UPDATE: for a newer version of this prayer for 2011-2012, check here!
As we approach the end of the calendar year,
these words might help us walk gracefully into 2010...
Good Lord, it is the last day of 2009...
Only a few hours left in this old year which seemed so new, oh, not-so-long ago...
Where has the old year gone, Lord? How did it go? And how did I go with you, Lord, these past twelve months?
I remember the times we walked and talked together, you and I...
And I remember the times when I forgot, somehow, that you were right there by my side...
I remember the times when you took delight in my words and my work and I remember the times I ignored and forgot you - and still you loved me
and forgave me...
Nothing I have done, Lord, merits all you have given me: your love is grace and pure gift...
In return I offer so little and I have so little to offer...
But there comes a new year, Lord, and with it my prayer to live a life more worthy of all you so freely give me...
In this new year, Lord, make strong my resolve to be faithful, make deep my trust in your presence and make sure my hope in your promise, for without your help I will fail...
Lord, you offer me only what is true and pure, good and just, strong and graced...
In this new year, help me to recognize what is false, cheap and sham...
Help me to settle for nothing less than what comes from your heart and hand...
Nourish me, Lord: give me a hunger for what is genuine, a thirst for what is holy, a wisdom for discerning your gifts...
It is the last night of the old year, Lord...
Shake from my heart what has no place there and wake my heart to the gift of your grace at the dawn of a new beginning...
Today we return to Timothy's studio and this sculpture of the Holy Family. (Some great close-ups offer interesting detail on this grouping here.)
Rare are the pieces showing Jesus in Joseph's arms when Mary is nearby but certainly there were many times when the two delighted in the baby they cared for and raised. A number of paintings image Joseph off to the side, chin in hand, looking confused or worried - or both. Although we know little of Joseph after the infancy accounts, there's no reason for us not to imagine his gentle, loving care for his foster-son.
Mary and Joseph, what joy you must have taken in this child when, finally, you were able to settle down. First the trip to be enrolled in Bethlehem; then the unusual visitors from the heavens, from the fields, and from the East; then fleeing to Egypt for his safety... Finally back in Nazareth, how grateful you must have been just to be home, with your baby. Do you remember showing him to your family and neighbors? Did they think him as beautiful as you did? Did you sit, as parents do, simply watching him? Watching him sleep and watching his every move? Looking in his eyes to see if he knew you and listening for the soft sounds you knew were his first words of love to you? Do you remember seeing him smile and laugh for the first time?
In these days after Christmas, bring us home to be with him, to hold him in our hearts, to wait for his smiles and sounds of love and to trust that they are meant for us...
Pope Benedict XVI today offered this prayerful greeting for a Happy New Year:
Cari amici, siamogiuntialla fine diquestoanno e alleporte dell’annonuovo. Vi auguroche l’amiciziadiNostro Signore GesùCristo vi accompagniognigiornodiquestoannochesta per iniziare. PossaquestaamiciziadiCristoesserenostraluce e guida, aiutandoci ad essereuominidi pace, dellasua pace. Buonanno a tutti voi!
Dear friends, we have reached the end of this year and stand at the threshold of the New Year. My wish is that the friendship of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, will accompany you each day of this new year. May friendship with Christ be our light and guide, helping us to to be people of peace, of his peace. Happy New Year to all!
I'm struck by the pope's prayer that the friendship of Jesus accompany us each day in the new year. Weall could benefit by looking at the new year as one in which Christ befriends us and walks by our side, day by day, one day at a time...
None of us could find a more faithful companion than the Lord for the journey we're about to take through 2010.
Adoration of the Magi by Marice Sariola
(Click on image for larger, detailed version) Journey of the Magi
'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
- T.S. Eliot
A more contemporary poet, James Taylor, comes at the same topic in his song, Home By Another Way. The lyrics are just below the widget with the audio:
Home By Another Way
Those magic men the Magi
Some people call them wise
Or Oriental, even kings
Well anyway, those guys
They visited with Jesus
They sure enjoyed their stay
Then warned in a dream of King Herod's scheme
They went home by another way
Yes they went home by another way
Home by another way
Maybe me and you can be wise guys too
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way
Steer clear of royal welcomes
Avoid a big to-do
A king who would slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you
He really, really wants those presents
He'll comb your camel's fur
Until his boys announce they've found trace amounts
Of your frankincense, gold and myrrh
Time to go home by another way
Home by another way
You have to figure the Gods saying play the odds
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way
Home is where they want you now
You can more or less assume that you'll be welcome in the end
Mustn't let King Herod haunt you so
Or fantasize his features when you're looking at a friend
Well it pleasures me to be here
And to sing this song tonight
They tell me that life is a miracle
And I figured that they're right
But Herod's always out there
He's got our cards on file
It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch
Old Herod likes to take a mile
It's best to go home by another way
Home by another way
We got this far to a lucky star
But tomorrow is another day
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way
This beautiful icon was written by Aidan Hart. Seldom is the Holy Family pictured as it is here with Christ as a young man. (Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.)
The feast of the Holy Family falls on the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas - December 27 this year. My parish celebrated sung Evening Prayer for the feast and our cantor, Ellen Oak, wrote a set of beautiful lyrics for our Evening Hymn which we sang to the tune of the TallisCanon. With Ellen's permission, I'm happy to share these words with you.
All praise to you, our God this night, For all the blessings of the Light. Keep us, O keep us as we sing Beneath the shadow of your wing.
We thank you, God, for family In every way it comes to be. In fam'ly life your love made flesh Unfolds the myst'ry of the creche.
With Mary, true to her deep call, With Joseph, guardian of us all, With Jesus, brothers, sisters we Are drawn to you as family.
Praise God who gives each blessing birth, Praise Jesus Christ of heav'n and earth, Praise Spirit making new and free, Praise to the Holy Trinity.
Adoration of the Magi by Andrea Mantegna (Be sure to click on image for a larger more detailed version)
It's all in the eyes!
The magi offer the Christ Child their gifts, but they still gaze up and off into the distance. Perhaps they are inquiring of the star: "Is this really the One to whom you have drawn us?"
And Joseph... Joseph keeps his eye on these wealthy visitors... "How came they knocking on my door?" he must wonder. 'Their gifts are extravagant! What will I need to provide for my wife and the child? What do these strangers want?"
Not surprisingly, Mother Mary simply keeps her eye on the child of her womb. Might she see in this unexpected visit the twists and turns her child's life will take? But see, too, how she offers the child, holding him forth, already aware that she will, in the end, need to give him away to all who come looking for him...
The Infant's eyes and visage tell us clearly that he has no need of these fine offerings... He wants something from each of us but what he desires comes in neither coffer nor cup ... What he desires comes only in our hearts...
Child of Mary's womb, apple of Joseph's eye, welcome us when we come to you: to visit, to pray, simply to draw near...
Set our gaze on only that star whose light leads us along the path of your truth...
Teach us to make of our hearts the finest gift we have to offer to you and to others...
When we wonder if we have found you - or lost you - deepen our faith in your faithful pursuit of us, our lives and our love...
Shine, appear and reveal the beauty of your face to us that we might never fail to see you in all we meet and know...
This past Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Holy Family, the Sunday in the octave of Christmas. A grandparent's love for a grandchild is a special love indeed. Imagine the depths of Ann's love for Mary and for her grandson, Jesus...
He was but a baby: a son and grandson... Did you stay, Ann, to help your daughter with her newborn? Did your son-in-law welcome you? make you feel at home?
Did you know the mystery of this baby's birth? Had they told you of the angel's visit to Mary? Of the angels in Joseph's dreams? Did you wonder, too, what would become of this small one?
Your eyes, your gaze tell me that in your heart you knew what Mary knew: mothers and daughters know these things...
Your little grandson is hungry now and he turns to his mother for nourishment... Nourish your daughter with your presence, Ann, and help us to care for each other as members of one family...
It's true, Ann: a grandmother's work is never done...
This coming weekend we celebrate Epiphany - on January 3rd. Yes, we used to celebrate Epiphany as the Twelfth Day of Christmas and in many places that's still the case. In the United States, however, the feast is transferred to Sunday.
You will find the readings and background material on them here and similar help for children preparing to hear the Word this weekend here.
Have you ever wondered why the gospel on Epiphany is always the same text? It's because Matthew's is the only gospel that tells the story of the visitors from the east. (See this earlier post for more information on the Nativity narratives in the gospels.)
The illustration above (artist: He Qi) shows the magi being warned in a dream to return home by another route. Here are the lyrics of James Taylor's Home By Another Way (H/T to Jack's Son) - unfortunately, the audio for this is no longer available online in a format for publishing on a blog. You can, however, download the file here.)
This icon by Aidan Hart is titled, The Mother of God and Savior. Notice that although Jesus is imaged as as a child, his muscularity and strength are beyond his years. At the same time, Mary is rendered as great, indeed large enough to be the Mother of God. A similar shift in proportion is at work in the familiar Pieta where the figure of Mary is much larger than the Christ she holds in her lap. (Click on the image for a larger version.)
January 1 on the liturgical calendar is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. On the civil calendar it is New Year's Day. It is also the World Day of Peace and Pope Benedict XVI's very "green" message for that day - If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation - can be found here.
The scriptures for this day are, I believe, the shortest set of readings of the whole liturgical year. You can find them here, to read and ponder them in preparation for Mass on this holy day.
This wall relief by Timothy P. Schmalz presents us with a tender moment all father's must know... holding a sleeping child and wondering, "What will become of the child I hold in my arms?"
Joseph found himself with responsibility for a child not his own in the natural sense. The child Jesus was not his - but at the same time, was his to care for...
In a real way, all our loves are like this... Love brings a share in the life of the beloved but never ownership of the other... The ones we love are ours - and at the same time, not ours...
Joseph,you hold in your arms the son your belovedhas brought to life...
He is not yours -but he is yours to care for, to nurture, to shelter, to love...
Teach us to hold one another as you held him: faithfully, carefully and gently...
Teach us the love whose embrace never fails to free the ones we hold as our own...
On this Holy Family Sunday,
between Christmas and New Year's,
we find ourselves in the middle of that season when:
some of us can’t get enough of our family;
some of us have had enough of our family;
and some of us pine for family members
who have gone before us
or live too far away for visiting…
Christmas can bring out the best in families,
and the not-so-best as well.
Christmas certainly draws families together
but it also has a way of reminding us
of the problems in our families:
the estrangements, the grudges,
and the unsettled arguments that divide us
and keep us from being one.
And Christmas has a way of opening our hearts and our wallets
to our extended family, the family of God's poor:
the needy, the homeless and the hungry.
At the same time, Christmas highlights the great divide
that keeps the poor poor, and the rest of us not poor
– the balance of the year.
And the joy and peace of Christmas
arrive against a background of
war, terrorism and international tension.
What does it mean to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace
while war is waged in so many places and more often than not,
on the doorsteps of our poorest relatives in the global family?
On this feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
what might we pray for families near and far?
As saturated with ancient cultural norms
as today’s first scripture is, Sirach offers a plan or code of family behavior
good for any generation.
Listen again to the virtues listed in Sirach: honor, respect, prayer, reverence, obedience, care, kindness and consideration of others –
all meant to establish a loving, united household of peace.
St. Paul offers a similar kind of “house order,”
calling us to “put on," like a garment, a cloak of these virtues: heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness of those who offend us, gratitude
and a willingness to let Christ rule our hearts.
To some, these words may sound pious or old fashioned.
These aren’t the categories by which our culture judges success.
But on the eve of a new year, might we not do well to ask
if and how these virtues need to find a home in our own hearts.
I know that as consider I those virtues
I notice the ones I’m lacking in and need to work on.
Do some of them strike you in the same way?
Maybe there’s good material here for us
as we consider making New Year’s resolutions.
I don’t think it will hurt us to hear those virtues again: honor, respect, prayer, reverence, obedience, care, kindness and consideration of others, justice, heartfelt compassion, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness of those who offend us, gratitude and a willingness to let Christ rule our hearts…
Think of these as gifts under a Christmas tree.
Which of these do each of us need to open this Christmas?
Which of these do we need to share with others in our lives?
From which of these gifts rise up our resolutions?
The Eucharist we celebrate and receive
is for nourishing these virtues in our hearts, in our households,
in our parish, and in how we hope to shape our world.
Pray with me that the Supper we offer and share
at this altar, this family table in our household of faith,
will help us live as the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph:
in peace with God and with one another.
I'm a man and I have no children. But I imagine that mothers must have moments in their hearts when they feel what Mary is imaged to be experiencing in the sculpture above by Timothy P. Schmaltz which he titles, Maternal Bond.
O Mary, Mother of our brother, Jesus, and Mother of us all, you were one with your child in your arms as you were one with your child in your womb...
As you knew the wonder and joy of holding the fruit of your womb in your embrace, lead us to know the joy and wonder of being held in the arms of the One who filled yours...
Renew in us a spirit of awe that our God has chosen to live among us, as One like us in all things but sin.
In these days of Christmas joy, hold us, your sons and daughters, with our brother, Jesus, in the bond we share with you, the mother of Christ's body, the Church...
Just in case you missed and earlier post in the Christmas rush, check here for the readings for this weekend, the Sunday in the octave of Christmas, the feast of the Holy Family.
The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on Christmas day and end on January 5, the day before the traditional day for celebrating Epiphany. (If you missed the "First Day" post, scroll down just a bit.)
Although St. Joseph quietly fades from the gospel narrative by the end of Luke's second chapter, we know that he was present through Jesus' 12th year (Luke 2:41-52)
How did Joseph experience those early days and early years in Jesus' life. It's not easy to find a great deal of artistic expression of these times and, unfortunately, Joseph is more often than not depicted as an elderly man, although there is no scriptural evidence for this. Timothy P. Schultz is a contemporary Canadian sculptor, a father himself. Perhaps that's why his art so often puts Jesus in Joseph's embrace. Timothy's work above, A Quiet Moment, portrays Joseph's larger-than-life love for his wife and foster son...
Joseph, you were called to a great love and a deep trust in God's plan for your and your wife, Mary.
You responded with a love greater than most can imagine, a trust deeper than most can dream.
Teach us, Joseph, to love even when we do not understand, to trust when we do not see the purpose.
Stretch our hearts to a larger-than-life love, enfolding of all the gifts God gives us...
His parish scheduled a children's "Birthday Party for Jesus." When ordering a cake and asking for it to be inscribed, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" the clerk taking the order asked how to spell "Jesus."
That was Clue #1 - there may be trouble ahead!
When a parishioner went to pick up the cake she was told that, free of charge, the store had added some extra decorations to "dress up" the cake.
Here's what the baker did:
Well, the red and green color scheme seems to work for Christmas (and the name "Jesus" was correctly spelled!) but a short course in the liturgical year might be in order for the pastry chef!
(Click on the photo for a "bigger piece of the cake!")
I'm reposting this series on the Twelve Days of Christmas which I wrote in 2007. The Twelve Days begin on Christmas Day and end on January 5, the day before the traditional date for Epiphany (although on the revised liturgical calendar in the Roman rite, Epiphany is now always celebrated on a Sunday, this year on January 3).
On these 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany, we'll look at some images of Mary and Joseph and the child, Jesus. Today's is the work of Canadian sculptor, Timothy P. Schmaltz and it is titled, simply, Warmth.
The folds of Mary's garment make a shelter in which she and her child huddle. Prayer is like that: a shelter for huddling with the Lord...
It's not difficult to imagine Mary cuddling her son just as imaged here. What a gift to be able share the warmth of one's body with the one whose heart would burn with love for all his brothers and sisters.
The Christmas season is a good time to remember how God, like a mother, holds each of us to the breast, warming and shaping us to the contours of those divine arms that treasure and hold us safe in love...
Here's a present left under the Christmas tree and ready for opening: Brother Patrick has two posts up in the same week! Check here for a fine reflection on the scriptures for December 22, Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent. BP's words weave the ancient stories of two women in the scriptures (Hannah and Mary) with the experience of two women in our own time.
Perhaps you remember BP's post a while back, summarized in that one sentence: Who I am is who I am in God, and nothing more. Patrick's Christmas post includes one of his reader's reflection on that line - well worth.
I'm especially pleased to link you to BP's blog on Christmas Day because I find the thread that runs through his writing so very incarnational, never failing to connect the Word, viscerally, with our humanity.
A little girl is singing for the faithful to come ye Joyful and triumphant, a song she loves, And also the partridge in a pear tree And the golden rings and the turtle doves. In the dark streets, red lights and green and blue Where the faithful live, some joyful, some troubled, Enduring the cold and also the flu, Taking the garbage out and keeping the sidewalk shoveled. Not much triumph going on here—and yet There is much we do not understand. And my hopes and fears are met In this small singer holding onto my hand. Onward we go, faithfully, into the dark And are there angels singing overhead? Hark.
On Christmas day, the pope speaks "Urbi et Orbi" - to the city [of Rome] and to the world. In addition to his message (here's this year's text) he delivers Christmas greetings in many languages:
Per shum vjet Krishtlindjen
Честито Рождество Христово
Viasíòłych kalàdnych Sviàtaû!
Sretan Boñiƒ, Isusovo Poropenje! Narodil se vám Spasitel. Radujte se! Zalig en gelukkig Kerstmis. May the birth of the Prince of Peace remind the world where its true happiness lies; and may your hearts be filled with hope and joy, for the Saviour has been born for us.
Dibenitan Kristnaskon kaj prosperan novjaron.
Häid joulupühi.
Hyvää Joulua.
Heureuse et sainte fête de Noël ! Que le Christ Sauveur vous garde dans l’espérance et qu’il vous fasse le don de la paix profonde !
Die Geburt Jesu Christi, des Erlösers der Menschen, erfülle Euer Leben mit tiefer Freude und reicher Gnade; sein Friede möge in Euren Herzen wohnen. Gesegnete und frohe Weihnachten!
Ko navidad árape che maitei ame’ê peême. Àldott Karácsonyt.
Selamat Hari Natal.
Nollaig shona dhaoibh go léir.
Buon Natale agli abitanti di Roma e dell’intera Italia! La grande festa della nascita di Cristo sia fonte di luce e di fiducia per la vita di tutti. In questo nostro tempo, segnato da una considerevole crisi economica, possa il Natale essere occasione di più grande solidarietà tra le famiglie e tra le comunità che compongono la cara Nazione italiana. Dalla povera e umile grotta di Betlemme si diffonda dappertutto la luce della speranza evangelica e risuoni l’annuncio che nessuno è estraneo all’amore del Redentore.
Gumya umutima mu mahoro!Noeli nziza!
Apparuit gratia Dei Salvatoris nostri omnibus hominibus!
Priecīgus Ziemsvētkus!
Linksmå šwentå Kaledå. Schéin Chreschtdag Нека ви е честит Божиу н Нова Година Arahaba tratrin’i Noely. Il-Milied it-tajjeb lill-poplu kollu ta’ Malta u ta’ Għawdex.
Meri Kirihimete.
Malygayang pasko at manigong bagong taon. Błogosławionych świąt Bożego Narodzenia!
Feliz Natal para todos, e que a Luz de Cristo Salvador ilumine os vossos corações de paz e de esperança!
Baxtalò Kre…ùno! Thaj Nevo berš! Сердечно поздравляю всех с Праздником Рождества Христова Ia manuia le Kirisimasi.
Среħан Божиħ - Христос се роди!
Zohnowane hody! A zboñowne Nowe l�to!
Milostiplné a radostné Viacočné Sviatky.
¡Feliz Navidad! Que la Paz de Cristo reine en vuestros corazones, en las familias y en todos los pueblos. Heri kwa noeli na baraka nyingi kwa mwaka mpya. God Jul, Gott Nytt Àr.
Homily for Christmas 2009 (Scriptures for Midnight Mass)
Swaddling clothes… “She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger…”
If clothes can be called swaddling, there must be a verb, “to swaddle” - and of course, there is.
To swaddle means to wrap or bind, to restrain with strips of cloth. It’s an ancient practice for caring for newborns, still used by mothers today. It’s said to reduce an infant's fussiness and crying and contributes to deeper, restful sleep.
Imagine… the very Word of God becomes flesh and is immediately swaddled, wrapped, bound, restrained: the divinity of God, wrapped in our humanity; the power of God, bound by our need for rest and sleep; the eternity of God, restrained by time and place…
Imagine… the beauty of God laid in a feedbox in a stable for livestock; the love of God left without shelter for a government census for collecting taxes; the coming of God among so many oblivious to his presence…
As one writer put it:
He made himself subject to our limitations: to discomfort, poverty, hunger and thirst and pain.
He knew fear, temptation and failure.
He suffered loneliness, betrayal, unrequited love, utter desolation of spirit, the sense of despair and death.
He suffered all these things, and all the secret, incommunicable things known to each individual, which can never be told…
Christ lived each of our lives.
He has faced all our fears, suffered all our griefs, overcame all our temptations, labored in all of our labors, loved in all of our loves, died all our deaths.
He took our humanity, just as it is, with all its wretchedness and ugliness, and gave it back to us just as his humanity is: transfigured by the beauty of his living, filled full of his joy.*
God, wrapped in our humanity, bound by our frailty and restrained by our pain.
Incarnation: God-swaddled!
The question Christmas poses is this: will we allow ourselves to be swaddled, wrapped in God’s Spirit? will we exchange the bondage of our pride for a humble acceptance of his mercy? will we allow ourselves to be restrained by his Word, his law of love, and put the needs of others before our own?
Like the mother of a newborn, God wants to swaddle us each of us, without exception.
God wants to wrap us in forgiving love; to bind us as one in faith; to restrain us with a Word that harnesses our selfishness and sets free the divine beauty swaddled in ever human being.
In the little town of Bethlehem, God was swaddled in our history, in our lives and in our hearts.
Bethlehem means “house of bread” and we remember at this altar, how the life of Christ is swaddled in the bread and cup of the Eucharist.
May we who gather tonight in this church, this house of the Lord’s bread, may we be swaddled in God’s love and blessed with a new year of peace.
*A Child in Winter with CaryllHouselander, edited by Thomas Hoffman, pages 43-45
This is a beautiful song, background here for the Nativity scene from the movie of the same name. The immediate appearance of the three visitors from the east is something not supported by the scriptural accounts of the Nativity and yet there's something in Mary's eyes at the end that testifies to the import of Epiphany in the Christmas story.
May this Christmas be a breath of heaven stirring in your soul...
Long before there was any question about the political correctness of wishing others a “Merry Christmas,” the pastor of the parish of my youth (Monsignor John Cusack, St. Richard Parish in Danvers, MA) took the occasion every year of telling us why he preferred to wish everyone a “Happy Christmas.” He’d point out that we never wish anyone a “Merry Easter” and would question whether this adjective for Christmas, dating back to the 17th century, was the best one for us to use today. The first printed Christmas card (1843) wished recipients a “Merry Christmas” but at the end of A Visit From St. Nicholas (‘Twas the night before…), Clement Moore wishes his readers a “Happy Christmas.” The history, then, is mixed. “Merry” seems rather light and even “Happy” might fail to bear the weight of this day’s wishes. What kind of Christmas do we hope and pray our family and friends will have?
My prayer is that you will have a Joyful Christmas: a Christmas rooted in the serenity that deep faith provides, strong enough to survive the disappointments and sorrows life delivers to our doorstep and exuberant enough to celebrate life’s happiest times. May the birthday of Christ touch you with deep joy...
I pray, too, that you will have a Peaceful Christmas: the peace the world so clearly is unable to give itself; the peace that broken hearts long for; the peace that is ours to share with one another in forgiveness, kindness and charity. May the birthday of Christ sow seeds of peace in your heart...
Finally, I pray that you have a Hopeful Christmas. So much in the world around us encroaches on our capacity to hope: a spirit abroad that seems intent on draining the beauty and poetry from our lives while our ever burgeoning knowledge robs us of awe and reverence before the mystery of life, of love and of God. May the birthday of Christ renew hope in your heart...
I wish you a Joyful, Peaceful, Hopeful Christmas and should your Christmas be Merry and Happy, too – all the better! Please pray the same for me.
I'm reposting today a piece on the nativity story in the gospels (below) and here's a link to a previous post related to all the scriptures for the Christmas liturgies.
What do you know of the story of Christ's birth? How did you learn that story? What are your sources? Does your recounting of the Nativity match up with the scriptures?
Did you know that of the four evangelists, only Luke and Matthew write of Christ's birth - that Mark and John say nothing about it? Did you know that the "three kings" do not appear in Luke's account and that in Matthew's account, they don't go to a stable but to a home (and that none of the four accounts mentions a stable)?
Compare and contrast Luke and Matthew below to see what scriptures have most influenced your understanding of the Nativity.
The icons of the four evangelists are the work of Peter Wilke
Luke Chapter 2 (preceded in Chapter 1 by the story of Zechariah, Elizabeth, and their son, John the Baptist; and the story of the angel appearing to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, announcing that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit; and Mary's visit to Elizabeth)
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son. 3 She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, 10 and the holy Spirit was upon him.
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
6 Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, 7 but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit.
Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord 9 appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.
'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."
After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
5 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
6 When they 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, 7 and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
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.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, 11 he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee.
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