Readings: Zephaniah 3, 14-18; Psalm, Isaiah 12, Cry out with Joy and Gladness for among You is the Great and Holy One of Israel; Philippians 4, 4-7; Luke 3, 10-18
Zephaniah: date, author, subject, & our selection
Date: two possibilities–ca. 650 BCE, before Babylon & contemporary with Jeremiah. Or ca. 200 BCE.
Author: probably not Zephaniah himself, but someone recording what he said. He is one of the 12 minor prophets, simply because his work is small, only 3 chapters.
Subject: like all prophets, Zephaniah predicts doom and destruction to Jerusalem because the people are not good. His purpose: alter behavior, especially the religious behavior, of his fellow citizens of Jerusalem. A rather jealous and punishing god is presented.
Our selection: last lines of the last chapter, a song of joy and rejoicing. This is the only positive note in the 3 chapters. Consequently, scholars think it may have been added to the original work. This is the only time in the 3 year cycle that we have a reading from Zephaniah. Take a good look.
Candle liturgy
Tony: We have lit the first two candles, one for hope and one for peace. Today we light the third candle, the candle of joy. This should be the easy one, because joy is all around us—in the children, the lights, the music, the gathering together. But how often do we let our preparations—or our memories—push joy to the side? Joy is like an underground spring that wells up within us, but joy is also a choice, an attitude. Like a muscle, it needs to be exercised. So today we open ourselves to joy, trusting that God has already planted it in us. All we need to do is give it care and offer it to share.
Three candles are lit
All Sing
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
All: Loving God, we open ourselves to you,
trusting that this is how you made us:
you created us for joy-filled hearts and lives.
Show us the creative power of hope.
Teach us the peace that comes from justice.
Fill us with the kind of joy that cannot be contained, but must be shared.
Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you,
That we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen.
Tony: Rejoice in God always, and again I say, rejoice
For God has created you with the capacity for joy.
All: We will find what makes us joyful,
And make that our gift to the world.
Tony: Trust in God’s good will for all of creation
and open yourself to God’s gentle, transforming love.
All: We will welcome new possibilities in our lives.
We will offer ourselves to God’s goodness.
We will go forth in hope, and peace, and joy.
A Christmas Story
I have a Christmas story for you this morning. It took place the first Christmas I was in Africa, 1977.
The African continent is shaped vaguely like a heart. I spent most of my time on the east side, Tanzania, Kenya, & Uganda. But my first Christmas I spent on the left side of the continent, the west. The country I spent Christmas in was called Zaire in those days for ca. 30 years, now called the Republic of Congo, since ca. 2000.
The ruler at the time was a guy named Mobuto Seseseko and he was corrupt. He took for himself all the money gained by selling off the country's considerable natural wealth.
The capitol of the country is called Kinshasa and I was in a town near there called Kimwenza. I had been giving seminars & retreats in Nigeria and ended up in Zaire at Christmas, how, I do not remember.
Three special memories remain with me from that Christmas.
First, I remember a midnight Mass. It took place in a big but simple church on the edge of town. There was probably a thousand black Zaire folks there and one white guy sitting up front on the left side with his eyes bugging out.
My eyes were bugging out because of at least two things. First, the priest, a local young black Zaire man, he spent a lot of time dancing with a tall, cone shaped hat. He danced marching in with the drums and the shakers going at it, he danced during the ceremony, and he danced on the way out. In fact, he did not walk during the ceremony, he danced.
The other thing memorable was when he finally danced out. It was probably more than 3 hours since he had danced in. And nobody was leaving early. In fact, I discovered that Africans want to celebrate for at least a couple of hours when they come to Mass. Consequently, a lot of music.
The second memory I have is the incongruity I felt celebrating Christmas in a tropical environment, like celebrating Christmas in the summer. Kinshasa has tons of flowers and they bloom all year because it is summer all year. The bougainvillea, the frangipanni, and the jacaranda with their purple flowers making like snow on the ground, all were flowering along with their cousins.
Thirdly, I remember that Mobutu was mad at the Catholic church for some reason and he decreed that Christmas could not be celebrated on Christmas day. It was a week day and businesses and schools were all open. He did not ban the Masses, but people had to pretend to be working and going to school. I remember walking around the town Christmas day thinking how odd the whole experience was, summer time and the government banning the celebration of Christmas day.
Fortunately, the government did not get nasty about the celebrating that took place, many of the city folks were Catholic. In a goofy twist, Seseseko's own sons even went to the Jesuit college in Kimwenza. Oddly I appreciated more the freedom I had to celebrate that Christmas Mass, and the people seemed to celebrate with even more zest.
This year here in Dallas we have the freedom to make Christmas a spiritual festival.
How are you doing it?
Picture 1: Mass begins
Picture 2: Andy Vrabel, one of our own comes home
Picture 3: Tony with Margie
Picture 4: Tony with David Hoover