1. Two Kids on an anti-Christmas Campaign
The big celebration begins, a festival of light and love, of joy and laughter, of family and community and world. Light is mentioned almost twenty times in the course of today's liturgy. On one of the darkest days of the year, light explodes all around us. The sun is sneaking back, just as Jesus kind of sneaked into the world in the quiet of Bethlehem.
For us in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas is a midwinter feast, a time when the days grow a little longer and light and warmth return slowly. For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere, however, it is the beginning of summer. School is over. It is a time for vacation (or as they would call it "holidays"), for rest and relaxation.
It marks not the shortest day of the year but the longest, the day of the most light and on the average the most warmth. Christmas fits in everywhere.
Story:
Once upon a time there were two kids who were fed up with Christmas. They began an anti-Christmas campaign among their friends. Look, they said, everyone is tense and worn out, moms are tired from cooking, dads from putting up trees and decorations, kids from wrapping presents, neighbours from all the noise and bustle. We open the presents and they're not really what we wanted, though we thought we did. The house is littered with torn wrapping paper, expensive ornaments get knocked off the trees, the little kids go out of control, big kids sulk, mass is too long, the sermons are boring, the music is yucky. We eat too much . . .Who needs it all. So what should we do asked their friends. Strike! Said the two trouble-makers who were, if truth be told, Anarchists of a sort. Refuse to participate. Don't buy any Christmas presents, don't ask for any, refuse those that are given to you, don't decorate the tree, don't eat the pumpkin pie, don't drink the eggnog, don't say merry Christmas to anyone. A few of their friends thought they were crazy. The others thought it was a great idea.
But what should we do? The strike leaders went to the priest and asked him what they should do. Well, he said, if you want to welcome the Christ Child without all the fuss and bother, come to church and pray. They thought that was a great idea. How could parents and other grown-ups object to their praying on Christmas Day. Well, they prayed for a solid hour, which maybe doubled all their prayer for the whole year. Then one of them rushed out of church and flagged down the priest who was about to drive off to his family's party. We prayed for an hour, Father, the kid said. Can we go home now? An hour? That's a long time to pray! Yeah it kind of is. Well, said the priest I don't think that Jesus would mind one bit if you went home and celebrated with your families. The kids poured out of church with a whoop and a holler just like it was the last day of school. (Andrew Greeley)
2. Divinity Clothed with Dust
It is said that Henry David Thoreau once spent a whole day in Walden Pond up to his neck in the water. His idea was to see and experience the world as a frog sees it. But Thoreau did not become a frog!
"Sesame Street" is closer to the Christmas story. They had a skit one time of the old fairy tale where the beautiful princess kisses an ugly frog and the frog becomes a handsome prince. In the Sesame Street telling, however, the princess kissed the frog, whereupon she turned into a frog herself. That is closer to what we celebrate at Christmas. God did not swoop down and survey the human situation from a safe distance. God emptied himself. He lay aside his celestial robes to don the simple raiment of a man. Divinity clothed itself with dust.
King Duncan
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3. There Had to Be a Father
Pastor William Carter said that on his Christmas vacation on his first year in college, he had become an expert on the birds and the bees. Biology was his major, and after a semester in the freshman class, he was certain that he knew more biology than most adults did in his hometown ... including his minister. A few days before Christmas, he stopped in to see him. He received him warmly and asked how he had fared in his first semester. "Okay," he replied, avoiding the subject of his mediocre grades. But then he told his pastor, "I've come home with some questions."
"Really?" the pastor replied. "Like what?"
"Like the virgin birth. I've taken a lot of biology, as you know," which meant one semester in which he received a B-, "and I think this whole business of a virgin birth doesn't make much sense to me. It doesn't fit with what I have learned in biology class."
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"There had to be a father," he announced. "Either it was Joseph or somebody else."His pastor looked at him with a coy smile and said, "How can you be so sure?"
"Oh, come on," he said. "That's not the way it works. There had to be a father."
His pastor didn't back down. Instead he said something that Carter said he'll never forget: "So - why not God?"
Why not, indeed? The more we learn, the harder it is to swallow a lot of things that once seemed so palatable. Advent is a season of wonder and mystery. We tell our children stories at this time of year that we would never dare tell when it is warmer and there is more sunlight. The really wise child is the kid who knows how to shut his mouth even when he has a few doubts. But sometimes it is hard to do, especially when you have a whole four months of college behind you.
William G. Carter
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4. Joy to the World
Consider the story of one young man. Sick and puny as a baby, he remained frail and delicate all his days. Later, as a pastor, his maladies were so severe that he could not serve his growing congregation. Instead he wrote them letters filled with hope and good cheer. Even though his body was frail his spirit soared. He complained once about the harsh and uncouth hymn texts of his day. Someone challenged him to write a better one. He did. He wrote over 600 hymns , mostly hymns of praise. When his health finally broke in 1748 he left one of the most remarkable collections of hymns that the world has ever known. His name? Isaac Watts. His contribution to the Christmas season? Probably the most sung of all the Christmas hymns, "Joy to the World; the Lord is come."
Could Isaac Watts have written so, if his life had been easy? I don't know. It is amazing, though, how often persons who have everything are spiritual zeroes, whereas those who struggle through life have souls with both depth and height.
Could Isaac Watts have written so, if his life had been easy? I don't know. It is amazing, though, how often persons who have everything are spiritual zeroes, whereas those who struggle through life have souls with both depth and height.
King Duncan
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5. Walk or Fly
A little girl, dressed as an angel, in a Christmas pageant was told to come down the center aisle. The child asked, "Do you want me to walk or fly?" You feel as though she almost could have flown. Don't ever lose the wonder and mystery of Christmas.
Every year I'm reminded of those words of the late Peter Marshall: "When Christmas doesn't make your heart swell up until it nearly bursts and fill your eyes with tears and make you all soft and warm inside then you will know that something inside of you is dead."
James T. Garrett, God's Gift, CSS Publishing Company.
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6. God Is the Happiest Being in the Universe
Perhaps we need Santa at Christmas to help us be merry and joyous because we have a flawed understanding of Jesus. From today's gospel text we learn that the first reaction to Jesus' presence on earth, of God-in-our-midst, was joy. Joy so tremendous, joy so utterly overwhelming that it must somehow escape the bounds of earth itself and jump towards the heavens.
In John Ortberg's wonderful book The Life You've Always Wanted (Zondervan, 2002), he writes:
In John Ortberg's wonderful book The Life You've Always Wanted (Zondervan, 2002), he writes:
We will not understand God until we understand this about him: "God is the happiest being in the universe" (G. K. Chesterton). God knows sorrow. Jesus is remembered, among other things, as a 'man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.' But the sorrow of God, like the anger of God, is his temporary response to a fallen world. That sorrow will be banished forever from his heart on the day the world is set right. Joy is God's basic character. God is the happiest being in the universe.
Joy is what makes Christmas. Each of us may look to some annual family tradition to trigger that joy. But the trees, the carols, the cookies, the presents, the parties, are only various expressions of a single experience of the spirit JOY born again into our souls. Leonard Sweet
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7. Slow Down and Welcome Christmas
"The Christmas spirit comes on me more slowly than it used to," writes Joan Mills, a mother of three children, in her book Christmas Coming. "But it comes, it comes. Middle-aged (most of the time) and jaded (some of the time), I complain of plastic sentiment, days too brief, bones too weary. Scrooge stands at my elbow muttering, "Bah!" and "Humbug!" as I total the bills. But when I acknowledge the child I once was (and still am, somewhere within), the spirit of Christmas irresistibly descends."
"For Christmas is truly for children those we have, and those we have been ourselves. It is the keeping-place for memories of our age in lovely ritual and simplicities.
"I'm tired," I say fretfully. "There's just too much to do! Must we make so much of Christmas?" "Yes!" they say flatly.
"I'm tired," I say fretfully. "There's just too much to do! Must we make so much of Christmas?" "Yes!" they say flatly.
"But bayberry, pine and cinnamon scent the shadowed room. Snow lies in quiet beauty outside. I hear someone downstairs turning on the tree lights while another admires. I lie very still in the dark. From the church in the village on the far side of the woods, carillon notes fall faint and sweet on winter clear air.
"Silent night," my heart repeats softly. Holy night. All is calm All is bright.
"As I take the stairs lightly going down, no bones weary now, my whole self is thankful; once again, I am flooded with the certainty (call it faith) that there's goodness in the world, and love endures."
Leonard Sweet
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From Fr. Tony Kadavil: 8. Pick Up the Baby
Sam Levenson tells a wonderful story about the birth of his first child. The first night home the baby would not stop crying. His wife frantically flipped through the pages of Dr. Spock to find out why babies cry and what to do about it. Since Spock's book is rather long, the baby cried a long time. Grandma was in the house, but since she had not read the books on childrearing, she was not consulted. The baby continued to cry. Finally, Grandma could be silent no longer. "Put down the book," she told her children, "and pick up the baby."
Good advice. Put down the book and pick up the baby. Spend time with your children. Particularly at Christmastime. We have the mistaken notion that good parents give their children lots of things. Wrong...
9. Visitations
Every Monday morning for 16 weeks they leave their house before dawn for their 8 A.M. appointment at the hospital. For the four hours that her 12-year-old daughter undergoes chemotherapy, Mom will be right there. During those mornings together, they will read, play games, watch videos, talk. Their Monday mornings are anxious times — but precious. For this mother and daughter, the Spirit of Mary’s Child is with them.
Every Tuesday afternoon, after a full day of her own classes, Kristen, a high school senior, heads to the community center. For two hours, she tutors kids from city grammar schools in the mysteries of math and the secrets of English grammar and vocabulary. In Kristen’s patient explanations and words of encouragement, God’s compassion is revealed to kids at risk.
It is the first time the brothers have spoken in years. They’ve been estranged over a family matter, the details of which are long forgotten but the hurt and mistrust linger. But for the good of the family, they seek to repair their broken relationship. In every awkward word exchanged, in every attempt to move on, in every admission of hurt and anger between the two brothers, God is reborn.
In today’s Gospel, Mary travels “in haste” to be with her cousin Elizabeth. Luke never says exactly why she goes, but we can guess: Mary wants to be with her beloved cousin in the last months of what must have been a very difficult pregnancy, but also to seek the elder Elizabeth’s counsel and support during her own struggle to understand what is happening. In Mary and Elizabeth’s visit and in our own similar “visitations” the Spirit of God is present in the healing, comfort and support we can extend to one another in such moments. In the stirring of the infant in Elizabeth’s womb, God calls to humanity in every time and place: I am with you every step of the way. I am with you in every storm. I am with you when the night seems unending. In Mary’s Child, the inexplicable love of God becomes real to us, the peace and justice of God become possible.
10. The King’s Love
Perhaps, as a final preparation for Christmas, we can spend a few moments reflecting on the great Gift God has given us and focus on the gratitude we owe Him. The great gift of Christmas, of course, is the gift of His Son. The Christian existentialist Soren Kierkegaard told a parable to help explain this gift.
Once upon a time there was a king who was rich and powerful. The King was very unhappy, though. He wanted a wife to be his queen. Now a political marriage could easily have been arranged with another country but that is not what the King wanted. He wanted someone whom he could love and who could love him. Only real love could fill his vast, empty castle and life.
One day the King was riding through the streets of a small village kin a remote corner of the kingdom when he came upon the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He immediately fell in love with her. But there was a problem: she was a peasant girl, and he wanted to win her love, not buy her love.
One of his counsellors told him to just command her to be his wife. Any girl, especially a peasant girl, would jump at the opportunity. But the King would not do that. He could not command love. Besides, for the rest of his life he would wonder if she was a loving wife or a loyal subject.
Another counsellor told the king to that he should call on the girl as her King, shower her with presents of diamonds and gold and silk gowns, and give her the opportunity to realize that he truly loved her. But the King would not do that. For the rest of his life he would wonder if she loved him or his wealth.
A third counsellor told the king to dress as a peasant so she would not be overwhelmed, and gradually reveal his power and position until she was ready to join him in the castle. The king did not like the thought of deceiving her. If their relationship was based on deception, how could she ever love him?
Finally, the King knew what he would do. He renounced his royal robes, his power and authority. He became a peasant in that remote village, living and working and suffering beside the other peasants. After a number of years, he won the heart of the beautiful young girl. He took his new wife to another village in another country, where no one could have guessed who he was. After many years, he became sick, and his loving wife cared for him. He died a peasant, but at his funeral the people looked at his wonderful, caring and in many ways extremely beautiful wife and said, “That man married a queen.”
God is the King. He is the Divine Lover. We are the object of His love. Only God would love so much that He would become one of us to win our love. St. Athanasius, an early doctor of the Church, wrote, “Because of his great love for us, Jesus, the Word of God, became what we are in order to make us what he is himself.” (The Incarnation of the Word by St. Athanasius)
11. “At least I made a difference to that one!”
A little girl was walking along a beach covered with thousands of starfish left dying by the receding tide. Seeking to help, she started picking up the dying starfish and tossing them back into the ocean. A man who watched her with amusement, said, “Little girl, there are hundreds of starfish on the beach. You cannot make a difference by putting a few of them back into the sea.” Discouraged, she began to walk away. Suddenly, she turned around, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the sea. Turning to the man, she smiled and said, “At least I made a difference to that one!” Today’s gospel tells us how Mary, a village girl carrying Jesus in her womb, made a difference in the lives of her cousin Elizabeth and of the child in her womb. The child John, as he grew up, helped Mary’s Son to transform the history of mankind by preparing the way for the Messiah. The starfish story suggests that each person, no matter how unimportant, may truly benefit from our work, and that any service, however small, is valuable. The story also shows how seemingly hopeless problems can be solved by taking the first step.
12. “Thanks for the money, but what I really needed was a handshake.”
Composer and performer Bradley James has set Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s teachings and prayers to music in the internationally acclaimed recording, Gift of Love: Music to the Words and Prayers of Mother Teresa. Bradley remembers her teaching: “Mother said we don’t have to go to Calcutta to help the poor; rather, we must help them right in front of us.” He applied this lesson when he encountered a homeless beggar on the streets of San Francisco. Bradley placed some money in his metal cup, then reached out and shook the man’s hand. The recipient gave him a big smile, and the two exchanged names and small talk. Bradley recalls: “Then he pulled me a little closer and said, ‘Thanks for the money, but what I really needed was a handshake’” (Cf. Susan Conroy, Our Sunday Visitor, Oct. 19, 2003, p. 17). Indeed, what was remarkable in this incident was not the coin, but the gift of human dignity and the love of Christ that Bradley James brought to the beggar through the handshake and his fraternal presence. In effect, Bradley replicated in his life and experience the joyful mystery of the Lord’s visitation (cf. Lk 1:39-45) described in today’s gospel.
13. Christmas telegram:
The preacher and his pregnant wife had left for a conference in France, forgetting to give instructions for the banner which was to decorate the hall at the Christmas Carol Concert, the following weekend. The parish secretary was astonished to receive a telegram from France which read simply: UNTO US A SON IS BORN. NINE FEET LONG AND TWO FEET WIDE. REV. AND MRS. JOHNSON.
14. Christmas Stamps:
A woman went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. "What denomination?" asked the clerk? "Oh, good Heavens! Have we come to this?" said the woman. "Well, give me 20 Catholic stamps for me and 20 Baptist stamps for my husband."
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From Fr Jude Botelho:
As a role model for our final preparation we now focus on Mary whose role in salvation history is already faintly outlined in the Old Testament. In today’s first reading the Prophet Micah foretells that a descendant of David will appear in Ephratha where Bethlehem, the city of David is situated. Ephratha is a small almost unknown city but God chooses the unknown and the small to make his presence felt in our midst. We would think of God coming in greatness and magnificence, but God chooses the small, the insignificant to enter our history and our world.
15. The God of small things!
Little Anita has a very busy father. He is a dot-com engineer who makes a lot of money but has little time to be with his family. Every night, however, Anita insists that her father read a story before she would go to sleep. This continued for some time till the man found a ‘solution’. He bought Anita a colourful kid’s tape player and made a tape of her favorite stories in the story book. Whenever, therefore, the child asks him to read her a story he would simply push the button and play back the tape-recorded stories. Anita took that for a few days and then revolted and refused to accept the stories on tape. “Why” asked her father, “the tape reads the stories as good as I do!” “Ya,” replied the little girl, “But I can’t sit on his lap.” –Remember, Christmas celebrates the gift of God’s presence in our lives. Let us be present to the people who need us –especially the little ones.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
The Gospel narrates the story of two marvelous women who reach out to each other and share their experience of expectantly waiting for the birth of their children. They are heralds of the Good news for each other and prophets of hope. When Mary received the good news she could not keep it to herself, she journeys to her cousin Elizabeth. She does not wait for her cousin to come to her, rather, she journeys in faith to meet Elizabeth and be with her in her need. Good news has to be shared; especially the Good News of God’s coming. As Mary enters Zachariah’s house Elizabeth greets her; “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” Mary had gone to support Elizabeth who was advanced in years, but she herself received support far beyond her imagining. As soon as Mary entered Elizabeth’s house, the child in her womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth acknowledges not only her kinswoman but also the mother of her Lord. Elizabeth blesses Mary for her faith in believing and accepting God’s word. “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord!” Three times in this small passage Elizabeth addresses Mary as ‘blessed’. Mary is richly blessed because of her faith in, and obedience to God. God asked of Mary only this, “Trust me.” And she did. Totally! That is why the Gospel writer Luke sees in Mary a perfect disciple. Mary listened and Mary did. That is why in our Christian tradition Mary is seen as the woman of faith and our model. The best way we can prepare for the coming of Jesus into our world is listening and acting in faith. “Be it done unto me according to your word!” Our faith is seen most in our attitudes in all our activities even the smallest of actions.
16. Attitude changes things!
One day a lady who lived in town looked out of her window and saw a big truck pull up to her house. Out jumped five rascals and started unloading electric guitars and loudspeakers and drums…. They took them to the neighbour’s house. The woman was furious. Now her night’s rest and her ears and her life would be ruined by all the noise that would come from the house. Her husband came home from work and she began to scream at him, “We’ve got to move away from here or else we’ll go deaf and mad with that string band next door. But he calmed her down a bit and said, “Honey, why are you angry? Don’t you realize who those musicians are? They are the famous Sanguma String band that plays overseas to large crowds…. Woman, we should be glad they are here; we’ll be getting all this famous music for free.” His wife’s frown turned to a smile. She ran to the telephone and began to call her friends to come over sometime and take advantage of the Sanguma Band…. How attitude changes everything! Our attitude to Jesus too can change everything!
Quote in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’
17. Mary always said ‘Yes!’
Thirty-year old Nishant was so taciturn and sensitive that after seven years of courtship, Neela, his girlfriend, felt that he was never going to propose to her and that she would have to take the initiative. While they were sitting alone besides the sea, Neela said, “Nishant, will you marry me?” A long silence ensued. Then Nishant whispered, “yes”. Another long silence. Finally Neela said, “Say something Nishant, why don’t you say something?” Nishant replied, “I’m afraid I’ve said too much already!” Saying ‘yes’ is never easy. -But, when it came to obeying God’s will in her life, Mary always said “Yes!” loud and clear.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
18. To love is to serve!
The country doctor Brunoy had just said goodbye to his colleagues who had confirmed that Jean, the doctor’s only son, would die in a few hours of diphtheria. The anti toxin injections had been too late. As he now sat with his wife by the boy’s bedside awaiting the child’s death the doorbell rang. The doctor shouted to his secretary, “I don’t want to see anyone.” But the visitor would not go away. It was the farmer Rivaz who had walked 10 kilometres from Roseland. His son was sick. “I’ll come tomorrow” the doctor told him. “But if you don’t come now, he won’t make it through the night,” the farmer insisted. They began a discussion. “You can cure my son.” “But mine’s lost, he’s beyond all cure.” “But mine isn’t.” “Well, I’ll come tomorrow morning.” “Then it will be too late.” “Let me close the eyes of my dying child.” “But if you cannot help him any longer.” “As long as my son is alive, I’ll remain with him.” “All right, then both the children will die.” The doctor then asked for the symptom’s of the boy’s sickness and they were the same as his son’s had been. But it was still not too late to save him. So the doctor decided to go with the farmer.
Ludolf Ulrich in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’
19. With eyes wide shut
In his book Beyond East and West John Wu has a fascinating passage. It reads as follows: “My wife and I had never seen each other before marriage. Both of us were brought up in the old Chinese way. It was our parents who engaged us to each other, when we were barely six years of age. In my early teens I came to know where her house was. I had an intense desire to have a glimpse of her. In coming back from school, I sometimes took a roundabout way so as to pass by the door of her house… but I never had the good fortune to see her.” Wu goes on to say that he realizes the old Chinese marriage sounds incredible to Western readers. Some of his own Western friends could hardly believe it at first. Wu says he was surprised his friends found the system so incredible. He asked them whether they chose their parents, brothers and sisters. Then he said, “And don’t you love them just the same?” John Wu’s passage from his book helps us to appreciate better the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth before Jesus’ birth. Faith makes the difference!
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
20. Bringing Jesus to others
It was a Charismatic Prayer Meeting. There was a good crowd there, and there was no shortage of contributions by way of prayers, readings, testimonies, etc. One man stood up to tell his story. He said he had been a wife-beater, a drunk, a child molester, a cheat, etc. When he was finished he announced to all and sundry that he wanted to publicly thank God here tonight that during all those years he had not lost his religion! He may have not brought Jesus to others, but...
21. Parable
I was ordained a priest at the age of 41. At my first Mass, I had a song that was sung at two different parts of the Mass, and it was actually printed twice in the Mass leaflet for the occasion. It had a personal importance to me, and I needed to stress that fact. It was called ‘The Visit’, and it was about Mary visiting Elizabeth. ‘Be brave little mother, for the burden you bear, cause it’s Christ that you carry everywhere, everywhere.’ I thought that the image of Mary visiting Elizabeth and bringing Jesus to her, would be a wonderful model for me in my role as priest. Mary did what I would hope to do as a priest. I can use this same model for any Christian, whose role is to be a Christ-o-pher, or a Christ-bearer.
Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth’
22. Love in action
On 13th July 2006, in the Deccan Herald, this heroic deed of a pregnant woman appeared. Jessica Bates was expected to give birth to twins any day, but that did not stop her from rushing to the aid of a neighbour in distress. Just before midnight on Saturday, Bates was in her living room watching her two-year old daughter and another child when she heard a cry for help. Bates, 22, rushed across the street to an apartment, where flames were visible through the window. The woman who lived there, Barbara Wellman, was paralyzed from waist down. “I knew she was in a wheelchair, and that’s why I was like, “Oh, my God,” Bates told a newspaper. She found Wellman in the front part of the house and dragged her wheelchair by the foot pedals to the sidewalk. Bates then started banging on the neighbours’ doors, warning them to flee. Another neighbour doused the flames with a garden hose before the fire department showed up to extinguish it. Wellman aged 45, had lived for twenty years in that apartment and that day she escaped without much serious injury. Thanks to the courage and love of a woman. Bates, later, said that she was always willing to help those in need. “I don’t look at it as being a hero; I just looked at it like helping someone. I knew it was a risk to myself, but I couldn’t leave her,” said Bates. – Today’s Gospel talks of another woman who reached out to an elderly woman in need!
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
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From the Sermons.com:
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From Fr Jude Botelho:
As a role model for our final preparation we now focus on Mary whose role in salvation history is already faintly outlined in the Old Testament. In today’s first reading the Prophet Micah foretells that a descendant of David will appear in Ephratha where Bethlehem, the city of David is situated. Ephratha is a small almost unknown city but God chooses the unknown and the small to make his presence felt in our midst. We would think of God coming in greatness and magnificence, but God chooses the small, the insignificant to enter our history and our world.
15. The God of small things!
Little Anita has a very busy father. He is a dot-com engineer who makes a lot of money but has little time to be with his family. Every night, however, Anita insists that her father read a story before she would go to sleep. This continued for some time till the man found a ‘solution’. He bought Anita a colourful kid’s tape player and made a tape of her favorite stories in the story book. Whenever, therefore, the child asks him to read her a story he would simply push the button and play back the tape-recorded stories. Anita took that for a few days and then revolted and refused to accept the stories on tape. “Why” asked her father, “the tape reads the stories as good as I do!” “Ya,” replied the little girl, “But I can’t sit on his lap.” –Remember, Christmas celebrates the gift of God’s presence in our lives. Let us be present to the people who need us –especially the little ones.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
The Gospel narrates the story of two marvelous women who reach out to each other and share their experience of expectantly waiting for the birth of their children. They are heralds of the Good news for each other and prophets of hope. When Mary received the good news she could not keep it to herself, she journeys to her cousin Elizabeth. She does not wait for her cousin to come to her, rather, she journeys in faith to meet Elizabeth and be with her in her need. Good news has to be shared; especially the Good News of God’s coming. As Mary enters Zachariah’s house Elizabeth greets her; “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” Mary had gone to support Elizabeth who was advanced in years, but she herself received support far beyond her imagining. As soon as Mary entered Elizabeth’s house, the child in her womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth acknowledges not only her kinswoman but also the mother of her Lord. Elizabeth blesses Mary for her faith in believing and accepting God’s word. “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord!” Three times in this small passage Elizabeth addresses Mary as ‘blessed’. Mary is richly blessed because of her faith in, and obedience to God. God asked of Mary only this, “Trust me.” And she did. Totally! That is why the Gospel writer Luke sees in Mary a perfect disciple. Mary listened and Mary did. That is why in our Christian tradition Mary is seen as the woman of faith and our model. The best way we can prepare for the coming of Jesus into our world is listening and acting in faith. “Be it done unto me according to your word!” Our faith is seen most in our attitudes in all our activities even the smallest of actions.
16. Attitude changes things!
One day a lady who lived in town looked out of her window and saw a big truck pull up to her house. Out jumped five rascals and started unloading electric guitars and loudspeakers and drums…. They took them to the neighbour’s house. The woman was furious. Now her night’s rest and her ears and her life would be ruined by all the noise that would come from the house. Her husband came home from work and she began to scream at him, “We’ve got to move away from here or else we’ll go deaf and mad with that string band next door. But he calmed her down a bit and said, “Honey, why are you angry? Don’t you realize who those musicians are? They are the famous Sanguma String band that plays overseas to large crowds…. Woman, we should be glad they are here; we’ll be getting all this famous music for free.” His wife’s frown turned to a smile. She ran to the telephone and began to call her friends to come over sometime and take advantage of the Sanguma Band…. How attitude changes everything! Our attitude to Jesus too can change everything!
Quote in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’
17. Mary always said ‘Yes!’
Thirty-year old Nishant was so taciturn and sensitive that after seven years of courtship, Neela, his girlfriend, felt that he was never going to propose to her and that she would have to take the initiative. While they were sitting alone besides the sea, Neela said, “Nishant, will you marry me?” A long silence ensued. Then Nishant whispered, “yes”. Another long silence. Finally Neela said, “Say something Nishant, why don’t you say something?” Nishant replied, “I’m afraid I’ve said too much already!” Saying ‘yes’ is never easy. -But, when it came to obeying God’s will in her life, Mary always said “Yes!” loud and clear.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
18. To love is to serve!
The country doctor Brunoy had just said goodbye to his colleagues who had confirmed that Jean, the doctor’s only son, would die in a few hours of diphtheria. The anti toxin injections had been too late. As he now sat with his wife by the boy’s bedside awaiting the child’s death the doorbell rang. The doctor shouted to his secretary, “I don’t want to see anyone.” But the visitor would not go away. It was the farmer Rivaz who had walked 10 kilometres from Roseland. His son was sick. “I’ll come tomorrow” the doctor told him. “But if you don’t come now, he won’t make it through the night,” the farmer insisted. They began a discussion. “You can cure my son.” “But mine’s lost, he’s beyond all cure.” “But mine isn’t.” “Well, I’ll come tomorrow morning.” “Then it will be too late.” “Let me close the eyes of my dying child.” “But if you cannot help him any longer.” “As long as my son is alive, I’ll remain with him.” “All right, then both the children will die.” The doctor then asked for the symptom’s of the boy’s sickness and they were the same as his son’s had been. But it was still not too late to save him. So the doctor decided to go with the farmer.
Ludolf Ulrich in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’
19. With eyes wide shut
In his book Beyond East and West John Wu has a fascinating passage. It reads as follows: “My wife and I had never seen each other before marriage. Both of us were brought up in the old Chinese way. It was our parents who engaged us to each other, when we were barely six years of age. In my early teens I came to know where her house was. I had an intense desire to have a glimpse of her. In coming back from school, I sometimes took a roundabout way so as to pass by the door of her house… but I never had the good fortune to see her.” Wu goes on to say that he realizes the old Chinese marriage sounds incredible to Western readers. Some of his own Western friends could hardly believe it at first. Wu says he was surprised his friends found the system so incredible. He asked them whether they chose their parents, brothers and sisters. Then he said, “And don’t you love them just the same?” John Wu’s passage from his book helps us to appreciate better the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth before Jesus’ birth. Faith makes the difference!
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
20. Bringing Jesus to others
It was a Charismatic Prayer Meeting. There was a good crowd there, and there was no shortage of contributions by way of prayers, readings, testimonies, etc. One man stood up to tell his story. He said he had been a wife-beater, a drunk, a child molester, a cheat, etc. When he was finished he announced to all and sundry that he wanted to publicly thank God here tonight that during all those years he had not lost his religion! He may have not brought Jesus to others, but...
21. Parable
I was ordained a priest at the age of 41. At my first Mass, I had a song that was sung at two different parts of the Mass, and it was actually printed twice in the Mass leaflet for the occasion. It had a personal importance to me, and I needed to stress that fact. It was called ‘The Visit’, and it was about Mary visiting Elizabeth. ‘Be brave little mother, for the burden you bear, cause it’s Christ that you carry everywhere, everywhere.’ I thought that the image of Mary visiting Elizabeth and bringing Jesus to her, would be a wonderful model for me in my role as priest. Mary did what I would hope to do as a priest. I can use this same model for any Christian, whose role is to be a Christ-o-pher, or a Christ-bearer.
Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth’
22. Love in action
On 13th July 2006, in the Deccan Herald, this heroic deed of a pregnant woman appeared. Jessica Bates was expected to give birth to twins any day, but that did not stop her from rushing to the aid of a neighbour in distress. Just before midnight on Saturday, Bates was in her living room watching her two-year old daughter and another child when she heard a cry for help. Bates, 22, rushed across the street to an apartment, where flames were visible through the window. The woman who lived there, Barbara Wellman, was paralyzed from waist down. “I knew she was in a wheelchair, and that’s why I was like, “Oh, my God,” Bates told a newspaper. She found Wellman in the front part of the house and dragged her wheelchair by the foot pedals to the sidewalk. Bates then started banging on the neighbours’ doors, warning them to flee. Another neighbour doused the flames with a garden hose before the fire department showed up to extinguish it. Wellman aged 45, had lived for twenty years in that apartment and that day she escaped without much serious injury. Thanks to the courage and love of a woman. Bates, later, said that she was always willing to help those in need. “I don’t look at it as being a hero; I just looked at it like helping someone. I knew it was a risk to myself, but I couldn’t leave her,” said Bates. – Today’s Gospel talks of another woman who reached out to an elderly woman in need!
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
*****
From the Sermons.com:
Despite the Scrooges among us who annually decry the commercialization, the vulgarity, and the blatant sentimentality of so much of the Christmas preparations, it is still a magical time of the year. The daily popping out of multi-colored lights at doorways and windows, the Christmas tree lots that seem to spring up overnight, the magnificent window displays, the wreaths, the tinsel, the reds and greens, and the sound of bells--it all evokes a tone of excitement and anticipation. It is as if the entire world is preparing for a visit from an emissary from another world.
Of course, like typical Americans, we overdo it. Much of the music is too loud and constant; we are saturated with carols long before Christmas; many of the decorations are too big, too gaudy; but still, isn't it a remarkable time of year? Our impulse to create a fairy tale stage seems to take our minds off the harsh Christmas realities. For even as we are caught up in the glitter and the tinsel we know that all is not well in the world. Fact: Murder and robbery in the United States reaches its highest peak in December. Fact: The Christmas season ranks just under Memorial Day weekend in the number of car wrecks on the highway. Fact: The suicide rate will begin its annual climb until it peaks out at what some call the "big downer" New Year's Eve. This is the reality of Christmas. No tinsel, no glitter--just harsh reality.
So we turn from a fairy tale setting that appears to gloss over and deny to a Christmas Biblical narrative that appears on the surface to do the same thing. The story has the ring of a fairy tale...
Our text for this morning is about two women who come together to tell their stories. They are cousins, distant cousins. Elizabeth, the city cousin, Luke says, lives in the hills of Judea. Her husband, Zechariah, is the priest in the Temple. It must have been a big city to have a temple. Perhaps it was Jerusalem, and if so, then Zechariah would have been one of the priests assigned to the Temple in Jerusalem. Which would mean he was a man of some importance. It says they lived in the hills of Judea. That sounds to me like some upscale neighborhood. So Elizabeth and Zechariah were people of status and wealth and culture, sophisticated people.
Mary was not. Mary was the country cousin from of all places, Nazareth, a town with a bad reputation. In past sermons I have, from time to time, tried to explain what Nazareth was like by saying, "It's like...," and then I would name a town near here and say it was like being from there, only to have someone after church one day tell me they were from that town. So I don't do that anymore.
But I discovered there is a place that all San Diegans agree is a disreputable place, and that's Los Angeles. But that is where I am from. So I just want you to use your imagination and think of the most undistinguished, ignoble place that you possibly can, and that's the way Nazareth was. At least that is the reputation that Nazareth had. You can see that in reading the New Testament itself, because the rhetorical question is asked there, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
So Mary comes calling on Elizabeth, her cousin. What brought them together is not that they are family. I doubt that they had ever been together before. They probably didn't know each other at all. What brought them together is a common story. They both had an angel visitation, it's called an "annunciation," and they are both going to have babies...
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Little Town of Bethlehem: A Story of Faith
One of my all-time favorite Christmas hymns is "O Little Town of Bethlehem." It has been around since 1868 although it wasn't formally used in churches until 1892. It is a hymn which is packed with emotion, a song about the Christ Child, born to Mary, a song filled with the creative power of God intervening in history with the gift of a savior.
For me "O Little Town of Bethlehem," depicts the Christmas story as a story of hope, a story where the divine and the human come together in an amazing but humble way. It is also an invitation for both the non-believer and the believer. For the non-believer it is an announcement of what God has done and for the believer it is a challenge to increase one's faith.
What might surprise you is how this great hymn came to be. It was written by Phillips Brooks, Episcopal priest. Brooks was serving the Holy Trinity Church in the City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia, PA). He had just returned from a trip to The Holy Land which inspired him to write the words. "When he returned to America he still had Palestine singing in his soul." (from Stories of Christmas Carols by Ernest K. Emurian, Baker Book House Co., page 97)
Brooks was a bachelor. His church organist and Sunday School superintendent, Lewis Redner was also a bachelor and Brooks gave the words to him and asked him to create a tune for the upcoming Christmas celebration. Redner procrastinated and struggled with the creation of a tune to go with the 5 stanzas that Brooks had written. It wasn't until the night before the celebration that Redner got inspired in the middle of the night and created the song as we know it. The following day a group of 36 children and 6 Sunday school teachers introduced the song created by the 2 bachelors. That was on December 27th, 1968. It wasn't published as an official hymn of the Episcopal Church until 1892. The following January, Phillips Brooks died, never knowing the magnitude of the hymn that he created.
For some reason the 4th stanza has been dropped from the original score. "Where children pure and happy Pray to the blessed Child, Where misery cries out to thee, Son of the mother mild; Where charity stands watching And faith holds wide the door, The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, And Christmas comes once more." The stanza includes the line, "And faith holds wide the door."
This hymn, like the story of the annunciation of Mary in the gospel of Luke, is a story about faith.
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There Had to Be a Father
Pastor William Carter said that on his Christmas vacation on his first year in college, he had become an expert on the birds and the bees. Biology was his major, and after a semester in the freshman class, he was certain that he knew more biology than most adults did in his hometown ... including his minister. A few days before Christmas, he stopped in to see him. He received him warmly and asked how he had fared in his first semester. "Okay," he replied, avoiding the subject of his mediocre grades. But then he told his pastor, "I've come home with some questions."
"Really?" the pastor replied. "Like what?"
"Like the virgin birth. I've taken a lot of biology, as you know," which meant one semester in which he received a B-, "and I think this whole business of a virgin birth doesn't make much sense to me. It doesn't fit with what I have learned in biology class."
What's the problem?" he asked.
"There had to be a father," he announced. "Either it was Joseph or somebody else."
His pastor looked at him with a coy smile and said, "How can you be so sure?"
"Oh, come on," he said. "That's not the way it works. There had to be a father."
His pastor didn't back down. Instead he said something that Carter said he'll never forget: "So - why not God?"
Why not, indeed? The more we learn, the harder it is to swallow a lot of things that once seemed so palatable. Advent is a season of wonder and mystery. We tell our children stories at this time of year that we would never dare tell when it is warmer and there is more sunlight. The really wise child is the kid who knows how to shut his mouth even when he has a few doubts. But sometimes it is hard to do, especially when you have a whole four months of college behind you.
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Joy to the World
Could Isaac Watts have written so, if his life had been easy? I don't know. It is amazing, though, how often persons who have everything are spiritual zeroes, whereas those who struggle through life have souls with both depth and height.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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Walk or Fly
Every year I'm reminded of those words of the late Peter Marshall: "When Christmas doesn't make your heart swell up until it nearly bursts and fill your eyes with tears and make you all soft and warm inside then you will know that something inside of you is dead."
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God Is the Happiest Being in the Universe Perhaps we need Santa at Christmas to help us be merry and joyous because we have a flawed understanding of Jesus. From today's gospel text we learn that the first reaction to Jesus' presence on earth, of God-in-our-midst, was joy. Joy so tremendous, joy so utterly overwhelming that it must somehow escape the bounds of earth itself and jump towards the heavens.
In John Ortberg's wonderful book The Life You've Always Wanted (Zondervan, 2002), he writes:
We will not understand God until we understand this about him: "God is the happiest being in the universe" (G. K. Chesterton). God knows sorrow. Jesus is remembered, among other things, as a 'man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.' But the sorrow of God, like the anger of God, is his temporary response to a fallen world. That sorrow will be banished forever from his heart on the day the world is set right. Joy is God's basic character. God is the happiest being in the universe.
Joy is what makes Christmas. Each of us may look to some annual family tradition to trigger that joy. But the trees, the carols, the cookies, the presents, the parties, are only various expressions of a single experience of the spirit JOY born again into our souls.
Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
Happy Families
Elizabeth and Mary both were selected to give birth to these very special babies because of their faith in God. They did not have affluent homes or great educational advantages. All they had was simple faith. And that's important. Happy families don't just happen. They are part of a package.
Some of you young people may complain that your parents expect too much from you. They have too many rules and regulations. Maybe your parents are a little old fashioned, a little behind the times. Let me clue you in: it is these same characteristics that make you so fortunate. If they were any other way, they wouldn't put your happiness before their own, they wouldn't make sacrifices in your behalf, they wouldn't have surrounded you with love ever since you first came into the world. Because they are people of strong values, you can rest assured that they will always be there for you regardless of what may come. It's all part of a package. It has to do with a commitment that they have made - to God, to one another, and to you. The family that prays together generally does stay together, as trite as that may sound. Faith was important to Elizabeth and Mary. They trusted God.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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God's Great Grace to Each of Us
A man in the hospital is being treated for cancer. He is estranged from the Church. He has this long list of things he can name for you in his indictment. He doesn't like the Church in its present institutional form. But he is in the hospital. One day a priest walks into his room. He didn't invite him in, he just walked in. The priest asked him, "Do you want to be anointed?" That is the Catholic rite for the sick. The man said, "Yes." Then he wrote this. "Lying on my narrow, hospital bed, feeling the oil of gladness and healing, I knew I had little time. More importantly though, I felt by a wondrous grace that this was the first time in my memory that the Church was paying attention to me, individually, by name, naming me, praying for me to deal with my painful circumstances and my suffering, the suffering that is uniquely mine. All of a sudden I realized, I matter, I really matter. I still can't get over the power of this feeling of mattering, of being an irreplaceable individual."
When the angel came to Mary, Mary must have said, "I matter, I really matter. I know now that I am an irreplaceable individual."
Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
Pick Up the Baby
Sam Levenson tells a wonderful story about the birth of his first child. The first night home the baby would not stop crying. His wife frantically flipped through the pages of Dr. Spock to find out why babies cry and what to do about it. Since Spock's book is rather long, the baby cried a long time. Grandma was in the house, but since she had not read the books on childrearing, she was not consulted. The baby continued to cry. Finally, Grandma could be silent no longer. "Put down the book," she told her children, "and pick up the baby."
Good advice. Put down the book and pick up the baby. Spend time with your children. Particularly at Christmastime. We have the mistaken notion that good parents give their children lots of things. Wrong
In a survey done of fifteen thousand schoolchildren the question was asked, "What do you think makes a happy family?" When the kids answered, they didn't list a big house, fancy cars, or new video games as the source of happiness. The most frequently given answer was "doing things together." Notice the joy with which Mary and Elizabeth greeted the news of their pregnancy.
More From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
22) With eyes wide shut: In his book Beyond East and West John Wu has a fascinating passage. It reads as follows: “My wife and I had never seen each other before marriage. Both of us were brought up in the old Chinese way. It was our parents who engaged us to each other, when we were barely six years of age. In my early teens I came to know where her house was. I had an intense desire to have a glimpse of her. In coming back from school, I sometimes took a roundabout way so as to pass by the door of her house… but I never had the good fortune to see her.” Wu goes on to say that he realizes the old Chinese marriage sounds incredible to Western readers. Some of his own Western friends could hardly believe it at first. Wu says he was surprised his friends found the system so incredible. He asked them whether they chose their parents, brothers and sisters. Then he said, “And don’t you love them just the same?” John Wu’s passage from his book helps us to appreciate better the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth before Jesus’ birth. Faith makes the difference! (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies).
1: “At least I made a difference to that one!”
A little girl was walking along a beach covered with thousands of starfish left dying by the receding tide. Seeking to help, she started picking up the dying starfish and tossing them back into the ocean. A man who watched her with amusement, said, “Little girl, there are hundreds of starfish on the beach. You cannot make a difference by putting a few of them back into the sea.” Discouraged, she began to walk away. Suddenly, she turned around, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the sea. Turning to the man, she smiled and said, “At least I made a difference to that one!” Today’s Gospel tells us how Mary, a village girl carrying Jesus in her womb, made a difference in the lives of her cousin Elizabeth and of the child, John. in her womb. John, as he grew up, helped Mary’s Son to transform the history of mankind by preparing the way for the Messiah. The starfish story suggests that each person, no matter how unimportant, may truly benefit from our work, and that any service, however small, is valuable. The story also shows how seemingly hopeless problems can be solved by taking the first step.
2: Elijah heard a tiny, whispering sound and Mary a baby’s cry: There’s a marvelous scene in the Old Testament that sort of illustrates in a very stark fashion something of what is occurring in today’s Scriptures. It is the scene where the famous prophet Elijah, being pursued by his enemies, takes refuge in a cave and waits for the Lord to tell him what to do. He is prompted to go to the mouth of the cave. A great wind sweeps through the valley, breaking the trees, it is so powerful. But the Scriptures say, the Lord was not in the wind. Then there is a terrible earthquake and the mountains tumble. But the Lord, we are again informed, was not in the earthquake. Then comes a huge fire; but there again, Scripture declares, the Lord was absent. Finally, Elijah hears a tiny, whispering sound, and he promptly covers his face with his mantle out of reverent fear of God’s holy presence. A tiny, whispering sound! Not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in the tiny whispering sound, God speaks. And in much the same way He speaks again, and for a final and complete time, when He speaks His ultimate Word to the human race for all ages. For this time, He speaks in the soft cries of a little baby boy in Bethlehem.
3: “Thanks for the money, but what I really needed was a handshake.” Composer and performer Bradley James has set Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s teachings and prayers to music in the internationally acclaimed recording, Gift of Love: Music to the Words and Prayers of Mother Teresa. Bradley remembers her teaching: “Mother said we don’t have to go to Calcutta to help the poor; rather, we must help them right in front of us.” He applied this lesson when he encountered a homeless beggar on the streets of San Francisco. Bradley placed some money in his metal cup, then reached out and shook the man’s hand. The recipient gave him a big smile, and the two exchanged names and small talk. Bradley recalls: “Then he pulled me a little closer and said, ‘Thanks for the money, but what I really needed was a handshake’” [Cf. Susan Conroy, Our Sunday Visitor (Oct. 19, 2003), p. 17.] Indeed, what was remarkable in this incident was not the coin, but the gift of human dignity and the love of Christ that Bradley James brought to the beggar through the handshake and his fraternal presence. In effect, Bradley replicated in his life and experience the joyful mystery of the Lord’s Visitation (cf. Lk 1:39-45) described in today’s Gospel.
4) Christmas telegram: The preacher and his pregnant wife had left for a conference in France, forgetting to give instructions for the banner which was to decorate the hall at the Christmas Carol Concert, the following weekend. The parish secretary was astonished to receive a telegram from France which read simply: UNTO US A SON IS BORN. NINE FEET LONG AND TWO FEET WIDE. REV. AND MRS. JOHNSON.
5) Christmas Stamps: A woman went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. “What denomination?” asked the clerk? “Oh, good Heavens! Have we come to this?” said the woman. “Well, give me 20 Catholic stamps for me and 20 Baptist stamps for my husband.”
6) On whose side? During the American Civil War, a lady exclaimed effusively to President Lincoln: “Oh Mr. President, I feel so sure that God is on our side, don’t you?” “Ma’am,” replied the President, “I am more concerned that we should be on God’s side.”
22- Additional anecdotes:
1) The ripple effect: Robert F. Kennedy said: “Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one man or woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills – against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence… Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation… It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Today’s Gospel describes how an unknown Jewish virgin, Mary could cause such a ripple effect by her little, loving acts of humble service to her elderly and pregnant cousin Elizabeth.
2) “Advent Teufel” or Advent Devil: Maula Powers is a storyteller. In an issue of Catholic Digest some years ago Ms. Powers told about a creature called the “Advent Teufel.” Teufel is a German word for devil. According to an old German folktale, it is the Advent Devil who tries during the Advent season to keep people so busy in outward affairs that they lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas. The Advent Devil doesn’t want people to have time to experience the rebirth of Christ within themselves. The temptations of the Advent Devil are diabolically clever. He makes it so easy for us to go along with the flow of seasonal celebrations. The Advent Devil’s business is to keep us so busy with holiday obligations that we forego daily prayer, Scripture study, and Church services. Some of us have been fighting the Advent Devil this year. Hopefully, we now have him under control. Just a couple more days. I hope you are in a position to use that little bit of time that’s left to focus on the real meaning of it all.
3) “All of a sudden I realized, I matter, I really matter.” A man in the hospital is being treated for cancer. He is estranged from the Church. He has this long list of things he can name for you in his indictment. He doesn’t like the Church in its present institutional form. But he is in the hospital. One day a priest walks into his room. He didn’t invite him in, he just walked in. The priest asked him, “Do you want to be anointed?” That is the Catholic rite for the sick. The man said, “Yes.” Then he wrote this. “Lying on my narrow, hospital bed, feeling the oil of gladness and healing, I knew I had little time. More importantly though, I felt by a wondrous grace that this was the first time in my memory that the Church was paying attention to me, individually, by name, naming me, praying for me to deal with my painful circumstances and my suffering, the suffering that is uniquely mine. All of a sudden I realized, I matter, I really matter. I still can’t get over the power of this feeling of mattering, of being an irreplaceable individual.” In the Visitation scene described in today’s Gospel, two insignificant women realize how they matter by being selected the mothers of the Messiah and his precursor.
4) “May Christ be born in you.” Sue Monk Kidd in her book From When the Heart Waits writes about her visit to a monastery around Christmas years ago. She passed a monk walking outside the church and said “Merry Christmas.” And the monk replied, “May Christ be born in you.” At the time, Ms. Kidd thought that this was a very peculiar greeting. But she never forgot it. And, with time, she came to realize the power of that simple greeting: “May Christ be born in you.” When Christ dwells within, there is peace. Pope St. John Paul II, in his Angelus message of December 19, 1999, explained that Christmas is not simply the remembrance of the Event that took place about 2000 years ago when, according to the Gospel, the power of God took on the frailty of a baby. It is really about a living reality that is repeated every year in the heart of believers. “The mystery of the Holy Night, which historically happened two thousand years ago, must be lived as a spiritual event in the ‘today’ of the Liturgy,” the Pope clarified. “The Word who found a dwelling in Mary’s womb comes to knock on the heart of every person . . .” (5) Bethlehem reminds us that God is with us in the person of Jesus Christ. (http://www.appleseeds.org/Christmas‑quotes.htm. )
5) Messiah in the monastery: Here is a story of the enormous difference that the awareness of the presence of Christ among us could make in our lives as individuals and as communities. A certain Palestinian Jewish monastery in the first century before Christ discovered that it was going through a crisis. Some of the monks left, no new candidates joined them, and people were no longer coming for prayer and consultation as they used to. The few monks that remained were becoming old and depressed and bitter in their relationship with one another. The abbot heard about a holy man, a hermit living alone in the woods and decided to consult him. He told the hermit how the monastery had dwindled and diminished and now looked like a skeleton of what it used to be. Only seven old monks remained. The hermit told the abbot that he had a secret for him. One of the monks now living in his monastery was actually the Messiah, but he was living in such a way that no one could recognize him. With this revelation the abbot went back to his monastery, summoned a community meeting and recounted what the holy hermit had told him. The aging monks looked at each other in disbelief, trying to discern who among them could be the Christ. Could it be Brother Mark who prayed all the time? But he had this holier-than-thou attitude toward others. Could it be Bother Joseph who was always ready to help? But he was always eating and drinking and could not fast. The abbot reminded them that the Messiah had adopted some bad habits as a way of camouflaging his real identity. This only made them more confused and they could not make a headway figuring out who was the Christ among them. At the end of the meeting what each one of the monks knew for sure was that any of the monks, excepting himself, could be the Christ. (Fr. Munacci).
6) Pope Benedict XVI on the Visitation: the world’s first Eucharistic procession: Pope Benedict XVI has written that the Visitation is more than just a trip into the country for a young girl from Nazareth. As he explains, when Mary “set out in haste” to visit her cousin Elizabeth, she embarked on the world’s first Eucharistic procession. She carried Christ into the world. She was a living tabernacle. And so it is that her cousin became the first to experience Eucharistic adoration, and to share in the first Benediction. “Blessed are you,” she says to Mary. “Blessed is the fruit of your womb. Blessed are you who believed.” Three times, she speaks the word “Blessed.” I can’t help but be reminded of our own Benediction, when the bells ring three times, and then we chant the divine praises: “Blessed be God…”
7) Mary needed the wisdom and strength of an older woman? In Rumer Godden’s exquisite novel In This House of Brede, there is a moment when Abbess Catherine, who has been elevated to that office in a time of unusual stress for the Brede Abbey, also contemplates this moment in the Gospel: Every evening at Vespers in these days, Abbess Catherine, as if echoing the Abbot’s words, thought, as the antiphon to the Magnificat was sung, of the Visitation, when the Virgin Mary, with the angel’s announcement beating in her heart, had gone “in haste,” as Saint Luke says, to visit her far older cousin. Why, wondered Abbess Catherine, did the theologians always teach – and we take it for granted – that Mary went simply to succor Elizabeth? Probably she did do that, but could it not also have been that she needed the wisdom and strength of an older woman? How wonderfully reassuring Elizabeth’s salutation must have been : “Whence is this that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” A recognition without being told, and Mary, as if heartened, touched into bloom by the warmth and honor of that recognition, had flowered into the Magnificat.
8) Western Schism and feast of visitation: On November 9, 1389, it was decreed by Pope Boniface IX that the Feast of the Visitation should be extended to the entire Catholic Church in the hope that Jesus and His Mother would visit the Church and put an end to the Great Schism that was taking place.
This Schism was known as the “Western Schism.” The New Catholic Dictionary, (Van Rees Press, NY, Copyright 1929), reports the Western Schism as follows:
“The cause of the so-called Western Schism was the temporary residence of the popes at Avignon, France, which began in 1309 under Clement V. This exile from the Eternal City met with opposition, especially in Italy where the people clamored for the return of the sovereign pontiff. Finally in 1376 Gregory XI re-established his see in Rome, and on his death, 1378, the future residence of the vicars of Christ was the main issue in the subsequent conclave. The cardinals meeting in the Holy City duly elected Urban VI, an Italian. General dissatisfaction, especially on the part of the French members of the Sacred College, and disagreement concerning the validity of the choice led to a second conclave at Fondi (20 Sept.) and the election of another pope, a Frenchman, as Clement VII, who immediately took up his residence in Avignon. As both claimed to be legitimate successors, the Western Church quickly divided into two camps, each supporting one or the other. There was really no schism, for the majority of the people desired unity under one head and intended no revolt against papal authority. Everywhere the faithful faced the anxious problem: where is the true pope? Even saints and theologians were divided on the question. Unfortunately, led by politics and human desires, the papal claimants launched excommunications against each other, and deposed secular rulers who in turn forbade their subjects to submit to them. This misunderstanding lasted forty years (1378-1417). An attempt to mend the breach at the Council of Pisa (1409), produced a third claimant and the schism was not terminated until the Council of Constance (1414-18), which deposed the Pisan, John XXIII, received the abdication of the Roman, Gregory XII, dismissed the Avignon Benedict XIII, and finally elected an undisputed pope, Martin V (11 Nov., 1417).” Imagine the confusion that the people must have had to tolerate in those days when communication was limited to traveling by foot or by horse. The faithful would hear of one pope here and another one there. Consequently, the Lord Jesus and His Mother visited the Catholic Church and resolved the situation to secure that Apostolic succession would continue as we enjoy it today.
9) “Please come back again!“ An electrician did a small job, one afternoon, for a popular local restaurant. He met many of the employees and management, and he was very impressed by how friendly everyone was. He and his wife had never been there before, so the following week, they went to the restaurant for dinner. And, during dinner, the man kept mentioning to his wife how nice everyone was when he did the job there and that they almost made him feel like he was part of the crew. They had a wonderful dinner, and finished off a bottle of fine wine. When the check came, the man was amazed at how little the bill was, and noticed that the waiter had written “50% Off” on the check and deducted that amount. He showed this to his wife. He mentioned just how incredibly nice everyone was at this restaurant. And even though he only worked there for just one afternoon, they gave him this great discount. He paid the check and thanked the waiter for the generosity of the restaurant and staff. On the way out, the man stepped into the kitchen to personally thank the chef, and shook hands with everyone on the crew (about a dozen employees), expressing his appreciation for the great dinner and discount. He also left a note for the owner, thanking him, and offering him 50% off his next electrical maintenance job. On his way out the door, he thanked the maitre d’ for the generous discount. The maitre d’ then explained to him that not only did the man and his wife get the discount, but everyone else in the place did also. He said, “Sir, tonight, and every Tuesday, is ‘Half-Price Night.’ But I have to tell you that you are the only customer in the history of this restaurant to thank the entire kitchen crew and the owner for having it…. Please come back again!” One of the attributes of a grace-filled life is a spirit of gratitude. What a wondrous and glorious blessing! The Gospel today demonstrates that with a true spirit of gratitude comes the spirit of generosity. The Magnificat teaches gratitude; the Visitation teaches generosity.
10) The sonnet, entitled “The Visitation“, and today’s feast, celebrate one wonderful moment of our salvation as Mary shares with Elizabeth the arrival of the “hidden God”. The poem was written by American poet Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), author of “Trees.” It has a dedication to fellow-American poet, Louise Imogen Guiney. A sergeant in the 165th US Infantry Regiment, Kilmer was killed at the Second Battle of Marne in 1918 at the age of 31.
THE VISITATION
There is a wall of flesh before the eyes
Of John, who yet perceives and hails his King.
It is Our Lady’s painful bliss to bring
Before mankind the Glory of the skies.
Her cousin feels her womb’s sweet burden rise
And leap with joy, and she comes forth to sing,
With trembling mouth, her words of welcoming.
She knows her hidden God, and prophesies.
Saint John, pray for us, weary souls that tarry
Where life is withered by sin’s deadly breath.
Pray for us, whom the dogs of Satan harry,
Saint John, Saint Anne, and Saint Elizabeth.
And, Mother Mary, give us Christ to carry
Within our hearts, that we may conquer death.
11) History of the Feast of the Visitation: This feast is of medieval origin. It was kept by the Franciscan Order before 1263 when Saint Bonaventure recommended it and the Franciscan chapter adopted it. The Franciscan Breviary spread it to many Churches. In 1389, Pope Urban VI inserted it in the Roman Calendar, for celebration on 2 July, hoping thereby to obtain an end to the Great Western Schism,. In the Tridentine Calendar, it was a Double. When that Missal of Pope Pius V was replaced by the Missal of Pope Clement VIII in 1604, the Visitation became a Double of the Second Class. It remained so until Pope John XXIII reclassified it as a Second-Class Feast in 1962. It continued to be assigned to 2 July, the day after the end of the octave following the feast of the birth of John the Baptist, who was still in his mother’s womb at the time of the Visitation. In 1969, however, Pope Paul VI moved it to 31 May, “between the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (25 March) and that of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (24 June), so that it would harmonize better with the Gospel story.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitation_(Christianity))
12) When Pregnancy Met Pregnancy (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in The World’s First Love): One of the most beautiful moments in history was that when pregnancy met pregnancy, when child-bearers became the first heralds of the King of Kings. All pagan religions begin with the teachings of adults, but Christianity begins with the birth of a Child. From that day to this, Christians have ever been the defenders of the family and the love of generation. If we ever sat down to http://www.ignatius.com/Products/WFL2-P/the-worlds-first-love-2nd-edition.aspx?src=iinsightwrite out what we would expect the Infinite God to do, certainly the last thing we would expect would be to see Him imprisoned in a carnal ciborium for nine months; and the next to last thing we would expect is that the “greatest man ever born of woman” while yet in his mother’s womb, would salute the yet imprisoned God-man. But this is precisely what took place in the Visitation. (http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2011/fsheen_visitationwfl_may2011.asp)
13) Dutch painter Rembrandt’s visitation painting: The 17th century Dutch painter Rembrandt however, paints for us a very different picture of this Biblical scene. Mary, the mother of our Lord, and Elizabeth are not dressed like royalty. Instead of wearing colorful robes and royal dress they have on simple cloaks. They meet outside of a dwelling in the hill country, in a town of Judah. They are not surrounded by cherubs and seraphim – no angels. Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband, in his old age, leans upon the shoulders of a boy, to support his steps. This visitation looks like a rather ordinary scene. In this painting, a common dog is walking by Mary and Elizabeth, paying them no mind. Rembrandt paints a golden beam upon the two women to shine light upon their interaction. Elizabeth, in a flash of recognition, joyfully grabs the shoulders of Mary to hug her, exclaiming, “Blessed are you Mary! Why is this given to me that you, the Mother of my Lord, should come to me!” With Elizabeth – her facial expression, body language, and intense gaze into Mary’s eyes suggest an awareness that they stand at the beginning of a new world – as Jesus lies in the womb of young Mary. Mary in an upright posture lets a servant remove her common cloak. A man behind her holds a bridled mule, indicating the distance of her travel. So alarmed is Elizabeth that she cries out in great surprise, “Why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” This simple plea of Elizabeth is an act of worship, a Divine hymn, “Who am I Lord! Who are we that the Lord should come near to us?” (For larger picture visit: http://james-a-watkins.hubpages.com/hub/Rembrandt-is-my-favorite-artist
14) Elizabeth in Islam: Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah, the mother of John the Baptist and the sister of Mary, is an honored woman in Islam.[4] Although Zechariah himself is frequently mentioned by name in the Qur’an, Elizabeth, while not mentioned by name, is referenced. Islamic tradition, like Christianity, gives her the name. She is revered by Muslims as a wise, pious and believing person who, like her sister Mary, was exalted by God to a high station.[4] She lived in the household of Amram, and is said to have been a descendant of the prophet and priest Aaron.[5]Zechariah and his wife were both devout and steadfast in their duties. They were, however, both very old and they had no son. Therefore, Zechariah would frequently pray to God for a son.[6] This was not only out of the desire to have a son but also because the great apostle wanted someone to carry on the services of the Temple of prayer and to continue the preaching of the Lord’s message after his death. God cured Elizabeth’s barrenness and granted Zechariah a son, Yahya (John the Baptist), who became a prophet.[7] God thus granted the wishes of the couple because of their Faith, Trust and Love for God. In the Qur’an, God speaks of Zechariah, his wife and John and describes the three as being humble servants of the LORD: “So We listened to him: and We granted him John: We cured his wife’s (Barrenness) for him. These (three) were ever quick in emulation in good works; they used to call on Us with love and reverence, and humble themselves before Us.” (Qur’an, chapter 21 (Prophets), verse 90) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_(biblical_figure)’
15) He came in our midst: The Russians have for centuries told a legend about a young medieval prince, Alexis, who lived in a sumptuous palace, while all around, in filthy hovels, lived hundreds of poor peasants. The Prince was moved with compassions for these poor folk and determined to better their lot. So he began to visit them. But as he moved in and out among them he found that he’d got absolutely no point of contact with them. They treated him with enormous respect, almost worship; but he was never able to win their confidences, still less their affection, and he returned to the palace a defeated and disappointed young man. Then one day a very different man came among the people. He was a rough and ready young doctor who also wanted to devote his life to serving the poor. He started by renting a filthy rat-ridden shack in one of the back streets. He made no pretense of being superior – his clothes (like theirs) were old and tattered and he lived simply on the plainest food, often without knowing where the next meal was coming from. He made no money from his profession because he treated most people free and gave away his medicines. Before long, this young doctor had won the respect and affection of all those people, as Prince Alexis had never succeeded in doing. He was one of them. And little by little he transformed the whole spirit of the place, settling quarrels, reconciling enemies, helping people to live decent lives. No one ever guessed that this young doctor was in fact the Prince himself, who had abandoned his palace and gone down among his people to become one of them. -That’s just what God did on that first Christmas day. He came right down side by side with us to help us to become the sort of beings He intends us to be. Let’s wait so that God will come and empty us of falsehood and fill us with joy! (John Williams; quoted by Fr. Botelho)
16) Small men accomplishing great things by doing God’s will: On the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia) Nick Vujicic was born. His parents were shocked because their first born had neither hands nor legs. A baby boy without legs and hands. It took a number of months of tears, questions and grief before they were able to come to terms within their own hearts. Nick grew up with the support of his parents and gained strength to challenge his own destiny. Still young, he now has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. He is also a motivational speaker and loves to go out and share his story with others. In his speeches he emphasizes that God has a plan, and we must accept the plan of God and submit to the will of God. These words come from a man who does not have hands and legs. (Watch: https://youtu.be/zOzsjEmjjHs). That makes it all the more meaningful. St Francis of Assisi is recognized as “a man of peace”. His message revolutionized Assisi and spread to the ends of Italy and to the whole Christendom. The call of Gandhiji to give up violence and love peace crossed the boundaries of India, and worked miracle in Montgomery, Alabama in America, through Martin Luther King. How did these small men achieve great success? Only by listening to the call of God and with the unconditional response, “Here am I Lord! I come to do Thy will.” (Fr. Bobby Jose).
17) “Little drops make an ocean.”
Little drops of water
Little grains of sand
Make the mighty ocean
And the beauteous land
Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden,
Like the heaven above
And the little moments,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages.
Of eternity. (Mrs. J. A. Carney)
18) The God of small things! Little Anita had a very busy father. He was a dot-com engineer who made a lot of money but had little time to be with his family. Every night, however, Anita insisted that her father read a story before she would go to sleep. This continued for some time till the man found a ‘solution’. He bought Anita a colourful kid’s tape player and made a tape of her favorite stories in the story book. Whenever, therefore, the child asked him to read her a story he would simply push the button and play back the tape-recorded stories. Anita took that for a few days and then revolted and refused to accept the stories on tape. “Why” asked her father, “the tape reads the stories as good as I do!” “Ya,” replied the little girl, “But I can’t sit on his lap.” –Remember, Christmas celebrates the gift of God’s presence in our lives. Let us be present to the people who need us –especially the little ones. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
19) Attitude changes things! One day a lady who lived in town looked out of her window and saw a big truck pull up to her house. Out jumped five rascals and started unloading electric guitars and loudspeakers and drums…. They took them to the neighbour’s house. The woman was furious. Now her night’s rest and her ears and her life would be ruined by all the noise that would come from the house. Her husband came home from work and she began to scream at him, “We’ve got to move away from here or else we’ll go deaf and mad with that string band next door. But he calmed her down a bit and said, “Honey, why are you angry? Don’t you realize who those musicians are? They are the famous Sanguma String band that plays overseas to large crowds…. Woman, we should be glad they are here; we’ll be getting all this famous music for free.” His wife’s frown turned to a smile. She ran to the telephone and began to call her friends to come over sometime and take advantage of the Sanguma Band…. How attitude changes everything! Our attitude to Jesus too can change everything! (See 1000 Stories You Can Use; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
20) Love in action: On 13th July 2006, in the Deccan Herald, this heroic deed of a pregnant woman appeared. Jessica Bates was expected to give birth to twins any day, but that did not stop her from rushing to the aid of a neighbour in distress. Just before midnight on Saturday, Bates was in her living room watching her two-year old daughter and another child when she heard a cry for help. Bates, 22, rushed across the street to an apartment, where flames were visible through the window. The woman who lived there, Barbara Wellman, was paralyzed from waist down. “I knew she was in a wheelchair, and that’s why I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’” Bates told a newspaper. She found Wellman in the front part of the house and dragged her wheelchair by the foot pedals to the sidewalk. Bates then started banging on the neighbours’ doors, warning them to flee. Another neighbour doused the flames with a garden hose before the fire department showed up to extinguish it. Wellman aged 45, had lived for twenty years in that apartment and that day she escaped without much serious injury, thanks to the courage and love of a woman. Bates, later, said that she was always willing to help those in need. “I don’t look at it as being a hero; I just looked at it like helping someone. I knew it was a risk to myself, but I couldn’t leave her,” said Bates. – Today’s Gospel talks of another woman who reached out to an elderly woman in need! (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
21) To love is to serve! The country doctor Brunoy had just said goodbye to his colleagues who had confirmed that Jean, the doctor’s only son, would die in a few hours of diphtheria. The anti-toxin injections had been too late. As he now sat with his wife by the boy’s bedside awaiting the child’s death the doorbell rang. The doctor shouted to his secretary, “I don’t want to see anyone.” But the visitor would not go away. It was the farmer Rivaz who had walked 10 kilometres from Roseland. His son was sick. “I’ll come tomorrow” the doctor told him. “But if you don’t come now, he won’t make it through the night,” the farmer insisted. They began a discussion. “You can cure my son.” “But mine’s lost, he’s beyond all cure.” “But mine isn’t.” “Well, I’ll come tomorrow morning.” “Then it will be too late.” “Let me close the eyes of my dying child.” “But if you cannot help him any longer.” “As long as my son is alive, I’ll remain with him.” “All right, then both the children will die.” The doctor then asked for the symptoms of the boy’s sickness and they were the same as his son’s had been. But it was still not too late to save him. So the doctor decided to go with the farmer. (Ludolf Ulrich in 1000 Stories You Can Use; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
