{"id":4782,"date":"2016-12-25T10:10:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-25T15:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=4782"},"modified":"2016-12-19T15:15:08","modified_gmt":"2016-12-19T20:15:08","slug":"reflections-on-the-scripture-readings-for-this-weekend-20161225","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=4782","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on the Scripture Readings for this Weekend — 20161225"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The readings assigned for our celebration of the Nativity of Christ, God Incarnate, are taken from Paul\u2019s letter to the Galatians and a part of the infancy narrative in Matthew\u2019s Gospel. They are not, perhaps, the readings that one would expect for this feast.<\/p>\n

Our Epistle reading is taken from the fourth chapter of Paul\u2019s letter and deals with \u201cfree sons of God in Christ,\u201d which directly deals with the true meaning and impact of God\u2019s Incarnation. Paul writes:<\/p>\n

God sent forth his Son born of a woman \u2026 so that we might receive our status as adopted sons. The proof that you are sons is the fact that God has sent forth into our hearts the spirit of his Son which cries out \u201cAbba.\u201d You are no longer a slave but a son. And the fact that you are a son makes you an heir, by God\u2019s design.<\/p>\n

So our feast is not meant to focus on a real, historical event but, rather, to reveal to us what God intended by becoming a human. We get so caught up, sometimes, in the story of the birth of Jesus that we don\u2019t recognize why God did what He did. He revealed that we are the heirs of His Kingdom. It calls us to live like God\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

Our Gospel reading also does not dwell on the historical event but, rather, God\u2019s revelation to the world, through the astrologers, that He is very intimately connected to us, His creation. The story also shares, through the person of King Herod, the deception and self-centeredness that can possess humans who don\u2019t want to change and who tend to hang onto their old ideas of what life is all about. This is one reason why God came into the world – to show us the truth about human life and how to live it in order to achieve, with God\u2019s help, the meaning and purpose of this earthly life.<\/p>\n

The story of the astrologers tells us two very important things: (1) they believed Jesus to be a king and (2) they brought Him gifts. The fact that they thought Him to be a King, highlights the recognition of Jesus by the Gentiles. The gifts are the products for which the East was famed. Myrrh is interpreted by the Fathers as being an omen of Jesus\u2019 death – perhaps not without real reason for it occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in this connection.<\/p>\n

As we celebrate this glorious feast, we must ask ourselves: Do I see Jesus as God\u2019s revelation to me about my life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The readings assigned for our celebration of the Nativity of Christ, God Incarnate, are taken from Paul\u2019s letter to the Galatians and a part of the infancy narrative in Matthew\u2019s Gospel. They are not, perhaps, the readings that one would … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-liturgy-of-the-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4783,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782\/revisions\/4783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}