Month: November 2010

Advent Day 3 – The wolf and the lamb – the owl and the lion

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Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Dear Friends,

Isaiah dreams of a bright future for us; he also chastises us for our idolatry and unfaithfulness to God and our best selves (We will look at this later>)

But today he shows us a wonderful vision: the animals lead the way to peace!

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb . .

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.

The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,

together their young shall rest:

the lion shall eat hay like an ox

The baby shall play in the cobra’s den – Isiah 11:5-10.

Let’s muse about peace and harmony today.

Let’s muse about the animal’s leading the way to peace.

(I have a Christmas short story about an owl from the banks of the Shenandoah

and a young lion from the Serengheti in Africa leading the way to peace.

It’s a fun story.  Why not download it and save it for close to Christmas?

My puppy Shivvy has demonstrated again a love for fellow creatures of all sorts.

I have stories of him with turtles and little doves with broken wings and bunny rabbits and ducklings on our walks around our condo.

Think about it.

What can I do today to bring more harmony into the habitat in which I live

– at home, at work, at church, in my neighborhood, in our world?

Behold a broken world, we pray,

Where want and war increase,

And grant us, Lord, in this our day,

The ancient dream of peace.    — unattributed.

And for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here are two versions of “And the Glory of the Lord

~ one from Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony.

With love,

Bob Traupman

priest / writer



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You’re currently reading “Advent Day 3 – The wolf and the lamb – the owl and the lion,” an entry on Father Bob’s Reflections

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December 1, 2009 / 2:14 am
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Advent Day 2 From swords to plowshares – guns to roses

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The price of peace paid by the Prince of Peace

Monday of the First Week of Advent

Dear Friends,

Today’s reading from Isaiah is a famous one:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore. — Isaiah 2:4.

All of my adult life my writing and my prayer has been against war —

Viet Nam / the Balkans / the Gulf  War / Iraq / and now Afghanistan.

Pope Paul VI, speaking before the United Nations General Assembly made an impassioned plea:

“No more war! Never again war!

And Pope John Paul II said the Iraq war was A defeat for humanity.

And Dwight David Eisenhower, the great general of Word War II and President of the U.S. said: “When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing.”

Advent is a time to wish for peace / pray for peace / work for peace.

The Christmas story is about peace.  One of the titles of Jesus is “Prince of Peace.”

But we become cynical about peace.

Many of us have our private little wars that we engage in every day with a sibling or a friend or co-worker.

Let us “Practice peacefulness”, as a friend put it to me once.  Let’s stop the gossiping / give people a chance / be kind.

The legend of St. Christopher carrying a child across a stream on a stormy night invites us to greet every human person as if they were Christ himself.

Think thoughts of peace.  Be peace.  At least try it today, the second day of Advent.

The image below is a photo of the last page of the men’s magazine Details.  (Actually I despise its outrageous consumerism and narcissism but I read it to see what our young people are reading.)  This image is actually a GAP commercial selling plaid shirts;  those are young women and men making up the peace sign.) Would that they (we) would put their (our)  bodies, minds and spirits to the task of creating peace in our world!



I will hear what the Lord God has to say,

a voice that speaks of peace,

peace for his people and his friends.

and those who turn to him in their hearts.

Mercy and faithfulness have met;

Justice and peace have embraced.

Faithfulness shall spring from the earth

and justice look down from heaven.

The Lord will make us prosper

and the earth shall yield its fruit.

Justice shall march before him

and peace shall follow his steps.

Psalm 85

Before you go here’s a peace song for you

With love,

Bob Traupman

priest / writer

Advent Day 1 ~ Stay Awake! Be prepared!

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Dear Friends,

Sunday, November 28th begins the Advent season for the liturgical Christian churches.  Funny enough, we begin at the end — thinking about THE END – the end of the world.  The early Christians believed Jesus was coming “soon and very soon.” The early generation of Christians thought the end would come soon.  Jerusalem fell in 70 CE but Jesus didn’t come.

Paul admonishes us in Romans today:

“Now is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.”

And Jesus also admonishes us in today’s gospel (Mt 24:37-44)

” Stay awake !

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. . . . .

You must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

.

Now here’s my reflection:

Prepared / watchful / alert / aware / awake

knowing what’s happening

. . .  but so many of us are asleep, Lord.

We tend to not recognize the signs of the times.

We often dull our senses / stay in our own little worlds.

Choosing not to care.   Complacent.

Many don’t want to be bothered pondering or praying about the real issues

And thus, we go like lemmings over the cliff.

Tribulations. Fear.  Threats

. . . of losing our job / having a lump in our breast /

losing health insurance because we lost our job

global warming

corruption on Wall Street and government

swine flu / chemical warfare/ cyber war

Stand erect. Face your fears with courage.

Be strong!

Do not fear the terror of the night (Psalm 91.)

That’s what Advent faith is all about:

Being vigilant.  Being prepared for anything life throws at us.

Standing proudly humble or humbly proud no matter what.

That’s the kind of faith in life — in You, my God that I seek.

I want it. I ask you for it.

Today I consent to it.

Amen.  So be it.

Now here’s a song to get you in an Advent mood from Godspell

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All the best,

Have a wonderful Advent!

Bob Traupman

priest / writer