DECEMBER'S DARKNESS BIRTHS de-LIGHT

We celebrate a new month and anticipate new beginnings as days grow shorter.  

The few hours of day-light ebb to their lowest point in the middle of this month.

What seems to be cold, dark and empty is actually part of the transformation of this season.

What seems to be ending is actually preparation for a new beginning.

Perhaps this is why we experience celebrations of light this month.

If we study biblical history against the findings of other historians of yore, we see that God has a perfect plan to place ‘light upon light’ so there would never be eternal darkness.

The Hebrew people began to celebrate the miracle of light when a day’s worth of lamp oil stretched into the full eight days needed to process oil from from olives.  The lamp of perpetual light in the Temple never went out.

At this same, darkest, time of year, God chose to send his son, to be born of a virgin.  His life, death and resurrection enabled all who believe that Mary bore the son of God to “see the Light” and never know the deep, dark, pain of death.  

The “light of Christ” entered the world of darkness and continues to be our ‘Perpetual Light’ to this day.  “. . . God from God, Light from Light . . .  begotten, not made, of one being with the Father, through Him all things were made . . . “

We who believe in the saving grace of God’s son, Jesus Christ, celebrate the Light the pierced the darkness of this sin-filled world.
His work is continuous, active, never ending, eternal and revealing to all who choose to see.

This annual pageant begins anew each December and reveals new beginnings in the lives of those who choose to let God’s perfect presence into our soul.

May this month’s words of wisdom light up our soul and fill us with joyous anticipation of new birth in Jesus Christ.

December 1, 2018  

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Sprit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

God said, 'Let there be light.' and there was light!

God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light 'day' and the darkness 'night.'

There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day."  Genesis 1:1-5

12-2  First Sunday of Advent [Hope]

 "Now, may our God be our hope. He Who made all things is better than all things. He Who made all beautiful things is more beautiful than all of them. He Who made all mighty things is more mighty than all of them. He Who made all great things is greater than all of them. Learn to love the Creator in His creature, and the maker in what He has made.”   Saint Augustine

12-3  "God writes his name on the soul of every man.”   Fulton Sheen

12-4 "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch

cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:4-5

12-5  "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”  Pope John Paul II

[Today we lay to rest President George Herbert Walker Bush who died on Friday.  May he rest in peace and rise in glory.]

 12-6  "[Jesus'] body was for Him not a limitation, but an instrument, so that He was both in it and in all things, and outside all things, resting in the Father above. At one and the same time - this is the wonder - as man He was a human life, and as Word He was sustaining the life of the universe, and as Son He was in constant union with the Father.”  Athanasius of Alexandria

12-7  "No one can make excuses, because anyone can love God; and He does not ask the soul for more than to love Him, because He loves the soul, and it is His love.”   Angela of Foligno

12-8  “Hail, FULL OF GRACE, the Lord is with you,” said the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, daughter of Ann and Joachim.  

Hail, KA-HARI-TOMANI, means having already been filled with grace, currently filled with grace and forever filled with grace. 

It’s not only a ‘continuous active verb but it began and

continued from Mary’s inception.  

12-9  2 Advent  [Faith]  "Faith and love are like the blind man’s guides. They will lead you along a path unknown to you, to the place where God is hidden.”   John of the Cross

^"For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus . . . the only thing that counts is faith working through love.”  Galatians 5:5-6

12-10  "Therefore, when God gives spiritual comfort, receive it with thanksgiving, but know that it is the bounty of God, not thy merit. 

Be not puffed up, be not overjoyed, nor vainly presume, but rather be the more humble for this gift and the more cautious and fearful in all thine actions; for this hour will pass away and temptation will follow. 

When comfort shall be taken away from thee, do not presently despair; but wait with humility and patience for the heavenly visit, for God is able to restore thee a greater consolation. 

This is no new thing, nor strange to those who have experienced the ways of God: for the great saints and ancient prophets have often felt this kind of variety.”  

  Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ

12-11  "Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.”  Psalm 91:14-15

12-12  "The goodness of God is the highest object of prayer, and it reaches down to our lowest need. It quickens our soul and gives it life, and makes it grow in grace and virtue.”   Julian of Norwich

12-13  "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.”  Hebrews 11:3

12:14  "We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way."  Francis of Assisi

12-15  "Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.”   Thomas Aquinas

12-16    3 Advent [Joy]  ^“Rejoice [gaudatte!] in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:4-7  [The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. Advent is a penitential season of abstinence, sacrifice, and prayer in order to prepare our souls for the advent or coming of the Lord. On Gaudete Sunday we celebrate that our hopeful anticipation for the coming of Christ at Christmas is almost over. Rose is the liturgical color used to signify joy, therefore we light the rose Advent candle on the third Sunday of Advent and the priests wear rose vestments.]

12-17  “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known^* in all the earth.  Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”  Isaiah 12: 5-6

12-18  "We should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I

think, say, and do, and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better or for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death.”   Pope Benedict XVI

12-19  “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”  Isaiah 46:3-4

12-20  After I enter the chapel I place myself in the presence of God and I say to him, “Lord, here I am; give me whatever you wish.” 
If he gives me something, then I am happy and I thank him. 
If he does not give me anything, then I thank him nonetheless, knowing, as I do, that I deserve nothing. Then I begin to tell him of all that concerns me, my joys, my thoughts, my distress, and finally, I listen to him.  Catherine Labouré

12-21  "Others, again, seeing their own imperfections,
become angry with themselves with an impatience that is not humble. 
They are so impatient with their shortcomings as if they would be saints in one day. 

Many of these make many grand resolutions, but, being self-confident and not humble, the more they resolve, the more they fall, and the more angry they become; not having the patience to wait for God’s time; this is also opposed to spiritual meekness. 

       

There is no perfect remedy for this but in the dark night. There are, however, some people who are so patient, and who advance so slowly in their spiritual progress, that God wishes they were not so patient."  John of the Cross
[The darkest days, laid out by God, are a perfect setting for the 'new Light' who is to come into the world to pierce that darkness.]

12-22   "Our perfection does not consist of doing extraordinary things, but to do the ordinary well.”  Gabriel Possenti

12-23    4 Advent  [Peace]  “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”  Numbers 6:23-25  [Nazarite Blessing]

12-24  “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’”  John 8:12

12-25  The Christ-Mass    “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”  John 1:1, 14

 

"If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus ... for the Eucharistic table takes the place of the crib. Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit."  John Chrysostom

"Augustine drew out the meaning of the manger using an idea that at first seems almost shocking, but on closer examination contains a profound truth. The manger is the place where animals find their food. 

But now, lying in the manger, is He who called himself the true bread come down from heaven, the true nourishment that we need in order to be fully ourselves. 

     This is the food that gives us true life, eternal life. 

Thus the manger becomes a reference to the table of God, to which we are invited so as to receive the bread of God. From the poverty of Jesus’ birth emerges the miracle in which man’s redemption is mysteriously accomplished.”  Pope Benedict XVI

12-26   The German words for the original six stanzas of the carol we know as "Silent Night" were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, when he was a young priest.

On December 24, 1818 Joseph Mohr journeyed to the home of musician-schoolteacher, Franz Gruber, who lived in an apartment over the schoolhouse in nearby Arnsdorf.

He showed his friend the poem and asked him to add a melody and guitar accompaniment so that it could be sung at Midnight Mass.

Later that evening, the two men, backed by the choir, stood in front of the main altar in St. Nicholas Church and sang "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" 

Karl Mauracher, a master organ builder and repairman from the Ziller Valley, traveled to Oberndorf to work on the organ, several times in subsequent years. While doing his work at St. Nicholas, he obtained a copy of the composition and took it home with him. Thus, the simple carol, began its journey around the world as a "Tyrolean Folk Song."
     Two traveling families of folk singers from the Ziller

Valley, similar to the Trapp Family Singers of "The Sound of Music" fame, incorporated the song into their repertoire. According to the Leipziger Tageblatt, the Strassers sang the song in a concert in Leipzig in December 1832. It was during this period, several musical notes were changed, and the carol evolved into the melody we know today.

12-27  This year we celebrate the 200 year anniversary of Silent Night.
     Almost 100 years after the song’s composition, war once again ravaged Europe, but at midnight on Christmas Eve 1914, the guns fell silent. 

    In Flanders, along the front, men could be heard on both sides singing Silent Night in their own languages.  Those languages continue to multiply, with at least 140 translations bringing the simple and profound message around the world: 
Christ the Savior is born.

12-28   "The goodness of God is the highest object of prayer, and it reaches down to our lowest need. 

It quickens our soul and gives it life, and makes it grow in grace and virtue.”   Julian of Norwich

12-29 "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the

music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.”  Psalm 92:1-4

12-30 "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20

12-31  EVE of New Year!  

Today is the oldest you’ve ever been; yet the youngest you’ll ever be, so enjoy this day while it lasts. 

         “. . . forgetting what lies behind and looking forward to that which lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. . .”  Philippians 3:13-14

Another year has passed all too quickly.

Memories - fond and sad - swirl about me as I pray that the Lord continue to guide me through the new year.

     May the Word-made-flesh become more present in us as we seek words of encouragement and direction throughout the coming year.

                 NEW YEAR BLESSINGS!

NOVEMBER NUANCES

November ushers in chilly winds, cloud-filled skies and a golden glow over fields as the sun sets a little earlier each day.

The time change on the first Sunday gives us one more hour of sleep.

Hot cider, wood crackling in the fire place, multi-colored leaves falling from once-full trees.

Fresh air, layers of thicker clothing, quilts on beds, oatmeal, steamy soups and so much more.

It’s a transition month, a month to clean corners of the house made dusty from summer breezes and focus on indoor activities that replace gardening projects.   

It’s a great month to relax a bit and prepare for all the wonders that are jammed into the following month.

November 1 - All Saints Day.  

We who know we are redeemed by the blood of Christ are acknowledged as saints but there are others who have left such a deep mark in the lives of Christians that their story motivates us to say ‘yes’ to God even if this decision challenges our walk in Christ Jesus.

St. Ignatius of Loyola - 1491-1556 - Soldier, visionary, strong will, instilled confidence in others.   He was a Spanish soldier until 30 yrs old and believed ‘rational’ rules over ‘irrational.’  

His right leg was injured in battle so during convalescence he read, “Life of Christ” and “Life of Saints.” 

 Ignatius discovered in Christ, the King he’d always wanted to serve.  

Ignatius thought, “Francis did this so I must do it.  Dominic did this so I must do it.”  

He was converted as a soldier in Christ but had never studied Scripture.

Although he was taught by God with great clarity he needed a credential.

He spent 20 years with boys half his age as he learned and grew in his faith and took 7 years to get a Master in Theology. 

 Ignatius created “Spiritual Exercises," a 30 day silent retreat.  

In the late 1540s he also wrote “Principle and Foundation” which became the touch stone of a spiritual exercise that provided radical reform of a life.  

Jesuite peers revered Ignatius so at 50 years of age he founded the Jesuite Order.

11-2  All Souls Day.  

  "The deeds you do may be the only sermon some people will hear today.”  St. Francis of Assisi

11-3  “I will glory not because I am righteous, but because I am redeemed; I will glory not because I am free from sins, but because my sins are forgiven me. 

I will not glory because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me, but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me.”      Ambrose

[Set clock forward one hour]

11-4  “When you write anything--a column, an essay--if you have the structure right, everything is easy. You get the structure wrong, you'll never get it right. You’ll spend hours whacking your way through the weeds with a

machete and you won't be able to escape the marsh.”  Charles Krauthammer

 [His words remind me of our own soul-structure.  When our soul is right with God, life seems far less about whacking our way through the weeds.]

11-5    For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe — that unless I believe, I should not understand. Anselm   

11-6  Quotes from Winston Churchill... VOTE today

“If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart; if

you’re not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; it’s inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”

“There is nothing government can give you that it has not taken from you in the first place.”  

”The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

11-7  “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” 

  Psalm 46:10-11

11-8  “In the old days, when there was less education and discussion, perhaps it was possible to get on with a very few simple ideas about God. But it is not so now. 

Everyone reads, everyone hears things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. 

It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. 

For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties today are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected.”  

C. S. Lewis,   Mere Christianity

11-9  “Where there is no obedience there is no virtue, where there is no virtue there is no good, where there is no good there is no love, where there is no love, there is no God, and where there is no God there is no Paradise.”     Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

11-10  The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.  Thomas Moore

11-11  Veterans Day - 100 years since end of WW I 

IN FLANDERS FIELDS  by John McCrae, 1872-1918

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high!

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

11-12  “To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them.”   Thomas Aquinas

11-13  “A sculptor who wishes to carve a figure out of a block uses his chisel, first cutting away great chunks of marble, then smaller pieces, until he finally reaches a point where only a brush of the hand is needed to reveal the figure. 

     In the same way, the soul has to undergo tremendous mortifications at first, and then more refined detachments, until finally its Divine image is revealed. 

     Because mortification is recognized as a practice of death, there is fittingly inscribed on the tomb of Duns Scotus, “Bis Mortus; Semel Sepultus” (twice died, but buried only once). 

When we die to something, something comes alive within us. If we die to self, charity comes alive; if we die to pride, service comes alive; if we die to lust, reverence for personality comes alive; if we die to anger, love comes alive.”  Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of the Soul.

11-14  Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God,

believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.   John 14:1-3

11-15 ATTITUDE:the difference between an ordeal and an adventure

I asked for strength, God gave me difficulties.

I asked for Wisdom , God gave me problems to solve

I asked for prosperity, God gave me a brain and brawn to work.

I asked for love, God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for favors, God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted, I received everything I needed.  

11-16  “We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves.”  Thomas Aquinas

11-17  Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15

11-18  “Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.”  John of the Cross

11-19  “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and

laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”  Hebrews 4:12-13

11-20  “A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul."  Therese of Lisieux

[I remember the life of my brother today]

11-21  “Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the catholic (universal) church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in one holy catholic church.”    Thomas Aquinas

11-22 “It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with His guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and single victories over the enemy, who is of our own household.  

     It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas with unusual health. 

He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while He has opened to us new sources of wealth and has crowned the labor of our workingmen in every department of industry with abundant rewards. 

Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. 

And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

      In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

    Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of October, A.D. 1864, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth year.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

11-23  “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.”   1 John 5:14-15

11-24  “God does not fit in an occupied heart.” 

   “Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.”  John of the Cross

11-25  "O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me.” Edith Stein  (Benedicta of the Cross)

11-26  Prayer is an audience with God . . . God is there, surrounding us and penetrating us; but we were not, perhaps, thinking of this. We must, therefore, withdraw our powers from the things of earth, gather them together, and fix them upon God; thus it is we place ourselves in His presence.  

    . . . . Prayer is more the work of the heart than of the head; it should, therefore, be simple, affective, and sincere. Let not the mind, then, weary itself in seeking for beautiful thoughts and sonorous phrases; we meditate not to prepare a finished sermon, nor to address God with fine rhetoric, but to nourish our soul with reflections which may enlighten and move us, and excite holy and generous resolutions; we make these reflections for ourselves alone.  Let them, then, be simple as well as pious.   Dom Vitalis Lehodey, (1857-1948) The Ways of Mental Prayer 

11-27   Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah 1:4-5

11-28  Quotes from Winston Churchill

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

“Life can either be accepted or changed.  If it is not accepted, it must be changed.  If it cannot be changed then it must be accepted.”

11-29 "Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”   Augustine

11-30  "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”     1 Peter 5:6-7

I sigh as we reach the end of the month and the end of walking with Jesus through the fields of his life.
Yet, as we turn the page, we begin anew . . . refreshed . . . with an eye on new beginnings . . . new birth . . . the Advent . . . the coming of new life . . . in Christ, Jesus.
Ahhhhhh
JOY!