1. -- Deacon
Russ O'Neill
2. --
Lanie LeBlanc OP
3. --
Carol & Dennis Keller
4. --
Brian Gleeson CP
5. --(Your
reflection can be here!)
*****************************************************
1.
NEW CONTRIBUTOR - Deacon Russ O'Neill -
Advent 4C
*****************************************************
4th Sunday of Advent.
Did you ever leap for joy? I mean, REALLY leap for joy? I
think I may have a few times - the day I got married and the
day each of my children were born. But for most of us, it
doesn't happen all that often. Children leap at simple joys
- while playing a game, or learning how to build with
blocks, or putting a puzzle together. Many of our children
will literally leap for joy Christmas morning. Haven't you
seen older children jump for joy when they get an A on a
science project, or score the winning touchdown, or when the
final act is applauded at the school play? These are those
moments when they say, "YES!" Somehow, as we get older, we
tend to miss some of those moments . . . we don't leap for
joy all that often.
In today's Gospel, the very first presence of Jesus in
his mother's womb causes the baby in Elizabeth's womb to
leap for joy. Mary, a virgin, carrying Jesus. Elizabeth, old
and sterile, carrying John the Baptist. A Gospel filled with
joy. As we come to the end of Advent, we are not waiting for
something that has already happened. We are not waiting for
the baby Jesus to be born. Rather, I think, Advent and
Christmas call us to take time to be in touch, in touch with
Jesus, the Word made flesh - OUR flesh; in touch with God's
love for us; in touch with Jesus continuing to become alive
and present today in and through us. Advent and Christmas
call us to become more conscious of our yearning for joy and
peace and justice, and more conscious of our mission to
promote that peace and justice. They call us to see where we
encounter the Lord - not as a little baby in a manger, but
in ourselves, in one another, in the poor and defenseless,
in those whom society sees as "unimportant." Advent and
Christmas call us to jump for joy, to jump for the new
possibilities in the unfolding of life!
As we have experienced Advent, we have also experienced
winter - darkness, cold weather, and a lifeless landscape.
Sometimes our lives can feel like that as well - with
strained relationships, with schedules pulling us between
work and family, with illness or loneliness raising its ugly
head, with society and the media telling us that if we just
have all the right things we will be happy. Winter strikes
in the human heart a yearning for light, for warmth, for
festivity. Perhaps that’s why we have lights on trees, on
houses, on mantles, candles and fireplaces warmly lit. This
weekend - more than any other - we can experience this
yearning and make it a reality. Perhaps this week, we, like
Mary, can bring light, warmth, gladness and joy to others,
can BE warmth, gladness and joy to others. I imagine many of
us will be busy today with last minute shopping, gift
wrapping, baking, and many other odds and ends. It can be
exhausting. But it can also be a time to renew the Lord's
presence in our hearts and in our life, a renewal that can
truly cause us to jump for joy. But will we be too tired,
too frazzled, too conscious of money spent and things still
undone to even realize his presence, let alone jump for joy?
Although the busyness of our lives may cause our leaps of
joy to be too infrequent, most of us do, at times,
experience that joy - perhaps not physically, but internally
when we have one of those "YES" moments of wonder. It may be
during a sunset, or a special song; at weddings, births, and
even during a eulogy at a loved one's funeral. These are
spiritual experiences, moments of faith that bring us in
touch with God and have such great meaning for us. In fact,
aren't most of our truly joyful moments - our "YES" moments
- spiritual moments, moments of love, moments of faith?
There are more of those moments than we realize - we just
have to recognize them, seize them and treasure them.
Shortly, we will together approach this table and share
in the Eucharist, in the special meal of the Lord's Supper.
And the Christ of Christmas will be one with us. And we pray
that the body and blood of Jesus on the altar - and this
community which is also the body and blood of Jesus - will
give us the strength and courage to take Jesus to the world
- No, to BE Jesus to the world. For Christ calls each of us
to be a bringer of peace, an establisher of justice, a lover
of righteousness, a despiser of wickedness, a source of joy,
a light shining in the darkness, warmth and life to a cold,
suffering world.
As busy as we are, let’s take time today and this week to
focus on Jesus within us, to allow ourselves to have a
moment of faith, a spiritual experience when we believe that
God is present to us and within us, and this is what we have
waited for. And if we do, perhaps our hearts will leap for
joy. And as we take Jesus to our families, our workplaces,
our neighborhoods, our world, may the people we meet - at
the sound of our greeting - leap for joy! And that’s the
best gift we can give them.
Deacon Russ
O'Neill
russon2330@sbcglobal.net
******************************************************
2.
Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP Advent 4C
******************************************************
Advent 4C
The Gospel reading today is the story of the Visitation.
We read/hear of a young, pregnant Mary "traveling to the
hill country in haste" to visit a much older and pregnant
Elizabeth. Both women were the recipients of great miracles,
miracles acknowledged by each of them at this visit. No
doubt they pondered and prayed about what their lives would
hold!
How often is it that we recognize and rejoice in the
miracles of the Almighty in our lives? Perhaps we might, in
hindsight, credit the Hand of God in a "big" event, perhaps
one that was a turning point in our lives. Day to day,
however, I think most of us muddle along, sometimes aware of
the opportunities given to us and the blessings that
accompany our yielding to the "will of the Father"... but
most of the time not.
My 10 year old granddaughter has checked out every "Mary"
book she could find from her school and the public library.
I haven't read along with her (but should have) so I am
often amazed at some of the details she "knows" that perhaps
are a bit more legendary than scriptural. She has recently
won an Archdiocesan contest for elementary students for her
essay "What Mary Means to Me". Her love of Mary has soared,
herself still a young girl trying to figure out her place in
this topsy-turvy often chaotic world that frequently mocks
sacrifice and sometimes pretends that truth doesn't matter
or even exist.
Mother Mary is simply an incredible role model not only
for young girls and women, but for every person on the face
of the earth. As a woman, mother, and grandmother, I can
fully understand angst over a surprised pregnancy, a missing
child or witnessing the pain and suffering of one's adult
child. Regardless of gender, we all can sympathize with the
hardships of Mary's life in some fashion. We can all
definitely admire and strive to replicate the unconditional
trust Mary exemplified and of which Elizabeth spoke when she
said "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to
you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
The Scriptures are full of the Lord's promises, spoken
long ago and each day forward to each of us. Do we believe
that we are the Lord's "beloved" in spite of whatever our
circumstances are right now? Can we, will we believe that
the goodness for which we were created will come to be? Mary
did and, through her intercession, we can and will believe
and witness what the Lord will fulfill through us.
Mary's world was more than chaotic for her. Contemplating
her own uncertainty, a probably confused Mary nonetheless
left her husband-to-be and comfort of her immediate family
to care for an elderly relative in her time of need. Can we
put our own legitimate worries aside and when we "see a
need, fill that need" (as my pastor suggested)?
Blessings,
Dr. Lanie
LeBlanc OP
Southern
Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one
******************************************************
3.
Carol & Dennis Keller - Advent 4C
and Christmas
******************************************************
Fourth Sunday of Advent December 23 2018
Micah 5:1-4; Responsorial Psalm 80; Letter to
Hebrews 10:5-10; Gospel Acclamation Luke 1:28; Luke 1:39-45
This last Sunday of Advent is the set-up for the
mysterious and awe-inspiring celebration of the birth of the
Son of God into the very creation the Son, with the Father
and the Spirit, created. The readings this Sunday shake the
typical way we think about God and creation into the ash
pit. Human living, living most fully and completely in the
depths of what we are and who we are is typically thought to
be about a life of prestige, of comfort, of control, and
basking in the adulation of crowds. In order to achieve such
lofty status we behave like hamsters on their wheels –
rushing, rushing, hurrying, scurrying, wearing ourselves out
as we run in circles with our goals always out of reach.
There is so very little in the human endeavor that brings us
lasting satisfaction. There is always one more promotion,
one more purchase, one more trip, one more challenge to
overcome. There is always one more experience that we think
will satisfy us. There is always the thought that security -
security is salvation by another word – comes to us when we
hold control over the events, people, economics, and
direction of our living.
Yet the hope filled readings this Sunday are not about
control. In the first reading, Bethlehem is described as so
insignificant that when the clans of the tribe of Judah
gather, there is no special table for them. There is no
announcement from the podium of their presence. Yet, Micah
recalls it was the little town of Bethlehem from which
David, that idealized leader and king, came to the brothers,
the sons of Jacob from ancient times. It was he that molded
and shaped the People of God into a nation. But those were
the ancient times. As with so much of what is human, the
glory of Mount Sion in the grand city of Jerusalem fell into
decay and disorder. The book of Micah is a diatribe against
the rulers of his time who were filled with corruption.
Those rulers served their own wants and needs and brought
division and chaos to the nation. Micah’s prophecy speaks of
a woman about to give birth to one who will call back all
those who have been scattered because of the evil of Judah’s
rulers. The lost will return home to family. Those alienated
from their brothers and sisters will be reunited with quiet
delight. The family will be together, called there by this
one born, shepherded into a pasture flowing with sweet
spring water and covered with lush grasses. The nation will
come together as family and held secure – in safety and
salvation -- by the power of the peace he brings.
What a wonderful description of our hopes about
Christmas! We gather as families, we resolve the differences
among us and come together in peace that only love can
bring. Micah’s vision lacks any mention of power, of wealth,
of control, or even of a hero. It only speaks of all
returning home by the strength of the Lord, the one who is
shepherd. That constantly repeated image of shepherd
enriches all descriptions of the experience of the Hebrew
People. Their vision is always about a wonderful, caring,
and uniting shepherd.
Is this why Christmas is about family? Is this why images
of tables of plenty, of cousins, uncles, aunts, brothers and
sisters and parents so much a part of our imaging Christmas?
The letter to the Hebrews throws another twist to our
human thinking. We’d like to think we have some control over
the Shepherd, the Lord who guides us. By gifts, by
sacrifices, by devote and humble prayer to the most High we
think to influence the Divine’s work on our behalf. We think
of God changing our circumstances. What the author to
Hebrews insists is that God doesn’t change our circumstances
– GOD CHANGES US so that we can take on the challenges of
living and grow. Not only in good things but also in the bad
things that come our way, God lends us inspiration and
wisdom to discover and follow his way to solutions.
Much of the bloody sacrifices and holocausts, the sin
offerings of pagan religious practices were meant to control
the gods. Bad fortune would be removed and enemies defeated
under these superstitious practices. The gods were thought
to control all things and those gods were human like in
their capricious and licentious behaviors. Religious
practice was an effort to eliminate the fear of the gods’
wrath and unpredictable behavior. Yet the author of the
Letter to the Hebrews insists God is not swayed by
sacrifice. He has no desire for blood animals or the smoke
of incense or the pouring out of sweet wines. The Christ,
the anointed one, models for us how we should live in peace
and with satisfaction. His very presence among us, his
creation, is proof that God loves us and never ignores our
freedom and always values our lives. This Christ shows by
example that the gift of our living is indicative of God’s
will for us. His will is that we flourish and thrive – even
in adversity.
The words in the last segment of this selection for
Sunday summarize how we worship as Christians. The words
combine the words of the Christ and commentary of the
author. " ‘Sacrifices and offerings you neither desired or
delighted in.’ These are offered according to the law. ‘I
come to do your will.’ He takes away the first to establish
the second. By this will we have all been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all."
This letter to the Hebrews tells us that the Law of
sacrifice and holocaust is given over to a different
relationship with our Creator. Any fear of God’s wrath meant
to be placated by sacrifice gives way to joy for the gift of
life. This way of living is all encompassing. Living the
Will of God has nothing to do with fear. Fear is removed
from the relationship of creation to its creator. In the
place of fear comes awe at the magnificence, the wisdom, and
the unconditional love we discover when we find God. It is
unfortunate that translations of the Hebrew Scriptures use
the word fear in the statement that "the beginning of wisdom
is fear of the Lord." Much better and more clearly the word
"fear" in that statement should have been "awe and wonder."
With the Christ as our guide we live what we are created to
be. When we become simple in our living, when we embrace the
simplicity of a life that welcomes God as patron "we come
round right." Those are the words of the 1848 Shaker hymn of
Elder Joseph Brackett. "It’s a gift to be simple, it’s a
gift to be free, it’s a gift to come down where we ought to
be. And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
we’ll be in the valley of love and delight." Amen to that!
When we lose our pretentions of greatness, when we
eliminate our fear of failure, when we let go of our need
for accumulations, for power over others, and for the
adulations of a crowd, we become what we ought to be. We
become living beings with the freedom to discover the depths
and wonders of what we are. And in discovering ourselves, we
find unlimited room for the appreciation and love and
compassion for all others. There is no limit to our caring.
Race, or creed, or power, or wealth, or gender, or gender
preference, or language cannot separate us. There is only
within our hearts guided by God’s own words an acceptance of
ourselves as works in progress and our neighbors as
ourselves.
When we hear the gospel narrative from Luke this last
Sunday of Advent, we have examples of the simplicity of
Brackett’s hymn. Mary, probably a little frightened by the
visitation from the angel and her condition, visits a
trusted cousin. These two very simple women of the hill
country of Galilee meet and share with each other the wonder
of what is happening within their bodies. For the aged
Elizabeth this pregnancy would have been trying. Yet the joy
exchanged between these two women is evident in Luke’s
well-chosen words. In the end of this gospel passage Luke’s
words are words we apply to our personal and communal
condition. "Blessed are you who believed that what was
spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
If our coming celebration is about coming together, about
listening to each other, about finding peace in the depths
of our hearts and minds, then we have within us the very
Christ who comes to bring us peace. We are reminded this
season that we are gifted with the wonder of life. We are
reminded that we are free to choose how we live and what we
work at becoming through family, through work, through
community, and through the growth of our hearts and minds.
We should wallow in this peace and allow it to trim away the
concerns and terrors that surround us. For our shepherd is
the Lord. His greatness is a beacon to us, his brothers and
sisters, that life is good. It is the will of God that we
flourish and grow toward Him who is the source, the goal,
and the fullness of what we can be and what we are. This is
our hope in this season: this is why we are joy-filled.
The Responsorial Psalm should be our prayer this last
week of Advent. We sing together, "Lord, make us turn to
you; let us see your face and we shall be saved." When we
turn to the Lord and see his face we discover God’s will for
us. We discover the meaning and purpose of life. There is a
short time till we celebrate the birth of the Christ in his
creation. May we prepare for his coming and influence by
removing that which tears us down: that we eliminate fear:
that we delight in life given and freedom extended: that we
level the hills and fill in the gorges and open springs in
the desert areas of our living and welcome the guide, the
shepherd who shows the way by his words and his works. May
it be so!
Christmas December 25 2018
Vigil Mass: Isaiah 62:1-5 Responsorial Psalm 89;
Acts 13:16- 17 & 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25
Midnight Mass: Isaiah 9:1-6; Responsorial Psalm
96; Titus 2:11-14; Gospel Acclamation Luke 2:10-11; Luke
2:1-14
Mass at Dawn: Isaiah 62:11-12; Responsorial Psalm
97; Titus 3:4-7; Gospel Acclamation Luke 2:14; Luke 2:15-20
Mass During the Day: Isaiah 52:7-10; Responsorial
Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18
There are just too many options for Christmas
Scriptures!!! Too many to make a short reflection! The
richness of those texts, the hope, the spirit of peaceful
acceptance, the relief of burdens lifted and the expansion
of horizons of possibility for individual and communal life
are all contained in these four liturgies of the Word. Our
recommendation is that each person takes an hour out of
their busy preparations to be quiet in the Words written.
Let these words flood your thinking and open your personal
thoughts regarding your relationships to the peace and
completeness described in these four liturgies of the Word.
An hour’s focus will open hearts and minds to new
understandings of individual paths to happiness and
completeness. If we review the past year we’ll find times
when we were less than happy. There would be times when the
stress of living in the modern world overwhelmed us and
cause us to struggle and be angry and to be snappy with
others. Our thoughts and perhaps our actions fell into
violence toward ourselves and to others and to creation. We
can ask ourselves a very simple question about our
trajectory, our operative methods; "How well did those
attitudes and efforts work for us?"
Midnight night mass readings are a beacon for us. "The
people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; upon
those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone."
What is that great light? What changes and vision we
discover when the shadows of the past are suddenly and
irrevocably show to be what they are? A once popular song
begins, "I can see clearly now!" What is it we see? It is a
simple birth, in a simple place, with simple people
experiencing extraordinary things.
At the vigil mass liturgy of the Word we endure Matthew’s
long, long, long genealogy. I recall thinking to myself,
"Enough already. So Jesus was born from a long, long, long
line of people. Cut to the chase: tell the story." Matthew
indeed tells the story. Among the progenitors he has the
boldness to include four women. How strange those women are
included as important progenitors of the Christ in the
scriptures which stress patriarchy! First there is Tamar who
posed as a prostitute and became pregnant by her
father-in-law who had refused to marry her to another son
when her husband died leaving her childless. Then there is
Rahab, a pagan who sheltered Hebrew spies in Jericho before
its destruction. Then there is Ruth, another pagan, whose
loyalty and support of her mother-in-law are inspiration to
all families. Then finally there is Mary who is the mother
of God. There are three sets of fourteen progenitors. Three
is a number of completeness. Matthew tells us that we have
entered the final age of time. In this time all will be
completed of creation, all will be finished.
The reading from the prophet Isaiah proclaimed at the
Mass during the day is a summation of human history. God is
the God of that history. Isaiah paints for us a picture of a
breathless, exhausted messenger who has traveled the
mountains to bring a message of joy to the city, to the
nation, to the world. "How beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace,
bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,
‘Your Lord is King.’" We aren’t much stirred by images of
kings, of lords and ladies. But we can certainly understand
the joy with the announcement of peace. What a grand
spectacle it would be if all Television and cable news would
declare "breaking news". That peace has broken out – that
soldiers would return home to their families, that billions
upon billions of dollars could now be turned to developing
that which needs developing, repairing what has gotten
pushed aside. How wonderful it would be if Syria would find
peace that embraced the diversity of its people – that this
cradle of Christianity would once again be welcoming to its
own refugees. How wonderful it would be If Afghanistan,
Iraq, Iran, Somalia, the Congo, El Salvador, all of Central
America, China, and North Korea would step down from war and
work for the welfare of all its peoples and in union with
the rest of the world. How much we should celebrate if in
our country we would embrace diversity instead of using our
differences to divide us into warring camps for selfish
purposes and for unnecessary and vulgar power! May it be so,
that hearts and minds would repent!
The final gospel for this Christmas Day is one that sends
chills down my back. It is a complete history of God’s
creation. We think often that Christmas is an answer to the
sins of humanity. But this prologue to John’s gospel is a
description of the new creation in which common wash-water
is turned into delightful wine, what is broken is mended,
and all persons find a place at the banquet – both now and
in eternity. It is John’s gospel alone which describes the
event of the last supper when Jesus, the Divine Word born
for us as one of us, wraps a towel around his waist and
washes the stinky, dirty feet of his followers. Service to
others is the Way. When the hills of our arrogance are made
low and the crevices and gorges of our self-centered
selfishness are filled in, when the desert of our chained
spirits sprouts fresh water abundant personal life escapes
its bounds, blooming, blossoming with fruit – then the
world, then the universe is in its final stage of
completion. For "in the beginning was the Word." And in the
fullness of time that
"Word was made flesh" and everything changed. It is only
for us to hear the announcement of the one whose feet
carried him over the mountains to our home Zion and to
rejoice. Our rejoicing, our merry making, our delight is not
one day only. It permeates every second, every minute, every
day, week, month, and years of our lives when we hear the
message and change our hearts and minds to receive it.
May the peace of the Christ born of the Father before all
time and the agent-Word of creation, come into our hearts
this grand day of celebration and remain with us in all the
moments of our celebration. May our celebration continue
from this day forth to all the seconds of our living and
lift us up with hope, with love, with faith, and with
delightful joy.
May it ever be so!
Carol &
Dennis Keller
dkeller002@nc.rr.com
******************************************************
4.
Brian Gleeson CP Advent 4C and
Christmas
******************************************************
SHARING THE WORLD OF WOMEN: 4TH SUNDAY ADVENT C
Luke today brings us into the world of women. One is
Elizabeth, an older woman, who through the power of God is
carrying a child to be known as ‘John the Baptist’. The
second woman is Mary, a teenager and the cousin of the older
woman. She too, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is
carrying a child, who will be called ‘Jesus’, a name which
means ‘God saves’. Luke stresses that although the two women
see themselves as little, lowly and humble, in the mind and
plan of God they are great and important. So we follow the
details of their meeting with each other with much interest
and listen carefully to their conversation.
It’s important that Luke names the older woman
‘Elizabeth’, since many women in the bible are not named at
all. They are referred to simply as ‘mother’, ‘daughter’,
‘wife’ or ‘woman’. They are identified, in fact, only in
relation to some man who is named. For example, we never
learn the name of Peter’s mother-in-law, whose fever Jesus
cured. She is just ‘Peter’s mother-in-law’. In the bible,
someone’s name often tells us something important about the
person. Elizabeth’s name means ‘God is my fullness, my
completion’. In the light of Luke’s story about her, what an
apt name that is!
The God in whom both Elizabeth and Mary delight, the God
who has made each of them pregnant in a miraculous manner,
is the God who delivers oppressed people from their pain and
humiliation. This is the God who brought the Israelites out
of slavery from Egypt and the exiles home from Babylon. This
is the God whom Elizabeth thanks for removing her
embarrassment about being infertile (1:25). This is the God
whom Mary praises in her Magnificat for having ‘looked with
favour on the lowliness of his servant’ (1:48)
We find the two cousins meeting in Elizabeth’s house in
the little village of Ain Karin in the hills of Judaea.
Pregnant women say they find comfort in being with one
another, encouraging and supporting one another, sharing
hopes and fears, and gaining practical information about the
changes in their bodies. Elizabeth and Mary share their
excitement about the babies they are carrying, but also
about the plans and presence of God to them and their
babies. They share their deep faith and trust in what God is
doing.
Elizabeth becomes aware of God’s presence at the very
moment Mary comes through the door and starts to greet her
cousin. Her child John leaps inside her womb. She remembers
how the young King David danced in the presence of God
before the Ark of the Covenant. ‘Filled with the Holy
Spirit’ (1:41), she praises God and Mary’s cooperation with
God. In words which have passed into our ‘Hail Mary’ prayer,
she says to her: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed
is the fruit of your womb’ (1:42) She recognises that Mary
has kept on believing that God would keep his promises.
Finally, she calls Mary’s visit a special blessing to
herself when she exclaims: ‘Why should I be honoured with a
visit from the mother of my Lord?’ (Lk 1:43)
While Luke makes clear that Elizabeth was not young, he
does not imply that she was frail, feeble, doddery, demented
or foolish. She is typical of the kind of senior women in
our parishes, towns and suburbs, who are the backbone of our
communities. They serve in the sanctuary and work in the
parish offices. They visit the sick. They teach and train
the young. They pass on their wisdom to the next generation,
as Elizabeth does in Luke’s story.
Grandmothers and grandmother figures care for children
when their parents are at work or otherwise absent. They
listen with compassion to the stories of the needy, the
humiliated, the hurt and the wounded. While they won’t put
up with any lies, hypocrisy, guff or baloney, they are often
the only ones who will greet us with a smile and take time
to listen to our troubles. From their own rich life
experiences, they offer perspective and balance. Thanks to
their sense of humour they teach us not to take things too
seriously, ourselves included. And isn’t that a great gift
from God?
The older women in our communities teach us not to be
morbid or preoccupied with death, as they live in the
present but with trust in the future. So often there is a
special joy about them, the joy that comes from their trust
in God, a joy that is infectious and energizing. We see that
joy in the enthusiasm of the elderly Elizabeth in welcoming
Mary to her home.
We can imagine how encouraging that was for Mary, whose
pregnancy was surely frightening and confusing for a very
young single girl. Elizabeth reminds us of all those older
women who mentor and support new mothers, including
unmarried ones, who are there for abused women and their
children, who befriend girls addicted to alcohol and drugs,
who reach out to runaway and homeless children, and who help
young women find jobs and learn new skills in the office and
the home. Elizabeth reminds us too of all those older women,
who have kept praying all their lives, and who help younger
ones interpret the Word and will of God. They are truly
faith-friends to the rest of the parish.
To sum up! In the story of the visit of Mary to her
cousin, Elizabeth too stands out as ‘blessed among women’
for the role-model and inspiration she is for the senior
women of our communities. They are at home with both God and
us. They sustain us by their presence, their prayers, their
sensitivity, their generosity, their wisdom and their love.
We honour them this Christmas, and we pray that in the
coming New Year that they, like Mary and Elizabeth, will
enjoy God’s special favour for being the special people they
are.
NO ROOM AT THE INN?’ CHRISTMAS 2018
There was this good pastor, who was respected by his
people and by his fellow priests. One year he was on
holidays when it was getting close to Christmas. He was
thinking about Mary and Joseph, and how they must have felt
when door after door slammed in their faces, when they went
looking for a room for Mary to have her baby. He kept
thinking: ‘"No room for them at the inn!", and no room
anywhere else!’ All his life he had been interested in
social issues, and this year he was thinking not only of the
plight of Mary and Joseph and their baby, but also of the
plight of homeless people everywhere. He was thinking and
feeling so deeply about them that he decided to find out
what it would be like to walk in their shoes. So he put on
some shabby clothes and a knapsack. Wearing a hat and shaggy
stubble of a beard, he found that nobody recognized him now,
as he went knocking on doors looking for help. He found too
that those who were better off were less likely to help than
those who had little themselves. In fact, rich people
sometimes set their dogs on to him.
When he went to a certain rectory, where one of his
priest-friends lived, he was not recognised for who he was,
but the housekeeper had pity on him, let him into the
kitchen and gave him a piece of toast and a cup of coffee.
While he was sitting there in a spot he knew very well, his
priest colleague and friend came in and told him to leave
immediately. So he did.
The priest who went looking for help that year found out
far more from his experiences than from anything he had read
in books and newspapers, and anything he had seen on
television, just what it’s like to be a homeless person,
poor and defenceless. He also understood so much better than
before what it must be like to be a refugee and an asylum
seeker, doors slamming everywhere. He also felt closer than
ever before to Mary and Joseph, forced to find a shed for a
roof over their heads for themselves and their baby. Never
before had the Christmas story been so real for him. Never
before had he felt so close to the Christ-child.
For Jesus came on earth, not as a powerful prince living
in a fine mansion in the most powerful nation on earth, but
as the foster son of a poor carpenter, born in a shed in one
of the weakest nations on earth, a nation ruled by the Roman
emperor, a nation paying taxes to a hated occupying power.
When he arrived in our world, he was not visited by
dignitaries, generals, or celebrities. He was greeted and
visited by poor shepherds, probably smelly and unwashed. In
their time and place they counted so little that their
testimony was simply not accepted in any court of law. But
it was to those shepherds, nevertheless, that God gave his
good and wonderful news: 'I bring you news of great joy, a
joy to be shared by the whole people.'
The choice of such aliens and outcasts as the first to
receive the Christmas message shows that God has no
exceptional love for the rich and famous and powerful, the
movers and shakers of this world and the manipulators of
markets. On the other hand he does have a special care and
affection for the victims, the suffering, the poor and the
downtrodden. God is on their side.
This vital truth is illustrated by the condition of the
Christ-child himself. The sign the shepherds are to look for
is a baby wrapped in rags and lying in a manger, the feed
box of animals. So within and beyond these signs of poverty,
vulnerability and weakness, there is to be discovered the
power of love, which is to say the power of God, the power
of Love Itself. The impact and the significance of the
circumstances of the birth of Jesus could not be better
expressed than in two sentences from our scripture readings
today. The first says that: 'The people that walked in
darkness have seen a great light.' The second says: 'Today
in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is
Christ the Lord.’
In a nutshell, Jesus was born to us and among us, so that
we might be born in a new way. Born to live like sons and
daughters of the God who is particularly caring about the
poor, the deprived, the lonely, the lost, the grieving, and
the heart-broken! Born to live with the same sensitivity and
compassion as Jesus - walking his way, telling his truth and
living like him! So the Christ-child whom we adore makes
everything new again. He invites us to look at and respond
to the hundreds and thousands of needy and broken human
beings who won’t be having even a tiny fraction of what you
and I will be enjoying at our Christmas celebrations.
We can’t pretend that the invitation of Christ at
Christmas time to get a life, a new life, will always
happens at a time of perfect peace, tranquility and
contentment. Here’s an extreme example! A newspaper reporter
has said that whenever he was assigned to the Christmas
shift he always did a story on how many more murders occur
on this day than on any other in the whole year. Sadly, what
is meant to bring out the best in people when they get
together to celebrate Christmas, sometimes brings out the
worst.
But we, the gathered people of God, have only kind and
gentle thoughts for one another and for all our fellow human
beings as we celebrate God's overwhelming love. My own
Christmas and New Year wish and prayer for you is that the
God Who loves you individually, personally and deeply, and
who has sent you his Son, will bless you with patience and
endurance, with mercy and forgiveness, and with faith, hope
and love. To the max!
"Brian
Gleeson CP" <bgleesoncp@gmail.com>
******************************************************
5.
******************************************************
Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections,
and insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the
preaching you hear. Send them to
preacherexchange@att.net. Deadline is
Wednesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
-- Fr. John
