Homily
Christmas Weekday
Memorial of Sts. Basil and Gregory
2 January 2012
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
John the Baptist, as the last and greatest prophet, is the best at teaching us the fundamentals. Specifically, he is the best at preparing us to recognize and to receive the Lord. Today's Gospel may seem out of place, for the time of Advent preparation has given way to Christmas joy, Advent expectation to Christmas celebration, and yet the fundamentals of the Christian life always stay the same, and we can never stop practicing them. In other words, we need John the Baptist as much now as we needed him two weeks ago. In the liturgy too, just because we started celebrating Christmas does not mean that we skip the penitential rite of preparation, the baptism of repentance, at the start of Mass. No, it is still important to prepare to celebrate the sacred mysteries, for as we learned especially with the birth of the King while the world was sleeping, the presence of Christ and of the kingdom may come in small packages, and there is a strong likelihood that we will miss his coming, even in the great Christmas season upon us now.
For those of you who are addicted to watching sports, you know that the replay has become indispensable. Now that we know we can review what just happened, there is an insatiable desire to see what we just saw, in slow motion and from a different angle. Maybe the preaching of John the Baptist can cause us to review our Christmas celebration, to see what just happened, from a different angle, and in slow motion, so that we can appreciate the reality and beauty of Christmas even more! Amen.
Christmas Weekday
Memorial of Sts. Basil and Gregory
2 January 2012
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
John the Baptist, as the last and greatest prophet, is the best at teaching us the fundamentals. Specifically, he is the best at preparing us to recognize and to receive the Lord. Today's Gospel may seem out of place, for the time of Advent preparation has given way to Christmas joy, Advent expectation to Christmas celebration, and yet the fundamentals of the Christian life always stay the same, and we can never stop practicing them. In other words, we need John the Baptist as much now as we needed him two weeks ago. In the liturgy too, just because we started celebrating Christmas does not mean that we skip the penitential rite of preparation, the baptism of repentance, at the start of Mass. No, it is still important to prepare to celebrate the sacred mysteries, for as we learned especially with the birth of the King while the world was sleeping, the presence of Christ and of the kingdom may come in small packages, and there is a strong likelihood that we will miss his coming, even in the great Christmas season upon us now.For those of you who are addicted to watching sports, you know that the replay has become indispensable. Now that we know we can review what just happened, there is an insatiable desire to see what we just saw, in slow motion and from a different angle. Maybe the preaching of John the Baptist can cause us to review our Christmas celebration, to see what just happened, from a different angle, and in slow motion, so that we can appreciate the reality and beauty of Christmas even more! Amen.
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