Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Welcome to a special edition of big city Catholics during the octave of Christmas. I hope that you enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas day. And moreover, I hope that you continue to experience the graces of this season which continues through this weekend. Next right up through the feast of the epiphany of the Lord on Sunday the 7 January, and of the baptism of the Lord on Monday the 8 January. Many of you have heard by now that my Christmas was a little different this year. A quiet Christmas. After three years, the COVID virus finally caught me. And on the weekend of Christmas. Can you believe that? Indeed, it was a major disappointment not to celebrate in our cathedral and in our co cathedral and later to be with family. But perhaps the Lord was calling me to a more contemplative observance of his nativity as I was preparing to offer mass alone in the chapel on Sunday morning. A little like Father Mackenzie in the Beatles song, writing the words to the sermon that no one will hear, I was struck by the difference between the king, David, who wanted to build a temple for the Lord, and Mary, who gave herself over to God and what God would accomplish through her. Don't get me wrong, David had good intentions. He looked around at what he had. He was living in relative comfort, and he wanted to build a suitable place for the Lord to dwell among his people. That's not so bad. His prophet Nathan answered enthusiastically in favor of the idea.
[00:01:51] But then, that night, Nathan had a dream, and God told him that he wasn't asking David to build him a temple. Another would be asked to do that, and God had greater things in mind. To his credit, David took correction well. But he always had that initial impulse, I'll do it my way. In contrast, the angel Gabriel took Mary totally by surprise and she answered, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word. Yes, David had good intentions, but he wanted to do things his way.
[00:02:29] How often is that my story? Is it not so for many of us, but our Christmas brings us to see that it's not what I want that matters, but what God is doing with, through, and for me, looking forward to Christmas, I often think about the use of the word behold in the Bible. Oh, you find it all over both the Old and the New Testaments. But it strikes me that it's used an awful lot in the Christmas story. Sometimes it's spoken to one of the essential figures, Mary or Joseph or Zechariah or the shepherds, and sometimes it's addressed to us, the reader. Some examples such was his intention when behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, joseph, son of David, do not be afraid, or behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. Mary said, behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Ah. And the angel said to the shepherds, do not be afraid, for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people.
[00:03:55] For today in the city of David, a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord of all. There are many more examples in the infancy narratives, and of course, the great declaration of John the Baptist. When Jesus appears on the scene, John says, behold the lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. What is the meaning of this word? Behold and how is it used? It's sometimes a rejoinder, an attention getter, as if to say, hey, look up, pay attention.
[00:04:31] Sometimes it's an invitation. Simply put, the word means to look, but more than that, it means to look deeply, to note the deeper realities, to go beyond the surface, to contemplate.
[00:04:50] Behold, stop.
[00:04:53] Look, listen, take it all in.
[00:04:58] Often the challenge for me in this busy time of the year is to stop and contemplate. This year, the challenge was somewhat different. It was to put aside what I wanted like king David, and to let the Lord speak to me in the circumstances of the here and now, to behold the mystery of the word made flesh of God dwelling among us. At the time I'm recording this podcast, I'm fully on the men, thank God. The symptoms, if you could call them symptoms, were very, very minimal. But I am testing negative for Covid and I'm cleared of the need to isolate. Next week I'll be at the annual Sikh conference from Focus Ministries with a delegation of focus missionaries, college students involved in campus ministries at Queen's College, and a number of our seminarians and discerners. Please join me for next week's edition of Big City Catholics, which will be broadcast from that conference, where we will talk about the challenges and the joys of living as faithful Catholics in settings not always so friendly to our faith. Friends, may God bless you in these days of Christmas and in the coming new year. And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever and ever. Amen. God bless you, and we'll see you next week on big city Catholics.
