1. Two Kids on an anti-Christmas Campaign
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 Elizabeth’s unborn child, John. When John
had grown up, he 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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
2: Elijah heard a tiny, whispering sound and Mary a
baby’s cry: There’s a marvelous scene in the Old Testament that, in a way,
illustrates something of what is occurring in today’s Scriptures. It is the
scene where the famous prophet Elijah, 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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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 readd 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.”
23- 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
occasioned such a ripple effect by her little, loving acts of humble service to
her elderly and pregnant cousin Elizabeth. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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
at least for this coming week! 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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 a priest walks in — not invited, he just walks in. The priest asks
the man, “Do you want to be anointed?” That is the Catholic rite for the sick.
The man says, “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 the Messiah’s precursor. (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 hearts 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).
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 after 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 Jesus in disguise, 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 was unable to fast. The
Abbot reminded them that Jesus had adopted common habits as a way of
camouflaging His real identity. This only made them more confused and they
could not make 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. And so they all loved and served
Him in each other, and the monastery came to Life again. (Fr. Munacci). (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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…”(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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7) Mary needed the wisdom and strength of an older woman? In
Rumer Godden’s exquisite novelIn 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 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 the 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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 137, 57 years
later, Gregory XI reestablished 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 second part
of the misunderstanding lasted forty more 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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 Visitation teaches
generosity; the Magnificat teaches gratitude;. (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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)) (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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. http://www.ignatius.com/Products/WFL2-P/the-worlds-first-love-2nd-edition.aspx?src=iinsight If
we ever sat down to write 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)
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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13) Dutch painter Rembrandt’s visitation painting: The
17th century Dutch painter Rembrandt Van Rijn 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. Standing
erect, head bent to her older kinswoman, Mary 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 (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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14) Elizabeth in Islam: Elizabeth, the wife
of Zechariah, the mother of John
the Baptist and the kinswoman 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, believing person who, like her younger kinswoman, Mary, was exalted by God to a high
station.[4] Elizabeth
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 God’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 of 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)’
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 has
always intended us to be. Let’s wait in such a way that God will come and empty
us of falsehood and fill us with joy! (John Williams; quoted by Fr.
Botelho) (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 firstborn 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 DR. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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) (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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 to the “little ones.” (John
Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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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). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
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). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
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). (Fr. Tony)
(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
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). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
23) Proceeding in haste: There are times when we must act cautiously if we would achieve a purpose (As the proverb says, “Look before you leap”). There are also times when we must act quickly or lose an opportunity (As another proverb says, “Strike while the iron is hot.”) Raoul Wallenberg usually had to make split second decisions; to strike while the iron was hot. The task he had undertaken was nothing less than saving Jews condemned to Hitler’s “holocaust”. Raoul was a fascinating, even an unlikely “Scarlet Pimpernel”. A Swedish Lutheran, aged thirty, he was employed as first secretary of the Swedish legation in Hungary in the early 1940’s. He had wheedled from the King of Sweden, his diplomatic appointment to Budapest for precisely the purpose of rescuing victims. He had also wheedled from the King the authorization to give asylum to anybody who held a Swedish protective pass. Handing out protective passes to Hungarian Jews kept him constantly on the go, but by means of protective passes, he was able to save the lives of 100,000 Jewish people. One day, for example, Raoul learned that a crowd of Jewish Hungarians had been corralled and packed into a train for a Nazi extermination camp. He reached the railroad station just in the nick of time. Brushing by the Nazi guard, he climbed on the roof of the train and moved along from car to car handing Swedish passes through the open doors and windows. The German officers ordered him down. The Hungarian Nazis shot at him. Nevertheless, Raoul finished his work calmly and efficiently. Then he got down and shouted, “All who have passes leave this train!” The pass-holders came out and he directed them to a fleet of autos bearing Swedish flags. Thus, he saved the lives of dozens of Jews, and the Nazis were too befuddled by his quick strategy to do anything about it. In 1945 Raoul Wallenberg was finally arrested. Some think he may still be a prisoner in a Russian camp. But even in prison he can only be consoled by the memory of the day when he had “proceeded in haste” to rescue that particular trainful of Jews. — When Mary learned that her cousin, Elizabeth was soon to give birth to a child, she too “proceeded in haste” to the mountains where Elizabeth dwelt. (Today’s Gospel). In coming to Elizabeth’s aid, she also brought the unborn Jesus into the presence of the unborn St. John the Baptist. And to John the future Savior communicated at that moment the freedom of the sons of God. May we never put off to tomorrow the good we can do today.(-Father Robert F. McNamara). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Despite the Scrooges among us who annually decry the
commercialization, the crassness 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 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 incessant; we are saturated with carols long before Christmas ever arrives; 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.
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.
Keith Wagner, Real Hope
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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.
William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS
Publishing Company.
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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.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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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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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
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.
