Holy Nights 2017, New Year, January 1, 2017

New Year's Day

January 1, 2017

The Gospel of John, 1:1-18

(translation by Adam Bittleston)

In the very beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God.

He was with God in the very beginning.

All things came into being through Him,

And without Him came into being nothing

That has come into being.

In him was Life,

And the Life was the Light of mankind.

The Light shines in the Darkness,

And the Darkness did not grasp it.

There came to be a man, sent from God,

His name Ioannes.

John Baptizes Jesus, Gerard David, Wiki Commons

He came for testimony,

That he should testify of the Light,

That all might have faith through him.

He was not the Light,

But came to testify of the Light.

For the Light that in truth endures,

That illumines every man,

Was coming into the World.

He was in the World,

And the World came into being through Him

Yet the World did not know Him.

He came to the separate,

Yet the separate men did not receive Him.

But those who received Him—

To them, He gave full power

To become children of God,

Those who have faith in His name.

They have their being

Not from the bloodsteams,

Not from the will of the flesh,

Not from the will of a man,

But from God.

And the Word became flesh,

And made his dwelling among us,

And we saw His glory,

Glory of one born from the Father alone,

With abundance of grace and truth.

Ioannes testified of Him, proclaiming,

That is He of whom I said:

He Who comes after me

Takes His place above me

Because He was before me.

From the abundance of His Being

We have all received

Grace upon grace.

The Law was given through Moses;

Grace and truth came into being

Through Jesus Christ.

God no-one has beheld ever;

The son Who is born of Him alone

And Who has His Being

At the Father’s breast,

Has come to lead our seeing.

New Year's Day

January 1, 2017

The Gospel of John, 1:1-18

We stand before a time of beginnings. Most notably, of course, this is the beginning of a New Year, which this year starts under the signature of the first day of the week, a Sunday, the day of the Resurrection. What will this new year bring?

Our own lives present us with possibilities to begin anew. Every new day, new month, new year are filled with possibilities, with choices. What will we choose?

Christ's coming sets in motion events that give all of humankind the possibility of creating something new. He is the ancestor of a new people, the Christ-folk. Those whom destiny or choice have led to Him can help create a new stream of humankind. Whoever receives Him are themselves born anew, out of grace and truth. They can choose to love out of the light of wisdom and freedom.

Christ says that He stands radiating peace in His relationship to the world. He can give us His peace. We are free, minute by minute, to choose the path of love, of wisdom and grace, with His peace. The possibility is there – what will we choose? In the words of Fra Giovanni Giocondo (1386-1456):

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find
rest in today. Take heaven!

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in

Salvatore Mundi, Andrea Previtale

this present little instant. Take peace!

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it,
yet within our reach is joy. There is radiance and
glory in the darkness could we but see - and to see
we have only to look. I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its
gifts by the covering, cast them away as ugly,
or heavy or hard. Remove the covering and you
will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of
love, by wisdom, with power.

Welcome it, grasp it, touch the angel's hand that
brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a
sorrow, or a duty, believe me, that angel's hand
is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an
overshadowing presence. …
Courage, then, to claim it …..

And so, I greet you… with the prayer that for you now and forever,
the day breaks, and the shadows flee away.

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Christmas Day,

Christmas III

John 21: 15-25

Now is proclaimed the end of the entire gospel according to John in the 21st chapter:

After they had held their meal together, Jesus said to Simon Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others here?

Peter answered, “Lord you know that I am your friend”.

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

And he said to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I am devoted to you.”

Jesus said to him, “Shepherd my young sheep.”

He asked him a third time, “Simon, Son of John, Are you my friend?”

Peter was heartbroken that he could say to him the third time, ‘Are you my friend’, and he answered, “Lord, you know all things; therefore, you know that I am devoted to you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Amen, the truth I say to you, when you were younger you girded yourself and walked wherever you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and

Another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish to go.”

He told him this to indicate the kind of death by which he would bring the divine to revelation. Then he said to him, “Follow me.”

But Peter, turning, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, following him. He was the one who had leaned upon his breast at the supper and had asked, “Lord, who is it who betrays you?”  When Peter now saw him, his asked, “Lord, what of this man, what is his task?”

Jesus said to him: If is my will that he remain until my coming, that does not affect your path. Follow me…”

From this day the story spread among the brethren that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until my coming, that does not affect your path.”

This is the disciple who here bears witness to these things and who has written all this. And we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did. If they were to be written down one by one, I do not think that the world itself could contain the books that would have to be written.

Christmas III

Dec 25, 2016

John 21: 15-25

David Newbatt

At midnight, we heard about the great tree of Jesus's ancestry, rooted forty-two generations in the past and Joseph's protecting of the flower of that life. And then earlier this morning we heard the story of His birth, surrounded by the radiance of the heavenly Father's angels, reflected in the joyous hearts of the shepherds. This story wants to be re-enacted today, in the present, in every human heart.

And so now we hear the story of Christ and Peter, from the very end of all the Gospels. It is a story that points the way from the past, into the future. 

At the first Christmas, the Father's Love and Creative Power began the process of becoming human. He chose the body in which he would dwell. In this last reading of the day, from the end of John's Gospel, we hear the Risen Christ's threefold question to Peter: 'Do you love me?' We hear the high hope that Christ has for humanity. His hope is that He, the Being of Love, will become active in each of us. This is a hope that is still ever-present and faithfully carried in Christ's heart. For He has chosen the earthly bodies in which he would abide. 

The choice to respond is ours. His work of healing is a long range one. It carries us into the future, drenched with hope and grace. Later, another St. John, St. John of the Cross, converses with Christ:

"What is grace” I asked God.

 And He said,

 “All that happens.”

 Then He added, when I looked perplexed,

 “Could not lovers

say that every moment in their Beloved’s arms

was grace?

Existence is my arms,

though I well understand how one can turn

away from

me

until the heart has

wisdom.”*

*St. John of the Cross, "WHAT IS GRACE," in Love Poems from God, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 321

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Christmas Dawn 2016, Healing

Christmas II Luke 2: 1-20

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

Newbatt

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.

Marie-Laure Viriot

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!

Marie-Laure Viriot

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.

Christmas II

Dec 25, 2016

Luke 2: 1-20

Newbatt

Here on this Christmas morning, we hear the ever-present story of the first Christmas, the first Christ-Coming: the birth, the glory of angels, the shepherds' hastening to His presence. They pass along the angel's announcement. And Mary ponders it all in her heart.

This great event draws near to us every Christmas morning. We can feel Him, theCreative Word of God, drawing near. For the birth of Christ wants to become a reality in every human heart. We ask that we join in his new and present creating.

May our speech be filtered and warmed by His love. May He fortify our will, keep it good, so that we can devote ourselves in strength for the Healing Spirit's work in our present time.  May we do the work of healing what is ill, healing what is divided and broken. Like the shepherds, we can begin to understand. And like Mary, we can ponder and preserve the Creative Word of God, the Word of Wisdom and Love, within our hearts. So that when time is right, we can act, filled with His peace.

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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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4th Advent 2016, Have No Fear

2^nd 3^rd or 4^th Advent

Annunciation, Rogier van der Weyden, WikiCommons

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 her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But 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?”

Visitation, van der Weyden

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.

4nd Advent

December 18, 2016

Luke 1: 26-38

An angel of the Lord comes to Mary. He tells her not to be afraid. She will conceive. She will bear the Lord's Son. This will happen through the creative, engendering power of God's healing Spirit. Mary's response is to humbly declare herself to be God's servant. She assents to the will of the spiritual world.

Annunciation, James Janknegt

Mary is the archetype of the soul of humanity. Our souls, must not be afraid. Our souls, too, can conceive. We can take in accurate conceptions of Christ, and how he wants to be conceived in us.  We can make our souls, virginal. incapable of harm and receptive for God's healing spirit. We can bear Him within. And we can say yes to whatever God sends as personal destiny, as world destiny, and agree to serve His purposes in humility.

Christ wants to be born in us. His angels draw near, whispering words of great moment and encouragement. And as angels always say when they approach, 'Do not be afraid. The Lord is with you.'