Three Lectionary readings for Dec. 8, Immaculate Conception, Tues of 2nd week in Advent, and Wed of second week. Lectionary I.C. 689, 183, 184.

Please take note of the following: There are three reflections on this
sending. One for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and then Tuesday
and Wednesday of the second week in Advent. Just scroll down.... Fr. Bert

Scripture: Lectionary # 689, Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Genesis
3:9-15,20. Psalm 98:1-4. Ephiesians 1:3-6,11-12. Luke 1:26-38:

Mary is central to Advent and this feast of her Immaculate Conception helps
us to think about her from the beginning of her own life as a person. The
grace of this woman would have been given to another had she said no, but
in God's providential concern for all of us this was the woman who said
yes. Was it because of her Immaculate Conception? Only God knows. But any
thoughts of jealousy about her having this privilege or our thinking it was
unfair to the rest of us is a result of the limits of human reason when
pondering over the mysteries of faith in our Catholic Church. This feast
has been with us a long time and we are grateful for it that God gave us a
new lease on life through one specific woman of Israel from the little town
of Nazareth some two thousand years ago. Let us thank God that God's
merciful love endures forever and it comes to us in this very human and
humbling way through Mary of Nazareth.

In his Advent encyclical of two years ago, our present Holy Father Benedict
XVI presents Mary in the theme of hope, a virtue by which we experience
God's salvation. The opening words of the encyclical are Spe Salvi ( By
hope are we saved). He gives us a beautiful portrait of Mary that he has
culled from the texts of the New Testament that refer to her, especially
those of the Evangelist Luke who has written the most about Mary and leads
us to think about the principal teachings that will be part of the living
tradition that does have its seeds in the mystery of God's revealed word in
the Sacred Scriptures. Many brilliant minds have pondered over this
specific mystery of Mary and have helped us to see not only its history but
how it continues to develop into new ways of looking at the teaching that
she was conceived without original sin. This is speaking only about Mary
not about her mother whom we know as Ann from the apocryphal Gospel of
James.

Mary's portrait is one of hope for us because she herself as we see from
the Gospels had to live in hope in all of the human experiences this woman
would go through. It was not an easy journey for her, but one that
reflected upon what her son Jesus would undergo. Mary emptied herself so
completely in trusting God that God could and did do great things for her
which means for us! She was filled with the graces and given the name "you
who have been favored and graced by God" (kecharitomene in Luke 1:28).
Mary's journey in life is involved in the salvation brought to the human
race by the one who became human flesh through her own flesh--"And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14). Seeing the full portrait of
Mary is important in any consideration of one specific mystery of hers
(Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth, Perpetual Virginity, and Assumption
into Heaven). Her mystery for this feast of Dec.8th is the gift of God to
her alone and an American poet (not a Catholic) said of her that she was
"our tainted nature's solitary boast." (W.Wordsworth).

Pope Benedict XVI in his last pages of Spes Salvi takes us through Mary's
journey (the bigger picture and portrait) which was like a voyage through
the seas of salvation history. Mary is the Star of the Sea (Ave Maris
Stella) and she together with John the Baptist is among the greatest lights
of hope. "Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her "yes"
she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living ark
of the covenant in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitche his
tent among us."

The final pages of the message takes us through the Gospels where Mary is
mentioned. And we, as in things that are spiritual and are mysteries of
our faith, need to place the Immaculate Conception of Mary into the bigger
picture of salvation history. Amen.

Scripture: Lectionary # 183. Tues of second week of Advent. Isaiah
40:1-11; Psalm 96:1-2,3.10.11.12.13. Matthew 18:12-14.

Jesus gives us a most consoling image of himself as a "good shepherd" who
trusting in his own skills and power leaves the rest of the flock while
searching for the lost lamb or sheep. He is confident that he can do this
without hurting the well trained flock of sheep that he leaves for a while
to search for the wandering one.
We all need this image for we do tend to take different paths, get lost at
times, and even give in to some luxurious fields ahead of us while risking
our lives for it instead of staying with the flock. There are gaps in our
lives just as there are literary gaps in the Bible.

Sometimes we may stray just a bit and are easily called back by the voice
of the shepherd; at other times we may think we are hearing his voice but
are really following our own inner voices that can get us into some
troublesome situations. We lose sight of the shepherd and forget where he
is, but the shepherd never forgets that we are missing. The search
continues until we are safe within his arms and on his shoulders.

Jesus as a shepherd is most concerned about the youngest and the weakest
sheep and lambs. Once we have learned this we begin to mature and realize
there is safety in the community to which we belong and to which we owe so
much of our own growth in the spiritual realm. Jesus' final words on this
image are :"Just so, it is no part of your heavenly Father's plan that a
single one of these little ones shold ever come to grief." This may also be
a call to us to become good shepherds for the flock that is ours. We should
especially make every effort to help lead and find "these little ones."
Amen.

Scripture: Lectionary # 184: Isaiah 40:25-31. Psalm 103:1-2.3-4.8.10.
Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will
refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble of heart. Your souls shall find rest, for my yoke is easy
and my burden light." (Matthew 11:28-30). Such words come from the most
compassionate and loving person that ever lived--Jesus, the son of Mary of
Nazareth. Kindness, gentleness, compassion, and mercy are the message of
the Scriptures for this Advent day. Jesus wants us to come to him, to run
to him, so that we can feel his loving arms around us. This Jesus is so
human and yet divine in this absolute self-giving to us.

The passage is one of the most tender of God's expression of love for us
and is certainly what we also see in our devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. No other passage expresses this heart of Jesus so well in words
that we understand. The devotion is a good one based on what the
Scriptures give us in this simple message of love and compassion. The
statement is over two thousand years old and yet it is so contemporary and
so needed by all of us in this time in which we struggle with so many
crises in our nation and in almost every other nation. The words are
divinely inspired and come directly from the mouth of the Son of God, the
Word of God become flesh among us.

The Psalm reflects the same love in God the creator, the father, the
redeemer, and the sanctifier. The psalmis goes back some two thousand and
five hundred years and is saying similar things to what we hear from Jesus.
The words touch our innermost heart and we come to feel the consolation of
God as well as the comfort God gives to us as his people.

During the Second Vatican Council one of the cardinals admitted that he had
a complete metanoia of the way he theologized and looked at things. He was
overwhelmed by the graces of that Council. The words of a somehat hidden
Advent passage helped him to make this spiritual transformation. They came
from the book of Lamentations and these lines were overwhelming for him: "
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an
end; they are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my
portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24).