1st Epiphany 2013, Stimulate Conscience

1^st Epiphany

Matthew 2: 1-12

Egbert Codex

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea—during the time of King Herod—behold: wise priest-kings from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

           

“Where is the one born here King of the Jews? We have seen his star rise in the east and have come to worship him.”

           

When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. And he assembled all the high priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them in what place the Christ was to be born.

And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it was written by the prophet:

And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come forth the ruler

Who will be shepherd over my people, the true Israel.”

Then Herod, secretly calling the Magi together again, inquired from them the exact time when the star had appeared. He directed them to Bethlehem and said, “Go there and search carefully for the child, and when you find him, report to me, that I too may go and bow down before him.”

After they had heard the King, they went on their way, and behold, the star that they had seen rising went before them, and led them in its course over the cities until it stood over the place where the child was.

Seeing the star, they were filled with [there awakened in them] an exceedingly great and holy joy.

Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; they fell down before him and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him their gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their country by another way.

Epiphany

January 6, 2013

Matthew 2:1-12

Triumph of the Innocents, Holman Hunt

Evil seeks to destroy. Herod tries to destroy the Child, and cuts a wide swath. Although the innocent bodies of the children had died, their souls and spirits form a living crown of supportive life. They form a living sacrificial crown around this one Child who will one day sacrifice himself in service.

Today Christ wants to be born and operate within every human being. He wants to be seen working in the world. And today, evil seeks to destroy the innocent. Recent deaths are a prompt to us. They prompt us to fulfill the conditions within ourselves that allow Christ’s work to be seen and experienced in the world.

The innocent want to encourage our open reverence before the mysteries of the world.

They want to encourage our empathy and compassion for all who suffer, including those caught up in evil through illness.

They want to stimulate our conscience, that is, our knowing and acting on our part to play in the remedying of the world’s ills, starting with ourselves.

The world cries out for redemption. It needs men and women of selfless selfhood, men and women of good will, so that Christ can work His salvation through them. Only thus can His Being of Love operate on the earth.

           

Holy Nights 2013-14, Inner Sunlight

Holy Nights

John 15: 9-17

[Jesus said:]

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you – abide in my love. If you take my aims into your will, then you will abide in my love, just as I have taken the aims of my Father into my will and abide in His love. These words I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

This is the task I put before you, that you love one another as I have loved you. No man can have greater love than this, that he offer up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you follow the task that I give to you. No longer can I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I call you friends because I have made known to you all that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should live on after you, so that what you ask the Father in my name He should give it to you. This I say to you out of the fullness of my power – love one another.

Holy Nights

January 5, 2014

John 15: 9-17

We are fortunate here in this part of the world to have a strong winter sun. Even when the air is cold, we can get warm by stepping out of the shade.

The heavenly Father continuously showers His love upon us. Outer sunlight is a physical manifestation of the light of His love. Jesus asks us to stand and stay with Him within the spiritual sunlight of His own and Our Father’s love. For He want to warm us and bring us joy.

The sunlight is also a manifestation of the Father’s Life; for with the sunlight, rays of life pour down and cause all things to live.

And He sets us a task—that we transmit that inner sunlight to others; that we be warm and objectively loving; that we give of our life forces. Standing in the light of the Son’s love, we will never run out of life to give; for we will have connected ourselves to the Source of Life, the Source of Love Himself.

Fra Giovanni said in 1513:  Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendour, woven of love, by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you 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. Our joys, too: be not content with them as joys, they too conceal diviner gifts.

  Life is so full of meaning and of purpose, so full of beauty—beneath its covering—that you will find that earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage, then to claim it: that is all! But courage you have; and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country, home.

  And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you; not quite as the world sends greetings, but with profound esteem, and with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.[1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] FRA GIOVANNI, A Letter to the Most Illustrious the Contessina Allagia Dela Aldobrandeschi, Written Christmas Eve Anno Domini 1513 

Holy Nights 2009, Give Light

Holy Nights

1 Corinthians 12:31- 13:13

Strive to make the best out of the gifts of grace working together.

Yet I will show the way that is higher than all others.

If I speak out of the Spirit with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then my speaking remains as sounding brass or tinkling cymbal. And if I had the gift of prophecy and could speak of all the mysteries and could impart all knowledge and, further, had the power of faith that removes mountains, yet am without love, then I am nothing. And if I were to give away everything that is mine, and lastly were to give away even my body for burning, yet am without love, then all is in vain.

Love makes the soul great;

Sanz-Cardona

Love fills the soul with healing goodness;

Love does not know envy;

It knows no boasting;

It does not allow falseness;

Love does not harm that which is decent.

It drives out self-seeking.

Love does not allow inner balance to be lost.

It does not bear a grudge.

It does not rejoice over injustice.

It rejoices only in the truth.

Love bears all things,

Is always prepared to have faithful trust.

It may hope for everything and is all-patient.

If love is truly present, it cannot be lost. The gift of prophecy will one day be extinguished, the wonder of languages cease, clairvoyant insight come to an end. Our insight is incomplete, incomplete is our prophecy.

But one day the perfect must come, the complete consecration – aim; then the time of the incomplete is over.

When I was still a child, I spoke as a child, and I felt and thought as a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we still see things in dark outlines, as in a mirror. Some day we will see everything face to face. Now my insight is incomplete, but then I shall stand in the stream of true insight, in which recognizing and being recognized are one.

We find permanence that bears all future within it in the exalted triad:

In faith

In hope,

And in love.

But the greatest of these is love. 

Holy Nights

January 4, 2009

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

In this part of the world we have the beautiful vista of the sunrise over the mountains. At first the light silhouettes their dark massiveness. But as it climbs higher, the light begins to illuminate them. When it reaches its zenith, all is flooded with light and warmth.

Sanz-Cardona

The human being is like a morning landscape. The solidity of the body is a silhouette against the light of the spirit. But from a deep memory of the body’s origins in realms of warmth and light, we can experience the body’s hope of its future transformation, its future flooding with light.

The soul itself, too, dimly knows its own origins to be from other realms. On earth it must experience the daily round of darkness and sleep again and again. Yet because of the steadfastness of the sun’s daily rising and setting, and rising again, the soul can have a deep trust and faith in its own return to the light realms of its origins.

And buried deep between our souls and our bodies lies that mysterious realm we call our life force. Of all our make-up, this part of us is most directly connected to the sunlight itself. And like the sun, it is radiant with light, a light that is warm and life-giving, a light that will ultimately transform the whole landscape of our human constitution. For here, where life illuminates soul, is where love dwells. Here, in the realm of the life force, lies the possibility of developing a love that lives like the sun, which shines on all alike; a love that, like the sun, radiates in steady balance; a love that does not exist in order to illuminate itself.

Hope in the future and faith in the progress of humanity are two supports for the soul. But on top of these two supports is the living altar of love. It is love that enlarges and enlightens our soul. It is love that fills the soul with the light and warmth of healing goodness. It is love that is our gift of offering to our fellow human beings, our gift of offering to God.

The poet says:

It happens all the time in heaven,

And some day

It will begin to happen

Again on earth—

That men and women…

Who give each other

Light, …

Will sincerely speak, saying:

“My dear,

How can I be more loving to you’

How can I be more

Kind?”[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Hafiz, “It Happens All the Time in Heaven”, in Tonight the Subject is Love, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 45.

Holy Nights 2010, Chalice of Healing

Holy Nights

1 Corinthians 12:31- 13:13

Strive to make the best out of the gifts of grace working together.

Yet I will show the way that is higher than all others.

If I speak out of the Spirit with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then my speaking remains as sounding brass or tinkling cymbal. And if I had the gift of prophecy and could speak of all the mysteries and could impart all knowledge and, further, had the power of faith that removes mountains, yet am without love, then I am nothing. And if I were to give away everything that is mine, and lastly were to give away even my body for burning, yet am without love, then all is in vain.

Love makes the soul great;

Love fills the soul with healing goodness;

Love does not know envy;

It knows no boasting;

It does not allow falseness;

Love does not harm that which is decent.

It drives out self-seeking.

Love does not allow inner balance to be lost.

It does not bear a grudge.

It does not rejoice over injustice.

It rejoices only in the truth.

Love bears all things,

Is always prepared to have faithful trust.

It may hope for everything and is all-patient.

If love is truly present, it cannot be lost. The gift of prophecy will one day be extinguished, the wonder of languages cease, clairvoyant insight come to an end. Our insight is incomplete, incomplete is our prophecy.

But one day the perfect must come, the complete consecration – aim; then the time of the incomplete is over.

When I was still a child, I spoke as a child, and I felt and thought as a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we still see things in dark outlines, as in a mirror. Some day we will see everything face to face. Now my insight is incomplete, but then I shall stand in the stream of true insight, in which recognizing and being recognized are one.

We find permanence that bears all future within it in the exalted triad:

In faith

In hope,

And in love.

But the greatest of these is love. 

Holy Nights

January 3, 2010

1 Corinthians 12:31 - 13:13

Paul describes love as a soul’s way of being and acting. He describes love as verb.

He speaks of the loving soul’s open spaciousness, a soul aligned with truth, balanced and patient. A loving soul foregoes meanness and selflessly supports decency. In other words, a soul filled with love is full of good will.  Love’s antitheses—spiteful envy, arrogance and selfishness—bespeak a soul whose will is ill, a soul in need of healing.

Love works as a healing force, both the love we receive, but more importantly, the love we generate and give.

The mystery of the Act of Consecration of Man, the communion service, is that demonstrates the process of learning how to love. First we receive God’s love by hearing, receiving a portion of the life of Christ in the Gospel. Then we undertake to make a real offering. We gather our purest thoughts, our most Christened feelings, and our most energetic will, and we pour them into the chalice along with wine and water, offering them all to the Father as a chalice of healing. Our modest, meager act of love toward Him is made strong and potent by Christ’s love joining ours. In Communion, the love we offered to the Father returns to us multiplied, as the gracious, peaceful love that Christ embodies in the bread and wine that enters us. We receive the healing medicine for our will’s illness.

This is an enactment, a kind of foreshadowing of what will one day be achieved. Right now we can only enact love partially, in outline, as in a mirror. But one day we too will, in good will, work face to face with the Master of Love, in Whom recognizing and being recognized are one. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Holy Nights 2010, Be Still

James 1:2-18

Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, because you know that the inner strength of patience grows in you through the testing of your faith. But this patient perseverance must lead to fulfillment so that you may become mature and whole human beings, not held back in any respect. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask it of God, who gives generously to all without reservation and without reproaches, and what he asks for will be given to him. Only he must ask out of a believing heart, not with a doubting soul.  A doubter is like a wave of the sea, moved and thrown hither and thither by the wind. Such a man should not think that he is able to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is divided and unstable in all his ways.

Arild Rosenkrantz

A brother or sister who considers himself among the lowly may pride himself on his greatness; whoever is rich may be proud of his lowliness. since he will perish like a flower in the grass. When the sun rises with scorching heat, it makes green grass wither and the flower drops off. The beauty in which it appeared to us perishes. So also human wealth will fade away along Man’s paths.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial and withstands the temptation, because, having stood the test, that person will receive the wreath of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, “I am being led into temptation by God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he lead anyone into temptation; Every temptation that a human being experiences arises out of his own cravings and desires, which lure and entice him. When human desire once has conceived, then it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every truly good and perfect gift descends to us out of the higher world from the Father of the heavenly lights, in whom there is no alternation and no phases of light and darkness. Out of his cosmic will, he called us to life through the truth-bearing Word. We were to be the first fruits among his creatures.

Holy Nights

January 2, 2010

James 1: 2-18

When a wheel is in motion, any given point on the rim is for a while above, and for a while below, bearing the full weight. And then it is above again. Progress, motion forward creates this dynamic.

The world of time is created in the progress of the great wheel of the circling seasons. Our own lives are an example of the motion of the greater wheel of life. For a while we are lifted up. Then we descend to bearing a heavy load. This is a prelude to our rising again.

James in his letter reminds us that our progress in life, with its ups and downs, depends on our patient endurance and our perseverance. This perseverance is a result our wholehearted, undoubting trust in God’s beneficent purpose. Eventually our load-bearing progress will lead us to our goal. We will be mature and whole human beings. We will take our place dancing in the heavens with the Father of Lights.

The poet T.S. Elliot expressed this thought:

Angel of Hope, Iris Sullivan

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love

For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith

But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

…..

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing[1].

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

New Year's Day, I Arise Today

Holy Nights

John 1: 1-18

Pantocrator, Monreale, Palermo

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.

This was in the beginning with God.

Everything came into being through the Word, and without it was not anything made that was made.

In the Word was life, and the life was the light of humankind.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him all may find faith. He was not the light, but a witness to the light, for the true light that enlightens every human being was coming into the world. It was in the world, and the world came into being through it, but the world had not recognized it.

The Transfiguration, Fra Angelico

Into those who had recognized it the light had come, but those individuals did not take it in. But all who did take it in received authority to become children of God. Those who trusted in its name are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of the human beings, but are born of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among (in) us.

And we beheld its revelation, the revelation of the only begotten son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness to Him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘After me comes one who was before me, for he is the very first’.” For out of his fullness we have received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth have come about through Jesus Christ.

Until now human senses never beheld God. The only begotten Son, who was within the Father, has become the guide to this beholding.[1]

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[1] Translation inspired by Craig Wiggins

New Year’s Day

January 1, 2014

John 1:1-18

Every day the sun rises, and gives us back to ourselves. We begin each new day fresh; a new beginning.

Each year also gives us new possibilities. The twelve days of Christmas are a time set apart, for celebration, for thanksgiving, for contemplation. They can be a time to assess the year just past and a time to peer into the future. And in the midst of these twelve days we are given a New Year. It is as if the angels say to us: now, in the middle of everything, between past and future, start your new beginning. Begin afresh. For here and now is where it begins.

John O’Donohue sings of the possibilities:

Somewhere, out at the edges, the night

Is turning and the waves of darkness

Begin to brighten the shore of dawn

The heavy dark falls back to earth

And the freed air goes wild with light,

The heart fills with fresh bright breath

And thoughts stir to give birth to color. 

I arise today

In the name of Silence

Womb of the Word,

In the name of Stillness

Home of Belonging

In the name of the Solitude

Of the Soul and the Earth

Healing Angel, Iris Sullivan

I arise today

Blessed by all things,
Wings of breath,
Delight of eyes,
Wonder of whisper,
Intimacy of touch,
Eternity of soul,
Urgency of thought,
Miracle of health,
Embrace of God.

May I live this day

Compassionate of heart,

Clear in word,

Gracious in awareness,

Courageous in thought

Generous in love.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] John O’Donohue, “Matins’, in To Bless the Space Between Us.

New Year's Day 2007, Beginnings and Goals

The Gospel of John, 1:1-18

tr. 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 sines in the Darkness,

And the Darkness did not grasp it.

There came to be a man, sent from God,

His name Ioannes.

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, 2007

John 1: 1-18

  

Sulamith Wulfing

While in the midst of the Twelve Days and Nights of the Christmas season, we are celebrating the birth of the New Year. We may have the feeling that we are not yet ready – why can’t all these holidays distribute themselves a bit more evenly? It is because they are not just arbitrary markers on calendar squares; they are actual spiritual places where certain real events occur. Living systems are not methodical. If we observe life closely, we can notice that the new always begins to announce itself, not at the end of the old, but in the middle. For example, a child’s adult teeth begin to erupt when the child is still very young, although the processes of both teething and adulthood won’t be completed for many years. Nevertheless, God starts with the end in mind.

And so in the midst of the true celebration of the Christmas season, as we move from the simplicity of the shepherds toward the maturity of kings, a New Year begins for us. It begins under the twelve-fold star of Him who is Himself the author of all beginnings and goals. We are all on our way to becoming what God intended us to be. His Word from the future echoes in our soul’s ear: Become….  “For I am the Alpha and the Omega, the very beginning and the ultimate purpose of the world…. See, I make all things new! [1]

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[1] Rev. 21: 5, 6.