Readings: Micah 5, 1-4; Psalm 80, Lord, make Us turn to You; let Us see Your Face and We shall be saved; Hebrews 10, 5-10; Luke 1, 39-45

Micah: author, date, subject, our selection–

Author: one of the minor prophets (because of length, 7 chapters), Micah is considered to be the author of these words.

Date: probably around 700-690 BCE, a contemporary of Isaiah, living in Judah.  He had witnessed the destruction of the northern half of the kingdom, Israel, by the Assyrians, ca. 720 BCE.  He watched Judah pay tribute to Assyria.  He forsaw the Babylonian disaster coming to Judah, the southern half of the kingdom, which finally took place in 590.

Subject: like all prophets, he predicted doom and destruction for Judah because of the injustice of the people, especially the rich over the poor.  Micah learned from Israel's destruction by Assyria, which he attributed to God's anger with those people. 

Then, of course, he predicts a return to peace and prosperity after the people are purified.  He speaks to Bethlehem as if to a persona and says that a new ruler will come from the town who will shepherd the people.  Why Bethlehem?  Because David was born there and the new David was supposed to come from the same royal village.

Asked what God wants of us (like penance, sacrifices of animals, goods, even children), Micah states one of the great lines in scripture: "What God requires of us is: 1. act justly, 2. love tenderly, and 3. walk humbly with our God." (6, 8)

Our Selection: God promises a just ruler will be born in Bethlehem, the place where King David was born, a royal village.

Sources: Wikipedia, John Shelby Spong

Jesus is Coming

Remember hearing the Christmas carol that goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a partridge in a pear tree"?  Ever wonder what on earth it means?  What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially a partridge in a pear tree have to do with Christmas?  Here is the rest of the story.

In England many years ago, the king, Henry VIII, got mad at the pope.  Know why?  He wanted to marry another wife, Anne Boleyn.  The pope would not grant him permission, so Henry banned Catholicism in England and destroyed churches & monasteries, collecting their money.  This started around 1550 and it lasted until about 1800, a long time.

Masses were forbidden and people were hung for breaking the law, especially during Henry's daughter's time, Elizabeth the daughter of Anne.  A number of Jesuits snuck into England at this time, celebrated secret Masses, were caught, tortured, and killed.  Rosemary & I even visited a delightful little town called Shrewsbury near the border with Wales.  A series of fun novels is written about a Brother Cadfill who lived in the Shewsbury monastery.  We saw the remains of the monastery destroyed by Henry's men.

What Catholics had to do was speak in code.  This Christmas carol is all code.  It was like a catechism for the people.  Here is the symbolism explained:

   The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus.

• Two turtledoves 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.

Whenever Catholics sang this Christmas carol they were singing about what they believed despite the danger to themselves. 

How are you celebrating the freedom we have to openly sing our Christmas carols?

Picture 1:  Advent Altar

Picture 2:  Mass beginning with Kevin

Picture 3:  Nikki & Sabrina

Picture 4:  The Cookie Shoppe with Nikki & her brother Cameron & Angela in the background

 

 

 

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 

 

 

 

 

Readings: Baruch 5, 1-9; Psalm 126, The Lord has done Great Things for Us; We are filled with Joy; Philippians 1, 4-11; Luke 3, 1-6

 

Baruch:

  

Author: probably not Baruch, who was Jeremiah's secretary.  More likely some anonymous person or persons a few centuries after Jeremiah. 

  

Date of composition: during the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550, or during the Maccabees' revolt ca. 100 BCE.  More likely the latter.  If so, like Daniel, the little book intends to strengthen resistance of the Jews during the Macabeean Revolt, using the Babylonian time to encourage the people.

  

 

Our passage: a message of optimism, hope, peace, and a new day.  The passage reflects 2nd Isaiah's message (chapter 40), which is likewise quoted in Luke's gospel for today.  The famous 2nd Isaiah: Luke uses this source to build his nativity narrative.  See also the lyrics of Handel's Messiah.

  

The Advent Wreath:

  

Date:

a.  Pre-christian Germans used wreaths at the darkest, coldest time of winter to signify resistance to the season and optimism that warmth and light would return.

b.  ca. 1500 German Lutherans emphasized the wreath and eventually it spread throughout Catholic & Protestant groups.

   

 

Symbolism: 

a.  green boughs indicate continuous life even in the winter. 

b.  the circle signifies both immortality and the past, present, and future focus of Advent.

c.  the lit candles symbolize the light & warmth coming in the person of Christ.

 

Purification: self purification before entering the temple
was common long before the time of Christ.  He did it.  Fasting & penance (hair shirts) were intended to purify me before I celebrated the birth of Jesus (the past), the presence of Jesus (the present), and the hope of being together with him (future).  This goes way back to the time of the earliest Christians in the first couple of centuries after Jesus' death.  For example, in Saragossa, Spain, 380 CE, a church council decreed 3 weeks of fasting & penance as self purification for the celebration of Christmas.

 

Our Fifth Anniversary Today, the Past, the Present, the Future

 

The year is 2004.  There were two special months that year, August and December. 

  

It was August when the first step took place.  I got suspended by the bishop because someone sent in an anonymous letter saying Stack wanted to get married.  This was amusing because I had been saying this for years.  What was different was that in 5/5/05 we were planning to do it.

    

So, rather than have the opportunity to say good bye to folks, I said, “Yes, okay.  I am out.”  And I moved out of Jesuit.

 

The second step.  The first Sunday of December, this Sunday five years ago, we went public with our celebrations.  I remember being rather anxious that Sunday and then utterly humbled and touched at seeing so many of you and so many others whom I had not see for four months, all come pouring into the cafetorium.  I was all choked, first seeing everyone, then trying to start the celebration after walking down that passageway that no longer exists.

 

 

 

This Mass came about because of the number of people who kept asking, “Where are you saying Sunday Masses and can we come?”  I had been using peoples’ living rooms and patios, but we had room for no more that about 25 people. 

Bernadette was especially influential in the process.  We even came close to using the club house at their subdivision, Spring Park.  It would have been beautiful and one third the cost (they wanted us to pay only $100 per Sunday).  Trouble was, 100 people was the maximum. 

 

When we decided to go public I had three hopes in mind.  One, that we would celebrate, all that we have and all that we are.  Secondly, that we would emphasize healthy spirituality on a basic Catholic/Christian foundation.  A spirituality of acceptance.  And thirdly, that we would be a helping community while not focusing on money, which is why I decided to do away with passing the hat at the collection time.  

  

People occasionally ask me, “Where are you going with this community?  What about the future?  Do you want to expand?”   Other than what we are doing, I have no idea about the future or where we are going.  I don’t have a need to expand.  I love our size which enables people to know one another.   

 

An extraordinary blessing of this 5^th anniversary year that affects our future is the

gift that Tony and Gayle bring.  I have asked at least a dozen married priests in the greater Dallas area to help us out and none of them felt comfortable doing so.  And then along comes Tony. 

   

Consequently, in the spirit of Advent we treasure the gifts of the past, we confidently leave the future in God’s hands, and we celebrate the gifts of the present.

 

How?

  

Picture 1:  Mass with Kevin helping

Picture 2:  Mass beginning

  

Picture 3:  Mass Helpers

 

Picture 4:  Cathy on her birthday, Mike & Geri

 

Picutre 5:  The Brunch, Marilyn, Marlene, Theresa, and Tom

   

Readings: Jeremiah 33, 14-16; Psalm 25, To you, O Lord, I lift My Soul; 1 Thessalonians 3, 12-4, 2; Luke 21, 25-36

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT: Lighting the First Candle 

Tony:  The Gospel of John speaks of Christ as the true light coming into the world. In commemoration of that coming, we light candles for the four weeks leading to Christmas and reflect on the coming of Christ.  It is significant that the church has always used that language—the coming of Christ—because it speaks to a deep truth. Christ is coming. Christ is always coming, always entering a troubled world, a wounded heart. And so we light the first candle, the candle of hope, and dare to express our longing for peace, for healing, and the well-being of all creation.

(First candle is 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, as we enter this Advent season,
We open all the dark places in our lives and memories to the healing light of Christ.
Show us the creative power of hope.
Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you,
That we may walk in the light of Christ.

Tony:  Take time, in the busyness of this season, for quiet reflection—
For the light of God’s love is discernible everywhere. 

All:  We will let ourselves be surprised by wonder,
And set aside time to offer quiet thanks.

Tony:  The good news of Advent is this:
Christ is coming. Christ is always coming.

All:  We will welcome Christ into our hearts.
We will let ourselves be guided by his ministry.
We will go forth from this place in hope.

Reflections on Readings for First Sunday in Advent, 2009

 

As I mentioned at the beginning, the Gospel readings for this year will mostly come from Luke’s Gospel.  This Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles were both written by the same author.  It is worth noting that together they make up about 25% of the New Testament!

 

So, who wrote them and whom were they written for?  The Gospel was most probably written around the year 80, so almost 50 years after the death/resurrection of Jesus, and 10 years after the destruction of Jerusalem.  The author was most likely a companion of Paul and a fairly well educated Greek speaker who was very familiar with the Greek version of the Old Testament.  The intended audience was primarily non Jewish early Christians.  And the books seem to show a nice continuity with the Old Testament.  The Gospel being about Jesus and then the Acts about the early Church. 

   

In the opening of both the Gospel and Acts they are addressed to Theopholis, which in Greek means Lover of God!  Luke used both Mark’s Gospel and a source called Q, plus some independent material.  What he took from Mark he cleaned up and expanded upon.  This Gospel has a couple of very significant different focuses, namely the poor.  For instance in Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes we hear Jesus say “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit” whereas Luke has Jesus say “Blessed are you Poor”. 

 

 

 

Since we are approaching Christmas, it is interesting to compare the two versions of the Birth of Jesus which we have, namely Luke’s and Matthew's.  They are each quite different and when you look at today’s Nativity Scenes we have a combination of both!  Luke has Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem, no room in the inn, and Jesus’ first visitors are the Shepherds.  Also the angel appears only to Mary!  Matthew on the other hand has Joseph and Mary living in Bethlehem, the Angel only appears to Joseph, and several times at that.  The Magi and the massacre of the innocent children and the flight into Egypt all happen only in Matthew and it is only on their return from Egypt that they relocate to Nazareth!

 

Today’s reading comes from far into the Gospel.  Jesus has just gotten to Jerusalem and he is preaching each day in the Temple.  He has cleaned out all the stalls and moneychangers and he is foretelling the destruction of not just the Temple but all of Jerusalem.  It is very easy for Luke to put these words into Jesus’ mouth because he is writing about ten years after the temple and city have been leveled by the Romans.

 

 

Picture 1:  Tony celebrating with Kevin's help

 

Picture 2:  Candle lighting

 

Picture 3:  The Donut Shoppe with Tony, Rob, Ron, & Bob

 

Picture 4:  Charlie with Jan & his mom