Jesus continues His talk to the crowds (Mt 11:16-19).  John the Baptist fasted severely and was a teetotaler and he was considered possessed.  Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners and was called out for gluttony and drunkenness.  But Jesus concludes with the words at top.  A previous translation used at Mass is: “Time will prove where wisdom lies.”  Both translations provide insight.  Instead of judging Jesus based on a misinterpretation of their law, the crowd is invited by Jesus to see the fruits of His interaction with those they call sinners.  The One who is full of wisdom from the Holy Spirit can show them how His actions are vindicated in dramatic conversions (see Zacchaeus [Lk 19:1-10] and Matthew himself [Mt 9:9-13, Mk 2:13-17, and Lk 5:27-28] for starters) as well as the undoubtedly many followers in their midst who formerly led a dissolute life.  Over time Jesus’ proved that His ministry wisely led people to the truth.  Let us pray for the gift of wisdom to clearly see Jesus working in the world and to heed His call to advance the kingdom by always striving to conform perfectly to His will.

Jesus extols to the crowds the virtues of John the Baptist (Mt 11:11-15) saying that he is the greatest man ever born of woman.  But, Jesus goes on to say, the least saint in heaven is greater than John.  Jesus then goes on to describe the violence the kingdom has suffered and continues to suffer.  The passage ends with Jesus telling them that John is Elijah to those who can accept this.  The words of Jesus at top should serve as a great encouragement to us.  While none of us can (or should even dare to) claim that we are the greatest person who ever lived, and we hopefully recognize in all humility our inadequacy compared to God, we all can achieve greatness by becoming saints.  John was soon to become a saint in heaven.  Like John, we should strive for perfection in faithfully following the Lord’s will in our lives.  Fearless in his spreading of the Good News, he should be an example for us in living and proclaiming the Gospel.  We are not all called to approach our mission in the way John did.  Our proclamation can take one of many forms, and may be as simple as proclamation through the way we conduct our lives, interact with our fellow man, and relate to God.  John brought many souls to the Lord so that they could become saints.  We should strive to do the same — starting today.

The celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe allows us to pick up the story of Mary’s pregnancy (Lk 1:39-47) where we left off on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Mary, having heard from the angel of her cousin’s pregnancy, quickly goes to visit her.  Upon entering Elizabeth’s house, Mary says a word of greeting to which her cousin, in the Holy Spirit, responds that her unborn child leaped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice.  Elizabeth calls Mary and her child blessed and she credits her for believing the Lord’s proclamation to her would come to pass.  Mary closes the passage with the words in the headline.  We can understand Mary’s exclamation.  The God-Man was in her womb!  Elizabeth and John the Baptist knew this immediately upon Mary’s arrival through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The ark of the covenant, the first tabernacle, now in their midst!  Elizabeth realized how blessed she herself was through her humble acknowledgment of her unworthiness to have God and His mother in her midst.  A beautiful Trinitarian episode.  The Father announces the incarnation through His angel, the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary after her “Fiat!”, and the Son becomes flesh.  The divine perichoresis (the penetration and indwelling of the three divine persons reciprocally in one another) in Mary is now there for Elizabeth to worship.  And it is for us to worship this day.  This same Christ is in every tabernacle the world over.  Come let us adore!  And when we receive Him in communion, He is in us.  We become tabernacles!  Closer to us than we are to ourselves, this special privilege should never go to waste.  In those fifteen minutes or so that the Lord is inside us we should be pouring ourselves out to Him.  Give Him our joys, tell Him our troubles, ask for help, pray for those who have asked intercession of us.  Take an appropriate amount of time to do this.  Stay for five or ten minutes after Mass to thank God and give Him everything.  Let our souls fully proclaim His greatness and let our spirits rejoice in our savior.  Only then can we begin to approach what Mary experienced in this exchange.

Jesus tells the disciples the short parable of the lost sheep (Mt 18:12-14).  In it, the shepherd leaves ninety-nine of his sheep behind to find the one animal that has strayed and then rejoices when he finds it.  What we are to take away from this story is posted at top.  Sometimes the Lord works in an extraordinary way to bring back those persons who have lost their way.  But most often it is we who are to be the instruments of God for this task.  It is worth remembering this vivid scripture passage: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe [in me] to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mk 9:42; also see Lk 17:1 and, a few verses back from today’s passage, Mt 18:7).  We are all “little ones” to the Father.  Never must we be the cause of others going astray — the eternal ramifications are chilling (or, rather, fiery).  Our duty is to reform our lives and, through our prayer, word, and example, bring others back to the fold.  In Luke’s telling of this parable, he adds: “I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Lk 15:7).  Let us cause much celebration on earth and heaven because of our positive response to witness to the truth.

Today’s gospel tells the story of a man seeking healing from Jesus (Lk 5:17-26).  While Jesus is teaching in a home Pharisees and other religious leaders and a great crowd listen to Him.  Desperate to reach Jesus, a paralyzed man on a stretcher and his friends make their way to the roof of the place, remove a number of tiles, and lower him through.  Jesus recognizing the faith of this man tells him that his sins are forgiven.  The scribes and Pharisees object to Jesus’ words saying only God can forgive sins.  Jesus proves His authority to do so by physically hearling the man as well.  Then all are astonished and praise God.  The words at top come from early in the passage.  The power of healing comes from the Lord.  We must believe this with our entire being in complete faith and trust.  Now we are well aware that many persons who pray for healing do not find it to come to pass in a physical way.  But an important lesson is taught to us by this miracle.  Jesus takes care of the most important healing first: the restoration of the soul to union with God.  Being full of faith as he was, the paralyzed man would likely have settled for this.  But his faith, contrasted with the religious leaders, effects a physical cure as well.  Now healed in body and soul, his most important duty is not to fall into sin again, regardless of whatever happens to his bodily health.  So it is to be with us.  We are always welcome to ask Jesus for relief from any physical, mental, emotional, or psychological distress.  But all requests should begin with a desire for spiritual healing: forgiveness of past sins and the strength to keep our resolve not to sin again; this should lead us to frequent sacramental confession.  Then, whatever the Lord thinks best for us in light of eternal considerations will be done for us.  So, whether or not the bodily healing occurs, we will be at peace in God.

John the Baptist is introduced to us by Luke (3:1-6) after the evangelist situates us in time and place by naming important figures.  John is described as a man urging a baptism of repentance so that the people’s sins can be forgiven.  Then Isaiah (40:3-5) is quoted, in which a future prophet (fulfilled in John) is to prepare the way for the messiah.  We are all called to be John the Baptist in our own way.  His sole function, and he knew it (“He must increase; I must decrease.” — Jn 3:30), was to make the world ready for the coming of the promised Christ.  As we prayerfully anticipate the celebration of a birth that happened over two thousand years ago we are also invited to remember that Jesus will come again in glory on the last day.  In fact we hope to accelerate this coming (“thy kingdom come” in the Our Father — Mt 6:10).  We do this by changing the world.  It starts with changing ourselves.  The message we hear from both John the Baptist and Jesus upon being introduced to their public ministries is the same: “Repent!” (Mk 1:4, 15).  By conforming ourselves to God (“So be perfect,just as your heavenly Father is perfect” — Mt 5:48) we give the world a most powerful witness.  When our every thought, word, and deed shows our allegiance to the One we love, regardless of our circumstances, we can move mountains (Mt 17:20).

Yesterday’s solemnity of the Immaculate Conception gives us the announcement of the Son of God becoming incarnate (Lk 1:26-38).  The angel Gabriel visits the virgin Mary of Nazareth greeting her as “full of grace.”  Mary, troubled by these words, hears Gabriel go on to tell her that she is to be the mother of an everlasting king.  Not understanding how she could become a mother as a vowed virgin, Mary is told that it is by the Holy Spirit that she will conceive.  She is also told of the miraculous pregnancy of an elderly relative.  Mary responds with the words above and Gabriel departs.  Like any devout Jewish girl of the time, Mary would have been praying for the coming of the redeemer of Israel.  This was likely a lifetime preparation instilled by her parents.  The sense is that she is not surprised about the announcement of the imminent arrival of a messiah, but that she, a humble young girl from a small town, is the chosen vessel through whom he would visit his people.  Not fully understanding how this is to happen or its implications, she wholeheartedly assents to God’s will for her.  And then, in a flash, she is left alone again.  What a marvelous example for us!  Preparing to hear from the Lord through prayer (i.e., conversation with God), fasting, learning the Faith, proper attitude toward every person we encounter should be our constant disposition.  Being attuned to God’s call in this way will make us open to His promptings.  We will not always understand the reasons or the implications of what we are asked to do but, through the gift of faith, we, like Mary, can give an unqualified “Yes!”  and then leap into the arms of the Most High in full trust.

Jesus has two blind men pursuing Him calling for mercy (Mt 9:27-31).  They follow Him into the house that was His destination.  When Jesus asks if they believe He can heal them He tells them it will be done according to their faith; their sight is completely restored.  Jesus says — in no uncertain terms — that they are not to let others know about the healing but they go out and spread the news freely.  The healed men were wrong to not obey Jesus’ stern request.  But we can understand their excitement in this explicable cure being effected in them; these were men of great faith — remember that the efficacy of their healing depended on their personal belief in Jesus — and their eyesight was completely restored.  We have no such restraint put on us.  In fact, it is quite the opposite.  The “messianic secret” is no longer a secret as Jesus fulfilled the Father’s plan before returning to Him.  Now He tells His disciples (i.e., us), “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15) and, just before leaving this earth, He began His final words with: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).  As we experience the mercy and healing power of Jesus Christ in our lives may we, like the blind men, be filled with the excitement of the Spirit and be compelled to tell everyone how the Good News has changed our lives.

Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount with two final lessons (Mt 7:21, 24-27).  He starts with the words above and closes with an analogy: those who act on His words are like a house built on the solid foundation of rock, while those who do not act on them are like a house that collapses and is ruined during a storm because it is built on the shifting sand.  The lessons tie neatly together.  Just calling on God without faith or the desire to increase it leaves the pleader nowhere.  Claiming belief in Jesus is hollow if one does not obey His teaching.  Anyone who professes belief in the Lord but then says that he is off the hook for any responsibility for his actions is misguided.  Yet many self-described Christians espouse this as doctrine.  What is belief?  Believing that Jesus existed?  Few seriously claim that Jesus did not walk the earth.  Believing Jesus was simply an exemplary teacher?  If that is all, chances are we would at best be talking about him mainly in philosophy classes, and probably derisively, since His claims of origin would have proven to be false.  Believing Jesus is Lord and God?  “Even the demons believe that and tremble” (Jas 2:19).  Jesus did come as man, He was (and is) the greatest teacher, and He is Lord and God.  As such, He must be Lord of every aspect of our lives.  Thus we must strive always conduct ourselves in a way that conforms to the way He commanded us to live.  Jesus’ words are plain.  Looking for loopholes elsewhere in the Bible is fruitless and a danger to one’s immortal soul.  Crying out “Lord, Lord” frequently should be our habit.  But in humility it must be followed by the firm desire and commitment to conform our wills to His just as He conformed His will perfectly to the Father’s.

The scene is Jesus on a mountain near the Sea of Galilee (Mt 15:29-37).  Here He is found healing all who were brought to Him causing them to glorify God.  After three days of this Jesus expresses concern that the crowd has run out of food and will not be able to make it home due to their weakness from lack of sustenance.  The disciples find implicit in this observation a request to supply the food.  They ask Jesus how they could possibly feed such a crowd.  Jesus asks for an inventory of bread, but only seven loaves are left.  The disciples also offer that there are a few fish remaining.  Having the crowd recline, Jesus blesses and breaks the bread and has it distributed.  All ate until satisfied with seven baskets of leftovers remaining.  The image of being at the feet of Jesus brings to mind two dispositions we should always have: 1.) Humility before our God; 2.) Learners at the feet of the Master.  In the first instance, we, like those in the gospel passage, come before Jesus asking in all humility for healing, whether it be physical, spiritual, emotional, or psychological, with full faith and trust that He can do it and will do it in the way that is best for our immortal welfare.  It is hard to imagine that anyone who came to Jesus that day didn’t come away a different person for the experience; so we won’t either.  In the second disposition, we come to Jesus with open minds and hearts to the embodiment of truth — the apprentice in rapt attention.  Through Word and Sacrament we come to know the Lord in a deep, personal, and abiding way.  Let us always come as humble students before the Lord.