This Season of
Advent is nearly over and the 4th Advent candle,
signifying Love, is lighted. As the waiting time is extra short now, the activity
level in many households frenetically escalates in anticipation of the Coming. For
young children, the glee-filled anticipation of the coming is
about Santa/Father Christmas, prettily wrapped presents, colorful lights,
sparkling decorations, and sugary delights as for an extra-special birthday
party. For many of us adults, the preparatory time is about the
planning, the shopping, the wrapping, the baking, the cooking, and
the celebration with friends and family, the post-Christmas cleanup, and then
the exhaustion.
Again, and again, we hear and we think we
know what Christmas is all about. And year after year we fall into the same
traps of cultural, familial, and especially commercially designed expectations. We
know of, and many of us contribute money, time, and gifts for, those far less
privileged as we continue on with our “traditions” of celebration, but for
which: crissmiss, or Christ’s Mass? AND, we try to remember that this date is
truly meant as a symbolic celebration as we have no idea of an actual date or
season of the year for the birth of Jesus. As the apostles didn’t know and as
the Gospels were written decades after the Crucifixion there’s nothing in any
of them or anywhere else with a date. Most likely as the apostles traveled, and
later Paul, the numbers of Jesus followers grew, so somewhere along the line,
those now deemed Christians took advantage of the regular and numerous ancient
winter festivals, and grabbed December 25th as the time to celebrate
the birth of the Child, who became Christ. It has even been suggested that
Jesus, as the Lamb of God, may have been born in the spring as are most lambs
around the world. We just don’t know.
Then, moving to the appointed readings from
Isaiah and the Psalm, it may be surprising that they are neither happy nor
merry, forcing us to remember and honor the penitential part of Advent. God
tells Ahaz of Judah, the signs are all there, all he has to do is ask God for
them. But the ever-Kingly Ahaz says
"Oh-No-I-don't-want-to-test-God" with the false humility of a
leader who is really saying, "I can't be bothered."
Isaiah's frustration is
palpable when he says, in effect – oh puh-leeze! The Lord Himself is
telling you that there's a young woman with child from the House of David, and
you'll be out of here before he's old enough to know good from evil. Isaiah’s
message foreshadows what later came to pass, the exile and scattering of the
tribe of Judah.
The
Psalmist’s lament gives a clear plea to God to come to help us…give us
life and Restore us…and we shall be saved. Paul’s opening
in the Letter to the Romans is definitively setting up the important
Davidic lineage of Jesus as the grace we have received. He reminds us
that our call is to belong to Christ and spread the Gospel message.
But a question
remains: is Christmas merely a birthday celebration with extra-great liturgical
music before our other parties?
Quite a few
years ago, a local gentleman playwright, as an Artist in Residence, wrote a
Christmas musical play for the parochial elementary school my daughters
attended ~ sort of an Our Town, the classic prize-winning
small-town-USA play by Thornton Wilder, meets the True Meaning of
Christmas ~ and all of the several hundred students were in the play as a
choir, with a few having key speaking roles. I regret to say that I cannot
recall the exact name of the play, or the playwright's name, but the message
remains clear to me. For the moment we'll call the play Emily's
Birthday Emily is the central character in the original Our
Town. If you don’t know the play, for a quick summary click here: Our Town and scroll
to Act 3: . The premise in this version
is that “Emily's Birthday” is a huge annual event in the town. Emily, who has
died, arrives not realizing that she has died, to participate in the
celebration of the anniversary of her birth. She finds a grand
occasion in the entire town, with glittering decorations, large scale family
meals, and many many gifts being exchanged, all because it's Emily's
Birthday! As we see her in her own family home with each family member
happily greeting each other and everyone with "Happy Emily's
Birthday," Emily realizes that no one is thinking of her at
all, there is no gift for her, nor is there even a place at the table for
her.
While I'm
convinced that this message was directed more to us adults, the kids – without
any blatant or obvious statement in the script – GOT IT: What is this Birth
Day Celebration really all about? It's time for all of us to "get it,"
again.
Joseph got
quite a message in his dream in Matthew’s Gospel about who was coming into his
life. With but a few days left, let our primary thoughts be more
about the Coming. Emmanu-el, spelled with either an Emm or an Imm, whose name means
"God (El) is with us," who is our Christ – the anointed
one/Messiah – Jesus, will shine His light upon us and we shall be
saved. Let us revel in the Hope, the Peace, the Joy,
and the Love that these four Sundays of Advent represent. And then let
us truly celebrate by preparing
ourselves for and remembering the significance, especially in these times, of
the Birth of Jesus, the only true GIFT, God's Love Incarnate for our salvation.
The celebration of CHRISTmas is coming quickly! We are to called to belong to
Christ, to go about His business in this life that we have been given to
live. Jesus IS the reason for the season.
O come, O King of nations,
bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.*
*O come, O
come, Emmanuel, verse 6, Hymn 56, 1982 Hymnal, Church Publishing,
Incorporated, New York
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
~ O
Lord God of Hosts, restore our
souls with fresh anticipation for the birth of the Holy Child, our Messiah,
Christ. Release us from the frantic activity that distracts us from this
waiting time, to savor the last few moments in child-like anticipation, opening
us to receive the only Gift we will ever need.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
RESPONSE:
O Come, let us adore You
~
O Lord God of Hosts, shine forth
upon those who govern in this World, in this Nation, and in this Community,
that we all shall be saved. Stir up Your strength and help them to seek Divine
truth and relentlessly pursue justice with compassion, tolerance, and mercy. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Come, let us adore You
~ O Lord God of Hosts, relieve all who
suffer from pain, loneliness, and fear, and renew the energy of those who
attend to their needs. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in
need… add your own petitions
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Come, let us adore You
~ O
Lord God of Hosts, walk with those
weighed down with sorrow as You joyously welcome all who live again with You,
where suffering and grief are no more. We pray especially for… add your
own petitions
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Come, let us adore You
~ O
Lord God of Hosts, we pause in
this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions,
petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O Come, let us adore You
~
O Lord of Hosts, grant
special grace to those who are anointed in Your Name to lead us in Your Church.
With their help and together may we re-dedicate ourselves to the obedience of
faith and accept the call to belong to Jesus Christ. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O
Come, let us adore You
The
Celebrant adds: Restore
us, O God, as we quietly breathe into the present moment, prepare us again to
be Christ-Bearers of the One with us and within us, as through His Life we are
given life to share His love and light to all we meet. We ask through Jesus,
the Incarnation of Love; and the Holy Spirit, our Divine Wisdom; who together
with You are One God, beyond forever. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment