December 18th
Today we are presented with the reality of the Incarnation from the perspective of Joseph—often seen as the silent, yet powerful, partner in the Christmas story. He is faced with the real-life dilemma of his girlfriend being pregnant and he is not the father! Far from being a plot line is a popular TV soap, there is a reality check here for Joseph: the religious leaders would want to punish Mary severely for this ‘crime’. It is through the power of dream that Joseph is re-assured to ‘take Mary home.’ In this all-too-common situation, that couples across the globe must face: Mary and Joseph present both the radical and challenging nature of childbirth, along with the ordinariness of the gift of new life.
it is in those ordinary and simple things that we can find salvation. There is a lovely story told of the teenage saint Dominic Savio: he took to Don Bosco’s exhortation that his pupils could become saints; Dominic started to follow the example of the aesthetic saints he had read about. He filled his bed with stones so that he could not sleep properly and took to fasting for long period; with lack of food and sleep, his health deteriorated badly, and Don Bosco was deeply concerned. When Dominic told his mentor what he was doing to achieve sanctity, Bosco reminded him that we become saints not by doing the extraordinary but by doing the ordinary extraordinarily well.
Recently another fifteen-year-old, Carlo Acutis was beatified; he can rightly be called the saint of Facebook and Twitter. He is a modern saint who, while dressed in jeans and a tracksuit top, pointed to the need for the Eucharist in our lives. A modern saint who was at home with the internet and recognised its power in our lives; his mother Antonia spoke to reporters prior to the ceremony, “I must say that the internet is incredible. It’s a gift. Of course, the internet has a dark side” when misused for pornography, bullying, and selling drugs, but Carlo showed the good side of internet. And we know that the light is stronger than the darkness.” Obviously, she is biased but she sees her eldest child, a victim of leukaemia, as a prophet for our times: “because, of course, a saint is somebody who goes a little bit against the mainstream, the mentality of most people.” Don Bosco, Dominic Savio and Carlo could be seen as rebels’ as they offer values that sometimes we would like to hide. Carlo spoke of the cult of the superstar that is all too obvious in our society today, as a quick look into any tabloid newspaper will show; he would comment:
You see queues in front of a football match or an actor or rock singer, but you don’t see a queue for the tabernacle where there is the real presence of God, God that lives among us:
(Blessed Carlo Acutis 1991-2006)
Personally, I am drawn to Carlo’s wisdom when he said, “we are all born original, but many die as photocopies.” Today we see God blessing the original gift to the world that is Mary; Blessed Carlo wants each of us to make our own contribution to the life of the world, it is a contribution that only YOU can make. While Carlo was strongly attached to the Eucharist, his prayer life, and working in his local soup kitchen, he enjoyed physical activity, playing with his many friends and living the life of a normal teenager-others sought him out when they had problems; he was a real friend to those in need. Carlo's friendly face was a common sight in his neighbourhood. He befriended everybody, including the gatekeepers, janitors, and other domestic servants that worked around his area. These workers were often non-Europeans with Muslim and Hindu backgrounds. Carlo told everybody about his love for Christ, and people couldn't help but listen and share in his joy. Another recent saint, Cardinal Newman powerfully reminds us of our uniqueness; I pray that today you do not follow the crowd, but that you are prepared to make a difference:
God has created me to do him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission; I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling. (St John Henry Newman)
Mary had found that level of sanctity and was chosen to be the ‘SHEKINAH’ or place of encounter with God. God’s Shekinah is assuming flesh and blood in the womb of history, within the womb of a Davidic descendent, Mary, who dares to say, “I am the handmaid of God, be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1: 38). It is Mary’s faith that makes the incarnation possible; it is our faith that makes the incarnation possible in our own world. It brings new meaning to our families, to grow with us, to be with us. And it is through the goodness of our own faith, one with him, that the love of God is to be radiated out into the whole world. Today we can follow the example of Mary and see great things happen with just a little love, mixed with a little faith; Christmas is not something that happened to other people many, many centuries ago. Christmas can happen every day when we bring our faith together and say to God, “Take my life. Be it done to you and be it done to me according to Your word.”
Today: follow the example oof Blessed Carlo and use the internet to bring goodness-even a positive tweet could help someone
We can pray:
Lord, we thank you for the gift of Mary in the life of our Church-may we follow her example of faith, hope and love. Like her may we see God’s hand in all we do and say today. We thank you for the gifts of Dominic Savio and Carlo Acutis; they are role model for our young as the remind us that we can all be happy and have good times following the Gospel. As adults, may we always give good example and be open to learning from our young people: they can teach us so much if our ears and hearts are open to them. AMEN