During Advent, kindness is key. Kindness is not merely a human trait, but is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Christians are joy filled. Filled with joy Himself, Jesus encourages us all to reveal the joy of Jesus to the world as Pope Francis writes:

“Christianity spreads through the joy of disciples who know that they are loved and saved. Let us draw from the crib the joy and peace Jesus comes to bring to the world.”

Joy, another fruit of the Holy Spirit, brings forth kindness. Joyful kindness creates thanksgiving. Thanksgiving reveals our gratitude for the many blessings that come to us from Our Father. He blesses us daily not with pleasures and possessions but with time to enjoy, talents to share, and treasures to spread.

Time is the gift of life itself and we ought to be grateful for our life. Talents are characteristics and qualities that God gave to us to sharpen the world. Treasure is more than just the financial means to buy food, clothing, and shelter, but the gift of our faith. Knowing Jesus’ love transforming our lives is the ultimate gift God gave us. Faith our greatest treasure allows us to share Him as well as ourselves freely so others may receive graciously.

Yet, how many gripe, grumble, and grouse when our expectations are not met. When life is challenging and changing constantly, we react, complaining, rebelling and criticizing. Instead of responding harshly, the gift of Kindness teaches us to embrace the situation, person, or problem joyfully. 

Kindness starts with caring, being tenderhearted, and  showing compassion. Joyful Kindness actively looks for opportunities to be selfless. When we see one in need, we act quickly, sacrificing ourselves for the good of the other.  Joyful Kindness, the fruit of charity, loves others because we care about others doing good, restoring love.

With the fruit of Joyful Kindness, we extend our selflessness to those who are unkind. We forgive their failings. We, filled with the fruit of Kindness, have a strength to endure and overcome those who are unkind. Thus St. Paul says:

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philip 2:3).

Our innate human nature must be replaced by God’s nature. That only happens when we embrace God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within us. These gifts: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal5:22) are the greatest Christmas gifts. Yet, we do not receive them to keep, but give them as our gift to others. May our Joyful Kindness blossom and grow this Advent and may we give them as gifts this Christmas Day!

Kyrios is Greek, Dominus is Latin, Lord is English.  Mark declares,   Jesus is Kyrios, Lord, and more impressive, He is the Son of God Who saves his people. He, the Anointed One, rules— not Caesar.

Knowing Roman culture helps us to understand the Scriptures as we are so distant from their civilization. History tells us that Caesar was lord and the son of god, two titles very much used in Scripture. Yet, Scripture does not state that Caesar is Lord. Rather Jesus is Lord. If Jesus is Lord then there is a new king and a new kingdom Who threatens Roman domination. As did King Herod when Jesus was born, so too Caesar. They sought to crush any threat to their dominance. Hence, this opening passage of Mark’s Gospel threatened the Roman and Jewish culture.

Gospel, another pivotal word in the phrase means the good news.   Literally, evangelium, as Isaiah foretold, are the good tidings:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns” (Is 52:7).

Good News and Glad Tidings are the Gospel message commonly used to proclaim Roman military conquests over other peoples. Messengers would carry messages from all parts of the empire letting the people and politicians know the news. These messages became the headlines.

Mark, however, talks about Jesus, declaring He is the Good News–the Headline News. His radical claim that Jesus Christ is Good News — not Caesar, not only befuddled the people, claiming Christ was the Lord, but the message itself was unbelievable. Jesus the Christ forgave sin by   dying on the cross and rising from the dead. He is the Conqueror, not Caesar. This offended Romans and Jews alike. Caesar is King, we have no other. Not only was Caesar considered the anointed one and lord of your life, but he was the son of god. Caesar, not Jesus, ruled over life and death. The high priest forgives sins, not this blasphemer Jesus. Yet, the counter claim declares Jesus is the real Son of God. He is the Good News, the Gospel, and He rules over sin and death by rising from the dead. How strange and absolutely offensive, intolerable. 

Peter, Paul and a host of other apostles and disciples were jailed and martyred because they were considered resurrectionists as they proclaimed that Jesus, Joshua: the name literally means, God saves, is Kyrios. Peter’s preaching as recorded in Acts reveals the intensity and offensiveness of his words:

“This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:23).

Peter blasphemed against the Roman gods, especially Caesar and his ambassador, Pontius Pilate, declaring all other gods idols. He condemned the Sanhedrin and Pharisees, calling them murderers and     idolaters, revealing Jesus is Lord of Lord and King of Kings. There is no other.

The Apostles’ witness led to imprisonment, beheading, and crucifixion. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified upside down. Andrew was crucified on a cross in the form of an X. Bartholomew was skinned alive. John was boiled in oil and exiled to Patmos. To be a messenger of this “Good News”, Jesus the Christ is Lord and the Son of God, meant death. Yet, their commitment to Jesus as the Christ, the Lord and Son of God, did not deter them. In fact, any suffering they suffered only strengthened them. For them, suffering with Jesus were gains, a resurrected life.

      The popular culture understands the Apocalypse to mean destruction: the end of the world. It is Armageddon, the final battle. Yet, in Jesus’ time, the word apocalypse meant the unveiling or revealing what is hidden.

      The word Apocalypse translated into our language means revelation. That is, to reveal what was hidden. What was hidden? The real presence of God, not the end of the world, as Jesus teaches

“For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.” (Lk 8:17)

What is hidden is not a secret and forbidden. It is a  mystery. Only those who seek to understand the mystery of the revelation of Jesus Christ will come to know Him. Those who do not want to delve into the mysteries of Who Jesus is will never understand the book of the Apocalypse.

The Apocalypse is a book of the heavenly worship of God. The author, most likely John the Evangelist, is taken up on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, and experiences this vision. The vision is unveiled or revealed and so the title of the book is Revelation. Read it closely and this passage sums it:

“Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. These words are true; they come from God.” (Rev. 19:9)

Jesus lifts us up into his divine presence every time we celebrate the Wedding Feast of the Lamb which we call Mass and every time we enter into the Mass we envision the divine liturgy beholding Jesus as the Priest sitting on his throne interceding for us.

In this earthly liturgy, we are taken up literally into the heavenly liturgy, and behold the divine mysteries being revealed to us. The book of Revelation reveals that God is present here in Mass and we are present in heaven. We see the heavens open and Jesus unveils Himself to us as the bridegroom giving us his love through his life!

For us to experience this mystery, that it is real and meaningful, we repent of our sin. Once cleansed by his grace, we are taken up into heaven only to behold the Real Presence of Christ through the mystery of the Eucharist.

These Eucharistic Mysteries reveal not merely Who Christ is, the Messiah promised by God to restore his creation, but who we are. We are the beloved bride of Christ made worthy to receive the Groom through the shedding of his blood.

We enter into this marital relationship and experience the inexpressible love that God has for us. His love restores the original love at creation when Adam and Eve lived in the presence of God unveiled.

When Adam encountered Eve and said “she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,” he stated something more than just astonishment. He stated that she was him and he was her: not two but one. Yet, seeing each other, Adam and Eve saw God for each is made in the image and likeness of God Who is Love Himself.

The Apocalypse then, unveils God’s unfathomable love for us inviting us to receive it, through the Eucharist, then to live it by loving one another knowing we are infinitely loved by the Bridegroom, Jesus Who gave us his love by giving us his life on the cross.

The mystery of the Cross is the heart of the Christian Worship. What we worship is not the crucifixion of a man condemned for treason. That would make the death of Christ merely another Roman execution.

On Calvary, Satan poured upon Christ every evil he could inspire humanity to commit. The depraved, violent, perverse, and blasphemous acts that we see and read about were lashed upon Jesus on the cross so that humanity would kill Him. In so doing, Satan would relish in his revenge: God is dead! Humanity killed him.

Christ’s death, however, is not a Roman execution. It is not merely punishment for sin either. It is God’s love expressed through the most precious gift of Himself, a act of sacrificial love, in which Christ constantly gives Himself completely, for all time and for all people to make us partakers in his divine nature which was lost at the Fall. This is divinization.

Christ’s death justifies us taking away our sins. He paid the debt that we could not pay. It was an atonement sacrifice making us righteous as Scripture clearly teaches:

“He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2).

This is true, but incomplete. Jesus not only justifies us with his death on the cross, but He restores humanity back to our original state. This is the resurrection. We no longer live fallen in sin, but through baptism we die with Christ and if we die with Him, we rise with Him. Risen, we are more than justified. We are glorified. We partake in his divinity.

Moreover, the crucifixion is more than Jesus’ justification  and our glorification. It was the fulfillment of the first prophecy in which the Seed of the Woman would crush the skull of the serpent. Upon Golgotha, the place of the skull, Jesus dies. His death manifests his power to rise from the dead. In so doing, God did not die. Satan did. Christ conquered Satan and destroyed death forever. In Christ’s death, Satan is destroyed and we are redeemed so writes St. Paul:

“In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us” (Eph 1:7)

We, who participate in the living sacrifice, are now washed clean of our sin; but more importantly, Jesus ascends into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us as He did on Calvary. Through his intercession, the Holy Spirit bestows the riches of his grace upon us so that we, dead to sin, live glorified in Christ.