Mariah Carey, Figgy Pudding, and Jesus (Christmas 2022)

To listen to this homily, click here.

First of all, on behalf of the priests, deacons and parish staff of Incarnate Word, let me wish each of you a very blessed and merry Christmas. It seems like every year, the need grows for the hope and joy provided by Our Savior’s Birth. I hope these holy days warm our hearts and homes in a new and wonderful way!

A couple weeks ago, there was a cheeky article in the Wall Street Journal detailing the harrowing plight of retail workers throughout North America during this busy holiday season. In this piece, employees of many different businesses shared their trauma of having to listen to the same Christmas tunes over and over again during their shifts. Some of them described their preferred coping mechanisms, looking for rooms and closets without speakers to take a break from the repeating playlists. Others blacklisted particular songs with sentiments that would certainly place them on Santa’s naughty list! Nearly everyone referenced “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey as public enemy number 1. Ms. Carey seemed to embrace this villain’s role whole-heartedly by commanding her followers on social media to blare her song, beginning November 1st, ensuring that everyone would be sick of it long before the Savior’s birth. It appears some people really do love to watch the world burn…

But even if Mariah Carey’s ear worm doesn’t bother you, we all have a Christmas song or two we’ve heard a million times, which gets under our skin or seems to make no sense. These are often the songs we still sing along to but substitute our own lyrics.

For me, the Christmas song I simply don’t get is, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. Supposedly, the second verse says, “oh bring us some figgy pudding, oh bring us some figgy pudding, oh bring us some figgy pudding, and bring it right here.” This is pure nonsense. First of all, what in the world is figgy pudding? Have any of you had it recently…or ever? I have not and I don’t think it exists. I believe the proper words to the song, the ones I always sing when I hear this tune are, “Oh bring us some freakin pudding, Oh bring us some freakin pudding, Oh bring us some freakin pudding, and bring it right now.” If you listen to the entire song, this makes complete sense and fits the spirit of words which are downright aggressive and threatening. In fact, the next verse raises the belligerence-factor big-time as they taunt the hearer, “we won’t go until we get some, we won’t go until we get some, we won’t go until we get some, So bring it right here.” This is definitely the attitude of someone who would say, give me some freakin pudding”!

Understandably, you might be wondering what this rant has to do with our celebration of the Baby Jesus. Just like some of these Christmas songs, if we don’t know what the words are or what they mean, we cannot make sense of why we sing them. In the same way, for many people, even for many Christians, the “what” and the “why” of Christmas is not entirely clear. For many good-hearted souls, the celebration of Jesus’ birth is a time to gather with friends and family, relax, exchange gifts, and enjoy fine food and drink, which are all good things. But they are not the reason we celebrate. Why does this matter? If we do not understand the “what” of Christmas, then we will not understand why it is so important and why it should bring us so much joy.

Ever since the beginning of time, ever since the first humans Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, the human race had been alienated from God through original sin. Each generation that followed, suffered the wounds and sadness that evil and death brought. Humanity had incurred a debt it could not repay and heaven was closed to all. But God promised to rescue us. Despite humanity’s tendency, over and over again, to turn our back on the Creator, our loving God would not give up on us. He slowly laid the foundation for our salvation, by revealing himself through his Chosen People, delivering them from slavery in Egypt, establishing an everlasting covenant, and helping them to grow in wisdom, holiness, and love with the help of the Law and Prophets. 

But these things could only go so far. When the time was right, God proved his love beyond a shadow of a doubt by sending his Only Son to become one of us. Incredibly, he humbled himself by becoming truly human while remaining fully divine. He wanted to be like us in all things except sin, so he could serve as our ransom from sin and death. Jesus is the key that re-opened heaven, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world, the price that was paid to cancel the debt of human sin and wickedness. We see little hints of this in the Scriptures’ description of the nativity. For example, Jesus was placed in a manger, which was used to feed the animals. It was a sign that he would soon feed us with his own body and blood in the Eucharist. Also, he was wrapped in swaddling clothes, which was a foreshadowing of how he would be wrapped in burial clothes after his saving sacrifice on the cross. Even as a tiny, helpless, innocent baby, Jesus begins his mission of salvation. He is the only person who was born to die, who lived so that he could lay down his life!

This is the “what” of the Christmas mystery and it is the reason why we celebrate it so extravagantly every year since. Without the humble birth of our savior, without his life on earth, and his sacrifice on the cross that would follow, we would still be dwelling in darkness, captive to our sins and the power of death. We would still be crushed by a debt we could not repay; a force we could not defeat and heaven would be out of our reach. If we understand this, how can we keep from singing and celebrating?!

Today, let renew our spirit of thanksgiving to God for his love for us and for our world. God needs nothing from us and yet he gives us everything, including himself. As we celebrate Christmas this year, may we marvel at what we have received and why it is such a big deal. Then, perhaps, it will make a little more sense why we sing all of these Christmas songs, even the annoying ones, and why we must share tidings of gladness and joy!

Let God of Complaints, Focus on Jesus! (3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

There are things every Catholic seems to share in common; one that comes to mind is the notorious “Catholic Guilt”. Others might be the fear of strict nuns in grade school or a crusty priest yelling in the confessional. Many more share the memory of playing CYC sports against rival parishes, attending lenten fish fries, or judging someone by which parish or high school they went to. But doesn’t every Catholic know the line given by a parent, teacher, or other elder in response to our complaining with the advice to “Offer it up”!!

As much as we hated hearing that phrase, which was most often translated into parent-speak as “stop complaining”, it seems to have come directly from both the Old and the New Testaments. In fact, one of the sins the Bible singles out for condemnation is grumbling against God and against each other. This might surprise us, especially today, when complaining is such a part of life, where everything is reviewed and judged. In fact, many people consider criticism to be a virtue, "how will things get better if I do not point out what is wrong?" There may be some truth in that, but we have to face the fact that the Scriptures are quite harsh against grumblers.

It was grumbling that brought God's wrath on the people of the Old Testament when they were in the desert. Humans have a terrible tendency to glorify the past, forgetting the bad and exaggerating the good. The Israelites did this when they longed for their old life in Egypt. They forgot that they were slaves there, literally worked to death, and only remembered the rich foods they tasted from time to time. They complained to Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this wilderness?...we hate this worthless food." This attitude is familiar to us as well; at some point we have done the same thing, looking past our blessings and focusing on what is not perfect or according to our preference.

It is common enough to complain, but it doesn’t take long before it becomes destructive. That is why James warns us today, "Do not grumble against one another, my brothers, lest you be condemned." In other words, the standard used for our personal judgment will be the same measure we used for those around us. How easy it is to complain about others and condemn their faults and failures while making excuses for ourselves and wanting to receive the benefit of the doubt!.

We waste a lot of time and energy complaining. Usually our criticizing does no good. In most cases, our joy is not taken but given away. And our complaints almost always involve a negative judgment on someone else or even a whole group of people. How rarely do we bother to speak with the person who is irritating us?! Instead we tell everyone except the person who could help solve the problem. No wonder St. James is so adamant that we refrain from doing it!

There is something all of us can do to reduce complaining. and bitterness. One of the main causes is envy. I see someone who has something I want and I become jealous. But instead of focusing on the person who has more, I could think about the person who has less. The truth is, the poorest person in the United States is richer than about 90% of the world’s population. And I would venture to say that most of us are nowhere near the poorest person in our country. No matter what difficulties and problems you and I may have, there is someone worse off, who might need our help, and who would love to have our problems. 

Very few people have had it as bad as the man in today's Gospel. King Herod had arrested John the Baptist and thrown him into jail. In those days, prisons were nothing like today. They had no tv’s or reading libraries. Prisoners did not get an hour to exercise in fresh air. They didn't have human rights advocates to defend them. On the contrary, the guards did all they could to treat prisoners cruelly and to make their lives as miserable as possible.

But John didn’t focus his attention on those abuses. When his followers bribed the guards to get a message to him, all John wanted to know was this: "Is Jesus the one to come?" John must have experienced a tremendous joy when he heard the answer:

"The blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised.”

And most important of all: "the poor have the good news proclaimed to them."

Imagine how beautiful our lives would be if we could learn from John's example. No matter what our present suffering, no matter what trial we are going through, no matter what disappointment has come upon us, or who afflicts us, we found cause for joy. There is nothing to stop us from replacing complaining with rejoicing, from offering it up in a truly holy and happy way; St. John shows us how. He focused on Jesus. He saw everything in relation to him.

This is especially important in our families. Parents have to do their best to protect their children from negativity. You know this better than I, how negativity saturates so much of our world, how it is woven into social media and how young people measure themselves. It can sneak into our conversations and humor, how we talk with and about one another. We also have to protect our children from negativity regarding the Mass. We can start complaining about the music or the homily or even fellow parishioners. In the process we miss the incredible gift Jesus wants to give us: His Word, His own Body and Blood. It is like sitting down to a meal where everything has been prepared and provided for us, and yet we choose to focus on what isn’t perfect or to our liking. We get distracted by the minor stuff and miss what really matters.

Like John the Baptist we need to focus on Jesus. The hardships of prison, everything else that was wrong, he brushed it away to remain focused on what was most true; Jesus was the savior of the world and would not be defeated by sin, death, or darkness. John shows us how we can replace negativity with joy; how we can offer it up, knowing that something far better is just around the corner. Today we lit the third candle of our Advent. It has a rose color that signifies rejoicing. Our deliverance is very near. May we be among the poor who rejoice at this good news and reflect it to others.

Fearing the Lord Can Be a Delight! (2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A)

To listen to this homily, click here.

As the holidays approach, it’s hard not to think about the experience of giving and receiving gifts. When I was a child, it was all about quantity and receiving gifts from others! My joy was based on whether or not I got as many things as the people around me. The same applied for giving; more gifts equaled better job! With time and maturity, that has changed; so much so, that sometimes when family and friends ask what I want, I can honestly say I don’t need anything at all! And now, I experience more happiness in finding that perfect gift for someone else. It feels so good when you know you hit the nail on the head and you see the person’s face as they open your gift. As I think about the most profound gifts I’ve received, they share one thing in common. It’s not how much they cost or how enviable they were at the time; what made these gifts so special is that they were personal and thoughtful. They became part of my identity and shaped who I became. Such gifts include the chalices and vestments I use at Mass, many of the tools I use to create furniture, and the patient, generous introduction I was given to learning by good movies and books, and experiences of life-renewing hobbies like hiking. So many gifts which have shaped and formed who I am and how I see the world!!

Today’s first reading from Isaiah lists what we Catholics call the gifts of the Holy Spirit; divine treasures that God shares with us, not because he has to, but because he wants to. These spiritual gifts become part of who we are as his children, if we use them. Strangely enough, the most prominent gift listed is not generally considered the crowd favorite. The prophet says it is the fear of the Lord that will bring delight to God’s anointed. Even more so than wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, and knowledge. But what is the fear of the Lord? Haven’t most of us been conditioned from an early age to approach God with confidence and joy? Is fearing the Lord some old-school theology where we see God as a terrifying, brutal, angry deity who will strike us down if we make one false move? Not at all! The holy gift of fearing the Lord is not based in terror or dread.

The fear of the Lord which is healthy, holy, and delightful combines the qualities of love and respect. It is “loving respect” and “respectful love.” To fear someone in this sense is to love them and respect them at the same time. We might see this more clearly if we look at it in the negative: where there is no respect, there is no love. This dynamic applies to all human relationships. Where there is no respect inside a marriage, there will be a lack of love as well. Where there is no respect in a family, there will be a shortage of love too. This can be especially helpful to our young people who are dating and entering serious relationships. No matter what someone says, no matter how smooth or romantic they are, if they do not respect you, they will not love you properly. Love and respect always go hand in hand.

So how does this apply to our relationship with God? Well, when I have a proper fear of the Lord, I choose to obey God and walk in his ways because I love him and want to please him. The fear of the Lord is an intentional and ongoing attitude that causes me to choose, again and again, to obey God even when it might be easier to do something else. I make that choice because I love God and want to please him. The fear of the Lord is not cringing fear or terror, which is respect without love. And it is not irreverent casualness, which is love without respect.

This principle is clearest in my mind when I think of my parents. Though they could be strict at times, I never doubted that they loved me. At the same time, I never forgot they were my parents and I was their son. I would have died before I called them by their first names and probably would have died if I had called them my “old man” or “old lady”. Whatever their faults, I wouldn’t talk about them here. Like most kids, I wanted to be like my parents and to please them. I looked up to them. I wanted to hear them say, “Son, I’m proud of you” and I consider myself blessed to know that they are. I love my parents and have never been ashamed to call them mom and dad, even now as a grown man.

Seen in that light, the fear of the Lord is not in conflict with love. It’s what real love is all about. A healthy sense of fear can be a positive motivation for doing right. It moves us not simply to behave for God but to be our best out of love for him. We approach God with a healthy dose of respect, knowing that although he needs nothing, he chooses to love us unconditionally and give us everything. Fear is reserved only for the things that would separate us from him, dread for our sins that hurt the heart of God who loves us without limit. This sort of loving respect is the basis of our relationship with God. When I choose to fear the Lord, I am choosing out of respect and love to do the things that please him. All that I do in my life comes back to this principle. The fear of the Lord is thus the most positive attitude you can have toward God and that is why it is the most delightful of all his gifts. 

In this advent season, let us be bold and ask God to give us every spiritual gift. Most especially though, let us ask to delight in the fear of the Lord, to love him and respect him so much, that we would never wander from him and only bring joy to his heart!