Reflections for Advent and Christmas, [November 28, 2004

Thursday - Fourth Week of Advent

He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazorean.” (Matthew 2:23)

To protect his wife and child, Joseph decides to go north to Galillee, to a small hill town called Nazareth. Its origins date back to the seventh century B.C., but it was an obscure town, never mentioned in any Jewish writings.

The birth story now comes to an end. At this point Joseph disappears from Matthew’s Gospel, never to be seen, heard from, or mentioned again.

We all know of people like Joseph who crossed the path of our lives at just the right time, and gave us just the help we needed.

May God bless them.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Friday, Christmas Eve

A Special Christmas Transmission

Astronaut Frank Borman had been scheduled to be a lay reader during Christmas Eve services at his parish of St. Christopher Episcopal Church back in Texas.

But when his Apollo 8 mission was rescheduled to leave for the moon on Dec. 21, 1968, he knew he’d have to cancel his parish plans.

Yet even though he’d be thousands of miles away, Borman wanted to do something special for St. Christopher Parish. A fellow parishioner named Rod Rose who was an engineer at mission control had an idea. Rose and Borman put together a small prayer which Borman could read from orbit. Rose would then tape it, and it could be replayed at St. Christopher’s Christmas Eve service.

On Christmas Eve, nearly 240,000 miles from home, Bornman recited his prayer:

”Givie us, O God, the vision which can see thy love in the world, in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust the goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts, and show us what each one of us can do to set forth the coming of the day of universal peace. Amen

* * *

Borman’s prayer for St. Christopher Episcopal Church was the first prayer broadcast from space.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

The Christmas Crèche

Although Francis of Assisi probably wasn’t the first to create a crèche at Christmas, he is credited with spreading its popularity. In 1233, Francis brought in a live donkey and ox, and held Christmas Mass at a manger, instead of an altar.

By the end of the 18th century, nativity scenes began to appear in village squares and homes, as they became popular among the people

Another custom that evolved from the crèche is the preparation of the manger, which originated in France. Children prepare a soft bedding in the manger by using little pieces of straw as tokens of prayers and good works. Each night the child puts in the crib one straw for each act of devotion or virtue performed throughout the day.

There are times when we read the papers, watch the news, think of all the problems on this planet called Earth, shake our heads and wonder to ourselves, “Who would want to bring a child into this world?”

God would.

Saturday - Christmas

Merry Christmas

The remarkable religious phenomenon of Christmas is not what takes place in the Church. It’s what takes place in the home. There is not another time of the year when it is so natural to have a religious presence manifest in homes.

It’s not just that there is religion, but it’s natural and it fits. The tree is a religious symbol, the crib, of course…”Merry Christmas: is a prayerful phrase.

Religion was never meant to be something off the wall. It was never meant to be something superimposed. It’s meant to fit. More families say a prayer at the Christmas meal than probably any other day, except perhaps Thanksgiving.

Just as the Christmas tree – the evergreen – is a symbol of something than can be green all year round, even in the winter when it is dark and cold, let this be a sign for us of what can be true all year round. You won’t keep a crib up all year, but let there be a cross where everyone can see it every day. You don’t say “Merry Christmas” every day of the year, but “Good-bye” means “God be with you,” and a “God bless you” now and then that you really mean is a beautiful word to be spoken not just in Church but at home.

The most remarkable thing about the presence of God is not that God can be present at a gathering at church and that is a beautiful and remarkable thing – but that a home can be a place where everyone is at home with the Lord.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

The Legends of the Holy Family

The Holy Family’s flight to Egypt has given rise to much folklore – fascinating tales composed centuries later.

It is said that their journey to Egypt was blessed with many miracles – lions and leopards wagging their tails in homage, palm trees bending down to give them fruit.

There are legends dating back to the fifth century which say that the Holy Family stayed in the city of Matariyah, just northeast of present-day Cairo. One story says that as a child Jesus grew balsam trees producing balm that cured almost anything, including snakebite.

Another tradition is that they passed through a city about 150 miles down the Nile and as they did, the pagan idols bowed to them.

A monastery further down the Nile claims to be on the site where the Holy Family lived for sic months. One of the apocryphal gospels tells the story that two robbers set upon them there, but one repented when he saw Mary’s tears. These are the same two robbers, so goes the legend, that were crucified with Jesus, and the one who shed tears turned out to be the “Good Thief.”

Sunday – Feast of the Holy Family

Being Part of a Family

In Jesus’ time, the little town of Nazareth had about 100 people. It was a hick town on a hill up north. It’s never mentioned in Scripture until Jesus is associated with it.

As towns and society were back then, most everybody in that town would have been a relative of Jesus. In the Mideast, especially back then, families and extended families lived in light quarters, near one another, and were part of each other’s lives.

We can forget about our images of Jesus quietly sitting with his father, Joseph, in the carpenter shop, watching him make a chair. Jesus was thrown together with cousins, in-laws, people of all kinds and rubbed elbows with them. He was in the thick of family and there was no getting away from it.

If, over the holidays, you experience a large family get-together, that’s what Jesus experienced every day of his life until he left Nazareth.

Family life requires a lot of indirect kindness that you hope will have an effect. Maybe it won’t. But you just try to be kind and understanding, and you just do your best. You can’t directly move in and change things. And to be honest, the chemistry in an enormous extended family can’t all be good.

But society can’t do without families. There’s never been a society in the recorded history of the human race, that was worth anything that didn’t have family, and families that managed.

And that’s what we’re all part of. That’s what we celebrate on this Holy Family Sunday. Jesus was part of that kind of an extended group, in close quarters.

The Lord has been there. He knew what that was like.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Feast of St. John the Apostle

John and his brother James were partners in a fishing business with two other brothers – Peter and Andrew. In Matthew, they are the first four disciples called by Jesus.

John is mentioned 20 times in the Gospels (though never in the Gospel that bears his name); Peter, James and John had an especially close relationship to the Lord. For example, Jesus brought only them to witness the Transfiguration.

It is said that John was a young man when called to be a disciple, and lived to a ripe old age. One tradition says that in his last days his disciples would carry him into the church. Unable to give a lengthy sermon, he would simply repeat the words: “Children, love one another.” His disciples, hearing this repeatedly, became impatient: “Master, why do you always say the same thing?” John replied, Because it is the Lord’s own commandment. And if you did nothing more, it would suffice.”

* * *

John is often identified as the mysterious “beloved disciple” in John’s Gospel. But some scholars suggest that this nameless person was a disciple who during Jesus’ life time seemed a minor figure. Then in the early Christian community he emerged as a person of great faith. But by the time John’s Gospel was finished no one remembered his name.

* * *

Unlike other saints, an apostle’s feast always takes precedence over the daily weekday sequence for liturgy.

Monday in the Octave of Christmas

[After Matthew tells us that the Holy Family went to a town called Nazareth, his very next verse jumps ahead 30 years to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.]

In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

A voice of one crying out in the desert,
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make straight his paths.’”

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:1-4)

The scene shifts to a desert area near Jerusalem, and the first person to appear is John the Baptist. His clothes are similar to the great prophet Elijah nearly 1,000 years earlier, and his food is what one would find to eat in the desert.

John’s first words are exactly the same as the first words we will hear from the lips of Jesus when he begins his preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

We think of the word “repent” as striking our breast and promising to do better. But the Greek word means to “think again.” The word “pensive” has to do with thinking. Thus, re-pent” means to "re-think” what is important in life.

Today, two days after Christmas, we hear John’s call to “re-pent” – to think again about the direction of our life.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Today is the traditional date on which the Church remembers the small children in Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod. The words of the Prayer After Communion in today’s Mass are nicely crafted:

Herod, by a wordless profession of faith in your son, the innocents were crowned with life at his birth.

* * *

In some countries, such as Colombia and Mexico, Dia de los Innocentes is also akin to April Fools’ Day. People play jokes on one another, trying to catch people “innocent”, that is, easily taken in. In Mexico, if someone falls for the joke they may receive candy or a silly gift in return.

Tuesday in the Octave of Christmas

At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to John the Baptist and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children th Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:3-5-10)

John the Baptists was a fiery preacher. In this passage he directs words of warning to two groups of religious leaders -- the Pharisees and Sadducees – who will later be antagonists of Jesus. He tells them that actions are more important than pious words. They are to produce “good fruit,” i.e. actions that are proof of their sincerity.

One of the strong emphases of Matthew’s Gospel is the need not only to say the right thing, but to do it.

Jesus will warn his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

Crossing the bridge from deciding to doing is not always easy.

The New Year is four days away. Will I think about or do God’s will in the New Year?

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becker, born into an upper-class family, became a close friend of the worldly King Henry II. When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, the king appointed Thomas to this office and had him ordained a priest and bishop. The clergy were not pleased with the imposition of “the king’s man” into the Church’s realm.

Thomas surprised them, and Henry too. He renounced his position as Chancellor and dedicated himself to fasting and prayer. He secretly wore a hair shirt.

His relationship with the king gradually became strained, for Thomas resisted Henry’s attempts to interfere in Church matters. Eventually Thomas fled to a Cistercian monastery in France.

In 1170, Henry met him in Normandy and talked him into coming back. Thomas returned, but the peace between them didn’t last. Henry still encroached in Church affairs and Thomas still resisted. In his Christmas sermon Thomas told the people he might soon be taken from them.

Henry heard this and is depicted in drama as shouting: “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” Four of his loyal knights took up the challenge and left for Canterbury. On December 29, 1170, as Thomas was preparing for Vespers, they cut him down with their swords.

Wednesday in the Octave of Christmas

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:3-11)

John is famous, attracting great crowds, Jesus is unknown. Yet John makes it clear that Jesus ranks above him. John is a fiery preacher, but a humble man.

John’s expectations of Jesus – that he too would be a “fire-and-brimstone” preacher – were not entirely accurate. Later, when John was in prison, he sent some of his own disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” The merciful, healing Jesus who ate and drank with sinners did not match John’s expectation of a fiery preacher.

There are times when we feel as John did. How can God continue to let evil people do what they do? What’s taking so long? Step in and crush them.

In Jesus we learn that God is patient with sinners. Which is a break for us – for you and for me – since we are all sinners.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Thursday, December 30, 2004

The Early Life of Jesus

Tradition is strong and consistent on two points about the birth and early life of Jesus:
(1) he was born in Bethlehem and
(2) he was raised in Nazareth.

What is unclear is where Mary and Joseph lived at the time of their marriage.

• Looking back on Matthew’s account, everything takes place in Bethlehem. Matthew assumes that Mary and Joseph were living in Bethlehem and were married there.

• Luke has them living in Nazareth and married there.

Matthew’s problem is to get Mary and Joseph from Bethlehem where Jesus was born, to Nazareth where he was raised. (He does this at the end of his Infancy Narrative.)

Luke has the opposite problem. He knows that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, 90 miles south of Nazareth. He describes a census which required everyone to register in their home town, which meant that Joseph had to go to Bethlehem.

Thursday in the Octave of Christmas

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it for now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.

After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is by beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)

This is the first appearance of the adult Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. He has left his home in Nazareth and come south to listen to a famous preacher called John the Baptist.

Why did Jesus receive John’s baptism of repentance? In Matthew’s account, John himself wonders and says that Jesus should baptize him. Jesus tells John to do it anyway, and nicely includes John when he says, “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (i.e. the plan of God).

Why did Jesus receive this baptism? Because he came to identify with sinners, and right from the start of his ministry this is exactly what he does.

Criticized for associating with people like us, he never hedges on this or backs away from it. He came for us, and for our salvation.

Jesus is on our side. Our side.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Friday, December 31, 2004

Rosh Hashana

Every culture celebrates a New Year, though they mark this event at differing times.

The Jewish year, for example, follows a lunar calendar and the New Year begins with the month of Tishri which occurs in September or early October. The Jewish people celebrate a two-day religious feast called Rosh Hashana (Hebrew for “head of the year”). It begins with the blowing of the ram’s horn (shofar) to awaken the people to a renewed appreciation of God’s revelation at Mt. Sinai.

Rosh Hashana is also known as the Day of Remembrance, for on that day the Jewish people remember not only the covenant at Mt. Sinai, but also the creation of the world.

* * *

Acts of purification have long characterized New Year rituals. People want to cleanse themselves of the past and make a fresh start. Thus, the custom of “New Year’s Resolutions.”

There are nine days left in the Christmas Season..

Friday in the Octave of Christmas

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. (Matthew 4:1-2)

In their 40-year journey to the Promised Land, the people of Israel were tested in the desert. This “testing” had to do with their willingness to live up to the Sinai covenant: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”

Jesus faces a similar testing. The voice from heaven had just declared, “This is my beloved Son.” Jesus is now tested whether he is willing to live up to his call. Is he willing to confront evil not with the sword, but with goodness and kindness – to absorb evil and dissolve it? The temptation to follow a different path will dog him until the day he dies.

Satan often referred to simply as the “devil,” is the great “tempter” who tries to keep us from living up to the person God has called us to be.

The temptations I face seem simply to invite me to do (or not do) this or that. They aren’t that simple. They go deeper – to my identity, to the person I know I am. Often disguised as minor temptations, they are major league deceptions that steer me away from something not small at all. Being the person I am made to be.

St. Augustine said: “Two things are necessary: “To know God and to know oneself.”

At midnight, the New Year begins. How well do I know myself”? What will my words be? How will my actions speak when I am tempted in the New Year?

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

Saturday, January 1, 2005

Celebrating the New Year

The celebration of the New Year may be the oldest of all holidays. New Year’s festivals have been celebrated for more tan 5,000 years.

The ancient Romans marked the New Year by giving each other branches from sacred trees. Later they gave gold-covered nuts or coins imprinted with pictures of the god Janus (after whom January is named). Janus had two faces – one looking forward and the other looking backward.

During the Middle Ages, the Church opposed celebrating New Year’s because of its pagan roots, particularly the use of the image of a baby to symbolize the New Year. That tradition begins in Greece around 600 B.C. The annual rebirth of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility, was celebrated by parading a baby in a basket.

But the popularity of using a baby to symbolize the birth of a New Year proved strong. The Church eventually relented and allowed its members to celebrate the New Year with a baby – but as a symbol of the birth of the child Jesus.

Saturday -- Feast of Mary, Mother of God

The Church celebrates four themes in the liturgy of the Mass on New Year’s Day:

1. The octave of Christmas with a special commemoration of Mary as Mother of God.

2. A day of penance preserving a practice in the early Church to offset pagan customs that were prevalent then

3. The feast of Jesus’ circumcision and name day (Luke 2:21) that was acknowledged in Italy in 546 A.D.

4. Prayers for Peace in the World

* * *

There is some evidence that today’s liturgy represents the service for the octave of Christmas as it was solemnized in the ancient Roman Basilica of Our Lady, Old St. Mary’s.

Spend some quiet time with the Lord.

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