The finished product. It is amazing to see how the beauty of this gift of the heavens emerges from the stone.
~*~**~*~**~*~
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.
An occasional bit of wit 'n' wisdom as gleaned from the wise and learned. Family fun and times to share.
MARY, MOTHER OF GODToday's feast has had many themes over the years.
It is the feast of Mary, the Mother of God--celebrating the title that was controversial in the early centuries. The question was: Although Mary is the Mother of Jesus, can she be called "Mother of God?" The Council of Ephesus in 431 declared that she could, and the feast of Mary under that title has been celebrated ever since.
Today is also the Octave of Christmas. It has also been traditional to celebrate the naming and circumcision of Jesus on this date, for Luke says that it was eight days after his birth that Jesus fully became a member of God's chosen people.
In recent years, today has also be designated as a day of prayer for world peace.
And, of course, today is New Year's Day.NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONSAnd Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
~Luke 2:19~Studies have indicated that New Year's resolutions are not always effective. We try to make too many of them and we don't think them through or prepare for them very well. They don't have roots.
Taking a cue from the Gospel, instead of making resolutions, maybe we should think of making reflections. For example, where is my life moving?
The Gospel says that the shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem where they found Mary, Joseph and the infant lying in a manger. There is movement here. The shepherds moved toward Christ.
My life has a movement to it, a flow. Life is never inert, standing still. I can direct my life, or I can let it drift, but I must never have the illusion that it is standing still.
Where is my life moving?
Toward God...or away from God?
It's definitely moving in one direction or the other.
The Romans bid each other farewell with Vade in pace!--"Go in peace!"
Since the renewal of the Liturgy we Catholics have grown accustomed to this farewell greeting, too. It is interesting to note that Our Lord's disciples would have been familiar with the Romans' use of this leave-taking message. It also clarifies Our Lord's farewell to them, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27). His peace is not the same as the everyday nicety the Romans exchanged routinely.
The few thoughts [here] are meant to remind us through reading and reflection that the Lord's peace is heritage for every circumstance, no matter the happening. It's His gift along with--inseparable from--His cross. Dante caught it all: In voluntate eius pax nostra, "in His will is our Peace."
[This reflection] also warn[s] us that the theme song in hell may easily be: "I Did It My Way." The world sets before us one avenue of peace, the Lord another.
While life here is still ours, may we seek after His peace and pursue it. And then we'll know its fullness eternally.
As the Lord gives, not as the world, Vade in Pache!+from Latin Sayings for Spiritual Growth
By Archabbot Lambert Reilly, O.S.B.
"Then he went down with them and came to
Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother
treasured all these things in her heart."
~Luke 2:51~
~*~A few days after Christmas, we celebrate Joseph, Mary, and Jesus: the holy family. I would like my family to be holy, too, but I don't know. My family is so far from ideal; we are scattered, we are blended, and we are all such individuals.
But holiness is there: in mutual love, in moments of grace, in tenacious commitment, and in daily forgiveness.
I think that's holiness. Or at least it's a start.~*~
Jesus, I pray for my family. May we grow in holiness
and mutual service, in imitation of your holy family.
from A Catholic Woman's Book of Days
By Amy Welborn
*There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled many people. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? Well, consider this...
*From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
*The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
*Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
*Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
*The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
*The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
*The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
*Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
*The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
*Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
*The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
*The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
*The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
The angel Gabriel said to Zechariah, "Do not be
afraid, because your prayer has been heard. Your
wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall
name him John. And you will have joy and gladness,
any many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be
great in the sight of the Lord. . .He will be filled
with the Holy spirit even from his mother's womb.
~Luke 1:5-25~*Zechariah was one of approximately 18,000 Jewish priest in Palestine at the time of Jesus. They were divided into 24 groups of 750 each. Twice a year each group came to the Temple in Jerusalem to serve for a week. Their roles during this week of service were chose by lot. Some of them, in a given week, weren't chosen to do anything.
*Each morning, four lots were cast to decide who would carry out the four tasks at the altar. Then in the afternoon, a fifth lot was cast to determine who would enter the Holy Place to offer the evening incense. This extraordinary privilege usually came only once in a lifetime.
*In Luke's account, when the afternoon lot was cast, Zechariah was chosen to enter the Holy Place and offer the evening incense. It was there that the angel appeared to him to announce the birth of John.~~~~~~~*The angel tells Zechariah that his prayer has been heard. In the story leading up to this point, Luke hadn't told us what Zechariah was praying for. Now we know. He had been praying for Israel, of course, as a Jewish priest would do. But he and Elizabeth, unrealistic though it may e seemed because of their advanced years, had also been praying for a child.
*Three times in Luke we hear angels say, "do not be afraid"--to Zechariah here, to Mary at the Annunciation, and to the shepherds in the field. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus will also say those same words five time during his public life.
**Anything in particular you'd really like to pray for?
**Anything going on in your life that has you scared?
**Listen.
**God is saying to you: "Do not be afraid."
How long is Advent?Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before December 25. It always has four Sundays, but the total number of days can vary. For example:
*If Christmas falls on Monday, then Advent last three weeks and a day.
*If Christmas falls on a Sunday, Advent lasts four full weeks*******Regardless of when Advent begins, every year the same Scripture reading are used for weekdays from December 17-24. The Gospels on those days describe the events leading up to the birth of Christ:
**December 17: The genealogy of Jesus (Matthew)
**December 18: The annunciation to Joseph (Matthew)
**December 19: The annunciation to Zechariah (Luke)
**December 20: The annunciation of Mary (Luke)
**December 21: Mary's visit to Elizabeth (Luke)
**December 22: Mary's "Magnificat" (Luke
**December 23: The birth of John the Baptist (Luke)
**December 24: The "Benedictus" of Zechariah (Luke)
LITANY OF NON-VIOLENCE
Provident God, aware of my own brokenness,
I ask the gift of courage to identify how and where
I am in need of conversion in order to live in
solidarity with all Earth's people.
*
Deliver me from the violence of superiority and disdain..
Grant me the desire, and the humility, to listen
with special care to those whose experiences
and attitudes are different from my own.
*
Deliver me from the violence of greed and privilege.
Grant me the desire, and the will, to live
simply so other may have their just share of the Earth's resources.
*
Deliver me from the silence that gives consent
to abuse, war, and evil.
Grant me the desire, and courage, to risk speaking
and acting for the common good.
*
Deliver me from the violence of irreverence,
exploitation and control.
Grant me the desire, and the strength, to act
responsibly within the cycle of creation..
*
God of love, mercy and justice,
Acknowledging my complicity in those attitudes,
actions and words which perpetuate violence,
I beg the grace of a non-violent heart.
*
Amen
*
Sisters of Providence
St. Mary-of-the-Woods,
Terre Haute, Indiana
...On the day of the miracle, the Littlest Angel proudly placed his small box before the throne of God. The littlest Angel trembled as the box was opened. There was a butterfly with golden wings, a sky-blue egg from a bird's nest, two white stones from a river bank, and a strap from the collar of his dog. The voice of God spoke, "of all the gifts this small box pleases me most. I accept this gift in the name of the Child Jesus born this night in Bethlehem." The box began to glow. It rose until it hung over the stable where the Son of God had just been born. The box would forever be known as the "the shining star of Bethlehem.
Every breath of air and ray of light and heat,~~~~~~~
every beautiful prospect, is, as it were,
the skirts of their garments, the weaving of
the robes of those whose faces see God.
John Henry Newman
Levity and LevitationAngels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. This has always been the instinct of Christendom, and especially the instinct of Christian art. Remember how Fra Angelico represented all his angels, not only as birds, bu almost as butterflies. Remember how the most earnest medieval art was full of light and fluttering draperies, of quick and capering feet...In the old Christian pictures the sky over every figure is like a blue or gold parachute. Every figure seems ready to fly up and float about in the heavens. The tattered cloak of the beggar will bear him up like the rayed plumes of the angels. But the kings in their heavy gold and the proud in their robes of purple will all of their nature sink downward, for pride cannot rise to levity or levitation. Pride is the downward drag of all things into an easy solemnity. One "settles down" into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a gay self-forgetfulness. A man "falls" into a brown study; he reaches up at a blue sky. (ORTHODOXY)
REVIVE THE SPIRITFor thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 57:15PRAYER
Holy God, bear us upward toward you. Make our spirits
lighter, more joyful. Teach us how to live without fretting,
without the anxieties that so often obscure our view
of you in your high and holy place, that heaven which is
our true home.
ADVENT ACTION
If you live near an art museum, plan a day trip there and spend an hour or more
in the medieval section. if not, find art books at a local library or search the internet
for images of great art. As you look at the painting, consider what Chesterton
says about the lightness, the "gay self-forgetfulness" of some of the figures. Try
to appreciate the art while also opening yourself to it as a mode for devotion.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundations of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-6: 11-12)
"The Giver of every good and perfect gift has called up us to mimic his giving, bu grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves" (St. Nicholas). IT begins by giving ourselves over to Christ's words and the Father's will. By such trust we build a house founded on the eternal Rock who is the Lord that can withstand every threat and assault. The Rock we imitate is the "strong city" we become."Magnificat, December , 2007
"But when you give alms, do not let our left hand
know what your right hand is doing, so that
your alms, may be done in secret, and your Father
who sees in secret will reward you."
~Matthew 6:3-4~There are countless stories and legends about the deeds of St. Nicholas, a bishop of Myra, in what's now Turkey, back in the fourth century.
I suppose the most well-known is that of the dowry. A man was too poor to provide dowries for his daughters, so Bishop Nicholas found ways to get the needed funds to the family, in secret. The thing I like about the story is that Nicholas was so determined to be anonymous in his giving that for the last daughter, he supposedly dropped the bag of cash down the chimney.
It gives me something to think about. In this season of gift giving, is my heart truly centered on others or do I five in order to impress?
There is another reason why God alone is happiness of our souls, to which I wish to direct attention. The contemplation of him, and nothing but it, is able fully to open and relieve the mind, to unlock, occupy, and fix our affections. We may indeed love things created with great intenseness, but such affection, when disjoined from the love of the Creator, is like a stream running in a narrow channel, impetuous, vehement, turbid. The heart runs out, as it were, only at one door; it is not an expanding of the whole man. Created natures cannot open us, or elicit the ten thousand senses which belong to us, and through which we really live. None but the presence of our Maker can enter us; for to none besides can the whole heart in all its thought and feelings be unlocked and subjected. "Behold," he says, "I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,and him with me." "God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and your hearts." "God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." It is this feeling of simple and absolute confidence and communion which soothes and satisfies those to whom it is vouchsafed.
My husband and I had been happily married for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide.
God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son. The next year God blessed us with another son. The following year, He blessed us with yet another son. The year after that we were blessed with a daughter. My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and
the oldest was only four years old.
I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella." I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him.
I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks. I tried to be understanding... when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs. When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess.
In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children. While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close...I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.
I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too. Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."
My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine. My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in w rinkled clothes." My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes." A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing. I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama." Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived. My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur." The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation.
"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one," laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes. "For the rest of my life,I'll never hear the Christmas story with out thinking of gold, common sense and fur." "My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.
"Now when these things begin to take place,
stand up and raise your heads, because
your redemption is drawing near."
-Luke 21:28-***When I lived in Florida, Advent and Christmas always caught me by surprise. I did, indeed, own a calendar, but there's just something about palm trees, balmy skies, and wearing shorts that conspires against that particular holiday spirit.I don't want to be caught by surprise this year, because even though the weather here is cold, plenty of other attractions conspire to distract me. so what will I do? I'll consider the gift that the Advent season can bring me: Four weeks to contemplate what the coming of Jesus means in my life. I'll try not to sleep through it. I'll try, as Jesus tells me, to stay awake to the possibilities that the present holds.***Loving God, help me find the space to prepare
myself for this holy season of Advent.
While on the move this morning I saw a preview of the the concert coming to St. John's with John Angotti. It is such a Great Cause. I hope all who can will support this effort.
Waiting. . .is not passive. It involves nurturing the moment, as a mother nurtures the child that is in her womb. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and Anna were present to the moment. That is why they could hear the angel. They were alert, attentive to the voice that spoke to them and said, 'Don't be afraid. Something is happening to you. Pay attention.'
The soul experiences in God as much gentleness and love as it does power and dominion and grandeur, for everything in God is one. The delight is strong; and the protection is powerful in gentleness and love, that the soul might endure the strong delight, and instead of fainting stand powerful and strong. If Ester fainted, it was because the king did not at first show himself to her favorably but as it says there, disclosed with burning eyes the furor of his heart (Est 15: 10). Yet she came to herself after he favored her, held out his scepter and touched her with it, and embraced her and told her that he was her brother and not to fear (Est 15: 11-12).
The soul no longer fears, since from henceforth the King of heaven acts in a friendly way toward it, as toward his brother and his equal. In revealing to it, in gentleness and not in furor, the might of his power and the love of his goodness, he communicates to it from his heart strength and love, going out to it from his throne, which is the soul itself, like the Bridegroom from his bridal chamber (Ps 18:6), where he was hidden and turned toward it, touching it with his scepter, and embracing it as a brother. There we find the royal garments and their fragrance, which are God's admirable virtues; there the splendor of God, which is charity; there is glittering of the precious stones of knowledge of the higher and lower substances; there the face of the Word, full of graces, which shines upon the queen, which is the soul, and clothes it in such a fashion that, transformed in these attributes of the heavenly King, it is aware of having become a queen. (Magnificat November, 2007)~~~~~*~~~~~