Epilogue: The Miracle Remains

As with gladness men of old,
Did the guiding star behold,
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onwards, beaming bright,
So, most gracious God, may we
Evermore be led to thee.

~ from the Evening Prayer II hymn on the Feast of the Epiphany, Liturgy of the Hours

I wanted to take a moment and thank those of you who have joined me on the journey I began in November on the first Sunday of Advent. Whether you were there at the start or joined us somewhere along the way, I thank you. Each day I posted something for your edification, but mostly it was for my own. My goal was to avoid the crass commercialism and busyness that is the holiday season while keeping my focus on the Light that entered into the world in that stable two millenia ago. And it worked, for while the past month has brought some difficult and challenging times as a parent and father, there was a lot of peace internally that enabled me to handle the situation. And it’s ok that there was no earth-shattering alteration for me this season. Instead what I found was a gentle nudge to maintain the course I’ve set upon and keep walking this road. Reaffirmation, and the knowledge that while the time of preparation ended with the Incarnation, the miracle remains. And we’ve got work to do, you and I.

For long after the angels disappear into the heavens, the shepherds return to their flocks, the magi journey home and the great star sets, Jesus remains.

The small statue of Mary holding the child Jesus that is in our home.

The Child in whom we rediscover God’s great love for humanity becomes the adult Redeemer who challenges us to imitate his selflessness and compassion in order that we might transform our world in love. For today that little baby, born into such pitiful humility and then cut down as a young man in his prime, commands the allegiance of millions of people all over the world. Although they have never seen him, he has become friend and companion to innumerable people. This undeniable fact is, by any measurement, the most astonishing phenomenon in human history. It is a solid rock of evidence that no agnostic can ever explain away.

This is why, behind all of the fun and games we had during Christmastime, we should not have tried to escape a sense of awe at what God has done. We must take care to never allow anything to blind us to the true significance of what happened at Bethlehem so long ago.

What we just celebrated was no beautiful myth, no lovely piece of traditional folklore, but a solemn fact. God has been here once historically, but, as millions will testify, he will come again with the same silence and the same devastating humility into any human heart ready to receive him.

May we allow the miracle of Christmas to continue long after the holiday trappings have been packed away.

May we welcome the adult Messiah and his challenging Gospel to recreate our lives, making the peace, justice and hope of this holy season a reality in every season of the new year.

Strengthened, and with renewed vigor, may we evermore walk this path in full knowledge of the fact that the Miracle remains.

Wise Men, Return to the World

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. We celebrate a holy day adorned with three mysteries: that on this day the star led the Magi to the manger; that wine was made from water at the wedding at Cana; that on this day Christ was baptized in the Jordan by his cousin John the Baptist. Today we celebrate that Christ has washed away our sins in the Jordan; that the Magi hasten with gifts to the newborn babe, and that the guests are gladdened with wine made from water.

But how do we internalize these things and celebrate them as our own? From his Epiphany homily in 2001 Blessed Pope John Paul II provides us with some guidance:

“…we are like the Three Wise Men who journeyed to Jesus. Now, like those Wise Men, we return to the world from which we came, to the everyday life where we will witness to what we have seen.

Indeed it compels us to start out afresh on a new stage of the journey on which we become proclaimers and heralds. The Wise Men were in a sense the first missionaries. Their encounter with Christ did not keep them in Bethlehem, but made them set out anew on the paths of the world.

We need to ‘set out anew from Christ,’ with the zeal of Pentecost, with renewed enthusiasm. To set out from him above all in a daily commitment to holiness, with an attitude of prayer and of listening to his word. To set out from him in order to testify to his Love by living a Christian life marked by communion, charity, and witness before the world.”

So what now? Now, as Howard Thurman writes below, the work of “living a Christian life marked by communion, charity, and witness” must begin.

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…

And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.

The message of the Feast of Epiphany announces to all people, everywhere:

Rise up in splendor…your light has come,
The Glory of the Lord shines upon you!

Let the work of Christmas begin, and let it begin with you.

~ Work of Christmas Begins, by Howard Thurman (adapted)

Love Alone

Mosaic of the Three Magi, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy

Love Alone

The Child we seek
doesn’t need our gold.
On love, on love alone
he will build his kingdom.
His pierced hand will hold no sceptor,
his haloed head will wear no crown;
his might will not be built
on your toil.
Swifter than lightning
he will soon walk among us.
He will bring us new life
and receive our death,
and the keys to his city
belong to the poor.

~ Gian Carlo Menotti

*****

A montage of images of the Magi from around the world.

The Lessons of Angels

During the Advent and Christmas season we encounter angels, and their lessons, that until now I’ve neglected to talk about.

The first angel is the angel that visits Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. While in the Temple an angel appeared to him and announced the he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son. This he announced despite their advanced years. Not believing this to be possible Zechariah asks for a sign. Instead he was struck silent, losing his voice until little John was born. While he doubted at first the experience did strengthen his faith. It was he who went on to say “Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace.” Through his encounter with an angel, Zechariah experienced a renewed faith.

Appearance of the Angel to Saint Joseph, by Georges de La Tour

The second angel is the heavenly messenger to St. Joseph. At the time Joseph was betrothed to Mary when it was discovered she was pregnant. While planning on divorcing her quietly, the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. The angel who came to Joseph serves to remind us through encouragement to “Be not afraid.”

If ever there was a man who had reason to be afraid, it was Joseph. Jewish law dictated that a girl who became pregnant outside of marriage could be stoned to death. Joseph had reason to fear not only for Mary but also for himself. As they were betrothed he was the obvious culprit of her pregnancy in the eyes of their peers, and marrying her would be an admission of guilt. But upon hearing the word of the angel: “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”, he responded with courage. He would respond with this same trait later when warned by an angel to take his fragile family and flee for safety into Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution.

A third angel is the one who lead the Heavenly Hosts of angels who descended in a blaze of light and sang out “good news of great joy” to the Bethlehem shepherds. There is some speculation that this angel is Gabriel whom the shepherds receive and respond to. They put aside their fears and open their hearts to joy. They even imitate the angels in two ways: praising God by repeating the “glory!” of the heavenly choir, and they spread the news of Jesus’ birth. Taking faith and courage from the example given to them these simple and unlikely men become the first evangelists.

These are just a few of the examples we can take from the angels who appear and put to use in our own lives. I want to touch briefly upon another, one I took from reading a short story by J.B. Phillips called “The Visited Planet.”

In his story, a senior angel is showing a very young angel around the splendors of the universe. They view the whirling galaxies and blazing suns, and the fly across the infinite distances of space until they enter one particular galaxy.

As the two of them drew near to the star which we call our sun and to its circling planets, the senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning very slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis-ball to the little angel, whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had seen.

“I want you to watch that one particularly,” said the senior angel, pointing with his finger.

“Well, it looks very small and rather dirty to me,” said the little angel. “What’s special about that one?”

To this young angel the earth does not seem so impressive. He listens in stunned disbelief as the senior angle tells him that this planet, small and insignificant and not overly clean, was the renowned Visited Planet:

“Do you mean that our great and glorious Prince, with all these wonders and splendours of His Creation, and millions more that I’m sure I haven’t seen yet, went down in Person to this fifth-rate little ball? Why should He do a thing like that?”

“It isn’t for us,” said his senior a little stiffly, “to question His ‘why’s’, except that I must point out to you that He is not impressed by size and numbers, as you seem to be. But that He really went I know, and all of us in Heaven who know anything know that. As to why He became one of them – how else do you suppose could He visit them?”

The little angels face wrinkled in disgust.

“Do you mean to tell me,” he said, “that He stooped so low as to become one of those creeping, crawling creatures of that floating ball?”

“I do, and I don’t think He would like you to call them ‘creeping, crawling creatures’ in that tone of voice. For, strange as it may seem to us, He loves them. He went down to visit them to lift them up to become like Him.”

The little angel looked blank. Such a thought was almost beyond his comprehension.

It is beyond my comprehension as well. But I accept this notion as a key to understanding Christmas and that it is also a touchstone of my faith. That one night in the cold, in the dark, among the chilled hills of Bethlehem came God, entering into time and space. God, who knows no boundaries, took on the confines of a baby’s skin and the restraints of mortality.

It is from this non-biblical story, one that offers much food for thought, that I glean the lesson of humility.

Faith. Courage. Humility. Lessons to take with us beyond Christmas and throughout rest of the year.

*****

A great representation of this last lesson is found in Terrence Malick’s wonderful film The Tree of Life. Below is a portion of his creation sequence from the movie.

Are you willing…

Keeping Christmas
by Henry Van Dyke

Are you willing…

• To forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
• To ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;
• To put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
• To see that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
• To own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
• To close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness.
• Are you willing to do these things even for a day?

Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing…

• To stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
• To remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
• To stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
• To bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
• To try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
• To trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;
• To make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open;
• Are you willing to do these things even for a day?

Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing…

• To believe that love is the strongest thing in the world – stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death – and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?

Then you can keep Christmas.

And if you can keep it for a day, why not always?

But you can never keep it alone.

Photo credit.

Christmas is more

As William Ward (and the liturgical calendar) reminds us, it is still Christmas. I like Ward’s poem because in each stanza we are presented both sides of the season: the secular and the sacred. Too often we are presented with a false choice of having to pick one side (usually the secular) while sacrificing the other (usually the sacred). I was able to prove to myself that this does not have to be the case and enjoyed a festive and faith-filled season this year. As is often the case it comes down to balance. A harmony of choices. With just a little planning I was able to set aside time for the sacred while keeping the secular in perspective and avoided having the whole thing come crashing down in a stressful heap when I lost my balance. And you know something? Christmas is more.

*****

Christmas
by William Arthur Ward

Christmas is more than a time of music, merriment and mirth;
it is a season of meditation, managers and miracles.

Christmas is more than a time of gaiety, greenery and gifts;
it is a season of wonder, worship and wisemen.

Christmas is more than a time of tinsel, trees and toys;
it is a season of preparation, prayers and peace.

Christmas is more than a time of festivities, family and friends;
it is a season of generosity, gladness and gratitude.

Christmas is more than a time of carols, cards and candy;
it is a season of dedication, direction and decision.

Christmas is more than Santa, stockings and surprises;
it is Christ, care and concern.

*****

Here’s a group having fun by making Christmas more. A big tip o’ my cap goes to Mark Shea for posting this video the other day from Alaska. From the creator of the video comes this:

Hallelujah Chorus -Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat 5th Grade – Quinhagak, Alaska. Wow!! Thank you for all for the wonderful comments. The village of Quinhagak is glowing because of them. The amount of views is mind blowing!! (Admin: as of this writing over 1.4 million people have watched it since it was posted on 12/20/2010) Considering this video was intended for an audience of about 200. As many of you have thought, the kids worked very hard on this project. They put in 10 hours of work shooting all the scenes (on a weekend nonetheless!!)  I am very proud of them! Thank you also for pointing out the apostrophes! I now have a very teachable moment once we start school again. One they will never forget!! I’m just glad I spelled “Hallelujah” correct. Thank you on behalf of Quinhagak, Alaska!! Merry Christmas!!

The Decision

Act Christmas
Anonymous

It is easy to think Christmas,
and it is easy to believe Christmas,
but it is hard to act Christmas.

The Presence of Christmas

The Presence of Christmas
by William Arthur Ward

Christmas is not just a season,
Christmas is not just a day,
Christmas is more than a reason
For parties, presents and play.

Christmas is truly the essence
Of joy that the Savior brings;
Christmas is surely the presence
Of Jesus, the Kings of Kings!

*****

The seasonal parties are over: the office party, school party, family Christmas parties and the year-end celebrations. All that remains for some is a day on the couch spent with college football bowl games.

The presents have all been opened. The wrapping paper and battery packaging is being recycled or headed for the landfill. The newness and excitement of some presents has already worn off for some. Some may be broken from exhuberant use upon being opened by enthusiastic children. For some the bill will come due in next month’s credit card statement.

It’s no wonder we’re worn down from all the play. The miles traveled via highways and airways. Preparations for hosting parties or traveling to them. Christmas shopping, holiday programs at school. Church services. Putting up all the decorations during Thanksgiving five weeks ago and most are putting them all away just a few weeks later. Stored in boxes and totes and carried up or down stairs. Christmas has been “put away” for another year.

Only it has not been put away. You or I can no more put away Christmas than we can stop the sun from rising in the east each morning. It is always Christmas somewhere where its essence lives and its joy is present.

Today the Church commemorates the feast of St. Basil the Great (330 – 379) and St. Gregory Nazianzen (330 – 389), two friends from the 4th century. I read a quote from St. Gregory this morning in one of his sermons in which he  was talking about he and St. Basil’s lifelong friendship, pursuit of learning and of holiness. At it’s end he said:

Different men have different names, which they owe to their parents or to themselves, that is, to their own pursuits and achievements. But our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians.

The pursuit of that end, to be Christian, is to experience His essence and His joy. He is present in us and through us. In this way we will always have Christmas.

Humbled at Christmas and into the New Year

A Christmas List
by Anonymous

Fear less, hope more;
Eat less, chew more;
Whine less, breathe more;
Talk less, say more;
Hate less, love more;
And all good things will be yours.

*****

To this prayer I would add: “Prideful less, humble more.”

Every year for New Year’s Eve will typically find us with friends. We’ll eat a progressive dinner, some years with a course served at a different home, and ring in the new year with a rosary. We pray in thanksgiving for the year just ended, and in anticipation of the year to come. This year it was important to my family that we celebrate quietly. Just us. We watched The Princess Bride and ate snacks in the family room in pajamas and blankets. Our youngest then wanted to be tucked in, oblivious to what was to happen a few hours later at midnight. An hour or so later our middle child did the same. Eventually it was just me and our oldest son watching a Twilight Zone marathon and playing Words With Friends. He schooled me twice. Around 1am I went upstairs to bed and prayed a very late, and year-end, Evening Prayer. I perused the Kindle Store for a few minutes and discovered that many of the writings of Henry Van Dyke are available for free. I downloaded eight or so and read one of his stories on the subject of Peace as I thought it appropriate. And then I finally fell asleep.

I was going to write about peace today, but have decided instead to write about something I need more of in 2012: Humility. Not just humility at the hands of my high school sophomore at Words With Friends, but in all things. Perhaps the most humbling thing I know of that exists is prayer. Not just sending good vibes, or warm thoughts, or whatever other benign expressions of concern we too frequently say to one another. No, what I’m talking about is honest-to-goodness-at-times-on-my-knees prayer.

I’m not sure why or when those other expressions came into vogue, but likely they did in our modern efforts to not be offensive. I get that. But for me personally, if you’re telling me about a problem or issue in your life that you are seeking relief from or help with, know that you won’t be getting good vibes from my direction. Instead I will be keeping you in my prayers and thoughts. This does not mean that I reject your beliefs. I’m just asking that you not ask me to reject or withhold my own in the name of political correctness or relativism.

I’ve been humbled many times, but there are a few that truly stand out. Getting lit up like a Christmas tree by the opposing team’s batters while pitching in college now and then. Graduation. My wedding. The births of my children. Serving at Holy Mass. But two continuous means involve prayer.

Being prayed for: While visiting the chapel of the cloistered Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters (affectionately known as the Pink Sisters) in Lincoln a few years ago my friend and I needed to stop by their offices. The tiny Mother Superior met us (she’s the only one who has contact with the outside world) to discuss something I’ve long since forgotten. But when she heard my name when we were introduced she looked right at me and told me (to my surprise) she knew me. Others had mentioned me in the intentions that can be written down on cards and dropped in their prayer box at the chapel. She assured me they were praying for me and told me to be assured that they would continue. Let me tell you that to have the head of an order of cloistered nuns whose sole activity each day is prayer tell you they are praying for you is extremely powerful and humbling.

Praying for others: Getting on your knees is a humbling position. It indicates submission, putting aside our pride, and being open to a will other than our own. Being on one’s knees and asking for prayers for ourselves is one way. The other is to do so for others. Almost every day I am recipient to a list of prayer intentions sent to us through our local Knights of Columbus chapter. It was with this list that I closed off my evening and began 2012 early this morning. During December we received around 3-6 per email about every other day and I’m listing a portion of them below. As you can see they are varied in their urgency. Every one of them is asked in the spirit of humility, and it is with humility that I join in them.

When next on your knees I humbly ask that you pray that I gain more humility not just this past Advent and Christmas, but for all of 2012 and beyond. May we all experience more of this virtue.

*****

• Please put the soul of my uncle Marty who recently died of brain cancer, and his family on the prayer chain. May his soul and all souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
• Please add my mom, Rose, to the prayer chain.  She was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and had her first chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday, December 28th.
• We just learned that my cousin, Bethany, passed away this morning in a car accident near her home outside of Wahoo. Bethany was to turn 17 next week and was a junior at Bishop Neumann High School. Her mother passed away from her battle with cancer a few years ago. Please keep her father, Dale, brothers and sister in-laws Aaron & Liz, Jordan & Amber, niece Bridgett and all family members in your prayers.
• Please add prayers for a dear friend who had a heart replacement and is doing as okay as can be expected.
• Mark’s mother collapsed this morning while shopping and was rushed to the hospital. She had a stroke and we do not know the severity.
• Please add Fr. Jerry, Associate Pastor, to the prayer chain. Fr. Jerry fell and broke his left shoulder on Saturday, and will be out of commission for awhile.
• Please pray for the wife and newborn daughter of the H family in Omaha. Their daughter, Faustina was born 7 wks premature. Mom & baby are still in the hospital.
• For Everdina, a friend recently diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. For Twila, losing her battle with cancer, pray for an easy passing. And for Mandie, another friend courageously battling cancer, amputating an arm to battle it.
• I would ask for prayers for the grandson, 14 year old Joshua, of a family friend. He had major heart surgery last week at Children’s Hospital in Omaha. He will be in recovery and rehab for a while.
• I ask that you place my brother-in-law Mark on the prayer chain. He has just had his second heart attack and is being air-flighted to the closest hospital about 30 miles from his home in California.
• Please add the C family of Bellevue to the prayer list. They were involved in a car accident on Saturday which claimed the life of their two year old son, Robert.
• Please add my high school classmate and good friend Logan who is waiting for God to call him into His arms. Please pray for a peaceful end.
• Please pray for my youngest relative: Kian is in a neo-natal intensive care unit in Austin, TX.
• Please continue to pray for my mother Pat. She is having a tough time with her chemo and now has an infection and an ulcer.
• Please pray for Maria, who was in a head on collision tonight. She has a serious head injuries, and a punctured lung among other injuries and was transported to the Sioux City hospital.
• Ray and Jacki of are asking for prayers for a successful full term pregnancy. Jacki just found out she is expecting again and she has miscarried her last two pregnancies.
• There is a boy that my sister, JoAnn, has been helping at the school where she works. His name is Evan. Today was his 11th birthday. He was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and underwent treatment for it. They thought they had gotten rid of it as he was in remission for quite a long period of time. It came back with a vengeance at the beginning of the school year and they once again began treatment. They are now stopping his current treatment as it has not been working. The only hope left for him is to fly to Denver to participate in a study. He was so sick today that he could not come to school. He is supposed to fly to Denver tomorrow for the study. Could you please put word out to your Brother Knights and ask them to please pray for him to have the strength to make it to Denver? And for his parents to find their hope and trust in our Heavenly Father.
• Mark is facing another back surgery and is in extreme pain and almost walking with a cane. He is expecting to have surgery at the VA in Omaha.
• Please include Mark’s grandson Max in our prayer line requests. He suffered a severe allergic reaction and is hospitalized.
• Please add Brad and his family to your prayers. Their infant daughter Julia was born and passed away last Thursday.
• My baby brother is going in for surgery today to find out if the lump he has is cancer or not. Please say a prayer for him and his wife that they get good news.
• I kindly ask all to pray for our granddaughter, Shannon, who is experiencing a very difficult pregnancy. She is in her eighth month and has been put on bed rest for the duration.
• I want to ask you for some extra prayers for Madison. Yesterday she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Her parents are in Omaha now with her at Children’s Hospital, hopefully returning home tomorrow night.

I believe…

Affirmations of Christmas
by Anonymous

I believe that Christmas is more than a time for parties and ornaments; it is a time for remembering Christ and the incarnation of God’s love in human flesh.

I believe there are gifts more important than the ones under the Christmas tree, the things we teach our children, the way we share ourselves with friends, and the industry with which we set about reshaping the world in our time.

I believe that the finest carols are often sung by the poorest voices; from hearts made warm by the wonder of the season.

I believe in the angel’s message that we should not be afraid—that the Child of Bethlehem is able to overcome all anxieties and insecurities.

I believe in prayer and quietness as a way of appropriating Christmas—that if I wait in silence I will experience the presence of the one born in the manger, for he lives today as surely as he lived then.

I believe in going away from Christmas as the wise men went: “another way.” I want to be different when these days are past—more centered, more thoughtful, more caring.

And I believe God will help me. Amen.