Christmas 2021, Pure Humanity

Christmas II, Dawn

Luke 2:1-20 

Now is proclaimed the [middle of the Gospel[s], according to Luke in the second chapter. 

artist unknown

Now it came to pass in those days that a proclamation went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone set out to be enrolled, each to the town of his ancestors. 

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David. He went to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed. And Mary was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the time was fulfilled for her to be delivered. And she bore her son, her firstborn. And she wrapped him in linen and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks in the night. And an angel of the Lord came upon them [appeared before them], and the light of the revelation of God shone about them. And great fear came upon them. 

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for I announce to you a great joy, which shall be for all on earth: today is born unto you the Bringer of Healing, in the city of David, Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign for you: you will find a little child wrapped in linen, lying in a manger." 

And suddenly around the angel was the fullness of the heavenly angelic hosts: their song of praise sounded forth to the highest: 

possibly Margarethe Hauschka

God's Spirit reveals itself in the heights

And brings peace to all on earth

        In whose hearts goodwill dwells! 

And as the angels withdrew from them into the heavens, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem to see the fulfillment of the Word that has happened here, which the Lord let be proclaimed." 

And they came hastening and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known the Word that was spoken to them concerning this child. [or, When they saw that, they understood what had been told them concerning this child.] And all who heard it were astonished about what the shepherds said. 

But Mary treasured [or, preserved] all these words, pondering them [or, turning them over] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God to everyone for everything they had heard and seen, which was just as it had been announced to them.

Christmas II, Dawn

December 25, 2021

Luke 2:1-20

When we were born, we crossed the great divide between heaven and earth. We died out of the realm of the angels and fell into the material world, the world of death. And the angels mourned their loss of us.

The Christ Child, however, draws heaven across the divide, onto the earth with Him. The angels do not mourn because one of their own disappeared into the far country of death; rather, they accompany Him, proclaiming:

God's Spirit reveals itself in the heights

And brings Peace to all on earth

In whose hearts goodwill dwells. 

The light of heaven has descended into the earth night. The open souls of the shepherds, as do ours, receive the good news. An ancient hymn says: 

Why doth the sun re-orient take

Stephen B. Whately

A wider range, his limits break?

Lo! Christ is born, and o'er earth's night

Shineth from more to more the light!

….

This is the day of Thy dear birth,

The bridal of the heaven and earth,

When the Creator breathed on Thee

The breath of pure humanity.*

---

* Hymn XI From Cathemerinon ("The Hymns of Prudentius"), Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-405), Translated by R. Martin Pope.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Christmas 2020, The Weight We Carry

Christmas  Dawn

Luke 2:1-20

 
Now it came to pass in those days that a proclamation went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone set out to be enrolled, each to the town of his ancestors.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David. He went to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed. And Mary was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the time was fulfilled for her to be delivered. And she bore her son, her first-born. And she wrapped him in linen and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. 
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks in the night. And an angel of the Lord came upon them [appeared before them], and the light of the revelation of God shone about them. And great fear came upon them.
 
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for I announce to you a great joy, which shall be for all on earth: today is born unto you the Bringer of Healing, in the city of David, Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign for you: you will find a little child wrapped in linen, lying in a manger."
 

And suddenly around the angel was the fullness of the heavenly angelic hosts: their song of praise sounded forth to the highest:
 

God's Spirit reveals itself in the heights
And brings peace to all on earth
In whose hearts goodwill dwells!

 
And as the angels withdrew from them into the heavens, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem to see the fulfillment of the Word that has happened here, which the Lord let be proclaimed."
 
And they came hastening and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known the Word that was spoken to them concerning this child. [or, When they saw that, they understood what had been told them concerning this child.] And all who heard it were astonished about what the shepherds said.
 
But Mary treasured [or, preserved] all these words, pondering them [or, turning them over] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God to everyone for everything they had heard and seen, which was just as it had been announced to them.

Christmas Dawn
December 25, 2020
Cynthia Hindes
 

Mary gazes down at her little one. She cradles his weight in her arms. The child reaches up, his hand touches her mouth. She kisses the little fingers and speaks to him of her love, "With all my heart," she says, "I promise you that I will nourish and protect you." They are surrounded by a tender warmth and light, the light of a new dawn.
 
Such is the experience of parents and their newborn.
 
Today the Child is being born once again. This Child is love incarnate, born eternally, born to us. We bear his weight. He touches our lips; He warms us from within with His love, gives us strength and encouragement for action.
 
Today He, love incarnate, is born within us. The promise arises, like Mary, to nourish and protect this love within. Like Mary, we treasure Him in our hearts. We ponder the angelic words accompanying his arrival: 'God’s Spirit of Love reveals itself in the heights and brings peace to all on earth in whom goodwill dwells.' We cradle his weight.
 
As the poet suggests:
 
The weight of the world
is love.
Under the burden
of solitude,
under the burden
of dissatisfaction
 
the weight,
the weight we carry
is love.*
 
* Alan Ginsberg, “Song”, (Collected Poems 1947-1980)

www.thechristiancommunity.org

4th November Trinity 2019, Overcoming the Beast

       

Nov. Trinity

Revelation 14, 1-20         

And I looked, and there was the picture of the Lamb, standing atop Mt. Zion and with Him one hundred forty-four thousand having his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

           

And I listened and heard a voice from the heavens, a voice like a mighty rush of waters, and like a mighty thunderclap—the voice I heard was like the voices of harpists playing on their harps.

And they all sing a new song, there in front of the throne and in front of the four creatures and the elders, and no one could learn the song but the one hundred forty-four thousand ransomed from the earth. These are the ones who did not defile themselves by the straying, through which the spiritual in man is betrayed; they have remained virginal [pure] in their inmost being and follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were ransomed as the seed of a new humanity which belongs to the Father God and the Lamb. Deceit and lies are not found in their mouths; pure and unblemished are they in their innermost being.

Bamberg Apocalypse

And I looked and saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, bringing the good news which is good news forever to those living on earth—to every race and nation and every tongue and folk. And the angel cried out with a great voice, saying:

“Stand in awe of God and turn to honor him. For we have come to the hour of his divine decision. Raise yourself in prayer to him who in truth created the heavens and the earth and the sea and all the springs of water.”  

And a second angel followed, who said, “Fallen, fallen is the great city of Babylon, who made all nations drink of the wine of her sacrilege, in order to draw the holy into misuse.”

And a third angel followed them, who cried out with a powerful voice: “Whoever adores the beast and its likeness and accepts its stamp on forehead or hand, he will drink of the wine of God’s anger, thick and strong and undiluted, from the cup of his wrath. And in the presence of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb shall anger be transformed into pain like the pain of fire and sulfur.

Their suffering rises and darkens the encircling air like smoke through the cycles of time. And day and night those who made the beast into their god, who honored its picture as the highest, who took its being into their innermost being, find no peace. In this place however there works the power of the steadfast endurance of those who have taken the healing power of the Spirit into themselves, who have fulfilled the goals of the Spirit, and who have worked trusting in Jesus’ healing deed.

And I heard a voice out of the worlds of Spirit which said, “Write this down: People of heaven are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the spirit, let them rest from their efforts and labors, since their good deeds, the fruits of their lives, are not lost along their paths of soul, but have preceded them here.

Ottheimrich Bible

And I looked, and suddenly I saw in the spirit a white cloud, and seated upon the cloud the figure of a son of humanity, with a golden crown upon his head and a sharpened sickle. And another angel stepped forth from the temple crying in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud:

“Let your sickle go forth and harvest, for the hour of harvest has come; ripe and dry and firm are the crops of the earth.”

And the one seated on the cloud threw his sickle down upon the events on earth, and the earth’s crop was harvested.

And again, another angel came out of the temple in the heavens; and he too held a sharpened sickle. And a further angel came out who tended the fire at the altar. He cried out with a mighty voice to him who held the sharpened sickle and said, “Let your sickle go forth and harvest the grapevines of the earth, for their grapes have reached their prime.”

So the angel threw his sickle down to the events on earth, and he harvested the earth’s vineyard and threw the grapes into the great winepress of God’s anger. And they took the winepress outside the city and trampled the grapes. Blood flowed from the winepress that reached to the muzzles of the horses for sixteen hundred miles around.

4^th November Trinity
November 17, 2019
Revelation 14: 1-20

Photo Adam Carr

From mythology, we have the image of the centaur. From the waist up, it is human. The lower half is a horse. The most famous of these creatures was a great healer, for its animal instincts contained great wisdom. But its animal nature also harbored great aggression and destructiveness.

The centaur is a picture of the composition of a particular stage in being human. Our physical nature is like the horse, with all its instinctual wisdom as well as its aggression. Our eternal spirit, our true humanness, is wedded on earth to our animal nature. Our self-awareness rises above our animal nature. Our truly human self is meant to guide and direct our animal nature, and ultimately to transform it.

It is humanity’s task gradually, over lifetimes, to make ourselves fully human, to transform the beast in us into something more akin to an angel.

Durer

Today’s gospel reading from the middle of the Revelation to John shows a future division of humanity into those who have achieved this transformation, and those who have not. There is a great crowd in white, standing before God’s throne. They have remained true in developing their pure human core. They have taken the image and activity of the Son of Man into themselves, the activity of the Divine Human Being. What is inside them shines out of their countenance. Therefore they have the name of the Lamb and the Father written on their foreheads. They have become the seed of a new phase of human existence. They sing a new song. What they have achieved, the development of their true humanity will carry over into a new spiritualized world.

What is ripe is harvested. What is no longer of use is destroyed. One day, humanity’s inner ripeness will be tested. Those who have transformed their animal nature into something higher, who have matured their true humanity, will enter the company of the angels. Those who have failed to master their beastly nature, who wear the mark of the beast on their foreheads, will have to suffer the purifying fire. For the beast in us must be overcome.

Through Christ, the Light of the World, we can achieve this transformation. He is the bridge to our true humanity. Connecting with Him, conversing with Him, praying with Him, is the Way.  A medieval mystic says:

No one can be saved

Ghent Altarpiece

without divine light.
Divine light causes us
to begin and thereafter
enables our progress
as it leads us
to the summit of perfection.

Therefore, if you desire
to begin
and would receive
this divine light, pray.

If you have begun to make
some little progress
and would see this light
intensified within you, pray.

And if you have reached
the summit of perfection,
and desire to be super-illumined
so as to remain in that state, pray. *

*Blessed Angela of Foligno (1248 – 1309), “Divine Light,” in Love’s Immensity, Mystics on the Endless Life, Scott Cairns, p. 87

1st November Trinity 2018, Angel of Hope

November Trinity

Revelation 7: 9-17

Next

Durer

I looked and saw a great crowd beyond anyone’s power to count, from every nation and all races and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb, draped in garments of white and with palm branches in their hands, and they shout with a great voice saying,  “Healing and help [salvation] to our God who sits on the throne and through the Lamb.”

And all the angels were standing in a ring around the throne and the elders and the four living beings, and they fell down in front of the throne upon their faces and adored God saying,

Yea, so be it. Amen. [To our God be blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength for an age of ages. Amen.”]

All the blessing power of the Word, that creating permeates the world, all the revealing might of the spirit, that enlightens the senses appearance, all the light of wisdom that leads us to true knowledge, the secret of transformation which gives worth to all being, that brings the world forward, and all the strength and power of the spirit –they belong to our God from aeon to aeon. Yea, so be it, Amen.

And one of the elders spoke up, asking me: “These people draped in garments of white, who are they and where did they come from?”

And I said to him, “Good sir, you yourself know.”

And he said to me:

These are the ones just come from the great Suffering. They washed their garments clean and made them shining white in the blood of the Lamb.

That is why they can stand here before the throne of God

And serve him day and night in his temple.

The One who sits on the throne shall settle down upon them [dwell upon them].

They shall not hunger ever again, nor thirst again;

The sun shall not bear down too hard upon them, nor anything burn them,

Because the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, will be their shepherd

And guide them to the springs of the water of life,

And God will wipe away each teardrop from their eyes.

1st November Trinity

October 28, 2018

Revelation 7: 9-17

To live on earth is to be exposed to pain. Some of us undergo a lifetime of suffering; others less so. But if we experience it ourselves, or witness it in those around us, we all undergo pain in this life.

Why do we have to suffer? What is the point of pain? Pain and travail can open us, break open our hearts. It allows us to find true compassion. Its purpose is to create organs of perception.

The eye was created by receiving arrows of light, holding them and letting them form it into an organ to receive and organize a world of images. Just so within the soul; a process that begins with pain ends in conscious seeing.

Holding and working with pain creates an eye in the heart that can receive and make meaning out of what surrounds us. It allows us to form images, to become more conscious of what or who, stands before us.

Inna Myalo

It can allow us to see that an angel of hope* is holding a glowing light in front of our heart; a light to lead and guide us through misery. A light that shows us the way to the place where we can wash our soul garments in Christ’s healing blood. A light that aligns our thinking with truth, steels our will with the strength of endurance, drenches our feeling with love.

And one day we will recognize how our pain and travail has brought us to stand before an even greater being: to stand before the compassionate and loving face of God, who himself went through the Greatest Suffering.

---

*Lorna Byrne, A Message of Hope from the Angels.

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4th August Trinity 2016, Kingdom of Angels (Redux)

4th Trinity August

Luke 9: 1-17

He called the twelve together and gave to them potent authority and formative power, so that they could work against all demonic mischief, and heal all sickness.  And he sent them out to heal and to proclaim the Kingdom of God, appearing now on earth, the kingdom of human beings filled with God’s spirit.

And he said to them, “Take nothing with you on the way: no staff for support, no bag for collecting, neither bread nor money, no change of clothes. If you enter a house, remain there until you go further. And where they do not accept you, leave their city and shake the dust from your feet as a sign that they have refused community with you.”

They left and walked through the villages of the country, announcing the joyful message of the new working of the kingdom of the angels and healing everywhere.

Meanwhile Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was happening and he was very perplexed, for some said, “John is risen from the dead,” and others said that Elijah had appeared, and yet others, “One of the Prophets of old has risen again.” And Herod said, “John I have had beheaded; who now is this, about whom I hear all these things?” And he wished to see him himself.

Kenneth Dowdy

And the apostles returned and reported to Jesus everything that they had accomplished. So he gathered them to himself and retreated with them to a city called Bethsaida for special instruction. But the people became aware of it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God of the future, of the human kingdom on earth filled with the divine spirit, and he healed all who had need of it.

But the day began to decline. The twelve came up to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can reach the villages and farms in the vicinity and find food and lodging, for here we are in a deserted place.” He, however, said to them, “From now on it falls to you; you give them to eat.”

They answered, “We have nothing but five loaves and two fish. Or shall we go and buy food for all of them?“ There were about five thousand people.

Then he said to the disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of fifty”. And they did so, and all reclined.

Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his soul to the spirit, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. And they ate, and all were satisfied. And they took up the pieces that remained: twelve baskets full. 

4th Trinity August

August 14, 2016

Luke 9: 1-17

We are approaching the middle of a ten-week path toward Michaelmas. This fourth reading in the series is itself a kind of path.

First Christ gives his disciples the power to heal and to announce a new kingdom from the angels. This new kingdom is arising in human hearts. And then he tells them to shed what is unnecessary, to separate themselves from certain external supports – no bag, no bread, no money. They go out, and when they return, they report back to him joyfully. And at the end of the day, He feeds them all from the spiritual nourishment of the stars.

We can see this as a pattern for our days. We can begin the day by receiving a measure

M. Woloschina

of inner strength and the power of love from Christ. We can remind ourselves not to become too dependent upon outer supports. We can demonstrate the new kingdom in human hearts by the quality of our interactions with others. And at the end of the day we can report back to Him, and in sleep receive our nourishment from the cosmos of the stars.

Doing this day by day builds something. With Christ’s help, we are creating the kingdom of the heavens within. And working actively, day by day, from within, we are also helping create a new kingdom of the angels on earth. 

3rd August Trinity 2015, Polestar of Laughter

3rd August Trinity

Luke 15:1-32

Now many customs officials, despised by the people, who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law however were upset by this and said, “This man accepts sinners and eats with them!”

So he told them this parable: “What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

Lost Drachma, Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

Or which woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!’

In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the spirit who manages to change his heart and mind. “

And he said further: “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Give me the share of the estate which falls to me.’  And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, but no one gave him anything.

Then he came to himself, and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger. I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

So he rose up and traveled along the road to his father. When he was still a long

Return of Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, Wiki

way off, his father saw him, felt his misery, ran toward him, embraced him and kissed him. And yet the son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

But the father called his servant to him. ‘Quickly! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.’ And they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile the older son was in the field. When he returned home and came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him the news: ‘Your brother has come home again. So in joy your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.’

The son grew dark with anger and didn’t want to go in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He however reproached his father saying, ‘Look! For so many years I have been with you and have never neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.’

The father however said to him ‘Child, you are always with me and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be glad and rejoice, for this your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has been found again.’

3rd August Trinity

August 9, 2015

Luke 15:1-32

Losing something that belongs to us means of course that we are separated from it. Being lost ourselves, losing our way, means having lost our own orientation, not being able to find our goal. Perhaps we don’t even know what it is.

The stories in today’s readings are about both losing and being lost. And yet each narrative ends in rejoicing. Through the human being’s diligent searching, the lost coin and sheep were found. And the son, who himself was lost in the far country, turns himself around and makes his way home.

We search for what we have lost, whether it is a precious thing of value, or it is our own orientation and goal. For this is what it means to be truly human: to be aware of separation, to seek and to find, even when searching and finding are arduous and painful. Searching and finding are basic keys to our humanity.

We ourselves are all a bit lost, separated from our own true being and our home in the divine world. We are separated from our true selves and thus from our own real future. At the same time, the good beings of that world, like the son’s father in the story, are on the look-out for us. They cannot go out and search for us (though One did). They cannot drag us back. The return is our own choice, accomplished through our own efforts. But our heavenly Father and the whole angelic household are watching and waiting for us. They are sending out their love, as a golden guide home. And they greet our return with great joy, celebration and laughter. The poet Hafiz says:

Laughter is the polestar

Polestar (North Star)

Held in the sky by our Beloved,

Who eternally says,

"Yes, dear ones, come this way,

Come this way towards Me and Love!

….

O what is laughter, …?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up!*

Having once found the way, we can always return. And both we and the good beings rejoice, even if we can only stay for an hour.

* Hafiz, “Laughter”, in I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 125.

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Christmas II, Dawn, December 25, 2014, Sun Sings

Christmas II

Luke 2: 1-20

Now is proclaimed the [middle of the Gospel[s], according to Luke in the second chapter.

Now it came to pass in those days that a proclamation went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone set out to be enrolled, each to the town of his ancestors.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David. He went to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed. And Mary was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the time was fulfilled for her to be delivered. And she bore her son, her first-born. And she wrapped him in linen and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Blake

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks in the night. And an angel of the Lord came upon them [appeared before them] and the light of the revelation of God shone about them. And great fear came upon them [they felt the fear of fears].

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for I announce to you a great joy, which shall be for all men on earth: today is born unto you the Bringer of Healing, in the city of David,  Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign for you: you will find a little child wrapped in linen, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly around the angel was the fullness of the heavenly angelic hosts: their song of praise sounded forth to the highest:

God’s Spirit reveals itself in the heights

And brings peace to men of earth

In whose hearts good will dwells!

And as the angels withdrew from them into the heavens, the shepherds said to one another:

“Let us go to Bethlehem to see the fulfillment of the Word that has happened here, which the Lord let be proclaimed.”

And they came hastening, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known the Word that was spoken to them concerning this child. [or, When they saw that, they understood what had been told them concerning this child.] And all who heard it were astonished about what the shepherds said.

But Mary treasured [preserved] all these words, pondering them [turning them over] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God to everyone for everything they had heard and seen, which was just as it had been announced to them.

Bonnell

Christmas II, Dawn

December 25, 2014

Luke 2: 1-20

At certain times of the year, especially in spring, birds create a choral symphony in the dark before dawn. It is as if they want to announce to the world the arrival of a new day, the arrival of the light. When the sun actually rises, their song of praise falls silent. In the silence, if we could but hear, the Sun itself, the dwelling place of high choirs of angels, begins to sing. If we could but hear, we would perceive how the light-filled singing Word calls forth the plants, the animals, ourselves.

The angels sang to the shepherds at night, before dawn. They sang to announce the dawning of the light of the world. The shepherds’ hearts were perceptive. They heard the singing of the angelic chorus. They looked for the light that was dawning, the light of love that they found shining from the Child’s eyes. And their own words of praise ignited in their hearts and poured forth from their lips.

Vladimir Borovikovsy

Love, healing light-filled love, has been born to us. One day the true light will have dawned upon all of humanity. And all shall see and praise, as the poet says:

But the sun is one,

And the sun's name Right;

And when light is none

Saving of the sun,

All men shall have light.

All shall see and be

Parcel of the morn;

Ay, though blind were we,

None shall choose but see

When that day is born[1]

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---

[1] Christmas Antiphones by Algernon Charles Swinburne