Dear Friends,
We settle in for another Christmas season. Christmas is always a blessing, a time for giving thanks – especially for the Father’s gift to us: Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us – even though many struggle at this time of year. A good friend, a brother Priest, and a member of the Religious community to which I belong, Father Chris Rushton, is being cared for at Emmanuel Hospice in Hamilton, one of the many Good Shepherd ministries. It means, simply, that he is in the process of dying. (I am glad that “The Good Shepherd” is caring for him!) Father Chris is a remarkable person. He accepts the inevitable with great faith and serenity, and he expresses profound gratitude for every act of kindness he receives – a visit, a gift, a service, a chat, and he is always looking for ways to “give back”. He is an inspiration to those who experience both his joy and the enthusiasm he brings to each day. His is the example that might guide us: gratitude for each day – the fundamental gift – the gift of life. Aware of such a great blessing, we find ways to “give back” – precisely by the decisions we make each day to respond generously to those whose needs may be greater than our own. A word of affirmation is an easy way to do that. It does not cost two cents – but for the recipient it can be solid gold, a life-saver: “Someone thinks I am worth it!” A word of affirmation can be the boost needed for the day – or for a lifetime. This Christmas affirm someone – anyone – a child, a sibling, a friend, a neighbour! Watch how it affects them. You have done something that will have a ripple effect touching many! It is truly a gift that keeps on giving! Merry Christmas! May your faith be deepened during this Christmas season! Sincerely in Christ and Mary Immaculate, OMI (Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI Bishop of Hamilton
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The text that follows is the second part of the article written by Fr. Roger Karban and printed in “Celebration – A Comprehensive Worship Resource”, December 2017. At the beginning of the first part he says “Focused on Christmas, we often miss the original message our sacred authors intend to convey. In the second part he writes:
“We can never forget that Matthew and Luke composed their infancy narratives against the background of Jesus’ dying and rising. Those two events were more deeply ingrained in their memory than Jesus’ birthday. Dying and rising were integral parts of their everyday Christian lives. The joyful implications of his birth can certainly help us appreciate the emotions Isaiah and all Judah experienced at the reforming King Hezekiah’s 741 B.C.E. birth. Finally, they had the kind of leader they’d been hoping for; a “Wonder-Counselor; God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:5). Yet within 150 years of his birth, the chosen people had to endure both the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles. No matter how lofty our dreams and hopes, when they eventually morph into real flesh and blood situations, dying always plays a central part. The joy, for instance, which Psalm 96 commemorates takes lots of work to achieve. If Yahweh is actually among us, he/she is recognized only when there’s justice, when people have the right relationship with God and one another. Such joy just exist for as long as people are willing to endure the pain which comes from building those relationships. According to Luke, Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (instead of Nazareth were Mary and Joseph live) only happens because, like all of us, his parents are subject to human forces. Not even they receive a divine dispensation to step out of this world’s limits to facilitate the arrival of god’s child. Once one steps into humanity, one suffers. Contrary to our frequent romanticizing of the Christmas stable shepherds, these unkempt folk were the outcasts of biblical society. (Palestinian parents normally locked up their daughters when shepherds passed through town!) Yet, following Luke’s Gospel theology, these community “pariahs” more quickly and faithfully recognize God among us than the high mucky mucks we so admire. It takes a real death on our part to admit that, especially if, in our mind, we don’t’ fit into the outcast bracket. With that in mind, it’s clear to see that the unknown author responsible for the Letter to Titus, has much more in mind than just Jesus’ three hours on Golgotha when he writes about his “giving himself for us” (Titus 2:14). Being human always entails a ‘giving’. And, as we learn on the Sunday after Christmas, such giving chronologically starts with being a member of a family. Not the easiest role to fulfill. Luke, as a Christian author, logically brings up the exceptionalness of the child Jesus when Mary and Joseph present him in the Jerusalem Temple and encounter Simeon and Anna. Yet, his uniqueness historically might have been solely in the eyes of the beholders – his parents. Years ago, in visiting Rome’s station churches, I discovered that religious sites are a magnet for some rather unusual people. (One French woman, whom I frequently encountered, insisted she was the Blessed Virgin. Thankfully, she always promised she’d mention me favorable to her Son.) Based on that Lenten experience, I often toy with the possibility that Anna and Simeon simply could have been pious Jews who hung out at the Temple. When couples brought boys in for presentation, they asked the parents if they could hold the child, then proclaimed those beautiful words over him. Who knows, maybe this particular child would eventually be the Christ who would save Israel. This interpretation certainly gives the parents something to think about. Though every husband and father who hears Psalm 128 would enjoy having a fruitful vine, and just the right amount of olive plants around his table, it takes lots of dying to make everyone, not just the husband and father, a fulfilled member of our families. Both Sirach and the unknown author of Colossians mention some practical ways of accomplishing this. Yet, as the advice to wives to be subordinate to your husbands reminds us, fulfillment is an ongoing, evolving process. What was fulfilling yesterday might not be fulfilling today. Being human means we can never understand everything correctly all at one time. Is it possible there were tensions at times even in the home of the “holy family”? Dying and rising is an essential part of all our lives, especially during the Christmas Season.” |
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Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
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