Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Jesus

Are You In Danger of Becoming a Pharisee?

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It’s pretty easy to spot a Pharisee, and we might not like it to admit it, but we can all behave like a Pharisee if we’re not careful.   How will you knowPharisees if you’re a Pharisee?

If your official title is longer than your given name.

  • If you’re willing to be merciful – once.
  • If you feel your rules are the REAL rules.
  • If everyone outside your immediate circle, and most within it, are always wrong.
  • If God’s still small voice… sounds exactly like your own.
  • If you feel all the apples are spilled out of your cart when a rule is bent.
  • If you know the Word of God, but not the God of the Word.

You see, the Pharisees of Jesus’ day had started out wanting TO PLEASE God. They began in a day when Israel was deeply tainted with immorality and unrighteousness and somebody needed to stand in the gap. And the Pharisees stepped up to fill that need. And in an era where many Jews had abandoned the law of God, the Pharisees became like prophets to their people pointing them back to the Law of Moses and obedience to God’s will.

The Pharisees were THE religious people of the day and they took their “faith” seriously. Any time people take their faith seriously, it’s not a big step over the line from pleasing God to disobeying God.

So we want to be careful WE don’t do that too.  You see the Pharisees didn’t set out to make God angry.   They wanted to obey every one of God’s commands. They didn’t wake up one morning saying: “I’m going to make God mad today!”  It was just that their thinking was warped.  Rules had become all-important – People were UNIMPORTANT.  When the Pharisees brought this adulterous woman to Jesus… they didn’t care about her. A rule had been broken. She needed to be exposed.  She was only a tool – an object lesson they wanted to use to get at Jesus. They really hated Jesus.

In their warped thinking, God’s agenda was what they decided. And, they believed as long as they kept the rules their personal sins could be covered up. In reality they had no intention of stoning the woman … she was just a prop.  In fact, they couldn’t stone her. Once Rome conquered Judah, Judah became a Roman territory, and under Roman law, only the Roman governors had the authority to condemn people to death. You only have to look at the Crucifixion of Jesus to see that truth.  Do you remember who’s approval the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law needed to have Jesus executed? That’s right – Pilate. He was the Roman Governor at the time.

It was a perfect trap.  They didn’t care about the woman. And they didn’t care about Jesus. In their minds both of them had broken their rules… and both needed to be destroyed.

You need to understand, these Pharisees saw Jesus as an enemy of THEIR god. Their god was on THEIR side… and so anyone who opposed them was opposing God.

We can end up making Jesus our enemy by substituting our personal agenda for His. And if you’re not careful… you’ll not even know you’ve done it.  BUT there is one symptom of this dangerous attitude. It should be like a road sign saying “Don’t go there.”

When you get mad people don’t listen to you. Your opinion is being ignored. Things aren’t going YOUR way.  That can make you really angry. YOUR agenda is obviously the right agenda.  If you’re right it follow the other must be wrong.  If you feel that’s happening, pay attention. It’s a sign that you’re in danger of becoming a Pharisee.

The Pharisees had convinced themselves that if they could “look” good on the outside, that was as good as “being good” on the inside.  They fooled themselves into thinking that obeying certain rules was just as good as being righteous before God.  In fact they got most of the rules right.  By contrast, a Pharisee could tell you were going to hell – and you could tell they were thinking “got what you deserved – glad you are on your way.”

As this true story illustrates, warped thinking can lead you down a Pharisee-like path:

A 4-year told his mother” “Mom, I’m not gonna be like those bad guys Jesus was talking to; I’m not going to sin anymore.”   “Well, that’s very nice,” (she said). “What made you decided not to sin anymore?”  He answered: “Cause Jesus said if you don’t sin, you can throw the first stone and I want to throw the first stone.”

Reflection by Prioress, Sr. Roberta Bailey, OSB
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The Prodigal Son

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prodigalIf you were around before Vatican II for long Latin choir rehearsals, you may recall the melody of the antiphon that announced the Fourth Sunday of Lent.  It’s one of those that stays with you … (sing) Laetare translates from Latin to English “Rejoice”.   This is also known as “Refreshment Sunday” – a day when the austerity of Lent is relaxed a little, and the violet vestments of Lent can be replaced with rose-colored ones.   A special kind of fruit cake was often served on this Sunday modestly breaking the Lenten Fast.

According to another old tradition, although it probably is not on anyone’s list of approved feast days, is “Laugher Sunday” or “Holy Humor Sunday” – a day celebrating the big joke that God pulled on Satan.  Thus the name: God’s Joke or the Easter Laugh – a day to lighten up, relax, and recall the joy and the goodness of the Lord.  (We anticipated it a bit with our Hoedown!)  In honor of Laughter Sunday, here’s one to tickle your funny bone.    During a lesson on Easter, a religious education teacher asked the class, “What did Jesus do on this day?  Getting no response, she prompted: It begins with R. “I know!” blurted out a child: “Recycle.”

But on a more serious bent … The context of today’s Gospel is not to be made light of.  Sinners and social outcasts were “all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say”. The Pharisees and Scribes, who were the “good and religious” people, were shocked and disturbed. “This man welcomes sinners and [even worse] eats with them.” By their standards, a “good” person avoids “bad company”. To be quite honest, don’t we think the same? If so, then we are not thinking like Jesus.

We typically title this Gospel story the “Prodigal Son” but, in fact, the emphasis is less on the son than on the father, who clearly represents God and Jesus.

No one can deny the appalling behavior of the younger son in this Gospel. He took all that his father generously gave to him as his inheritance and used it in leading a life of total debauchery and self-centered indulgence. Eventually, he had nothing and was reduced to living with pigs, something utterly abhorrent to the Jewish mind, and even sharing their slops, something even we would find appalling. “Served him right,” might be the reaction of many, especially the good and morally respectable.

This, however, is not the reaction of the father, who has only one thought in his mind – how to get his son to come back to where he belongs. The father does not say: “This son has seriously offended me and brought disgrace on our family. He better not come crawling back here.  I disown him!”  Instead he says: “My son went away, is lost and I want so much to have him back.” He stands in the doorway of his house many long hours, watching, waiting, longing … His love for his wayward son has not changed one iota.

There is no force involved. The police are not sent out. There is not an “Amber” alert. Servants are not instructed to haul him back. No, the father waits. It is up to the son himself to make the crucial decision: does he want to be with his father or not?

Eventually he “came to his senses”, that is, he realized the wrongness of what he had done. He became aware of just how good his father had been. The process of repentance had begun. He felt deeply ashamed of his behavior and then, most significant of all, he turned around to make his way back to his father.

The father, for his part, filled with compassion for his son’s experiences, runs out to meet him, embraces him and brushes aside the carefully prepared speech the son had prepared. If the son had known his father better, he would have realized that such a speech was unnecessary. Immediately, orders are given to bring the very best things in the house and a banquet is laid out.   This is forgiveness on the part of both the father and the son – a return to where each ought to be in relationship to the other.

This is where the elder son comes in. He simply cannot understand what is happening. “It’s just not fair!” How many times have we heard this spoken or, be truthful, felt in our hearts?  “It’s not fair, just because she’s the baby; you didn’t let me stay out that late when I was her age!”  And the litany grows.  We challenge our parents and one another’s generosity, operating from the perspective of limited resources. If she gets it, perhaps there won’t be enough for me.

Jesus wants his hearers (us) to understand that this is not how it is with God’s mercy, love and forgiveness. God offers love to all of us in abundance. The forgiveness of the father in the parable is an image of God’s love for us: generosity beyond measure!

By our standards, even God is unjust.  In fact, he is corrupted by love! That’s fortunate for us!  Supposing we went to confession one day and the priest said, “Sorry, that’s it. No more forgiveness, no more reconciliation. You’ve used up your quota. Too bad! ” Of course, it’s not like that.  Thankfully there is no limit to God’s forgiveness, mercy and love.  God has a deep desire to forgive – to be totally reconciled with us when we’ve severed the bond of relationship.  There is always a place in God’s company for us.  The question is: Do you truly believe that God acts this way towards us?  Can we humbly accept divine mercy without jealousy, knowing that God’s love for another does not diminish the love shown and showered upon us?

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Trying Not To

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boy-eating-cookieI think we all understand what temptation is.   Imagine there’s a little boy in a grocery store who walks by an open pack of peanut butter cookies. The clerk notices him eye the cookies.  “What are you doing there?” “Nothing,” replied the boy. “It looks to me like you’re trying to steal a cookie.” “No,” said the boy, “I’m trying not to.” That’s temptation!

We understand that temptation leads to trouble.  Such was the plight of the man that I read about in Reader’s digest.  This man said he was shopping in the mall with his wife when a shapely young woman is a short, form-fitting dress walked by.  He followed her with his eyes.  Without looking up from the item she was examining his wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble you are in?”  That’s the trouble with temptation.

How many of us have shrugged and said, “The devil made me do it!” and used that as an excuse when caught doing something we weren’t supposed to?  It’s a convenient defense.  But there’s one problem: the devil can’t MAKE us do anything.  He may be clever, but he’s not all powerful.  It may feel that way, however, when we’re dangling on temptation’s hook, because the devil has a tried and true strategy for luring us into his net.  First, he lays out the bait.  He knows us like a skilled fisherman knows fish.  He notes our habits, observes our hangouts; then he drops a custom-made lure right in front of our noses.

Then, comes the appeal.  He can’t make us bite, but he does know what happens when we catch a glimpse of the tantalizing bait … like the snapshot promo on TV.  We’re drawn in, we linger over it, we toy with the idea, roll it over in our minds until it consumes our imagination … we just HAVE to know what the gossip tid-bit was we overheard is all about.

Now the struggle really begins.  Our conscience jabs us in the ribs, the red flags go up, the warning sirens go off but the invitation looks so delightful.  What do we do?

Benedict knew about this, didn’t he?  Remember in chapter 43 where he warns if the monastic comes late for chapel, if though ashamed, she should still come inside lest she be tempted to return to bed and sleep.  Or, worse he says, settle down outside and engage in idle talk, thereby giving occasion to the Evil One.  They should come inside so that they will not lose everything and may amend in the future.”

Either we will resist or yield, swim away or swallow the temptation whole.  When you give in you know the feeling of emptiness and the pain that sticks in your neck.  But, be alert when you do resist – be ready for the temptation to come from a different direction.  However, when you’ve resisted you will know a feeling of freedom that envelopes you.

It seems there are three general kinds of temptations that our adversary still uses. He often tries to work his wiles on the heels of a spiritual high point in our life.  Or it may come at a time of physical weakness, or when we’re are alone and are more susceptible to temptation – then be prepared for a major attack.    Jesus experienced the devil’s temptation, just after his baptism and the Father’s affirmation; when he was hungry following his 40-day fast, when he was alone in the desert.  Thus he could sympathize, no, –  empathize with us,

This Gospel lesson alerts us to the dangers – the allurement of the devil – to be tempted to be independent – like a two-year-old’s “I’ll do it myself.”  Or we may give into temptation to take the easy way out.  It will be less suffering, no struggle, no sacrifice … why work to conquer our self-will when the world could be handed to you on a silver platter – give you a free ride?

The one thing common to all three of the temptations described is that Satan attempted to distract Jesus from his mission and to destroy his relationship with his Heavenly Father.  You may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.  Don’t give up!  There is truth in the story of what Martin Luther said when he was asked how he overcame the devil.  “When the devil comes knocking at the door of my heart, asking who lives there,” Jesus comes to the door says: “Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out.  Now I live here.”  When Christ fills our lives Satan just has no entrance.

You may have learned this little ditty of a prayer as a child.  It’s still a good one for nightly protection:  I liken it to a child’s compline (evening prayer) –

“Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless this bed that I lie on.
Before I close my eyes in sleep,
I give my soul to Christ to keep.

Four corners to my bed,
Four angels ’round my head,
One to watch, one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away.

I go by sea, I go by land,
The Lord made me with his right hand,
If any danger come to me,
Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me.

For he’s the branch and I’m the flower,
Pray God send me a happy hour,
And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

 

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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Epiphany3_YearC_scrollAfter the opening verses in today’s Gospel, Luke leap frogs over the chapters where we would find the Infancy Narratives, Jesus’ baptism by John, the temptations Jesus faced in the desert, and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  The writer picks up in chapter four where we find Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath – it seems obvious this was his custom.  No one seems surprised to see him there.  What does raise some eyebrows is when he stands and reads from the scroll handed to him.  He announces his mission is in continuity with Israel’s prophetic tradition.  He speaks of a “year acceptable to the Lord” making reference to the Jewish tradition of Sabbath every 7th year and jubilees celebrated every 50th year – times when the land was left fallow and food stores were to be shared equally with all.  A time of renewal in which debts were forgiven and slaves were freed.

Luke clearly acknowledges that he himself never saw Jesus. His gospel was written at least 50 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet he wants to assure his readers that what he writes is accurate and is based on the experiences of people who did know Jesus personally. At the same time he lets us know he is not writing a biography. His purpose is not to relate a chronology but to tell us the meaning of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for our personal lives and why we should accept and follow Jesus as our King and Lord.

People get different things out of going to church, depending, it would seem, on what they expect to get when they go there.  There’s a story about an elderly couple that was walking out of church one Sunday. The wife said to the husband, “Did you see the strange hat Mrs. O’Brien was wearing?” “No, I didn’t,” replied her husband. “Bill Smith badly needs a haircut, doesn’t he?”  “Sorry, I didn’t notice.” “You know John,” said the wife impatiently,” Sometimes I wonder if you get anything at all out of going to church”.

I wonder what the people who were in the synagogue that day when Jesus read aloud expected to get out of the service. Certainly they didn’t expect to see Jesus stand and read a portion of Scripture, let alone comment on it.

What did this message mean to the people in the synagogue? What does it mean to us today? It meant that day what it means today: that Jesus in the promised Messiah, the anointed one sent by God to redeem his people. It means that Jesus frees His listeners from the bonds of sin and guilt.  He came then, and He continues to come each and every day, to set us free. Why do we continue to try to solve our problems by ourselves instead of turning to God?

We are all captives to something, whether it is our ministry, our role in community, favorite TV shows, certain foods especially ones that aren’t good for us, shopping or something else. All of us can awaken to God’s anointing power. It constantly inspires, enlivens and guides us.  It soothes, comforts, welcomes and transforms us.

We can listen to that still small Voice of God within or in the words of a mentor and spiritual director or our comrade in community.  Or we can refuse to listen, we can refuse to believe, and we can refuse to let it make a difference for us, but it is still true. The Word of God stands forever!   Jesus’ one-sentence sermon that day in the synagogue was the shortest in history, but it is also one of the most powerful.

And, we believe it because we believe in the one who spoke it.  We love the man Jesus and believe he is the Son of God.  When Jesus taught in the synagogue, people listened but they did not understand everything, and perhaps they understand nothing at all. However, they were struck by a word, a sentence and they remembered it.  They continued to think about it…  Sounds like our lectio experience.  That’s when the Spirit goes into action and enlightens us, at first only a little, and later on more powerfully and persuasively.  That’s why it is important to spend open-ended time with the Word, with God.  We may have some favorite prayers we say that someone else wrote.  But how would you feel if one you call “friend” only shared with you something they’d memorized as a child or words from someone else’s pen?

We decide how to nourish our minds and feed our spirits by choosing what to read and to watch, what to reflect on.  And, we decide how to protect our minds and spirits by not reading or watching what does not uplift us and make a positive impact on our lives and those we engage with in conversation.  Like Scholastica and Benedict on that memorable night, we want to spend time in “holy conversation.”

Sometimes we forget how precious the Word of God is.  A powerful example is in this true story.  In 1964 the Romanian government released religious and political prisoners. Among them was one who had spent nearly three of his fourteen years in prison in solitary confinement. After his release, he wrote a book entitled In God’s Underground in which he describes how one day a new prisoner was brought in. The upper part of his body was in a plaster cast. When the guards withdrew, he slipped out a small tattered book secretly hidden between his skin and the plaster cast. None of the other prisoners had seen a book for years. They asked him what the book was. It was the Gospel of John.  The author of the story writes that he took the book in his hand and no life-saving drug could have been more precious to him. From that day the tattered little book went from hand to hand, many learned it by heart and each day they would discuss it among themselves. That reminds us that sometimes we forget the importance of the Word of God in our lives.

                                                                                                 Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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The First Miracle

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water to wine(John tells us that Jesus and his disciples were invited to this wedding at Cana, as was Jesus’ mother, Mary.) There is no parallel report of this miracle at Cana in the other three Gospels. Don’t you think it is significant that John included the story – about Jesus and his disciples at a wedding – at a PARTY – as the very first miracle Jesus performs? Of all that Jesus said and did in his three years of ministry, this is first – Jesus at a party, turning water into wine. (and not communion size wine but party size wine)

John must have kept his eye on Mary whenever he was in her company.  Even after Jesus’ death, at Jesus, behest he took Mary into his home and heart until her own death.  Though in relating this story he does not call her by name, he must have been deeply touched by her gentleness and gutsiness; keen intuition and comfortableness in staying in the background.  Only Mary, Jesus and the wine steward (and, of course, our writer John) apparently noticed the exchange between Jesus and his mother – and the miraculous result.  There is no mention about whether the other wedding guests are aware of what happened.  This lavish response to a simple human need is a vision for us of the abundance of God’s workings in our lives. Jesus got involved in a BIG WAY – those six jars of wine would fill 6 to 9 HUNDRED bottles.  That’s a lot of wine, even for a wedding party that would, in Jesus’ time, last a week.

Jesus quiet generosity challenges us to respond generously when confronted with human need today – simply, quietly without looking for credit or announcing the “miracle.”   We respond as best we can, fully confident that God can transform our “water of humility into wine of unselfish generosity” bringing the Kingdom of God to fulfillment among us.

Do you know people who ‘feel bad about feeling good’?   (Or are you one of them?)  Do you feel that Jesus should have just attended the wedding ceremony (the ‘religious part’) and kept away from the festivities?  Do you have a problem with Mary enjoying a glass of wine or two?  There are some people, maybe more than we know, who seem to feel that, in order to be a ‘good’ person they always have to be denying themselves, always ‘making sacrifices’ or putting themselves down and minimizing their God-given talents.  If they think they are really enjoying life, there must be something wrong. They are in a constant state of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

To echo Pope Francis’ thinking: “Our religion is a religion of joy.”  But people miss his point when they spend their time living Lent but without Easter.  Pope Francis says in his introduction to THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL,” Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures!”   He continues: “I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress.”

And, we really do have much to celebrate, to be joyful and be thankful for in so far as so many people have used their gifts to promote our well-being and support  our community.

I quote here Max Lucado from When God Whispers Your Name:”

Why would Jesus, on his first journey, take his followers to a party? Didn’t they have work to do? Didn’t he have principles to teach? Wasn’t his time limited? How could a wedding fit with his purpose on earth? Why did Jesus go to the wedding?

The answer? It’s found in the second verse of John 2. “Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding.”

Why did they invite him? I suppose they liked him.  Big deal? I think so. I think it’s significant that common folk in a little town enjoyed being with Jesus. I think it’s noteworthy that the Almighty didn’t act high and mighty. The Holy One wasn’t holier-than-thou. You just don’t get the impression that his neighbors grew sick of his haughtiness and asked, “Well, who do you think made you God?” His faith made him likable, not detestable. Would that ours would do the same!

Lucado asks:  May I state an opinion that may raise an eyebrow? May I tell you why I think Jesus went to the wedding? I think he went to the wedding to-now hold on, hear me out, let me say it before you heat the tar and pluck the feathers-I think Jesus went to the wedding to have fun.”

So here’s a question for us:  Jesus took time for a party.  So, shouldn’t we?

How are you going to party?  And who is God using – like Mary speaking to Jesus – to give us a nudge in the right direction?  If you don’t know – as Benedict says:  listen more carefully.  And, if you do know – take the hint!

                                                                                                        Reflection by Sister Robert Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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Fourth Sunday of Advent 2015

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May the last few days building up to Christmas not become too hectic doing for others …  save time for you and the Babe whose birth we will celebrate on Friday! 

In thbethlehem2is Gospel reading Mary, the girl-mother goes to visit Elizabeth, her cousin, who, in advanced age, is also with child.  She traveled approximately 103 miles over not the kindest terrain.  It sounds like perhaps Elizabeth learned of Mary’s approaching arrival.  Whether or not, Elizabeth greets Mary with full recognition of the roles that they, and their unborn children, will play in God’s plan for salvation

Thus, it is appropriate in this season of Advent that we consider the role of Mary. Mary is the one who believed that God’s word to her would be fulfilled.    Mary shows us “blind” faith, deep trust and an abiding peace.   She ask only, how can this be – listens to the angel’s reply …. nods her head and sets off across the hill country to be midwife to her cousin.  Her faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people’s history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to everyone: those who had gone before her and all of us who come after.

Martin Luther King, Jr once described faith as: ”taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole stair case.”   This is Mary … the angel sent by God said it can happen, so who am I to question God?   At this stage, she has no idea what is in store but she has said her Yes and she will be faithful to it.  May we always be like Mary, open and cooperative in God’s plan for salvation.

A few years ago there was a TV ad that ended with the question: Have you said ‘Yes’ yet?”   It is a question that tomorrow’s Mass are asking each one of us.  Have we made the most important preparation of all? Yes to the Father, Yes to Jesus, Yes to all that we will experience in the coming year, Yes to every call that God makes and will make of us?  We learn from Mary, and her son Jesus, how to say an unqualified, unconditional and unreserved YES!  That’s where the real joy and happiness of Christmas lies. All the rest is (so to speak) tinsel on the tree of our lives!

As Advent time winds down it is almost impossible not to be sucked into celebrating the feast before it occurs.  We struggle to remain grounded in the spirit of Advent.  Like children we just can’t wait for the big birthday party.  It’s as though even the most beautiful liturgies and symbols fail to communicate, because God is so much greater than all our frail efforts.  But, God doesn’t need our feeble attempts in order to communicate with astonishing clarity.    If we look and listen closely – like we look forward to the rising sun each morning from the breakfast table – we remember God is greater than any Advent wreath.  When the rich melodies of the O Antiphons course through us we are reminded we do indeed stand on holy ground.

On Monday we will mark the shortest day of the year.  Isn’t it strange that we refer to it as “shortest day” not the longest night?   The light of day gradually increases and we witness the sunrise earlier and earlier each day.

And, the Advent wreath’s purple candles increase until all four give light to our darkness and hinting at the more brilliant light that God promised: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”  God hasn’t forgotten or given up on us.  How fitting to have had the Penitential Service this past week … Any debt or guilt we may have felt or imagined is erased: the jail door sprung. The prison gate opens as wide as a proverbial smiley face!   The light within us is even more dazzling than you can imagine!

In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer we hear a message of hope and reassurance:

“Just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God.  Our eyes are at fault, that is all.  God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment.  No evil can befall us; whatever others may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.”

Let’s not be counted among the people who miss out on the gift that God sent to them. You see, God’s Gift didn’t come in a beautifully wrapped package. God sent Jesus, His only Son, as His gift to us. Jesus’ mother was young virgin…his earthly father was a poor carpenter…he was not born in a beautiful palace…he was born in a manger. Not a very pretty package, is it? But do you know what? It was the greatest gift the world has ever known. It was the gift of salvation and it had your name on it.

Our prayer bubbles forth in the words of Psalm 40 (which we prayed in Noon Prayer yesterday) “O God, your wonders and designs are beyond imagining; you have no equal.  Should I proclaim your blessings, they are more that I can tell!”

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