GIVEN TO ME

GIVEN TO ME

In the new life that is coming there are a number of scenes from the past that I would like to see replayed – perhaps on a heavenly U Tube! One is the moment that Napoleon discovered his genius. Another goes further back to when humans invented the wheel, and, even earlier, when they discovered fire. Our story is a continuous discovery of gift. We say we imagined things, we discovered things and we invented things. In a way we did. But, in fact, everything is gift.

As we approach Christmas this comes more sharply into focus. Supermarkets like SHOPRITE highjack the C word to get us to buy each other gifts. Yet the event of Christmas is the greatest of all gifts: God coming to dwell among us to give us the fullness of life. This is not just a trite saying. St Irenaeus, drawing on the opening to the letter to the Ephesians, especially verse 10, loves the idea of Jesus “recapitulating” all things. He lived all the experiences of being human, including all the pain of rejection, suffering and death. And, in his rising from the dead, he led the way into the fullness of being human, which is to be divine.

This is the gift of Christmas: Jesus. God has given himself to us and given us the capacity to give ourselves for others. We do this through the variety of gifts that we each have.

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor and bind up hearts that are broken.  (Isaiah 61:1)

“Given to me.” Each one of us can hear these words. They applied to Israel. They applied to Jesus. They applied to the prophets. And they apply to me. We all, without exception, are a gift and have gifts. I have often spoken of Innocente, a young girl in Ivory Coast who was severely handicapped mentally and physically. Her only gift was to smile at those who spent time with her. And what a smile! No one gave her the Nobel Peace prize but she opened a door into another world with her smile and gave comfort to many a weary visitor.

Recently I read an ancient (1947!) Christmas homily by Fr Werenfried. “The roads to Bethlehem were crowded with people hurrying to the City of David. The rich pushed on ahead knowing there was limited accommodation and they snapped up all the available rooms. There was no room for Mary and Joseph was at his wits end. Lonely and forgotten they wandered forlornly among the crowds … Nothing much has changed. Mary and Joseph in their thousands still wander the roads of our world. People close their doors on the Giver of life and his gifts lie unopened at their threshold.

17 December 2017                  Sunday 3 B of Advent

Isaiah 61:1…11                                   1 Thessalonians 5:16-24                      John 1:6-8,19-28 

CHARIOT OF FIRE

PRAYER PAUSE  

Saturday 16 December 2017

CHARIOT OF FIRE

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: Elijah was “taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses; designated in the prophesies of doom to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks..”  (Sirah 48:1…11)

Reflection. Moses gave the law; Elijah called Israel to follow it. He provoked them to decide: are you for or against? And now John the Baptist does the same: ‘Israel, will you receive the Messiah or will you reject him?’ And the question echoes down to us today. Are we for or against? There needs to be a decision – whole hearted with a love expressed in action. Advent, once again, calls us to this. It is a blessed time.

Prayer. Lord, may we deepen our commitment and our love this Advent time! May we be people who witness to the promise! Amen.

YOU WOULDN’T DANCE

PRAYER PAUSE  

Friday 15 December 2017

YOU WOULDN’T DANCE

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance.”  (Matthew 11:16-19)

Reflection. Jesus lamented the failure of his contemporaries to understand “their moment”. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often have I longed to gather you …” (Matt 23:37). It is a sad business when we miss an opportunity. We all have regrets. Sometimes there is a touch of pride in this regretting. Someone like me shouldn’t have missed that! How could I? Etc. It is good to accept the reality of our limitations. It helps our humility. There I go again! And at the same time I persevere in ever trying to respond to the moments when they come.

Prayer. Lord, you teach us to watch; to be awake and alert. Help us to notice when you knock on our door. Amen.

PLANTING CEDARS

PRAYER PAUSE  

Thursday 14 December 2017, St John of the Cross

PLANTING CEDARS

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “In the wilderness I will put cedar trees, acacias, myrtles, olives. In the desert I will plant junipers.”  (Isaiah 41:13-20)

Reflection. Isaiah comes up with multiple images of hope, like today’s ones, with which to nourish our Advent journey. Here is another, this time from the Economist. Terry Laughlin, a swimmimg coach died in October. Star swimmers, he held, go through four stages. The first is unconscious incompetence when they can’t swim and they don’t know it. Then comes conscious incompetence when they know they can’t swim. The third is conscious competence when they can swim and they know it and finally unconscious competence. They no longer have to think what they are doing: they have achieved “communion with the water.” Not a bad image for the life of John of the Cross and of our own Advent hope.

Prayer. Lord, lead us along the way of hope, always reaching beyond our grasp.. Amen.

STRENGTH TO THE WEARY

PRAYER PAUSE  

Wednesday 13 December 2017, St Lucy

STRENGTH TO THE WEARY

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The Lord is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming. He gives strength to the weary, he strengthens the powerless.”  (Isaiah 40:23-41)

Reflection. Who is there who does not feel the weariness of life? If I am employed there are constant pressures. If I am unemployed there is constant worry. It is hard to meet someone who is always content, calm and at peace, though there are such people. Once more Isaiah lifts our thoughts in this Advent time and the accompanying reading from Matthew –“Come to me all you who labour and are over burdened” (11:28ff) – tells us that it is Jesus himself who consoles us. The people of the Congo and Syria, the migrants, those in prison for years without due trial and all who have waited years for redress from their burdens. We can, in this Advent, come to the hearth and the heart of God and “find rest”. And such coming is contagious and can help others to come too.  

Prayer. Lord, you are gentle and humble of heart. We come to you seeking rest for our souls. Amen.

GO IN SEARCH

PRAYER PAUSE  

Tuesday 12 December 2017

GO IN SEARCH

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray?”  (Matt 18:12-14)

Reflection. In the recent events in Zimbabwe there was “only” one fatality. We rejoice in the peaceful change yet still, one death is one too many. God is not interested in favourable statistics he cares for each one of us. And if we stray he “searches” for us – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son where the father is on the look out for his son’s return. We live in a time that promotes individualism and self-reliance. But it is an age that is not very good at caring for the individual. Many, not exactly “drop out” which sounds as though they make the choice, but fall out. I met a man yesterday who has been a beggar all the time I’ve known him, that is, his whole life. He has tried and tried but he cannot cope. We live in a hard world. If you can’t make it, tough!  

Prayer. Lord, help us to be on the watch for those whom we can encourage. Give us hearts of compassion for those who find life so difficult. Amen.

LET THE WILDERNESS EXULT!

PRAYER PAUSE  (Connected again!)

Monday 11 December 2017

LET THE WILDERNESS EXULT!

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Let the wilderness and the dry lands exult, let the wasteland  rejoice and bloom!”  (Isaiah 33:1-10)

Reflection. In Advent we feast on the words of hope in Isaiah which are coupled with “signs” of fulfilment of his words from the gospels. Today they are from Luke 5:17-26.  “Let the dry lands exult!” We live the long dry season each year which has embedded in it our looking forward to the rains. We lived the long “37 years” which had embedded in it the hope which arrived and “bloomed” for a moment on 18 November past. We have lived frustrations and weariness in our own lives but Advent reminds us of the hope we have embedded in our faith. Can my own dry heart receive this message? This rain? Can I allow my own weakness to be my strength, as Paul tells us?  

Prayer. Lord, help us to receive the “rain” of your grace, your love. Help us to see our weakness as our strength. Amen.