Epiphany 2020, Birth or Death?

1^st Epiphany

Matthew 2:1-12

Basilica of St. Mary Major

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.”

Gentile da Fabriano

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 12, 2020

Matthew 2:1–12

The wise priest-kings from the east, as they come closer to the child, stop in the royal city of Jerusalem, asking to see the newborn king. Why were they not led directly to the child? Why were they allowed to alert the Child’s enemies of His presence?

It would seem that this child is, from the beginning, connected with death. A poem by T.S. Eliot hints at this; in it, one of the wise men says,

…were we led all that way for

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different…*

The arrival of the Life that is the Light calls forth the shadowy oppositional

Nikolej Koshelev

forces of death. Herod is threatened by the real heir to the throne that he occupies. He is even willing to kill innocent children to keep possession of it. Yet the destructive power of evil also activates the angels. They will come to Joseph in a dream. They will urge him to take the Child to the city of the sun in Egypt until it is safe to return. They will also offer the Magi the advice to alter their route, leaving Herod uninformed while the child slips away.

Evil finds its match. And the death force that rises up at the Child’s birth will finally be overcome, even in its ‘proper place’ at the end of His life. For in Him, death itself will become the birth of something new, a new human form.

…were we led all that way for

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different…*

---

*T. S. Eliot, ”Journey of the Magi”

* Ibid.

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Holy Nights 2020, Overthrow Hearts

Second Christmas week

Luke 2: 21-35,39, 40

On the eighth day, when it

Anna de Gelder

was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be considered to be consecrated to God”). They also had to make the gifts of offering decreed the Law: “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

And behold there was in Jerusalem a man named Simeon. He was devout, entirely dedicated to the Good, and lived in expectation of him who was to bring the consolation of the Spirit to the people of God. The Holy Spirit was upon him, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, it had been revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen Christ, the Lord. Inspired by the Spirit, he went into the Temple, just as the parents brought in the child to fulfill the custom of the Law.  And he took the child in his arm, praising the divine Ground of the World, and said

Now you let your servant depart in peace, O Master, according to your word.

For now my eyes have seen your healing deed which you have prepared before the peoples:

A light that leads the peoples of the world to revelation and makes your own people shine in the spirit.

…And his father and mother were amazed that such words were spoken about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:

           Behold, he will cause the fall of many among his people,

           but he will also let them rise again.

           He is a being who will call up dissent; 

           a sword will pierce your soul, too.

           Through him, the thoughts and ponderings of many hearts will be revealed.

…And when they had completed everything that the Law of the Lord demands, they returned home to Galilee, to their town Nazareth. And the child grew, maturing in his spirit-filled soul; divine grace was upon him.

Holy Nights
January 5, 2020

Luke 2:21-35, 39, 40

Rembrandt

The mother has just brought her little son into the world. The pain and suffering of childbirth have yielded to her joy in its sweet and innocent fruit. It was understood that the first-born son was to be consecrated as belonging to God. He was to be presented at the Temple and symbolically ransomed back from God for his parents through a small offering. Imagine the parent’s surprise when Simeon declares that this child will himself “ransom captive Israel.”

But this will not be accomplished in a blaze of light and glory. It will create opposition. The forces of darkness will rise up. Hearts and thoughts will be exposed. Souls will be pierced.

Souls especially. For this redeeming of the people will not take place on an outer, political level. He will not overthrow the Romans in a great battle of swords.

He will overthrow hearts. He will pierce souls.

For now the sword will be the Word of God, the sword of truth; the sword that opens up, that cuts away the old and reveals the vast interiority of the kingdom of the heart, a realm of joy and pain.

The Word of God is made flesh and dwells in our midst. He pierces hearts and we open to another life that is wide and timeless—the inner kingdom. His great presence stirs the joy-pain of a new creation.

May our souls, filled with his spirit, mature. May divine grace be upon us.

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New Year 2020, Everything You Do

Holy Nights

John 1: 1-18 (translation by Craig Wiggins)

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.

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.

January 1, 2020

John 1: 1-18

In the beginning, God created a living radiance. This radiance took form in sun moon and stars. In the beginning, God created the human being, giving us eyes with which to see the light.

In the beginning, God shepherded us with the Law, with specific codes of conduct, designed to mold and shape our souls and spirits rightly toward God and toward our fellow human beings.

He Qi

And then He began again. He sent His beloved Son, whose very essence and being is Love. Seeing God’s Son, the way He talked, the way He healed, the way His actions were connected back to His Father, human beings can also experience the light, the life, the love of the Father Himself. Through the Son, we are given eyes of the soul, opened by love, with which to see God.

Seeing the Son is grace; taking His essence into our hearts lets us experience the truth of our own being: that love in us is a living, radiant creative force. In the words of Hafiz,

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child’s training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

with veracity and love.

Now is the time for the world to know

That every thought and action is sacred.

That this is the time

For you to compute the impossibility

that there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is Sacred.*

---

*Hafiz, “Now is the Time”, in The Gift, versions of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky

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Holy Nights 2019, Tree of Life

Holy Nights

1 John 1: 1-10

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have beheld, and touched with our hands: the Word of God which bears all Life within itself -  the very Life revealed itself, and we have seen it and so bear witness to it and proclaim it to you as the life which is through all cycles of time. It was with the Father; now it has revealed itself to us. We have seen it and heard it, and we proclaim to you so that you also can live in spiritual community with us; that is, our community with the Father and with Jesus Christ his Son.

           

These things we are writing so that your joy may be full.

And this is the message we have received from Him and proclaim to you: that God is Light, and there is not any kind of darkness in Him.

If we say that we have community with Him and yet conduct our lives in the darkness, what we say is a lie and what we do is without reality.

Only when our life is fully permeated by light, as He Himself is in the light, are we truly united in community, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us of all sin.

If we say that we are without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we are conscious of our sinfulness and confess to it, then He proves faithful and just; he takes the sin from us and cleanses us of all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have never fallen into sin, we make Him a liar, and the divine Word which goes forth from him is not in us.

Holy Nights

December 29, 2019

1 John 1: 1-10

Shimmering in eternal realms is the great Tree of Life. In Egyptian myth, this

tree is pictured as the great world tree. Its branches support the star-studded sky, and its roots reach into the divine watery deep. Its trunk forms the axis around which the world revolves. In the myth, the god Osirus was encased in the trunk of this tree; he became the link between the earthly and the heavenly realms.

Christ Jesus carried this further: on the tree of the cross, the tree of death that became a shining tree of life; the divine creator’s arms are outstretched in an embrace of love that includes the whole world.

We are each a living replica of the tree of life. At birth, we are rooted in the divine depths. Our crown is in God’s starry heights. And at the very center of our being is the beauty of our heart, connected with the sun, shining with the creative power that unites all.  Our heart is the axis around which our whole world revolves.

This creative, sun-like center is the radiant beauty of love. It is supported on the one hand by mercy and on the other by justice. For the Christ-Sun on the cross was placed between the two thieves. To the one who was willing to assume responsibility for his own deeds, the Christ-Sun’s beauteous love showed mercy: “Today, you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43 To the one who railed and egotistically cursed God, cutting himself off from divine love, there could remain only the severity of God’s justice.

A merciful and just love—this is the love that God enacted on the field of history. This is the love that He has implanted in each human heart, from there to be radiated forth as the life-giving Sun of Divine-Human love. So, in the words of the poet:

Let us be like

…falling stars in the day sky.

Let no one know of our sublime beauty

As we hold hands with God

And burn

Into a sacred existence …

That surpasses

Every description of …love.*

---

*Hafiz, “The Day Sky”, in The Subject Tonight Is Love, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 24.

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Christmas II, Dawn

Luke 2: 1-20 (adapted)

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.

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.

Christmas II, Dawn

December 25, 2019

Luke 2: 1-20

A rose begins a tight-closed bud. Gradually it unfurls, bestowing its beauty and fragrance to the world.

The poet asks:

How

did the rose

ever open its heart

and give the world all of its beauty?

It felt the encouragement of the light against its being.*

The old Christmas hymn speaks of Christ as a rose, ever blooming, which comes in the cold of mankind’s winter. Encouraged by the light of the Father, Christ the Rose blossomed upon the tree of Jesse. His beauty and fragrance filled the world. Now he speaks. He has become the Father’s light-filled, creating Word. The poet says:

They can be like a sun, words.

They can do for the heart

What light can

for a field.**

Honthorst

Once again Christ approaches the fields of earth. His light dawns gently at first. We ask to be touched by His warmth and light. It is our hope that the light of his creating Word touch our lips, warm our hearts; so that our souls may open and receive him; so that our souls may bestow His beauty and fragrance.  “Become”, he says.

This is a moment of such gentle fullness. There is so much beauty to give to the world; so much love to give; so much encouragement. The rose of the heart opens because it feels the encouragement of the light against its being.

* Hafiz, “How Did the Rose”, in Love Poems to God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 161

** St. John of the Cross, “They Can Be Like the Sun”, Ibid, p. 324

4th Advent 2019, The Angel in You

4^th Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

Martin Schongauer

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 to 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?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

Fra Angelico

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

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

4^th Advent

December 22, 2019

Luke 1:26-38

Sulamith Wulfing

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

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

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

Our community also has its own angel. It, too, announces to us that the healing spirit will come upon us. It is up to us, like  the Mary-Soul, to create the inner quiet, the moments of openness. It is up to us to awaken, to listen, to notice, so that it can indeed happen. ‘For, as Luke says, ‘no word is spoken in the world of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.’ Luke 1:37 

Tissot

And the poet Rose Auslander says:

The angel in you

Rejoices over

Your light

Weeps over your darkness

Out of his wings whisper

Words of love

Poems, tender affection

He watches over

your path

Direct your step

Angelwards.*

---

*Rose Auslander. “The Angel in You”

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3rd Advent 2019, Out To Meet Him!

3rd Advent

Matthew 25, 1-13

Burnand

The kingdom in the heavens will be like ten maidens who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom; but five of them were foolish and dull of soul and five were alert and sensible. You see, the foolish ones took their lamps without taking any oil with them, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil with their lamps. The bridegroom being delayed, they all got drowsy and lay down. Then at midnight, the cry went up: “Here comes the bridegroom, everybody out to meet him!” Then all those maidens got up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out.”

And the sensible ones answered, “No, the oil would not be enough for us and for you as well; you’d better go to those who sell it and buy oil for yourselves.” After they went off to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.

Then later the other maidens came along saying, “Master, master, open up for us.”

But he answered, “I tell you once for all, I do not know you.”

So be alert of soul, because you do not know the date or the hour.

3^rd Advent

December 13, 2019

Matthew 25: 1-13

Human consciousness grows and expands. When we were children, we simply took events as they came. But as adults, we can be a bit more far-seeing. We can plan and prepare for the events that we can see coming.

Burnand

Today’s reading gives us an announcement about an event that is most definitely coming. It stresses the importance of being ready. All ten maidens know to expect the bridegroom. They are to be his welcoming committee. They just don’t quite know exactly when. The wise ones carry everything they need with them, just in case. The foolish ones miss their appointment because they have to go shopping.

Christ, the soul’s bridegroom, is coming. He needs the light of our well-stocked inner lamps so that we can travel with him to the great feast. He needs the light of our wide-awake awareness, our presence of mind. Otherwise, the door of the heart is shut for him. The poet describes our inner state:

We live in a world of motion and distance.

The heart flies from tree to bird,

from bird to distant star,

from star to love; and love grows

in the quiet house, turning and working,

servant of thought, a lamp held in one hand.*

*Philippe Jaccottet, “Distance”, in The Selected Poems of Philippe Jaccottet, translated by Derek Mahon

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