Christmas I, Midnight, December 25, 2022, Heaven's Voices

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1:18–25 

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

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 home 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, December 25, 2022

Matthew 1:17-25 

A diamond in its natural state is dark and stained; it gives little clue of what lies in its depths. Not until it is cleaned, cut, and polished can the light within it begin to shine forth.  

Jesus’ conception was shrouded in darkness, awkwardness, and mystery. Like a diamond in its natural state, the conception of the Christ Child causes consternation. Joseph is not sure what this unaccountable conception means. Has Mary’s jewel of innocence been stained? Or is there a greater mystery at work here, something precious that requires her to be handed back to the temple authorities for safekeeping? 

Joseph ponders the awkwardness. 

And in answer, the heavens open. Tones sound forth. A bright angel speaks to him, saying in effect: ‘Do not be afraid of this situation. All the darkness of this diamond mystery will be chipped away. All the awkwardness will ultimately be set to rights. Remember the paradox of the prophecy? A virgin brings God into our midst.” * 

In night’s darkness, the star radiance of an angel pierces Joseph’s gloom. Joseph hears and listens. From night’s darkness, he rises up in understanding, ready to guard and protect the light-filled but as yet unmanifested jewel entrusted into his hands. 

Adam Bittleston captures the angelic voice that speaks to us today from the Gospel, the good news from the realm of the angels:

Jan de Kok

Darkness of night

Stars fill.

Silence of night

Music breaks.

 

Midnight words

Promise the coming

Humble, hopeful

Of man’s true healer.

 

Hear well, O Man

Lift up your heart

In deep darkness

To heaven’s voices.*

 

Hearing, we rise; our understanding opens into the starlight, as into the night of the sense’s darkness there streams here, now, tonight, the healing light of the Spirit’s Grace. For Christ is conceived every year anew. He is conceived as the God in our midst. He shines in us like the starlight in the diamond. 

*Isaiah 7:14

** “Advent,” by Adam Bittleston, in A Window Into Worlds 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Christmas Midnight 2016, Be a Beginner

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

Tree of Jesse, Hildesheim

Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.

 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

   Isaac the father of Jacob,

   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 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's Dream, Goya

 “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: 1-25

When some new stage of development is to begin, there is first a kind of review of the past. For the new is always built on the foundation of the old.

In this reading, we hear of the long line of forty-two ancestors who prepared a suitable body for the coming of Christ. Meanwhile, humanity had sunk further and further into the darkness of separation from the Divine. And the darkness of this separation had made men weak and ill.

Christmas, Ninetta Sombart

At the midnight hour, the Light of Grace begins to shine. The glorious radiance of the Divine Father's plan for healing the sickness of separation begins to shine on earth. A body for the coming Light of the World is born. Humankind stands before a new beginning. An angel announces to Joseph that his role is to protect and help carry out this plan of development. Soon Herod's darkness will try to put out the Light. But for now, the child is developing in the womb of worlds, in ripening glory.

Every year, we stand before the same mystery of renewal. And every year we, too, are to protect what is developing. We are to protect what is good, what is true, what is beautiful, developing in the womb of our soul. For a new stage is beginning. In the words of Rilke: If the angel deigns to come, it will be because you have convinced her, not by tears, but by your humble resolve to be always beginning; to be a beginner.

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Christmas Midnight 2015,

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1: 1, 17-25

Joseph and the Angel,  Gandolfi,  Wikimedia

[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….

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

December 25, 2004 and 2015

Matthew 1: 1, 17-25

An ancient legend tells of something that happened at midnight in the stall at Bethlehem. Long has it been kept secret. But tonight you shall hear it.

The Virgin has just brought the Child into the world. She swaddles and wraps him. Joseph arranges some straw in the manger. He draws her toward this resting place. Mary lays the Child into the manger, and to protect him she pulls her blue mantle halfway over it. The ox and the donkey hardly stir in their corners. The gentle light reflects in their eyes.

The door opens silently, as if a breath of wind blew against it. The figure of a woman stands at the threshold. She is dressed all in gray, in earthy gray. Gray is the hood that covers her head, shadowing her face. Gray is the mantle that falls from shoulders to feet. She appears to be ancient, bent over from a burden long carried.

Mary feels fear as she gazes at her. Is this woman approaching the child with ill will? Yet ox and donkey remain quiet. Peacefully they munch the hay. They look at the stranger as if they have known her since far back in time. The child sleeps undisturbed. Mary does not let the stranger out of her sight. Her slow steps—each one seems to last centuries.

Finally the old one stands at the manger. Mary can see her shadowy features. She gazes into her eyes, which gaze back at her for a moment, and then come to rest on the child. He awakens and opens his eyes. And Mary recognizes: the eyes of the old woman and the eyes of the child both hold the same look; the same hope shines in both.

The old one bends over the child. Beneath her mantle her hand stirs, seeming to want to bring forth something. Mary observes her with the same fear. The animals also gaze down, yet as calmly as if they had known from the beginning what would happen.

Finally after a long moment, the old one draws out her hand; she holds something hidden in it. She hands it to the child.

What is the first gift, even before the shepherds had arrived? From her resting place Mary cannot see; she sees only her back, bent with age that curves even more as she bends over the manger.

It all lasts so long. Finally the figure straightens up, freed of a great weight that had bent her down to the earth. Her shoulders no longer seemed weighed down. Her head rises nearly to the rafters. Her face shines, wonderfully young again. She moves away from the crib, turns toward the door and disappears into the night from which she had come.

The Child and the Apple, Michel Erhard

And now Mary recognizes the mysterious gift she had brought the Child. Eve had come, to bring the Child, as his first gift, the apple, the apple of the first sin with which all calamity had befallen humankind. Over the centuries the golden Paradise apple had become hard and green and sour, an apple that could spoil; an apple that had made anyone who ate of it become ill forever after.

But now, in the Child’s little hand, the apple begins to shine golden again. In the Child’s hand it turns sweet

and juicy and nourishing. Inside the apple is a star; the star shines within a white rose. It shines as the image of the new world that is born with him.

This year, the Child is born anew in the Virgin Soul. In his hand is the apple of the new world he brings. May we bear the child, cherish his nourishment, and work alongside him to bring about his new World.[i]

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[i] From the French, the brothers Tharaud, by Gerhard Wöhrmann in Die Christengemeinschaft, Nov/Dez 1950. Reproduced in Jahresfeste mit Kinder, Brigitte Barz .Translated by C. Hindes. Another version also appears as “The Last Visitor”, in Christmas Roses, Legends for Advent, collected by Mimi Zotterman, Anthroposophic Press.

Christmas I, Midnight, December 25, 2014, The Rescuer

Christmas I, Midnight

December 25, 2014

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.

….

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

Dec 25, 2014

Time is turning. Midnight is becoming the early morning of a new day. Its actual dawn is yet to come. But it is on the way.

This reading from the beginning of all the gospels is a kind of preamble. In the dream time, an angel announces to Joseph the striking of a new hour, a new day. The angel announces what will soon be the arrival of Jesus, whose name means help or rescuer. He will become the bearer of the Son of God. And he will rescue humankind from their error and guilt.

The greater new day is again approaching. The Light of the World is drawing near. We can sense His healing in our praying. The poet said:

Thou whose birth on earth

Wilfried Ogilvie, In the Beginning

Angels sang to men,

While thy stars made mirth,

Saviour, at thy birth,

This day born again;

As this night was bright

With thy cradle-ray,

Very light of light,

Turn the wild world's night

To thy perfect day.

Thou whose face gives grace

As the sun's doth heat,

Let thy sunbright face

Lighten time and space

Here beneath thy feet.

Bid our peace increase,

Thou that madest morn;

Bid oppressions cease;

Bid the night be peace;

Bid the day be born.[1]

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[1] Christmas Antiphones by Algernon Charles Swinburne

Christmas Midnight 2007, Threads of Destinies

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 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,

Ruth and Boaz, Koch

   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

December 24-5, 2007

Matthew 1:1-25 [the beginning of all the Gospels]

The beauty of a Persian carpet is created by many hundreds of threads of different colors. At the beginning, these different threads appear to be separate; but eventually they will be woven together according to the plan of the weaver.

We hear tonight of a new creation. After forty-two generations, all is

Tree of Jesse

ready—the new divine human being is being conceived. The threads of all destinies are coming together. And this surpasseth human understanding. It is as though Joseph sees all the threads, but cannot see the pattern or purpose. Or perhaps knows God’s purpose, but cannot see how the threads are supposed to weave together.  And so Joseph offers his human thinking to the divine realm. And he aligns his will with the angel’s words: “Carry on together,” says the angel. “Do not separate. The Spirit of God is at work in this. Join us in this tremendous work of beauty. Your cooperation is vital to the plan.”

Every year Christ draws near to humanity. He seeks to renew His conception again in humankind. Within each of us there is a virginal element, a Mary-soul, able to conceive the Son of God in the depth of the heart. And in each of us there is also a rational element, a Joseph-soul who wonders what to do with all this. “Let her be fruitful,” the angel says to all of us. “Don’t pull away. Let the Holy Spirit enter you, so that you may conceive and know the Bringer of Healing in our midst, the Light of the World.”

Here, at midnight, our own complex souls can know and conceive the Light of the World; we too can speak the poetic words:

Late in winter

My heart is still a rose in bloom.
At night I need no candle or lamp,

For my soul has forever awakened

To there being just the reality

Of Light

And the wonderful Lawlessness of God.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Hafiz, The Wonderful Lawlessness, in Tonight the Subject is Love, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 41.

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.