Seventh day in the Octave of Christmas

Another TV scandal almost emerged yesterday as one of the invited contestants in Celebrity Mastermind said she had been offered a ‘crib sheet.’ The BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Victoria Derbyshire said the offer was made when she was asked to take part in a festive special. But she later explained she was only offered "research guidance" and not answers to her specialist subject. In the end she decided not to take up the offer: she was not confident of getting the answers right, and later issued a statement to clarify her remarks. The BBC in reply said it merely points some struggling contestants in the right direction for their research.

On this the last day of the year there is lots of looking back and thinking about the past year, but also a lot of looking forward, as people make new year’s resolutions, perhaps looking to take their life in a new and different direction. The Gospel Reading is a familiar one and takes us back to the beginnings of our faith, in fact to the beginning of time, and the beginning of creation, as the gospel writer declares, ‘In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ And it is John the Baptist who points us in the right direction towards the Word made flesh, to God in Christ who has come into the world. Christ is our origin, the one through whom we were made, but he is also our final destination, the one with whom and to whom we journey, the one who reveals God and makes him known.

The producers of Celebrity Mastermind wanted to point struggling contestants in the right direction so that they didn’t waste time studying unsuitable materials. In the first reading from the first letter of John we are told, ‘You have been anointed by the Holy One and have all received the knowledge.’ What is this knowledge? It is the message of God in Christ. So, as we look forward to a new year, we begin, as we always begin, with Christ. Whatever direction our life will take this coming year, whatever our resolutions and resolve to do better or be better, let’s hope and pray that we will be led closer to Christ. If that is the case, each step really will be a step in the right direction.

Readings: 1 John 2:18-21; John 1:1-18
The illustration for the homily may be found here

Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

Across the Bristol Channel, at the most southerly tip of the Diocese of Llandaff, is the Island of Flat Holm. Now a Conservation Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the island has a fascinating history that is touched by the Second World War, the Napoleonic Wars, and beyond that to St Cadoc, St Baruc and other ancient celtic saints. As you would expect of such a place is it steeped in legend and it is, as you would also expect, difficult to draw historical truth from legendary tales. One of those tales is that two of the four knights who killed St Thomas Becket in his own cathedral of Canterbury are buried there. St Thomas was killed because he clashed with the King, whose rule and power conflicted with the freedom of the Church. St Thomas Becket, therefore, stood his ground and under attack from a worldy ruler refused to give in. He was killed on the Tuesday after Christmas, in the year 1170. His struggle is over. The victory won.

In the second letter of St Paul to Timothy, St Paul says, 'You are well aware, then, that anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked.' He knew, all too well, the dangers and difficulties of following Jesus but he was undeterred. The persecutions he endured only served to strengthen him. It is easier, of course, to give in, to give up, and to fall into line. But what will we gain, asks Jesus in the Gospel Reading, if we gain the whole world and ruin our life. 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.' We need to struggle on.

There is often a clash between Church and State. Christian leaders will speak up and speak out against the failure or flaws of those who make decisions and policies, or those who are in positions of power or leadership. And the Church too, along with individual Christians, are also attacked - not necessarily physically (although that of course does happen, and today's commemoration is testament to that) but also verbally. We are often put down or put in our place. Our Faith may be spoken of as an irrelevance or an obstacle to society. People may be antagonistic towards us. Sometimes our faith and values may stand us in opposition to others, or may make us unpopular. 'Remember the Good News that I carry,' said St Paul. '"Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David"; it is on account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal - but they cannot chain up God's news.' And so we struggle on.

Readings: 2 Timothy 2:8-13. 3:10-12; Matthew 16:24-27

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

It seems a rather blighted privilege for children to be born on Christmas Day because their birthday celebrations get swallowed up by Christmas! However, it's not all bad as many children who have a Christmas Day birthday have a second birthday maybe half way through the year. A bit like the Queen! However, parents, at the time of the birth, always seem pleased when their child is born on Christmas Day because it makes the event even more special and significant. And that’s exactly what has happened to one Peruvian Family, except there are even more significant features. The woman’s name, chosen by her grandfather who was devoted to the Virgin Mary, is Virgen Maria. She is married to a carpenter (not Joseph but Adolfo Jorge Huaman) and they have named their son Jesus Emanuel. Twenty-year-old Virgen Maria had not been due to give birth on Thursday, but went into labour early and underwent a Caesarean operation. Her husband said that they had been planning to name their son after a football player. "But thanks to a happy coincidence this is how things ended up," he said. Baby Jesus was born at 2.20 in the morning on 25 December in Lima and weighed 3.32kg. His mother said: "I am so happy to give birth on such a special date. I didn't think that my baby was going to be born today and now that I have him in my arms I am very happy."

Today we celebrate the Holy Family of Nazareth, a model family for all who follow the Lord. But how do you get to be like the Holy Family? What’s significant about them? What makes them holy? How should we follow their example? Well, as important as names are, it’s not about having the same names, that’s for certain. And neither is it about trying to replicate the specific circumstances of their life, by being born on Christmas Day, having a father who is a carpenter, or fleeing the country as refugees! Because the significant feature of the Holy Family is that Jesus is at the heart of all that they do. That’s what makes them the Holy Family. They are willing to do as God wants them to do, to live as God wants them to live.

Children completely transform a family. Suddenly your focus is not so much on each other but on the child that is now in your midst and who demands all the time and energy and attention that you have. Having a child changes your life and transforms the way you live. No longer can you live for yourselves only but you now live for the child. It is a great responsibility. Our Faith in Christ is no different. Christ, as comforting as he is and as wonderful as it is to know him and love him, will also completely disrupt our lives, because no longer do we live for ourselves, we live for Christ. He demands attention, he requires us to be focused on him.

Most children will be, in some way, influenced by their parents and learn from their parents and become like their parents. Some people, as they grow older, may even be aghast that they are turning into their mother or father! For the Holy Family there is something different going on. Yes, Jesus has received his genes and physical characteristics from Mary… and it’s in that household and within that family that Jesus grows to maturity, where he is filled with wisdom and where God’s favour rests on him but they are not seeing their son growing to be more like them, but they are slowly becoming more like their son, they are becoming more Christ like. And it is the same for us.

And neither is the Holy Family a model just for families, or for people who are married and have children. This is about relationships, this is about how we live, this is about how we relate to one another, this is about the effect we have on one another. Biological families not only share genetic characteristics and appearances, they also share values and behaviour, it’s where children (we hope) learn right from wrong, where they learn how to speak as they are spoken to, where they learn good manners or bad manners, where they learn how to grow and grow up to be mature individuals. How we relate to one another, how we treat others, has an effect on how others live. If we treat people with love, then they will know what love is, and their lives will be transformed.

In the first two readings we see how faith transforms a family, how the important thing is to do what God wants, to live as God wants. So, to be like the holy family we don’t need to be married or have children, we don’t need to have any blood relatives still alive, we don’t need to be ‘in a relationship’ or ‘have someone special.’ We must remember that there are lots of different ways of life. What is important is to have faith in God, and to allow Christ to be present in our lives and in all of our relationships, to allow Christ to come between us, and to live as God wants us to live.

There is a lovely intimacy to today’s feast, an intimacy that shouldn’t become over sentimental – because we know how difficult and challenging family life can be. We are called to take Christ home, to know him and love him in every part of our lives, to give him our attention and love, to become more like him, to allow him to transform us, and through the way we live and relate to others, to transform the world.

Readings: Genesis 15:1-6. 21:1-3; Hebrews 11:8.11-12. 17-19; Luke 2:22-40
The illustration for the homily may be found here

John, Apostle and Evangelist

Wallace and Gromit, the famous plasticine figures, have topped the viewing figures on Christmas Day, attracting 14.4 million viewers. Their latest adventure, called A Matter of Loaf and Death, featured the inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit converting their house at 62 West Wallaby Street into a bakery called ‘Top Bun’, complete with ovens, robotic kneading arms and an old fashioned windmill on the roof. But there is something sinister in the air: a dozen local bakers have all gone missing in the last year. Wallace is too in love with beauty and fellow bread enthusiast Piella Bakewell to notice, so it’s left to Gromit the dog to turn sleuth and discover what’s happening in the bread baking business.

Bread baking may not be in the mind of most people celebrating Christmas but there is a surreptitious link with the Nativity Story. Bethlehem literally means ‘House of Bread’ – very symbolic for us who know Jesus as, amongst many other things, ‘The Bread of Life.’ It’s a title that takes up the content of a whole chapter of the gospel according to John whom we celebrate today. John has no account of the nativity story in his gospel yet it is the prologue to his gospel that we proclaim at the Mass on Christmas Day with the profound declaration that ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ John is the one who takes Mary the mother of Jesus to his own home as his own mother after he has been given the charge to do so from Jesus on the cross.

He is the beloved disciple, one of the inner three apostles (along with Peter and James) who were closest and most intimate with Jesus, an intimacy that pervades the writings of John. It is John who leans on the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper, and it is John who races with Peter to discover the empty tomb on Easter Day. And here, in this Eucharist, we too are called to be intimate with Jesus. He invites us to sit and eat, to listen to his words, and to receive the food and drink, which is his body and blood. We are invited to become one with him, to receive Jesus. This place too, then, is the House of Bread for here we have received and will receive again Jesus the Bread of Life.

Lectionary:1 John 1: 1-4; John 20:2-8
The illustration for the homily may be found here

St Stephen, First Martyr

If a turkey could smile I am sure that Blue Farrah would be beaming. She is a prize turkey owned by Anne and Michael Moorhouse from Powys, and the reason for her beaky smile would be because she didn’t end up on your or anyone else’s table on Christmas Day. On the contrary she has claimed top honours in the National Poultry Club of Great Britain and she is such a perfect specimen that her owners are looking forward to entering her in the competition again next year. In the meantime she will be used for breeding and hopefully creating more prize winners. A little bit of hope for all those turkeys out there! Blue Farrah has been saved!

Christmas, of course, has many associations: tinsel, turkeys, trimmings, food, drink, parties, presents, stockings, Santa Claus, and so on. It is a happy time, a time when people go out of their way to celebrate and it can be difficult to discover the Christian message of Christmas. However, even the religious imagery we often develop is also in danger of hiding what the mystery of Christmas celebrates. The crib scenes and Christmas card images, the cosy pictures, the glowing lights, the flickering candles and everything else can so easily descend into over-sentimentality that we can forget about the reality of the Incarnation, of the Word made flesh. As our Christmas celebrations continue, our celebration today stands starkly next to those images, as we remember St Stephen, the first Christian martyr. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is not a pretty picture: there is anger, intolerance, bloodshed, pain, and death. And Jesus’ warning in the gospel reading really does bring us down to earth with a bump. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child: children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.’

Mary and Joseph knew the hard reality of life. They knew that putting Jesus at the centre of their lives was a difficult and sometimes treacherous path to take. Stephen, too, illustrates this to its extreme. We are not all called to martyrdom in the same sense as Stephen. But we are called to place our lives on the line, to embrace the hardship and challenges of discipleship. We are called to sacrifice and surrender, to give our lives to Jesus. We will know all kinds of complications and heartache, all kinds of divisions, sadness, pain and deaths. But, as Jesus promises us, if we stand firm to the end we will truly know what it means to be saved.

Readings: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 John 10:17-22
The full story of the homily illustration may be found here