe in Him or not, you must believe that the world is in turmoil until We all accept Him as Lord of the earth.

May I wish all readers a Blessed Birth of the Lord of the Universe in our poor but warm heart.

A 14 YEAR-OLD JEWISH GIRL CONDUCTS A NEW SYMPHONY

“And God saw that all was good”. So goes the Genesis narrative. So, all was good. That is, everything worked shipshape and in perfect harmony. Until, one of the musician played a ‘false’ note. Actually it was a ‘duet’. The only feminine participant took the liberty of ‘playing’ what was not on the ‘original’ manuscript. The male part followed suit. All this happened at the magnificent ‘Eden’ Garden.
That false, errant note, kept travelling into space for thousands of years. As we know sound waves never stop, they keep on travelling into space, God knows where. Science might one day come up with an instrument to catch Christ’s words still travelling about.

But the Creator, in His great wisdom, had planned from eternity, a destination for that ‘false’ note. One day it landed in the lap of a fourteen-year old maiden, Mary of Nazareth, whilst praying. It was a great day for Mary, and for the whole of humanity, when Mary accepted the offer of becoming the Mother of the Son of God.

Mary took hold of that ‘false’ note, after travelling for thousands of years. Thus, she was totally responsible, she was charged, to create, to compose a new Symphony, starting with that ‘false’ note. The new composition was called ‘The Symphony of Love’. So Mary was the ‘maestro’ to conduct a great orchestra in playing and ‘interpreting’ the new symphony.

The orchestra, which Mary conducts, is composed of her children, all those who offer freely to participate. I am proud to form part of that orchestra, and I believe, you are one of us. We all play different instruments, according to our God-given talents. As is expected, every player must do his utmost to interpret the score, whilst very often looks up at the conductor to read any messages, which every expert maestro passes on with facial expressions.

That ’false’ note must have disappointed the Creator, He saw that that was not what He had in mind, was not pre-planned from eternity by Him. But the master of ‘lies and mischief’ being envious and angry at man, hated, and still hates, all that is good. He wants others to be like him, damned in hell. So God led that ‘false’ to be the first note of a new beginning with the help of Mary.

We celebrate the Annunciation of Mary, when she received her heavenly mandate from Gabriel, the messenger of God. Mary accepted with the simple words of, “Thy Will be done”. Mary remained a maiden, a girl, yet, she became a mother. But the beauty of this mystery lies in the fact that Mary retained her purity, simplicity, the freshness and virginity of a maiden, and besides added the virtues of motherhood, the dedication and love of her offspring.

Mary still conducts her orchestra, and quite often she reminds us of the words of the Master composer Himself: “Do what He says.” She is responsible to lead us, her musicians, without losing sight of her for a moment, but she refers us to Him, the Composer, the Planner of all our dreams.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

‘ The Sound of Silence’ might be beneficial, from a positive side it could serve as a therapy; stillness, peace, awareness of sounds you don’t usually notice, even coming to terms with oneself.
But, it could have a negative effect, sort of ‘when the cat is away the mice come out to play’. When the guiding light stops showing us the way, we end up groping in the dark.

And just that happened when the last prophet, Malachy, died, till the arrival of John the Baptist, there was the ‘complete silence‘ of four hundred years. People got used the sound of silence, with no Prophet to show them the way. Until the time came for the arrival of John the Baptist.

The Gospel speaks about the success of John, by mentioning that the whole of Judea went up to him to repent and be baptized. Yet in next Sunday (Third in Advent) Gospel we meet another difficulty. How is it that the Evangelist seems to underline every time he mentions the Baptist as if he is playing second fiddle.

Recall: “He is NOT the Light, he came to give witness to the Light.” (1:8) The Evangelist puts on the Baptist’s lips the declaration: ‘One mightier than I will come.” Again : “I am not the Messiah, not even the Prophet promised by Moses.”(1:20)

Yes, John the Evangelist knew what he was doing and for historical reasons. The Baptist, notwithstanding his being a Jew, caused a tsunami amongst his fellowmen, Jews like him. Let’s not forget that every Jew believed that he was promised Heaven by right, being a son of Abraham. And now comes along this other Jew like them and asks them to repent and be baptised to be saved.

There was a strong ‘movement’ to declare the Baptist as their Messiah, because that is what they believed. But he certainly knew what his position and duty was. And so did the Evangelist. That is why John insisted so much in his Gospel version in such declarations made by the Baptist, and for no other reason.

We have to recall that the Baptist came after that long fast of four hundred years, years of spiritual decadence. We all remember the death of Socrates in those days, he drank poison to end his life, and Socrates knew what he was doing. And Socrates represented the majority of the people. To that extents was the effect of the ‘silence’.

But the Baptist, though he was murdered, succeeded in influencing and convincing the people that he was only a messenger. There was mightier than he who had to take over. The people themselves declared and admitted that the Baptist could never do what the Christ was doing. That’s a clean and clear certificate to the Baptist’s success.

SUSAN IS PREGNANT, CONGRATS.

“Susan is pregnant, she will soon be a mummy.” Such news is common in our culture. Parents rejoice because they are going to add stripes to their grandparenthood, and so is Susan and her husband.
We would have expected St.Luke to do likewise when writing the history of Jesus; Mary is pregnant and she will soon deliver. But he did not follow suit; Luke was not content to even start by mentioning John the Baptist, he went further back in years. To be exact, 700 years before.

He quoted the prophet Isaiah and indicated that the news about the birth of a baby boy was in the plan of God, not 700 years before His birth, but since eternity. As Marcus Aurelius has said:”The things of God are full of foresight. All things flow from heaven.”

Our God is the God Who is working His purposes out. History is not a random kaleidoscope of disconnected events; it is a process directed by God Who sees the end in the beginning. We form an integral part of a ‘process’, in which we can, if we may, participate.

John the Baptist, was announcing a ‘baptism of repentance’. Now, as we know the Jews were used to ritual washing. Tertullian tells us “that the Jew used to wash every day because every day he is defiled.” But a Gentile was necessary ‘unclean’ for he never kept the ‘law’.

But the amazing thing about John was that being himself Jew was asking the Jews to submit themselves to what was expected from the Gentiles. This went against their belief that being ‘sons of Abraham’ their place in heaven was guaranteed, by right. That was a trememdous discovery.

A man had to admit to ‘himself’ that he was a sinner. Just like the younger son in the Prodigal Son parable did. The next thing was to admit his wrong doings to those he had wronged. And the final step was to confess to God and say: “I have sinned. I’m sorry.” Then God says: “I forgive you, son.”
We must admit that, John’s Ministry was very effective. The whole of Judea went out to be baptised. But what was the reason for his success ? First of all, John was a man who lived his mission. His whole life and style of living was witness to what he preached.

He did not live in palaces, in mansions, not even a two-roomed flat, he lived in the Judean Desert. Who has travelled to this desert must have a vague idea of the place. It was called ‘Jeshimmon’ meaning ‘Devastation’. John was man who had given himself a chance to hear the voice of God.
He did not own a wardrobe, with clothes for the different seasons; he wore a garment woven of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Jesus Himself gave witness to John: “Whom did you go out to see?”

Regards his food, no dinners, or feasting in general. He ate ‘locusts’ which might mean certain small animals allowed by the law. The honey mentioned could have been ‘sweet sap’ that comes out of the trunk of trees. John believed in what he preached and lived what he preached. That is the reason for the success of his ministry. The message is clear.