4th Advent 2014, Yes

1 Thessalonians, 5, 1-8, 23, 24

About time spans and right moments, dear brothers, I have no need to write to you. You know very well yourselves that the Breaking of the Day of Christ comes like a thief in the night. When people say, ‘Now peace reigns, and all stands secure, then suddenly catastrophe breaks upon them, like the birth pangs of a woman with child, and there will be no escape for them.

Christ the Divine Physician

You, however, dear brothers, are not to remain in darkness, so that the breaking of day will not surprise you like a thief. For you are sons of light and sons of the day. Our being is not filled with night and darkness. So let us not sleep like the others, but rather cultivate an alert and sober state of mind. 

Those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk are likewise of nightly nature. But since we belong to the brightness of day, let us be sober, clothed with the breastplate of faith and love, our head armed [protected] with the hope of healing….May God himself, however, the source of all Peace, hallow and heal your whole being. May your complete and undivided being, Spirit, Soul, and Body, remain pure and unclouded at the coming in the spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord. You may trust in him who calls you. He it is who also lets you reach the goal.

4^th Advent

December 21, 2014

1 Thessalonians, 5, 1-8, 23, 24

You may have had the experience window shopping: you see the reflection of others in the glass; and you may have a particular experience of someone; perhaps one arouses a bit critical. And suddenly you are shocked to realize that you are looking at yourself.

At this season of the year we may be inclined think that somehow our deepest desires will be fulfilled; that we will be surrounded by the warmth and love of family and friends; that we will be contented. And so we may be surprised or even shocked that we may at the same time feel ourselves to be intensely alone, isolated and unfulfilled. And one of the uncomfortable revelations comes from catching an objective glimpse of ourselves.

What comes to our aid is our own objectivity. We can be helped by shedding light on the untruthfulness of our own illusions and delusions, on our own deceptive egotism. And we can set our sights instead on the image of the Coming One. The One who was present at the creation of the human being, who walked the paradisal garden amid the freshness of creation, He who is our higher self and our true being, He is drawing near. He is willing to enter into our tarnished circumstances. He is willing to enter the fallen domain of the heart, just as He once was born into degraded surroundings on earth. For he came, he continues to come, to hallow and to heal. The poet says:

Let the stable still astonish.

Straw–dirt floor, dull eyes,

Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;

Crumbling, crooked walls;

No bed to carry that pain,

And then, the child,

Rag-wrapped, laid to cry

In a trough.

Who would have chosen this?

Who would have said: “Yes,

Let the God of all the heavens and earth

Be born here, in this place?

Who but the same God

Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms

Of our hearts

And says, “Yes,

Let the God of Heaven and Earth

Be born here –

In this place.[1]

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[1] Leslie Leyland Fields, “Let the Stable Still Astonish”

4th Advent 2007, Heart Prayer

4th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

Bernhard Eyb

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “

And the angel departed from her.

4^th Advent Sunday

December 23, 2007

Luke 1.26-38

“No word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”[1]

Words from the realm of eternity carry with them the infinite living power to shape and form earthly realities. They continue to resound even into the present time.

The angel from the realms of spirit announces to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”[2] This Most High healing spirit draws near to humanity every year at this time. It is He whose very being and essence is Love. Mary is a representative of the pure

Mother Tender, Iris Sullivan

human soul. These eternally acting angelic words are announced to all purified human souls, to souls who have overcome selfish egotism and are ready to become vessels, bearers of the spirit and the Most High power. He draws near, hoping to find Mary-like souls into whom he can power the precious and strong essence of His being. He would fill us to overflowing with His love, so that we in turn can spill out His selfless love into the world. For “No word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

So, as the poet advises us:

Ask the Friend for love

Ask Him again,

For I have learned that every heart will get

What it prays for

Most.[3]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Luke 1.37 from The New Testament, a Rendering, by Jon Madsen, p.141.

[2] Luke 1.35.

[3] Hafiz, “A Potted Plant”, in The Subject Tonight is Love, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 65. 

4th Advent 2008, New Adam

4th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

Fra Angelico

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “

And the angel departed from her.

4^th Advent Sunday

December 21, 2008

Luke 1:26 – 38

“In the beginning, when God/Elohim began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep; And Elohim’s Spirit Breath fluttered over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light. And God saw that the light was good.” Genesis 1: 1-3

This beginning of creation describes how the empty, watery darkness is warmed and moved by the creative spirit-breath of God. Something similar is announced to Mary by the angel Gabriel: “The breath of the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and (like a cloud) the dynamic power of the Most High will overshadow you. Because of this, the offspring born of you will be called Son of God.” Luke 1:35

The same Spirit-Breath, the Word of God that brought the world into existence, now brings forth, within His Creation, from His creature—himself, the Light of the world. An astonishing inversion!

Mary’s response is threefold: At first she is greatly troubled. It is perhaps not so strange that the soul begins to ripple and shudder as the Spirit-Breath begins to breathe over its depths. And then, almost equally amazingly, she begins to question. She ponders the how. The underlying tentative soul gesture here seems to be: can I move with this? Go along with it? This is the soul beginning to open.

The third part of her response is assent. She humbly aligns her will with the greatness of God’s purpose and intention. It is a great purpose, for this is nothing less than the beginning of a new creation. For with Christ Jesus, humankind would be given a new ancestor. Just as Adam was the mortal

Aidan Hart

body’s forefather, so is Christ the new Adam, the Adam of the immortal human soul and spirit.

The first creation came into being simply because God said so: “Let there be”…and it was so. But the second creation requires human cooperation and participation. Mary is the archetype of the human soul willing to do its part to make the world new. But hers is likewise a soul that asks for the light of understanding; for she questions, wondering where and how she fits in. The explanation that God want to create His Son through her opens her soul.

Awed fear that stimulates questioning and finally assent—this is the path of the soul as it joins in God’s plans. In the second creation, God’s Spirit Breath says “Let my Son, the Light of the World, be born through you.”  And there is light, because the human soul is willing to seek it, generate it, give birth to it. And God sees that the Light is good. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

4th Advent 2009, No Hands but Yours

4th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

Arild Rosenkrantz

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “

And the angel departed from her.

4^th Advent

Dec 20, 2009

Luke 1: 26 – 38

We hear the age-old story; at a particular place and time, a particular woman engaged to a particular man is visited by an angel. The angel   brings her a confusing and daunting message; a message that will change humankind forever.

Mary is a picture for the human soul. She mediates between the visitation of

angels, and earthly realities. Operating between heaven and earth, she must find an effective relationship to both realms.

She does so through humility and willing service. Through this attitude of soul, and despite tremendous earthly difficulties, she is ultimately able to mediate the birth of the divine into humanity. She gives Christ a body in which to live, hands and feet with which to work on the earth.

Mary is the archetype of the soul of humanity. For we too are to receive the Holy Spirit’s impregnation. Through the openness of wonder, through our empathy, through the positive inspirations of our conscience, we give Christ a body. Through us He has feet with which to walk the earth, hands with which feed, bless and strengthen. Someone has said:

God has no body now on earth but yours

no hands but yours

no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which he pours out,

compassion in the world, compassion in the world.[1]

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[1] after Teresa of Avila

4th Advent 2010, Free Courage

4th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

He Qi

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “

And the angel departed from her.

4th Advent Sunday

December 19, 2010

Luke 1: 26 – 38

Today we hear the story of the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear the Christ Child. Here is a poem by Denise Levertov, which draws a parallel to our own lives:

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,

almost always a lectern, a book; always

the tall lily.

                   Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,

the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,

whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions

courage.

                  The engendering Spirit

did not enter her without consent.

Birth of the Light, Roland Tiller

                                            God waited.

She was free

to accept or to refuse, choice

integral to humanness.

         

Aren’t there annunciations

of one sort or another

in most lives?

                   Some unwillingly

undertake great destinies,

enact them in sullen pride,

uncomprehending.

             More often

those moments

     when roads …

     open …

are turned away from

in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair

and with relief.

Ordinary lives continue.

                                 God does not smite them.

But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.

        ….

Called to a destiny more momentous

than any in all of Time,

she did not quail,

                          only asked

a simple, 'How can this be?'

and gravely, courteously,

took to heart the angel’s reply,

perceiving instantly

the astounding ministry she was offered:

to bear …

Infinite weight and lightness; to carry

in hidden, finite inwardness,

…Eternity; to contain

in slender vase of being,

the sum of power –

in narrow flesh,

the sum of light…. [i]

May we, too, be engendered by the Spirit, so that the Christ Child can be brought to birth within us.  May we too gravely, courteously, courageously accept the destiny invitations whispered to us by angels.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[i] Levertov, “Annunciation”, after ‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’, From the Agathistos Hymn, Greece, 6^th century.

  

4th Advent 2011, Angelwards

4th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

Martin Schongauer

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “

And the angel departed from her.

4^th Advent

December 18, 2011

Luke 1:26-38

Besides our earthly mother and father, we each have another set of parents. Our other mother is the earth. From her substance we have built the house of our body. And we have a ‘sky father’ who has sent our spirits down to be housed in the body. And to accompany us, the Father has sent with us a constant companion. This companion, who is ever with us, who is ever awake, ever inspiring us, suggesting, whispering to us, is our own angel.

This angelic companion has been with us forever. It carries the book of our life, with the arc of the storyline we decided to write, its chapters our many lifetimes, both past and future. Our angel is our guide and companion; it has joined its own destiny inextricably to ours.

Not all of us have as dramatic an angelic encounter as Mary does in the gospel reading. Nevertheless Gabriel’s words are echoed by our own angel, who whispers to us: ‘the Lord is with you! The Holy Spirit will come upon you.’ Luke 1:28 and 35

It is up to us to create the inner quiet, the moments of openness. It is up to us to awaken, to listen, to notice, so that it can indeed happen. ‘For no word is spoken in the world of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.’ Luke 1:37

The angel in you

Rejoices over

Your light

Weeps over your darkness

Out of his wings whisper

Words of love

Poems, tender affection

He watches over

your path

Direct your step

Angelwards.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Rose Auslander. “ The Angel in You”

  

4th Advent 2013, Create a New World

4th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

Fra Angelico

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “ And the angel departed from her.

4^th Advent

December 22, 2013

Luke 1: 26-38

In today’s reading we hear of an act of conception: the Holy Spirit descends upon the open soul; the dynamic creative power of the Most High surrounds her in a radiant cloud. And her offspring is called Son of God.

We too are involved in an ongoing act of conception. Invisible to most, angels hover around us. A spirit of wholeness wishes to descend upon open souls. The creative power of the Most High wishes to work in us.  FOR WE ARE TASKED WITH CREATING A NEW WORLD. Working with angelic hierarchies, we are to bring into being offspring that will populate a new heaven and a new earth.

The Act of Consecration of Man is the archetype of just such an act of conception. We open ourselves to the message of the angels; we receive a spirit of healing and peace. Our actions for this hour are guided by the divine world. Working together with divine beings, with Christ and the Father, we are creating eternal offspring that will live into the next age.

What we do here, what we do whenever we act out of the spirit of wholeness and peace, may be largely invisible. But its effects are more real, more lasting, of greater significance than most of what we see around us. For what we are generating is the future of the earth. For the poet says:

To remember

The Awakening, Thomas Cooper Gotch

the other world

in this world

is to live in your

true inheritance.

….

Now, looking through

the slanting light

of the morning

window toward

the mountain

presence

of everything

that can be,

what urgency

calls you to your

one love?  What shape

waits in the seed

of you to grow

and spread

its branches

against a future sky?[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] David Whyte, What to Remember Upon Waking, in House of Belonging. Picture: The Awakening, Thomas Cooper Gotch