Reflections for Advent and Christmas, [November 28, 2004

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Why Am I Doing This?

She lived alone, as so many do. And she felt it especially at Christmas, as so many do.

Decorating her Christmas tree, she began to argue with herself, an argument she’d had several times before in these days before Christmas. “Why am I doing this? No one will see it, and I don’t need it.”

Then she heard herself say, “You have to do this. Not so that others will see it, but to remind yourself that the hope is real – not just words or a dream. It’s real. Jesus really did come. And so you really have a tree, and you decorate it, and you buy real gifts, and you go to Midnight Mass, and you have a real Christmas dinner. This is how you keep the hope alive and real.

Tuesday - Third Week of Advent

They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)

In the ancient world one never visited an important person without bringing gifts. This is the only time in the gospels that Jesus is presented with a gift – except in Luke’s account of the Passion when Jesus, hanging on the cross, is “presented” with wine by soldiers mocking his kingship.

It’s a great experience to give a gift to someone we love. What would it be like to give on to the Lord?

Come to think of it, that’s what we do at Mass. The altar represents Christ, and the bread and wine brought to the altar represent us. We are the gift. We say to the Lord, “In this Eucharist, as you give yourself with total trust into the Father’s hands, I’m joining with you to do the same thing.”

What is the Lord’s reaction when we say that? It’s not hard to imagine. Picture the parents’ reaction when a son or daughter turns their life in the right direction: “That’s the best present they could ever have given me.”

Joining with Christ in the Eucharist and giving ourselves with him entirely to God’s will is not something we do out of the blue. It takes some thought ahead of time.

Consider this the “ahead of time.”

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

What was the ‘Star’?

In an attempt to determine what the “star" might have been, astronomers have studied celestial phenomena that could have taken place at about the time of Jesus’ birth.

1. A supernova or “new star”: When a star explodes into birth, it gives out a great deal of light lasting weeks or months, sometimes even visible in the daytime. About a dozen are discovered each year, but they are rarely visible to the naked eye.

2. A comet: Comets appear a few times each century, Halley’s Comet has appeared every 77 years since 240 B. C. Its appearance closest to the date of Christ’s birth would have been in 12 or 11 B. C.

3. A planetary conjunction: There is a rare conjunction of three planets which according to the 17th century astronomer Johannes Kepler, occurs every 805 years when the orbits of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter bring them fairly close to one another. Kepler saw this happen in October on 16-5, and calculated that it would also have happened in 7 or 6 B. C.

Wednesday - Third Week of Advent

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their country by another way. (Matthew 2:12)

Here is another of the five dreams in Matthew’s birth story, and it is the only one that does not involve Joseph.

Again we have a hint of the passion and death of Christ. The warning in the dream saves Jesus’ life. In Matthew’s Passion account there will be another dream that involves an attempt to save Jesus’ life. Pilate, seated on the judge’s bench, is about to make a life-or-death decision:

While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do wih that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.”

That warning will fail, and Pilate will send Jesus to his death on the cross.

Sooner or later, death comes. It is just plain impossible to ward it off forever.

This child in Bethlehem will eventually overcome death. He will do it by dying. For our sake he’ll go through death to the other side, and open the way for us.

That’s why we celebrate his birth. Because of what he did to death.

Not just any death. My death.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Thursday - Third Week of Advent

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. (Matthew 2:13)

It seems a strange phrase: “Search for the child to destroy him.” Again, Matthew is giving us a preview of the Passion when exactly the same word is used: The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.

There is a tone of haste in the angel’s message to Joseph. He had to hurry to escape Herod’s search and destroy mission. Just honored with gifts, Jesus is about to be humiliated by flight.

The Holy Family heads for Egypt. It was outside Herod’s jurisdiction, and a frequent haven for Jewish people fleeing his disfavor.

Joseph is back in a familiar role: He is told what has to be done, and he does it. The whole future is not revealed to him, just what has to be done now.

We might muse…”I wish I had an angel to tell me exactly what to do. I’d do it, to the letter.”

Well, maybe. On the other hand…there are times when I know exactly what I ought to do…and I don’t do it.

I should probably talk to Joseph about that.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Friday, December 17, 2004

“O” Antiphons

The “Magnificat” of Mary is always part of the Church’s evening prayer. Sometime around the eighth century, an anonymous author composed a set of antiphons to frame the Magnificat on the seven days leading up to Christmas Eve (December 17-23).

These antiphons all begin with “o” and express our longing for the coming of the Savior. The one best known is “O come, O come Emmanuel” which is the last one, used on December 23.

Today, December 17, these “O Antiphons” begin. The first addresses God as “Wisdom”:

O Wisdom, holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care: come and show your people the way to salvation.”

Friday - Third Week of Advent

Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. (Matthew 2:14)

Each of us could tell the story of our journey toward God.

Some people don’t ever reflect on that journey and think that they just sort of landed here or “inherited” God. That’s not true at all.

It really helps to reflect on the journey and acknowledge the journey. Because the journey isn’t over. Everyone’s journey is different.

Some people, like the wise men, have to journey through a desert. Most everyone loses the star along the way, often more than once. Like any journey, there are ups and downs, hills and valleys. Sometimes you get lost.

The people most tragic of all are those who never even try the journey…those who never tune into the stirrings in their heart, or those who are afraid to take the journey, for whatever reason.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Saturday, December 18, 2004

The Rooster Mass

People in the Philippines prepare for Christmas with a nine-day novena of Masses in which they give thanks for the harvest and hope for a good year.

When the Spanish friars introduced Christmas to the Filipinos in the 16th century, they began celebrating the novena with morning Mass. Many of the farmers wanted to participate but they had to get up early to tend the fields and couldn’t get to Mass. As a compromise, the novena was moved to an even earlier hour to accommodate the farmers. Thus the novena is called Misa de Gallo> (the Mass of the Rooster (and it starts at sawn on December 16.

* * *

Parol, or Christmas lanterns are a traditional symbol of the Christmas celebration in the Philippines. Their five pointed star represents the Star of Bethlehem that led the wise men to baby Jesus.

These lanterns are usually made of bamboo and Japanese paper (Lightweight colorful tissue-type paper). They have an opening to allow for the insertion of a candle to light the way for Filipinos walking to the local parish church for Misa de Gallo, because it is still dark when Mass begins.

Saturday - Third Week of Advent

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 2:15)

Since Herod died in March or April of 4 B. C., Jesus was probably born between 7-4 B. C. Thus, the Holy Family’s stay in Egypt would not have been long.

The early Christians often searched the Old Testament for passages that fit the life of Jesus. Matthew, who does this more than any other Gospel writer, here quotes from the prophet Hosea:

When Israel was a child I loved him,
out of Egypt I called my son.

The passage refers to the exodus from Egypt 1,200 years earlier. Jesus’ return from Egypt is a new exodus. He travels to the Promised Land where he will liberate the whole human race from death.

The stories in the Old Testament are about us, and the people and events are part of our family album.

In the Scriptures, God, like a loving father, sits and converses with us about the wonders of the past and the future. That’s a wonderful image to keep in mind when reading Scripture.

Picture God speaking to you those words from Hosea: “When you were a child I loved you.” God adds: “And I have never stopped loving you.”

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Christmas Carols

The word “carol” means a “ring dance song” – people holding hands singing and dancing in a circle. When Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) created the first crib scene – which was “live,” using real people – people gathered and sang songs celebrating the Lord’s birth. Thus, “Christmas Carols” began.

Christmas carols were especially popular in England, where copies of the songs were first printed and sold. Town musicians went from house to house singing carols for money and food – which led to the custom of “Christmas caroling” outside the homes of neighbors and friends.

Sunday - Fourth Week of Advent

An Imperfect World

The fact of the matter is: Jesus did not come like a king on a state visit.

Jesus came to be part of real life in order to help us make sense out of real life. Now step back and think for a moment. The circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth, and the rest of his life too, were not perfect. There were problems, Jesus lost Joseph his own father, probably at a critical age for a young person growing up.

We, too, are born into an imperfect world. There have been problems in our lives from the beginning. Some problems people have had no control over: Broken homes; not knowing who their parents were; being born with physical disabilities or ailments.

Think of all the things that can happen and make life difficult. Some problems are things of our own doing – our own failures and the dumb things we do and have not done.

The point of the coming of Jesus was to enter into real life in an imperfect world of pain and misunderstanding, besides joy and glory…and say: “You can make sense of all this. Give me your broken lives, and I will help you make sense out of them.”

“How? Just give it all to the Father and just do your best. It won’t be perfect till the Kingdom, but give it to the Father anyway, and trust.”

Life wasn’t perfect for Jesus. But he gave it all to the Father. We see the ending of His life in an imperfect family in an imperfect world in the resurrection.

It all comes together. And it will for me too.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Monday, December 20, 2004

The Ursuline Sisters and the Louisiana Territory

On this day in 1803, the United State officially took over the Louisiana Territory. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the entire territory to the U. S. for $15 million.

The land had been held by the French who had worked hard to instill the French culture in the New World. Sons of wealthy colonists were sent to France for schooling or taught at home by Capuchins. But girls could not go to Europe for their education, so the governor asked that six Ursuline Sisters (who believed that “if you educated the mother, you educated the whole family”) be sent to attend the hospital and open a school for girls in New Orleans.

The Ursuline sisters also opened the first orphanage for girls, held the first classes for slave and Indian girls, and staffed one of the first hospitals in America. One Ursuline sister became the first pharmacist in the Louisiana Territory.

Monday - Fourth Week of Advent

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”

(Matthew 2:16-18)

Joseph and Mary rescued Jesus from a child’s death. Little did they know that one day he would die a young man’s death on a cross.

Matthew spares us a description of the slaughter and simply uses a text from Jeremiah to recall the sobbing that surely took place.

Bethlehem was a small town and the estimated number of boys two years old and under would have been about 20. Herod’s massacre is not recorded in historical documents, but the relatively small number makes the story all the more plausible. Mary and Joseph would have known the families of these children. One can only guess at their feelings when they later heard about this.

One method of prayer is to take a passage of Scripture and put myself in the shoes of different people – Mary, Joseph, a frightened Herod, his advisors, mothers and fathers who lost their sons, the soldiers, the townspeople.

Try it.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

The Shortest Day of the Year

Today usually marks the shortest day of the year. In ancient calendars, the shortest day was December 25. It was celebrated as the pagan feast of the "Unconquered Sun," since the sun, which had been slowly dying, began to rally and overcome darkness.

When Was Jesus Born?

No one knows the month or day of Jesus’ birth. In the fourth century Christians began to celebrate it on December 25, probably to change the pagan feast into a celebration of the birth of the Light of the World.

Backing up nine months from that date, the Church celebrated the Annunciation on March 25, which in the old calendar was the first day of spring.

In Luke’s account, the angel Gabriel told Mary at the Annunciation that her kinswoman, Elizabeth (John the Baptist’s mother) was in her sixth month. Since the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25, John’s birth is celebrated about three months later – on June 24 – the time of year when daylight gradually begins to decrease. The Baptist had said: “He must increase; I must decrease.”

All this, of course, is symbolic structuring of the liturgical calendar, making use of light and darkness. For the early Christians, the truths of their faith were played out in the heavens – before their very eyes.

Tuesday - Fourth Week of Advent

When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. (Matthew 2:19-21)

Another dream for Joseph, and another response: He does what he’s asked to do.

Going home. What was going on inside Joseph and Mary as they traveled eastward to Israel?

They must have wondered, as parents do, about the future of their child. What did God have in mind for him? What did God have in mind for them?

Joseph and Mary did not have a “Trip-Tik” of their life any more than we do. Mary didn’t know that she would become a widow and be left alone to raise her son. She didn’t know the son she raised would be executed as a criminal.

Nor did she know the good news that he would rise from the dead. Or that when her days came to an end she would be assumed bodily into heaven to be with him and all the saints.

One day at a time. Do the Lord’s will as best we can without knowing the future. The Lord will take care of us along the way, and when it’s all over, the Lord will bring us home.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Messianic Prophecies

The Hebrew word for prophet is nabi, which is connected with the root meaning “to call, to proclaim.” This describes the essence of prophecy in the Israel of Old Testament times.

The prophet is the bearer and interpreter of the Word of God. The prophet’s message is to those of his times, communicating God’s will, but also standing beyond time looking toward a future age. The message may be veiled in mystery until the future is fulfilled, as in the case of the messianic prophecies.

Throughout Israel’s history, a great hope was sustained in the faith of the people of God – they would, with God’s help, survive peril and win final salvation, enjoying happiness as they have never known.

Throughout the Old Testament, prophets proclaim that the Messiah, God’s anointed one, will rule the earth:

• The prophet Nathan (2 Samuel: 7) prophesies the Messiah will be from King David’s lineage.

• The prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:5-33:15) proclaim future light and salvation for those who are poor, left behind and in darkness.

• Titles of nobility, honor and the Spirit of God will be on the Messiah (Isaiah 9:5, 11:1-5)

• Isaiah 7:14 may be the most familiar: “He is Emmanuel – God with us.”

Wednesday - Fourth Week of Advent

But when Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the reigon of Galilee. (Matthew 2:22)

When Herod died in 4 B.C., his kingdom was split among the three sons. The one most feared was Herod Archelaus, who ruled Judea (Bethlehem was in that district.) The historian Josephus said that he began his reign by killing 3,000 people. (Rome eventually deposed him in 6 A.D.)

Not exactly your stellar family.

Even the Holy Family has its own zig-zagged history in Matthew’s account of those early days in their family life. It starts with a near divorce on Joseph’s part. Then, shortly after the birth of Jesus they have to flee from Bethlehem and go to Egypt. After a stay there, the head back to Bethlehem, but on the way they discover that Herod’s son is as bad as his father. So now, they change their plans and go north to Nazareth.

I doubt there’s a family that doesn’t have a zig-zagged history. Shakespeare said it well: “The way of true love never did go smooth.”

Home, wherever it is found, is meant to be the place where a person receives a love and acceptance they don’t have to earn.

That sound good when I’m the recipient of this love and acceptance. I need to remember that I’m also meant to be the giver of those gifts.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Fast and Abstinence

Fast and abstinence were ways to prepare for major feasts, and Church law required this at various times. Prior to the post-Vatican II changes, the day before Christmas was one of the required days of fast and abstinence (no meat, no eating between meals, and the two meals other than the main meal were to be light.)

That is why, to this day, many families have the tradition of eating a fish dinner on Christmas Eve.

Recognizing the practical difficulties this law created for many people, Pope John XXIII in 1959 said that Catholics could fast on December 23 instead if they wished.

Then in 1966, with the total revision of the laws of fast and abstinence by Pope Paul VI, December 24 was no longer a day of fast and abstinence.

However, some Catholics voluntarily adhere to the old rules of fast and abstinence.

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