Five golden rings!

Twelve Days of Christmas

The 29th of December is the 5th day of the 12 days of Christmas.  This would be the part in the popular carol where the pace slackens a bit and we belt out, FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!!!

It's been a festive week around here.  There were 11 of us together for the traditional Christmas Eve meal followed by midnight mass.  On Christmas Day we had a big dinner here at home and then on the 2nd day of Christmas we went over to in-laws for another big dinner.  Not long and it'll be New Year's Eve.

Television here is packed with light-hearted movies and concerts of traditional carols.  It's a great time to rejoice and also to relax and recharge our energy.

The 12 days of Christmas are meant as a time for celebrating.  However, the Church calendar contains a few stark reality checks during these 12 days.

After the school shooting in Newtown CT 2 weeks ago, I began to think of the Massacre of the Innocents from Matthew's Gospel (which we commemorate on December 28th).  That's the part where King Herod, alarmed at the news the Magi brought him of a newborn King of the Jews, ordered all boys aged 2 and under in the area of Bethlehem murdered.  I wasn't the only person to make the connection.  Please follow this link for Mark Steyn's thoughtful take.  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/336343/massacre-innocents-mark-steyn

 Here's a rundown of some of the major commemorations during the Christmas season.

December 26th - the Feast of Saint Stephen, Martyr.  He's the guy told of in Acts who was stirring up the people by preaching the good news of Jesus Christ.  He was eventually stoned to death.  The men stoning him "laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul." (Acts 7:58)  That same Saul would later be struck blind on the road to Damascus, would have his name changed to Paul, and be instrumental in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ through the eastern Mediterranean region as well as write a major part of the New Testament.  So, immediately following Christmas Day we get this story of the first Christian martyr - a reminder of what it means to follow Christ.

December 27th - the Feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.  John's Gospel begins like Genesis, but Genesis clarified in the light of Christ.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.  What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:1-5)  John's Gospel emphasises the Incarnation - that God took on human flesh in Jesus Christ and lived among us - and so this is a fitting feast for the Christmas season.



December 28th - the Feast of the Holy Innocents. "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." (Matthew 2:18)  Please continue to pray for the mothers and fathers grieving in Newtown CT.

December 30th - the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

January 1st - the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

January 6th - the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.  'Epiphany' means manifestation or appearance.  This day is also know as the Feast of the Three Kings (or wise men, or magi).  This ends the 12 days of Christmas and I'll have more on this day next week.


News Year's Day

All is quiet on New Years Day,
A world in white gets underway.

Thus begins the song 'New Year's Day' by U2 (that's for you, J.P.)  Those words were penned by the singer barely in his twenties.  Perhaps they seem naive.  But later in the song comes this line: Nothing changes on New Year's Day.

So, what's it to be for us?  Hopeful optimism or jaded pessimism?

There's an expression I've heard from time to time that goes, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

It's never too late for a new start.  If we stumble and fall on January 1st; if we lose our patience with loved ones, tell a lie to avoid discomfort, cut corners and not do our very best, hold back when the opportunity comes to give somebody our time or help; we can stand up, brush ourselves off and start again on January 2nd.  Here's another line from the U2 song: I will begin again.

Every day is New Year's Day.

Peace on earth

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.  This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was govenor of Syria.  So all went to be enrolled, each to his home town.  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, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  Luke 2:1-7

Saint Luke sets the time and place when God broke into human history in a dramatic way.  Caesar Augustus, as emperor of the Roman Empire, was considered divine and the empire was in the midst of a (relatively) peaceful age, called Pax Romana, or sometimes Pax Augusta.  Rome was secure and at peace, thanks to the divine emperor.

At the edge of this great empire - practically at the edge of the known world - in a dusty provincial outpost, a little Jewish boy was born.  And this Jewish baby was God himself; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, as we profess in the Nicene Creed.  This true God, unlike the divine emperor sitting in Rome, would usher a wholly different kind of peace into the world.

This peace is not the kind of political or social peace we usually think of.  When the wise men came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king of the Jews, King Herod and all of Jerusalem became extremely agitated. (Matthew 2:1-3)  Herod would later order the slaughter of all the boys aged 2 and under in the area of Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate what he understood as a rival to this power.  Herod's son and successor would later be bewildered by the adult Jesus.  The Roman governor Pontius Pilate would become unsettled when confronted with Jesus the accused criminal.  Pilate's wife even had an ominous dream about this righteous man. (Matthew 27:19)

Jesus has continuously made the comfortable uncomfortable right up to the present day.  Try talking about Jesus anywhere in public outside of church. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)  The peace of Jesus Christ, the only true and lasting peace, is attained when we give our lives completely to Him, knowing that whatever happens to us in this world, Jesus is with us every step of the way and he will save us.  In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.  (John 16:33)

A place at the table

The word for 'Christmas Eve' in Polish is Wigilia.  Wigilia is a very important and special celebration in Poland.  Everyone wants to be with family on this day.  There are many traditions followed on Wigilia.  People fast during the day and then eat a traditional evening meal after the first star is spotted in the sky.  Before the meal there's the praying of the Lord's Prayer followed by family members going from person to person, sharing pieces of a blessed wafer (opłatek) and expressing wishes for the upcoming year (a very emotional moment with not a dry eye to be found afterwards). After the meal comes the exchanging of gifts and midnight mass.  One nice little custom is setting an extra place at the table.  This is done in case somebody in need comes to the door; that person would be invited to sit at the extra place prepared for them. 

A year ago a Polish film came out titled Listy do M (in English, Letters to S - 'S' as in Santa or Saint Nicholas, which is Mikołaj in Polish).  This film is one of those comedy-drama-romances.  In the beginning of the film we meet the various characters.  Their lives are intertwined or eventually will be.  There's a family of four: father, mother, disaffected teen daughter and grandpa.  The couple's marriage is an unhappy one.  The wife is cheating with a single guy who is currently working as a shopping mall Santa.  He's frustrated with his life.  There's a young woman, lonely and looking for romantic love, working alongside him as a shopping mall elf.  There's a popular radio DJ who's a widower raising a young son alone.  There's a childless couple whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a runaway orphan girl. 

By the end of the film, each of them will be surprised by love.

For example, take the unhappy family of four.  They apparently haven't celebrated a traditional Wigilia in many years.  In a fit of desperation, on Christmas Eve the father packs the family in the car to take them to visit some relatives.  He and his wife get into a loud argument.  The teenage daughter mopes and scowls in the backseat, next to grandpa who seems delighted at the prospect of a good old-fashioned Wigilia.  The wife orders her husband to turn the car around and take them all home.  When he refuses, she grabs the wheel, causing them to run off the road in a wooded area.  The car is hopelessly stuck in the snow.  After some more shouting at each other, they all tramp off together to find a house where they can ask for assistance. 

They find a house and knock at the door.  Naturally, it being Wigilia, there's a large family gathering in the house.  The man and woman of the house both press the unhappy family to stay for Wigilia.  The house is warm and dry, the people are happy and friendly.  After some hesitation, the new arrivals agree to stay.  They begin to warm up - physically and emotionally - and eventually laugh together about their predicament.  Love is reborn in that family. 

They were strangers in need, and there was plenty of room for them at the table.

Everlasting

There are a thousand things more I could write about Christmas.  For me as a Christian believer it never gets old.  Every year the splendid beauty of it overwhelms me.  I've sang the carols a thousand times and yet often they still make my heart flutter and cause me to lose my breath.

Because of that astonishing birth in Bethlehem 2,000 years, the living flame of this holiday continues to burn.  No amount of crass commercialisation, loss of faith or indifference can extinguish the true meaning of this day.  The vulnerable baby lying in the manger disarms us. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I wish you peace, joy and love this Christmas and always.

Rejoice!

Early in the morning of December 10th, 2005 - sometime around 3 a.m. - Renata nudged me awake.  "My water's broke," she informed me. 

This was the day we had been waiting for since we knew Renata was pregnant 8 months previously; the birth of our first child.

Somehow I managed to stay relatively calm as I quickly got out of bed and dressed.  We drove to the North Hills Hospital which was only 10 minutes from where we lived.  The nurse that examined Renata initially diagnosed it as a false alarm and was going to send us home.  But Renata insisted, "No, my water really has broke."  The nurse made us wait about 30 minutes before examining Renata again.  That time she confirmed what Renata already knew - this was for real.

Well, that was the beginning of a very long day.  We knew that we were having a girl and we'd already chosen her name, Emilia.  After they got Renata into a bed in a delivery room, another nurse began asking a list of questions.  I can't even remember now what most of them where, but one was "what is your religion?"  It only took me half a second to understand why they asked that.  If something goes terribly wrong, what type of clergy do they call?

Which reminds me that there was something of a little cloud hovering over this pregnancy from about the 5th month or so.  A sonogram had revealed that one of the 2 blood vessels in the umbilical cord that carries nutrients from the mother to the baby appeared to be underdeveloped.  Renata's doctor was upfront in explaining that this potentially could result in a birth defect.

Well, we prayed and a lot of people prayed for us and we put it all in God's hands.  None of the following sonograms had revealed anything abnormal in Emilia.

So, as I've already mentioned, that Saturday was a long, long day.  Renata would be in labor for about 22 hours.  Our little girl was in no hurry to be born! 

A nurse brought in a little snack-sack for me sometime that afternoon but I hardly touched it.  I should have.

By early evening Renata was in a lot pain and discomfort.  An anesthesiologist eventually came to give Renata an epideral shot.  He and a nurse asked me to support Renata while she leaned forward for the shot.  Since I had hardly eaten anything all day, I nearly blacked out.  The nurse gently chided me for not eating anything. 

The epidural did wonders for Renata's mood and I settled down to eat and get some energy.  It would be a long night yet.

So, to make a long story short, at 48 minutes past midnight on Sunday morning, December 11th, Emilia was born.  Renata's doctor looked Emilia over, smiled broadly and commented that she was a perfect baby girl - obviously referring to the question of the underdeveloped umbilical cord (which turned out not to be underdeveloped).  Shortly after, she handed me a pair of surgical scissors and I had the priviledge of cutting that umbilical cord.

Any parent reading this understands the joy and relief we experienced immediately following Emilia's birth.  She was absolutely beautiful.

Sunday, December 11th was the third Sunday in Advent that year.  As I noted in a previous post, the theme of the 3rd Sunday in Advent is joy.  I was aware of this and as the clock ticked toward midnight I thought how fitting it would be for Emilia to born on 'Gaudete Sunday.'  Gaudete is Latin for 'Rejoice.'

This year the 3rd Sunday of Advent is December 16th.

The first reading this Sunday really drives the theme home: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!  Sing joyfully, O Israel!  Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! from Zephaniah 3:14-18a.  The Psalm we sing this Sunday is actually from Isaiah 12, with the refrain being, Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.  Then we get Philippians 4:4-7 with the lines, Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again: rejoice!  The Lord is near.

Advent is a penitential season and we are to call this to mind in this Sunday's readings, particularly in the Gospel from Luke 3:10-18, in which our Advent prophet John the Baptist speaks: Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none . . . Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages . . .I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I am is coming.  I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.

Saying sorry

As I sat on the pew outside the confessional, waiting my turn, I was nervous to say the least.  I had recollected my failings, my sins, and was ready.  But my stomach was a ball of knots.  One by one the people sitting on the pew between me and the confessional room door got up to enter it as the person ahead of them exited.  One older man came out with tears in his eyes. 

Finally, it was my turn.  Ok, here I go, I thought.

I entered the room, closed the door behind me and knelt before the confessional screen.  I crossed myself and began, "Bless me father, for I have sinned."  At that point the penitent is supposed to say My last confession was . . .  However, I had only just entered the Catholic Church a few months previously.  "This is my first confession, father," I explained.  "I entered the Church this past Easter Vigil."  From the other side of the screen came Father John's cheerful voice, "Hey, welcome to Mother Church!"

Father John was our pastor at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish at that time.  He is a good and popular priest. 

The sound of his voice calmed me down a lot.  I won't divulge the tawdry sins I confessed or the counsel Father John gave me.  But it was wise counsel and I remember it to this day. 

What I also remember is the sense of joy and release I felt afterwards.  I feel this after every confession I make.  On another occasion after confession, while driving home from the church, I broke into tears of gratitude in the car.

My readers who are not Catholic may ask these valid questions: Why not just confess your sins directly to God?  Why go to a priest in confession?

The Church is the body of Christ.  When we commit sin it is an offense against God and against his body the Church and so we must be reconciled with the Church.  There are no victimless sins.  Our sins not only damage our relationship with God but, one way or another, damage our relationships with other people.  When we wish somebody would just drop dead; when we waste our time and talent on selfish pursuits; when we look at dirty pictures that portray women has mere sexual objects, etc., we tear the fabric that connects us to other people.  By doing these things we kill love.  No man is an island, goes the line from John Donne.

I mentioned the counsel that Father John gave me during my first confession.  We go to a doctor when something ails us physically.  Some go to psychologists when something ails them mentally or emotionally.  When we're spiritually ill, we also need to seek help. 

The priest, as a representative of Christ, grants the penitent absolution in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Whatever personal shortcomings the priest has - and hey, they're human - he is still a channel through which God pours his graces.  The knowledge that Jesus on the cross looked into the abyss of human sin, at my sin and yours, and emptied his veins in order to wash us clean by his most precious and holy blood; and that he instituted the sacrament of penance where we can be granted forgiveness, creates a light-heartedness in me after confession like nothing else can.

For Scripture verses supporting Jesus' conferring power upon the Apostles to forgive sins, see Matthew 16:19, Matthew 18:18, John 20:21-22.  The Catholic bishops are the successors of the Apostles through the laying on of hands.  The bishops in turn ordain priests through the laying on of hands to act with the bishop's authority.  (1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 2:2 and others)

                                     

John the Baptist, Advent prohpet



Second Sunday of Advent

Purple is the color of Advent because it is the color of penitence.  As a time of preparation for the coming of Christ, Advent is a penitential season.  The second Sunday of Advent focuses especially on the theme of repentence.  Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is Luke 3:1-6 which includes the words, John (the Baptist) went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentence for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptist is the Advent prophet.  His purpose was to prepare the way for the Christ. 

These lines from the Psalm this Sunday, Psalm 126, relate how I and many others feel after confession, Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the torrents in the southern desert.  Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.

The Greek Orthodox have given us the Jesus Prayer.  It's a short, simple prayer and is a good one to have constantly on our lips - not only during Advent but always:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

 

* * * * * * *

Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died this past week, on December 5th, one day before his 92nd birthday.  Most people know him from his piece 'Take Five'.  About 10 years ago I bought the CD Time Out which the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded back in 1959.  When we moved from Poland to Texas and then later back to Poland, that CD made both moves with me.  I've played that CD over and over through this past decade and I never grow tired of listening to it.  I only learned after his death that Brubeck had entered the Catholic Church in 1980 and had written a Mass. 

Rest in peace with the Father, Mr Brubeck.  Your music continues to give me immense pleasure.

 



 

 

He is coming

This past Sunday, on the feast of Christ the King, we had the following readings at mass: Daniel 7:13-14, which includes the words On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship; Psalm 92, where we sang the refrain The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed; Revelation 1:5-8, which includes the words Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth; concluding with the Gospel reading from John 18:33-37, where we see Jesus at his criminal trial before Pontius Pilate.  Are you the king of the Jews? Pilate asks.  Jesus answers, Yes, I am a king.  I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.

The first 3 readings reflect Jesus Christ the king in his spendor and majesty.  The Gospel reading shows Jesus seemingly powerless, standing before the Roman governor of Judea.  Remember that the Roman governors represented the Roman emperor.  The emperor held the power of life and death over all of his subjects.  His decrees were final.  The Roman people looked on the emperor as one divine; as a god.  The governors, as representatives of the divine emperor, likewise held the power of life and death over their local subjects. 

And so we see Jesus the Christ, creator of heaven and earth, standing meekly before a mere temporal power.  Thus ends the Church's liturgical year. 

Our King

Advent

On December 2nd we begin the season of Advent (which means arrival) where we contemplate on and prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ - both at the end of time and at his first coming, as a helpless infant in Bethlehem.

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot.  That begins the first reading this Sunday, from Jeremiah 33:14-16.  We continue with Psalm 25 with the refrain To you, O Lord, I lift my soul; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 - 4:2 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another . . . strengthen your hearts . . . be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones; and Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 Jesus said to his disciples: "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay . . . People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world . . . Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy . . . and that day catch you by surprise like a trap . . . Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

Advent is a beautiful season meant for quiet reflection and anticipation of the coming of Christ.  Hope and waiting are the overarching themes of the season, but each of the 4 Sundays of Advent has its own particular theme.  Hope and vigilance are the themes for the first Sunday, repentence for the second Sunday, joy for the third Sunday, while on the fourth Sunday we are nearly bursting with anticipation of the birth of Christ. 

There are some lovely Advent traditions.  One of my favorites is the lighting of the Advent wreath each Sunday at mass.  The green Advent wreath (green symbolizes hope) has four outer candles and one inner candle.  On the first Sunday of Advent the first candle is lit, on the second Sunday the first and second candles are lit and so on.  Typically 3 of the outer candles are purple (the color of penitence and fasting as well as the color of royalty to welcome the advent of the King) and one is rose or pink colored.  Rose is the color of joy and this candle is lit on the 3rd Sunday.  The center candle is white, representing Jesus Christ, and is lit during the midnight mass on Christmas Eve.