Advent Series - New Encounter - Christmas

Across the River from the Capital - William Kurelek

Christmas
Lectio	In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Lk 2:1-14
Meditatio	In the middle of the Ottawa River, across from Parliament Hill, there is a tiny island named International Island. It is the setting for this Nativity Scene by William Kurelek. In this dream scene Mary is holding the infant Jesus who is reaching out to touch the forehead of a man bundled up in a sleeping bag. Kurelek explains that the man is himself and as the infant touches him he complains, "Buzz off, will you!" Then Kurelek awakens from this dream crying out loudly, "That can't be me. I will never reject him." At the time of this painting, Kurelek wondered about the people who occupy the seats of authority on that hill above the river. Would they reject the touch of Christ? Sadly yes. We see this rejection growing all around us today. We see it argued by those who outright embrace atheism, who teach it in places of learning; we see it influencing law makers who reject the moral values that once assisted them in their judgments.  But perhaps the most troubling examples of this growing rejection is the sheer apathy toward religion in society today, especially among the younger generations.  In Matthew's gospel account, Ch. 21:43, Jesus tells the parable of the unfaithful Tenant Farmers who failed to return the produce of the land they were given to cultivate, rejecting the servants sent to them and even killing the Son who was sent to them.  Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes.’ That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it.” Vs. 42-43 In the midst of all the Christmas celebrating and the commercialization that tends to dominate it, let us not become disconnected from Him who is with us and who comes today to take us into an even deeper communion with Him in the days to come; days that will be marked by an ever deepening struggle with the secularization that surrounds us.
Oratio	O Lord, troubling is it to see how your coming anew is rejected by so many. Even more troubling is the awareness of how often I too ignore your invitation to a deeper walk with you. May your Holy Spirit open my heart more deeply; filling me with joy and expectation of the new wonders that await me at your coming this year.
Contemplatio	When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."