Come, Come to The Manger

Children come!

The Shepherds- John August Swanson

The first visitors to Jesus were the shepherds, a group of people who lived on edges of society, a group of people who lived in the wilderness, away from civility, viewed as the other, seen as being incapable and untrustworthy.

There were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock.

An angel of the Lord stood before them, the glory of the Lord shone around them, they were terrified.

But the angel said to them,

“Do not be afraid; I am bringing you good news of great joy for all: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

 

Us Shepherds- L'Arche GWDC in Arlington- courtesy of Brian Taylor 

I see a great connection with our life as L’Arche and the shepherds, we aren’t at the front of the line when it comes to government policy, or even at times able to vote. We are looked at as being different, with our own way of communicating, and at times hold different values to those we share our neighborhoods with.

Like the shepherds, in our constancy, commitment and vulnerability, through our ability to say yes: a yes to going for a walk, to leading prayer, to welcoming weakness, to welcoming the messages of strangers; so we, like the first visitors to the Christ, are invited to the manger.  


I would like to share with you this song by Nick Lowe- I was born in Bethlehem http://youtu.be/gwvfwkqagrI


Happy Christmas

O Root of Jesse

O Radix Jesse- O Root of Jesse

Peaceable Kingdom- John August Swanson

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: 

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Radix, is in Latin the origin of both radish and radical.  Advent is a time for us to be radical, to be a sign, to counter the loud voices, to be a voice in the wilderness, to listen to those unheard. We are called to be like radishes, peppery, noticeable and of the earth.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, 

and a branch shall grow out of his roots - Isaiah 11:1

The shoot that came from a stump, delivers us. The root that was born to a teenage mother, to a carpenter, in a unknown place, over 2000 years ago, today continues, in the midst of the everyday, the mundane, the profane, to remind us of the radical nature of God.

 A God that choose to be known as a child, A God that is present in the stumps and roots of our own families, in our brokenness, our struggles, our hopes and joys. 

Human beings suffer.

They torture one another.

They get hurt and get hard.

No poem or play or song

Can fully right a wrong

Inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols

Beat on their bars together.

A hunger-striker’s father

Stands in the graveyard dumb.

The police widow in veils

Faints at the funeral home.

History says, don’t hope

On this side of the grave.

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up,

And hope and history rhyme.

Seamus Heaney- The Cure at Troy

O Adonai

O Adonai- O Lord

Sr. Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ

O Lord and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm.


The name we give God, the names we give each other, help us deepen our relationships. We are know not only by those we love by our names, but by God. 
As we deepen our understanding of what it is to embrace God in our lives God has ver time given us opportunities to experience The One. 


Moses and The burning Bush a way of experiencing God,

There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." Is. 3:2

For early Christians this bush, full of the fire of God’s presence, yet still itself and unconsumed, was a sign of the Lord Christ who would come, who would be fully God and yet also fully human.

With the coming of God in Jesus, we are reminded of how God calls us to be close to God, and that we are people who need to be guided, we are offered a new beginning. 

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O’Donohue ~

  

O Wisdom

O Sapientia- O Wisdom 

Today in the sharing of the news around changes in the USA's relationship with Cuba, and of the FARC's ceasefire, we learnt also of the work of those who value peace, reconciliation and hope.  As we draw closer to the end of Advent and to the nearing of Jesus' coming amongst us its seems fitting that we hear the antiphon;

O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence.

I am struck by these words of Marie Howe in her poem Government;

Government By Marie Howe 

Standing next to my old friend I sense that his soldiers have retreated. 

And mine? They're resting their guns on their shoulders 

talking quietly. I'm hungry, one says. 

Cheeseburger, says another, 

and they all decide to go and find some dinner. 

But the next day, negotiating the too narrow aisles of 

The Health and Harmony Food Store -- when I say, Excuse me, 

to the woman and her cart of organic chicken and green grapes 

she pulls the cart not quite far back enough for me to pass, 

and a small mob in me begins picking up the fruit to throw. 

So many kingdoms, 

and in each kingdom, so many people: the disinherited son, the corrupt counselor, 

the courtesan, the fool. 

And so many gods -- arguing among themselves, 

over toast, through the lunch salad 

and on into the long hours of the mild spring afternoon -- I'm the god. 

No, I'm the god. No, I'm the god. 

I can hardly hear myself over their muttering. 

How can I discipline my own army? They're exhausted and want more money. 

How can I disarm when my enemy seems so intent?

As I put our children to bed this evening I sat with them and read, my thoughts turned to  what a kingdom they are creating, through hope, peace, gentleness and unwavering and unfailing love, such wisdom I can learn from.