Daily Reflection for Monday December 28,2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Monday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122820.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1 John 1:5-2:2
Responsorial: Psalm 124: 2-3, 3-4, 7CD-8
Gospel: Matthew 2: 13-18
Our reflection on Monday’s readings:
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2: 14-15.
We read and reflect upon Scripture as a way to find the Truth. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus and his parents were refugees who needed to seek asylum in another country because of the fear of violence in their homeland.
Jesus, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The cornerstone of the largest faith on earth, was a refugee. And, according to Matthew, when it was safe to leave Egypt, the Holy Family did not return to Judea where Bethlehem is located, because it was not safe. Instead, as homeless people, they moved to Galilee and the town of Nazareth, ninety miles from Bethlehem.
In today’s world, there are 79.5 million refugees (also called forcibly displaced persons), and 40% of them are children. And there could be 150-200 million climate change refugees by 2050. Sons and daughters of God searching for safety, food, and some security in their otherwise insecure world.
Today’s First Reading tells us, If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. We can claim to be with Jesus—to be Christian—but if we only “talk the talk” and don’t “walk the walk,” we are walking in darkness.
But we can walk in the light. One of the famous quotes from Dr. King is: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." When we walk in the light, as today’s reading from 1 John 5 tells us, then we have fellowship with one another, and the love and the sacrifice of Jesus cleans us. We can drive out the darkness.
Safety, security, enough food to eat, and some sense of “normal” for ourselves and our fellow humans. It’s what we all want. And it’s not asking for too much.
During this Season of Light and beyond, let us be light for one another and light for the world.
Peace and blessings,
Al Mytty