Christmas Midnight 2008, Light Seed

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1: 1-25

[Now is proclaimed the beginning of the whole Gospel, according to Matthew in the first chapter.]

This is the book of the new creation, which has happened through Jesus Christ [or, the generation of Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.

 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

   Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob's Ladder, Blake

   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

   Perez the father of Hezron,

   Hezron the father of Ram,

  Ram the father of Amminadab,

   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

   Nahshon the father of Salmon,

  Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

   Obed the father of Jesse,

  and Jesse the father of King David.

   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

  Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

   Abijah the father of Asa,

  Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

  Uzziah the father of Jotham,

   Jotham the father of Ahaz,

   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

  Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

   Manasseh the father of Amon,

   Amon the father of Josiah,

  and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

  After the exile to Babylon:

   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

  Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

   Abihud the father of Eliakim,

   Eliakim the father of Azor,

  Azor the father of Zadok,

   Zadok the father of Akim,

   Akim the father of Elihud,

  Elihud the father of Eleazar,

   Eleazar the father of Matthan,

   Matthan the father of Jacob,

  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

From Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph. But before they were aware of having come together, she conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph however, her husband, who was an upright man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, was considering whether he should quietly set her free [or, decided to consider all this a mystery.] As he was pondering this, behold the angel of the Lord appeared before him in a dream and said to him:

 “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because that which is to be born of her is conceived out of the power of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus, that is, the Bringer of Healing, for he it will be who will heal his own of their error and guilt. “

All this took place so that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of the prophet, might be fulfilled:

“A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, that is, God in our midst.”

           

Now when Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord directed him, and he took Mary to himself as his wife, and he knew her not until she bore her son, and he gave him the name Jesus.

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1:1, and 17-25

December 25, 2008

Last summer, the plants began flowering in the long days of summer. The seeds, warmed in the chalice of the blossom, were raised to the light of the sun. And now those seeds dwell in the darkness of earth. Meanwhile the longest night has arrived. And yet, nevertheless, the sunlight is victorious over the dark. The sun is already sending its living light to quicken the seeds. Had we the proper eyes, we would see the first glimmerings of the spark of life around them.

Our souls too had their origins in sun-bright realms. We too have descended into the chaos of dark earth night.

Tonight, in the darkness of longest night, our souls awaken to the victory of light over the darkness. In deep earth night we feel the quickening. New life is streaming into the earth, and into our souls; for the Sun-God is descending from heights of heaven to depths of earth, bringing us the light of hope.

Tonight the Christ-Light is once again born in the realm of earth.

J. Schmid

He is…

the fountain of all lights, and sends

them flowing without fail, especially

the Light we cannot name, nor grasp,

forever racing far beyond our wits,

so that, with strong desire, we

might struggle all the more to touch

what extends so far beyond us.[1]

He brings the promise that our darkness will be overcome; he brings to light a new life.

It is by sharing the Life that Is

that every soul is quickened.[2]

He brings us His Light, so that human souls will fill themselves with the radiance of His good will; that human souls will radiate the light and warmth of His peace into the dark turbulence of our time. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org 

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[1] St. Gregory of Nazianzos, “Spiritual Being”, in Love’s Immensity, Mystics on the Endless Life, by Scott Cairns, p. 38.

[2] St. Irenaeus, (125 – 210), “The Human Person”, in Love’s Immensity, Mystics on the Endless Life, by Scott Cairns, p. 6.