“Great little One! whose
all-embracing birth
Lifts Earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to Earth.”
~Richard Crashaw
The Word is born this very night:
Hail Mary, full of
grace!
A hanging lantern sheds its light
On Joseph’s anxious
face.
The Word must come in human form,
In God’s redemptive
plan.
A Babe takes every heart by storm,
But who will heed the
Man?
The Word is born this very night,
And humble is the place;
The world is dark, but hope is bright
And sinners look for grace.
The Word has come to end the war
Which Adam first began.
O
bless the Babe who sleeps on straw
And listen to the
Man!
Fred
Pratt Green
In preparation for
Christmas, I share with you this meditation from Thomas Merton:
“Christ
is born. He is born to us. And, he is born today. For
Christmas is not merely a day like every other day. It is a day made holy
and special by a sacred mystery. It is not merely another day in a weary round
of time. Today, eternity enters into time, and time, sanctified, is caught up
into eternity. Today, Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, who was in
the beginning with the Father, in whom all things were made, by whom all things
consist, enters into the world which he created in order to reclaim souls who
had forgotten their identity. Therefore, the church exults, as the angels come
down to announce not merely an old thing which happened long ago, but a new
thing which happens today. For today, God the Father makes all things new, in
his divine Son, our redeemer, according to his words: ecce nova facio
omnia. (Behold, I make all things
new.)
Therefore
the church on earth joins with the church in heaven to sing one same song, the
new song, the canticum novum which the prophet commanded all to sing
after the world should have been redeemed by the Christ, whose ancestor he knew,
by revelation, that he should be. When David cried out: “Sing to the Lord a new
song” he was the first precentor to intone the songs the church would sing on
this day in her liturgy, as she announces to the whole world salvation and joy.
For as St. Leo says: “Today there has shone upon us a day of new
redemption, a day restoring that which was long lost, a day of bliss
unending.”
Debra’s Midweek Meditation
For unto us a child is born!
"In that region there were
shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an
angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid;
for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the
Lord."
Luke 2:8-12
At last we are at the manger and the birth of Christ.
It always seems
like a short journey after Advent begins, but it is a long journey for the
heart.
We have waited and been anxious--we have tried to
make Jesus come to us when we have been desperate or lonely.
Jesus comes in
God's time and we will never know the hour or the
season.
What we do know is that if we are alert, as the shepherds were that
night, we will hear Angels and see glory.
We will witness miracles and hope will be born anew within
us.
Blessed Christmas!
Debra
BC:AD
This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the
future's
Uninvented timekeepers presented
arms.
This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull
peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.
This was the moment when
even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads
in remote
provinces.
And
this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an
obscure Persian sect
Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the
kingdom of heaven.
U.A.
Fanthorpe (born
1929)
Daily Morning Prayer
http://www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/morning_prayer.htm
You are Holy,
You who wished to be born in the midst of our
sins
The better to pardon us,
We
beg you:
Lord, have mercy.
You are Strong,
You who wished to
be born weak as a child in order to
Give us strength,
We
beg you:
Christ have mercy.
You are Immortal,
You who
have to put on a body to die
In order to give us immortality,
We
beg you,
Lord, have mercy.
Holy God, strong God, immortal God,
Give the peace of heaven to your earth,
And open the door of your mercy
To the beggars of your love.
Lucien
Deiss
This week at St. James:
Friday: 5:00
rehearsal for the family Christmas pageant
Saturday:
5:00 Family Christmas Pageant and
Eucharist
10:00
Music for the Christ
Mass
11:00
Christmas Eve Eucharist
Sunday:
10:00 Christmas Day
Eucharist
Monday: Office
closed
Wednesday: No Healing Eucharist
Prayers Etc.
For those in need
of healing and their families:
David W.
Pat B.
Ellie
Bill
L.
Brittanny
Chris L.
Kristin L.
Katie H.
Maria R.
Anna B.
Donald M.
Brian E.
Barbara W. Paul R.
Nancy G.
Becky L.
Dot H.
Belinda
Mary
Lee I. Tony G.
Joel
Arabella
Henry H.
Kate H.
Nancy S.
Josh & Lovisah
Paul
& Fritz Dave Alves Debbie Holt Gary Plummer
JB,
Chase & Sandy
Ronald
Luloff
The Paul Shelton Family The Keelty Family
The
Shockey Family
For our seminarian Laura and her husband Lyle.
For those who are
deployed and away from family at Christmas.
For safety for those who
travel.
In Closing:
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
I would true love did so chance
To
see the legend of my play
To call my true love to my
dance
Sing,
O my love, O my love, my love, my
love.
This
have I done for my true love.
In a manger laid and wrapped I was,
So very poor, this was my chance,
Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass,
To call my true love to my
dance.
English
Carol
Be merry, be
merry,
I
pray you every one!
A principal point of charity
It is, merry to
be in him
That is but one. Be merry!
For of a maiden a
child
Was born to save mankind
That was forlorn. Be
merry!
Now Mary for
thy Sonne’s sake
Save them alle that mirthe make
And longest holdy on! Be
merry!
English
Carol
Pax et Bonum,
Loree+
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