Finding Christmas December 19 & 20

From his fullness we have all received,

grace in place of grace,

because while the law was given through Moses,

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jo. 1:16-17

The text for today speaks of grace, a grace that is given to replace a grace already give. What is John teaching us in this text? He is speaking about the Old and New Testaments. There is a movement, a dynamic unfolding and changing in God's plan of salvation. John sees all this as "Grace", God's doing. God initiates a dialogue with man starting with Moses and the First Testament begins; (testament = a statement of will, of intention, here is my plan, how it will be, here is your part in it).

Within the First Testament a time for its fulfillment was set. Now complete, a New Testament, a new plan is revealed, replacing the old, the final plan, until everything if fulfilled. The dialogue continues but now the speaker is God's Son and the conversation will be person-to-person with each believer.

The first book of the Old Testament, opens with the phrase: "In the beginning ..." John begins his account of the New Testament with the same phrase, "In the beginning ...". Grace in place of Grace.

It is important that we understand that the conversation in the New Testament is person-to-person, not only with all, but with each one individually, who will turn a ear and listen. He who has come into the world has come for me.

Christmas is about gift, the Grace of conversation, my Lord who comes to speak to me, filling my mind and heart with Grace and Truth.

Come Lord and speak, your servant is listening!

Finding Christmas December 17 & 18

John testified to him and cried out, saying,

“This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me  because he existed before me. Jo. 1:15

Often our praying is like having a wall of prayer, where we attach our petitions in the hopes they will be answered. What is beyond our wall of prayer remains hidden and the fate of our prayers unknown.

But there is another kind of prayer, where we go past the wall, as through a door, into the Light, carrying with us our prayers, to be presented in person. The prayer I am referring to is the prayer of contemplation.

But how? How does one pray in this way? Where is this door and how does one go about finding it? [ ... knock and the door will be open to you ... mt 7:7 ] It starts with desire, wanting to find this door that leads to a deeper experience of prayer. For those content with sticking a note to the wall and departing to go about their business, the door remains unknown. It's the one with a hunger in their heart, who stands and knocks, waiting with patience, who will have the door into contemplation opened to them.

Beyond this door, prayer becomes encounter, experience, on all levels of one's being. It is no longer talking to, it's talking with; I with my list of concerns, He casting light upon my mind and into my heart, so that I might see and understand how my prayer is to come to pass.

The prophetic voices of Advent that we are hearing, come from those who have prayed in this way. They entered and saw and in turn announced what they learned, so that others might be inspired to seek God in this same way. This is how John the Baptist was able to see and so to reveal the mystery of Jesus eternal existence.

The beautiful mystery of Christmas, so easily obscured by the hype that surrounds us, is that we are all given an invitation to come and see, to enter through the door, to discover God's plan for us. And from Christmas day, we have a human person, His son Jesus, who becomes our companion and friend, guiding us each day in and out through the door of prayer.

Seeing is believing. Contemplative prayer is the prayer of seeing.

For more information on the prayer of contemplation go to the pages on this site, 
St. Ignatius Way of Prayer and Praying On a Passage of Scripture

Wailing Wall of the old Temple

Finding Christmas December 15 & 16

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.

It is often said that it is only children who truly find the true meaning of Christmas, that Christmas is for children. Perhaps it is the children's unquenchable sense of expectancy, their belief in gifts and a giver of gifts that makes this so. They are looking at the same world adults do, but they see things that adults don't. Does this not bring to mind these words of Jesus;

And Jesus said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Mtt. 18:3

POINTS FOR REFECTION

• "Sense of expectancy" - good things are coming, hope is greater than doubt, faith is deepening, optimism outweighs the negative, my future is secure - in what ways is this true in your life or not?

• "Belief in gifts" - in times of setback and in troubled times, something greater than what is lost will be given. I will not loose. It is in knowing my own poverty is offset by confidence, that what I need will be there when it comes to pass. This is how and why I go forward?

• "A Giver of gifts" - I live in His embrace, my fears subside as I experience a peace that raises me above this world's trials - that defies this world's reasoning - how true is this in you? 

PRAYER FOR THE GIFT

Gracious Lord,

many shadows now cover the eyes of my heart.

Dark things that I have seen impede my vision. 

Once when I first experienced

a new and vibrant faith,

you gave me the eyes of a child with which to see,

and I beheld a world bathed in the light of your glory,

full of beauty and goodness and truth.

But now those beautiful eyes of faith you placed in me,

are wounded and marred by  

so much wrong that I have seen

slashing, scratching as I try to find my way

through the entanglement of my life.

Yet the voices of the Advent prophets have stirred within me.

I remember your words about becoming a child

and seeing the world as they do,

how this is the way into your kingdom.

Like the blind beggar in the gospel

I cry out, "Lord, that I might see."

Give me again that faith I once knew,

that I might see your glory once again

with the eyes of a child.

MEDITATION IN MUSIC

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Finding Christmas December 14 & 15

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision
but of God. Jo 1:12-13

POINTS FOR REFLECTION

It is our intention for these Advent meditations to delve more deeply into the true mystery of Christmas. Our principal resource is the text of the prologue of St. John's gospel which is the gospel reading for the Mass of Christmas Day. Taking a verse at a time, we continue our search.

• Three things that DO NOT bring us into the mystery of Christ

1. Being born into and raised in a Christian family (the chosen race concept of O.T.) - born not by natural generation
2. Belonging to a church congregation - nor by human choice
3. The result of one's own investigation into religion - nor a man’s decision

•  A real encounter with the true Christ "... who has come into the world", is a gift of grace, a work of the Holy Spirit.

• Our part is found in desire, a hunger seated deep within our souls, to want Him

• Decorations, Christmas music, and all the merry making cannot do it.

• Finding Christmas comes about through an authentic desire, a hunger, rooted in the poverty of one's heart and expressed through prayer. 

• Christmas is found only after an authentic Advent.

• Do you have a feeling of need in your heart, an absence of the so called, "Christmas spirit"?  That is the spirit of Advent working in you, preparing the stable of your heart where something new and wonderful is to be born.

 AN ADVENT PRAYER

Gracious Lord of Glory

I stand before you with empty pockets.

Like the Prodigal Son, I have squandered 

the inheritance of grace you bestowed upon me

in many empty pursuits.

In the midst of the glitz and glamour of Christmas,

I walk about alone and detached,

like a street person in the shadows,

my heart is cold and hungry.

But I have heard the voices of Advent

they inspire me with new hope.

O come Emmanuel!

Once again pay my ransom and free me.

The stable of my heart is once more empty,

waiting for your coming anew.

O come! O come Emmanuel,

and ransom me as you did captive Israel. 

An Advent Hymn - LINK