A Happy and Blessed New Year overflowing with good health

~ and many good things for you and your family!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

The Joys of Family Life

December 29, 2016December 29, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

The sixth day of Christmas December 30th — the Feast of the Holy Family

(and the sixth day of Hanukkah and the fifth day of Kwanzaa.)

I met this young couple at a welcome station in the mountains of Virginia a few year ago. I saw Joseph and Mary and Jesus in them. May their be a touch of holiness ~ of wholeness ~ in their lives and in our families. I pray for them and all young families ~ indeed all families on this traditional day in the Christmas season when we reflect on the hidden, ordinary life of Joseph, and Mary and Jesus in Nazareth. They are a model of simplicity for us.

But for many of us, our family life can be very dysfunctional. I think of those families today, Lord. Children (some of them friends of mine) who grew up with alcoholic parents and were in favor one moment and cast aside the next, had little normalcy, little stability.

Be with all families that struggle, Lord. Be with us who are imperfect, weak and selfish and perhaps capable of little love because we may not have received it ourselves as children.

We’re trying, Lord. Strengthen our capacity to love, to be present to our own children and our spouse. Help us realize, Lord, that our most important role is not to have a successful career but to love our children and our spouse. To be a community of love in which to call forth the gifts, the love, the moral courage and strength of our children for the next generation.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis wrote an important document that arose from the two Synods of Bishops dedicated to discussing the issue of family life. It was entitled Amoris Laetitia ~ The Joy of Love.

Here are a few quotes or quips of Pope Francis himself from the document. You’ll note his often down home folksy style.

Every family should be an icon of the family of Nazareth.

The Christian ideal, especially in families, is a love that never gives up.

When we have been offended or let down, forgiveness is possible and desirable, but no one can say it is easy.

The Joy of Love experienced by families is also the joy experienced by the Church.

Just as a good wine begins to ‘breathe’ with time, so too the daily experience of fidelity gives married life richness and ‘body’.

Young love needs to keep dancing towards the future with immense hope.

I thank God that many families, which are far from considering themselves perfect, live in love, fulfill their calling and keep moving forward, even if they fall many times along the way.

We have to realize that all of us are a complex mixture of light and shadows. The other person is much more than the sum of the little things that annoy me.

In family life, we need to cultivate that strength of love, which can help us fight every evil threatening it. Love does not yield to resentment, scorn for others or the desire to hurt or to gain some advantage. The Christian ideal, especially in families, is a love that never gives up.

Marital joy can be experienced even amid sorrow; it involves accepting that marriage is an inevitable mixture of enjoyment and struggles, tensions and repose, pain and relief, satisfactions and longings, annoyances and pleasures, but always on the path of friendship, which inspires married couples to care for one another.

Dialogue is essential for experiencing, expressing and fostering love in marriage and family life.

Take time, quality time. This means being ready to listen patiently and attentively to everything the other person wants to say. It requires the self-discipline of not speaking until the time is right.

And so, on this Feast of the Holy Family may we honor you, Jesus and Mary and Joseph. as I honor this young couple whose name I do not even know because I saw in them an image of God in their simple, ordinary love. Lord, keep us all in your loving care.

And now before you go, here’s a hymn to Mary that tells us about Nazareth. Click here. And here are the Mass readings for this feast. Click here.

(Below, I’ve included some information from America magazine that describes some of the important points of this document if you’re interested that goes beyond the spiritual interests of this blog. I do suggest you look it over.)

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

From America magazine on Amoris Laetitia

1. The church needs to understand families and individuals in all their complexity. The church needs to meet people where they are. So pastors are to “avoid judgments which do not take into account the complexity of various situations.” People should not be “pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no room for personal and pastoral discernment” . In other words, one size does not fit all. People are encouraged to live by the Gospel, but should also be welcomed into a church that appreciates their particular struggles and treats them with mercy

2. The role of conscience is paramount in moral decision making. “Individual conscience needs to be better incorporated into the church’s practice in certain situations which do not objectively embody our understanding of marriage” The church has been “called to form consciences, not to replace them” (37). Yes, it is true, the Pope says, that a conscience needs to be formed by church teaching. But conscience does more than to judge what does or does not agree with church teaching. Conscience can also recognize with “a certain moral security” what God is asking. Pastors, therefore, need to help people not simply follow rules, but to practice “discernment,” a word that implies prayerful decision making.

3. Divorced and remarried Catholics need to be more fully integrated into the church. How? By looking at the specifics of their situation, by remembering “mitigating factors,” by counseling them in the “internal forum,” (that is, in private conversations between the priest and person or couple), and by respecting that the final decision about the degree of participation in the church is left to a person’s conscience. (The reception of Communion is not spelled out here, but that is a traditional aspect of “participation” in church life.) Divorced and remarried couples should be made to feel part of the church. “They are not excommunicated and should not be treated as such, since they remain part” of the church.

4. We should no longer talk about people “living in sin.” In a sentence that reflects a new approach, the pope says clearly, “It can no longer simply be said that all those living in any ‘irregular situation’ are living in a state of mortal sin.” Other people in “irregular situations,” or non-traditional families, like single mothers, need to be offered “understanding, comfort and acceptance.” When it comes to these people, indeed everyone, the church need to stop applying moral laws, as if they were, in the pope’s vivid phrase, “stones to throw at a person’s life”

~ excerpted and simplified from America magazine “Top Ten Takeaways from Amoris Laetitia by James Martin, S.J. April 5. 2016

The Feast of the Holy Innocents ~ Rachel mourns for her children ~ still

December 28, 2016December 28, 2016bobtraupman1 Comment

The Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs ~ Wednesday, December 28, 2016

(and Day 4 of Hanukkah and Day 3 of Kwanzaa)

Herod the Great had been elected “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. When the Magi told him of the new King of the Jews, Herod could think of nothing but wiping out the threat to his throne. The Holy Innocents are those children who were brutally murdered by Herod as he sought the Christ Child. At his hand, the Church receives their first martyrs, thereby this feast three days after the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

And because of Herod’s act of terrorism among his own people, Joseph had to fly by night to Egypt with Mary and the young child Jesus. Thus, Jesus himself became a political refugee.

Today we think of other innocent children ~ some killed as the unborn are or have been. We also think of those innocent ones so tragically gunned down two years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.

Then there are children who are trafficked as boy soldiers or as prostitutes or as child laborers.

And what of the horror of children caught in war as in Aleppo as the rescue of the five-year-old child Omran Dagneesh went viral, while thousands ~ millions of others remain nameless.

And what of the child immigrants in our own country who are held in overcrowded, unhealthy detention camp for years without legal representation.

In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning,

of bitter weeping!

Rachel mourns her children

she refuses to be consoled

because her children are no more

~ (Jer 31:15).

You know, the infant Jesus was threatened by violence himself. So, the Christmas story is not all sweetness and light. The Wise Men inquired of Herod where the newborn King of the Jews was born. Seething with diabolical fury because of his jealousy, Herod orders the massacre of all who resemble Jesus in gender and age.

The Mass texts proclaim . . .

The innocents were slaughtered as infants for Christ;

spotless, they follow the Lamb and sing for ever: Glory to you, O Lord.

I would think the same is true for our own dear innocent children ~ not that all of them are Christian, but that will in their own way sing for ever.

Psalm 124, also from today’s Mass, states,

“Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.”

So, for many, an eternal life of happiness and a reunion with loved ones is indeed a consolation.

And I conclude today with prayers from our dear Pope Francis . . .

Child of Bethlehem, touch the hearts of all those engaged in human trafficking, that they may realize the gravity of this crime against humanity. Look upon the many children who are kidnapped, wounded and killed in armed conflicts, and all those who are robbed of their childhood and forced to become child soldiers.

As we fix our on the Holy Family of Nazareth as they were forced to become refugees, let us think of the tragedy of those migrants and refugees who are victims of rejection and exploitation of human trafficking and slave labor.

Lord Jesus, as a little child you were a refugee yourself,

and a political one at that.

Thousands of innocent children were murdered.

Millions of children die in our world because of other despots.

Because of cruelty and brutality and bullying goes on and on.

Lord, I have no idea what the future holds for children in our own country.

Please watch over them all and keep them safe.

And please watch over all children who are refugees,

or in war-torn countries or who are migrants on the road

searching for a better home

as your Mom and Dad were to return to their home in Nazareth.

Now before you go, here’s a liturgical hymn that is often meant to console. Click here.

And here are today’s Mass readings, if you’d like to reflect on them. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

The Feast of St. John the Apostle and evangelist ~ the luminous lover

December 27, 2016December 27, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

The Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist ~ December 27, 2016

(and Day 3 of Hanukkah and Day 2 of Kwanzaa)

The symbol for St. John among the four Evangelists is the eagle because he soared high above the others into the mystical heights of contemplation in his writings, especially his majestic final discourses—meditations on the mysterious communion of the Father and the Son (chapters 13-17). He shares a familiarity with the Jesus as a privileged witness to the Lord’s Transfiguration and the agony in Gethsemane and he reclined with his head upon Jesus breast at the Last Supper. And his epistles are simple, luminous lessons on God’s love.

St. John is said to have traveled to Asia Minor, where he died at Ephesus around 100. Jesus commended his Mother into John’s care at the foot of the Cross, and it is said that he brought her to Ephesus with him.

He is the Evangelist of the Incarnation. He proclaims the glory of the glory of the Word coming forth from God to take on human flesh and dwell in our midst. Here’s an excerpt from the prologue from his Gospel . . .

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life,

and this life was the light of the human race

the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

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.

Now I’d like to share with you a famous Christmas Day homily by St. John Chrysostom (c. 386 – 407). His name means “Golden mouth” because he was known as an eloquent preacher. He was Archbishop of Constantinople and an important early Church Father. He is known for his preaching and public speaking and his denunciation of abuses both ecclesiastical and political leaders, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Here’s the excerpt as it’s very much in keeping with today’s feast . . .

Behold a new and wondrous mystery.

My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. . . . . He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised. [We are raised.]

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment.

The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant’s bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things are nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, we offer all praise, now and forever. Amen.

With the words of these two great holy men, dear Lord,

I am speechless.

O how they both loved you!

And dear St. John, on your Feast Day,

help me through the words of your holy Gospel,

and your devoted love to your beloved Lord’s Mother

to love my Lord a little more really,

a little more dearly each passing day of my life,

and let me share that love through my own writing and speaking

to my readers and those I meet every day.

And please help my readers do the same.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

And since this is only the third day of Christmas for those of us in liturgical churches, here’s the beautiful ancient Christmas hymn, Lo, how a rose e’er blooming. Click here.

And here are today’s Mass readings, if you’d like to reflect on them. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

St. Stephen’s Day ~ Heroic Love

December 26, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

The Feast of St. Stephen, December 26, 2016

Today, December 26, is the second day of Christmas, the second day of Hanukkah and the first day of Kwanzaa (African-American). May we learn about our own and each other’s celebrations. It’s easy, just Google the word Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.

For us Christians the mystery of Incarnation (God-becoming-human in the person of Jesus Christ) needs more than one day to celebrate. Here is Day Two: The Catholic liturgy centuries ago placed the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, the day after Jesus’ glorious feast to show that our faith is not sentimental but requires of us heroic, sacrificial love. Stephen fearlessly witnessed in court (the word martyr means witness) his conviction that Jesus is the Messiah, knowing that his testimony was his death sentence.

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59)

How heroic is our love, Lord?

Do we abandon people — our friends, our lovers, our spouses, our children when the going gets rough?

And I ask you please to be with those who have been abandoned by loved ones, Lord, such as children of alcoholic parents or kids who have gone through the foster care system and may never feel Your Love because of it, or those who have to prostitute themselves in order to survive.

Are we only concerned about our own survival? What’s best for Number One — Me?

Are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of a friend in need — for You, Lord?

Are you, elected officials willing to show any kind of heroic love for the sake of our American people ~ black or white, rich or poor, Muslim, Christian or Jew, North, South, East or West, Wall Street or no street?

Allow me the grace to witness to your love for me, Lord, to share it when I can.

My life has meaning only when I share the love and kindness you have shown to me. Allow me the grace to do that this day, St. Stephen’s Day and every day. Stephen, a young man, has always been one of my heroes, Lord.

We need such heroic love in our time, Lord, such heroic young people.

Inspire young women and men to break through the wall of their isolation and be there for their friends in the hard times ahead.

Teach us to never abandon a friend, Lord.

And let my readers know that you love them, Lord, and You will never abandon them either ~ no matter what.

Now, before you go, here is Joan Baez singing Bob Dylan’s song Forever Young, that I referred to a young man whom I wished to aspire to heroic love. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen. Click here.

And here are all of today’s Mass readings, if you’d like to reflect on them. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! (and Happy Hanukkah too!)

December 23, 2016December 23, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

The Birthday of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

While all things were

in quiet silence,

And when night was

in the midst of

her swift course,

Your Almighty Word,

O Lord,

Leaped down out

of your royal throne,

Alleluia!

~ And the Word became flesh and lived among us. John 1:14

Dear Friends,
Our waiting is over.
Christmas is here!

I am ready to receive whatever gift Jesus wants to give me this Christmas. You see, Christmas is not about giving. It’s about receiving. Receiving as Mary received.

Open your heart, dear friend.
Take some quiet time today and tomorrow and prepare yourself and be ready receive . . .
Try to be receptive to God as Mary was. She just said, a simple Yes! to the angel.

”I am the servant of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your word.”

And I pray so very earnestly that you receive the special gift God wants to give you.

Cleanse your heart of resentments ~ of preoccupations of unnecessary things.
Ask yourself what is the real meaning of life ~ your life.

For me the answer is to love as best I can.
I also have some wisdom to share that arises out of the crosses I’ve carried over the years.

But it’s all gift!
So, I hope you have received something nourishing and sweet in the 25 posts I’ve been able to create this Advent.
They are my gift to you.
But I’ve already received a wonderful gift.
As I was writing these blogs over the past month, I found Jesus calling me closer to him. It was truly an ineffable experience that I hope enriches my priestly life and my way of relating to other people. I’m singing more and I’m happier, though my life circumstances are not so great.

May you have a wonderful Christmas with your family.
And if your Christmas is lonely with no one really special with whom to share, know that you have someone here who understands and who reaches out to you
from my heart to yours.
And be sure to open yourself to the holiness—
the wholeness—the peace of Christmas.
It is there beneath all the craziness and hype.
It is yours if you seek it and ask for it.

Dearest Lord Jesus,
O how wonderful you are to me—to us.
I feel like a child again for you said
that we must be childlike before the Father
and you called him Abba—Daddy,
thank you, thank you, thank you, Jesus,
for my priesthood, for my home
for the food on my table,
for my little furry friend Shoney,
for my readers and so much more!
Please bless my friends and readers,
especially those who have lost a loved one this year,
or who are lonely or sick or in need in any way.
We ask you this, Jesus, always,
in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

But you know what? We share this holy day with our Jewish friends! Christmas Eve as the evening star is noticed in the sky our Jewish boys and girls and Moms and Dads will light the first candle on their Menorah for the eight days of Hanukkah.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Now, before you go, here is a very special Christmas music video for you. Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

If you would like the Scripture readings for any of the several Masses for Christmas. Click here. You’ll find a list of the Vigil, Mass at Night, at Dawn, etc.; click on the one(s) you want.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

What Wondrous Love is this?

December 22, 2016June 7, 2018bobtraupman2 Comments

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent

O Come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here,

Until the Son of God appear,

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel!

(My Advent Wreath)

Emmanuel, they tell us you are “God-with-us.”

Where are you, Emmanuel?

Are you here?

Are you here in the messiness of our lives?

Can you really ransom us from our captivities,

our slaveries to addictions, our hatreds and grudges and jealousies

that eat us up and spit us out?

Our guilts, our “coulda, shouldas, wouldas — our druthers and regrets?

Our lethargy, our hopelessness, our slumber, our rage?

O Israel! O America!

Do You really want Emmanuel to come?

Do We want you to? (Do I?)

Many languish in mourning, Emmanuel

in exiles made by Wall Street and homelessness and sickness

and loneliness and selfishness.

Many a young heart yearns ~ aches for direction and meaning and love.

Prisoners waste away. Such a waste of young lives!

Will you ransom their hearts, and souls, Emmanuel?

~ our hearts and souls?

Will you change our justice system to be truly just?

Will you truly rain down justice as the psalmist says?

Yes, Emmanuel, come!

Be God-with-us!

Even though we can sometimes hardly be with ourselves.

Captivate us! Inhale us with Your love.

Dazzle us with hope and new life and possibility.

Yes, Emmanuel! We believe you will come.

Maybe not today or tomorrow.

You will transform the secret yearnings of our souls.

We will dance and sing and embrace You and each other

because you came among us, Emmanuel.

You ARE with us, Emmanuel.

You are LOVE ITSELF!

Because of You our own being becomes “being-in-love!”

We rejoice! We give thanks! We believe!

Come, Lord Jesus! Yes, Lord Jesus, come.

Brothers and sisters, this Christmas let each of us give thanks

— and receive again in a new way

such a precious, wondrous love,

such a wonderful gift.

Here is a YouTube presentation of the powerful hymn sung by Steve Green “What wondrous love is this? Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen,

And here are today’s Mass readings, if you would like to reflect on them. Click here.

We have two days remaining to prepare our heart to receive the new gift Jesus wishes to give us this year. Be sure to take time to prepare. As for me, this Advent, as I’ve written these blogs and my new Reflection / Letter, in spite of the personal life difficulties I’m going through right now, the joy and happiness I feel as I approach Christmas is truly amazing. I live alone with my dog Shoney and my Lord as a companion as well. My hope, my prayer, my desire is that in some small way I am able to share that with you, my beloved readers. Tomorrow I will publish my blog for Christmas.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Depressed or lonely at Christmas? (and the winter solstice)

December 21, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

≈

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

O come, thou dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by thine advent here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

~ O Antiphons

There sometimes can be a lot of depression swirling around at Christmas.

People can feel lonelier because we’re expected to be more cheerful and we may just not feel it.

This blog is meant for us to pray and reach out and notice these folks.

Let’s be with folks who have lost a loved one and who still miss them.

With kids who are shuffled back from one parent to another to “celebrate” the holidays.

With soldiers far away from home and from their families.

And so, may we pray:

There are sometimes dark clouds in our lives, Lord.
Pierce the gloominess of our lives with Your very own Light.
May we allow You to dawn in us and on us this day.
May we be ready for Your dawning in a new way in our lives this Christmas.
May this celebration of Jesus’ birth bring meaning and joy in the midst of our worries and concerns.
And may we BE the dawning of your light and love and justice
in our homes, our neighborhoods, our jobs, our world.

And there are dark and ominous clouds over our world right now, Lord.
Pierce our greed and hate, fear and complacency, violence with hope, Lord.
May we pray earnestly for a new dawn for our beloved country and our world. We need healing in our nation right now, Lord.
May we BE the dawning of your light and love and justice in our land.

Lord Jesus, come! May we be ready for the dawn of your coming in a new way this Christmas,
May the light of that dawning transform our lives and our land.
We need Your Light and Your Love more than ever.

COME LORD JESUS!

And this morning the Winter Solstice occurred in the northern hemisphere at 5:44am. It’s the shortest day of the year, and is a major celebration for our pagan brothers and sisters, most notably at Stonehenge in Great Britain. I do not use the term pagan pejoratively; they are the peoples who are reverently close to the earth.

Did you know the date of Christmas was taken from the winter solstice because it marks, in the northern hemisphere, the beginning of the ascendency of the sun? It connotes the phrase in Scripture in which John the Baptist says the “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30). And the Baptist’s feast day, likewise is near the summer solstice on June 24th. Thus, the church did not hesitate to borrow from the existing pagan customs. Christmas trees, for example, came from Germany and the wreath symbolized eternity were again pagan customs.

Did you know that in the middle ages they lit real candles on their Christmas trees? How ’bout that? Times were more quiet and peaceful back then, with less anger to upset the trees, I would surmise, and more well-behaved kids?

Some Christians today misunderstand our “cross-enculturation” of things that once had a pagan origin and sometimes berate those of us who celebrate Christmas.

Now before you go, here’s a charming version of Tiny Tim’s “God bless us, everyone” from Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, composed and sung by Andrea Bocelli. Click here. Be sure to enter full screen and turn up your speakers.

And here are today’s Mass readings, if you would like to reflect on them. Click here.

The shaking reality of Advent

December 20, 2016December 20, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
Come and free the prisoners of darkness!

~ The O Antiphon for December 20th

As I approach Christmas,, I feel shaken up, as Father Alfred Delp, S.J. aptly wrote two years after I was born. He wrote with his hands in shackles in his prison cell in Berlin, just before he was hanged for high treason in 1945, three months before the war ended. His ashes were scattered on the winds; Hitler wanted him forgotten. (His writings were smuggled out of prison.) In a widely published article, The Shaking Reality of Advent, he wrote:

There is nothing we modern people need more than to be genuinely shaken up.

Where life is firm we need to have a sense of its firmness;

and where it is unstable and uncertain and has no basis, no foundation,

we need to know this too and endure it. (emphasis mine.)

We may ask God why he sent us in this time,

why he has sent this whirlwind on the earth,

why he keeps us in this chaos where all appears hopeless

and dark and why there seems to be no end to this in sight.

I found Father Delp’s message considerably consoling in the light of what our country and our world situation is in at the moment. Why not read his words again in that light?

Here is the message of Advent:

faced with him who is the Last,

the world will begin to shake.

Only when we do not cling to false securities will our eyes be able to see this Last One and get to the bottom of things.

Only then will we be able to guard our life from the frights and terrors into which God the Lord has let the world sink to teach us,

so that we may awaken from sleep, as Paul says, and see that it is time to repent, time to change things. It is time to say, “All right, it was night; but let that be over now and let us be ready for the day.”

We must do this with a decision that comes out of these very horrors we have experienced and all that is connected with them; and because of this our decision will be unshakable even in uncertainty. [. . . .]

The world today needs people who have been shaken by ultimate calamities and emerged from them with the knowledge and awareness that those who look to the Lord will still be preserved by him,

even if they are hounded from the earth. [ . . . . ..]

If we are inwardly unshaken, inwardly incapable of being genuinely shaken,

if we become obstinate and hard and superficial and cheap,

then God will himself intervene in world events and teach us what it means to be placed in this agitation and be stirred inwardly.

Remember, that Father Delp was talking about the disastrous times of war-torn Germany in 1945.

God of mercy and compassion,

our times are very much like the days Father Delp was writing about.

We, too, need to be shaken from our complacency.

Even after our election, hatred and bullying and fear has increased among our people.

We need you, Lord!

Come among us once again and shake us up to the reality of your Justice!

And as the O Antiphon shouts:

Free the prisoners of darkness among us ~

The poor, those imprisoned unjustly, those without healthcare,

and so so many more crying out to us, pleading for mercy and our love.

Come Lord Jesus and do not delay!

And now, before you go, here’s an appropriate selection from Handel’s Messiah, His Yoke is easy and His burden is light. Click here.

And here are today’s Mass readings, if you’d like to reflect on them. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Alfred Delp, S.J. The Shaking Reality of Advent / translated by the Plough Publishing Company

Advent Day 22 ~ The Burning Bush of the World

December 19, 2016December 19, 2016bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Advent themes are all about waiting for light to shine in our darkness.
For we who are Christians await, Jesus, Yeshua, who is for us the Light of the World.

We prepare a place for him to shine in our own hearts this day.
We invite you to search out your own inner meaning whatever that might be.
In the Catholic liturgy just before Christmas, one of the magnificent O Antiphons appears:

O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel,

you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and on Mount Sinai gave him your law.

Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.

And my prayer . . .

O **Adonai*,** we need you in our world more than ever!

You appeared in the burning bush long ago.

I remember this awesome sunrise several years ago over the ocean at St. Augustine Beach.

I’m reminded of the old sailor’s maxim: “Red at night, a sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning.”

Come with your refiner’s fire and burn your way into our hearts.

so that we can prepare the way for the Messiah to come into our lives,

into our homes,

our workplace and marketplace,

our neighborhoods

our beloved country especially,

our waiting world!

Come Lord Jesus!

______

What are the “O Antiphons?” One of the most cherished collections of our ancient liturgical chants are the seven “O Antiphons” which are sung each of the seven nights before Christmas at Vespers. They have beautiful chant melodies. I am using some of them interspersed in the next few days before Christmas. Here is a web site that has information and recordings of all seven. Click here. , if you’d like to learn more about our Gregorian chant tradition. Each of them are listed and explained. (Then if you wish, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page; when you see the little speaker symbol with a music note next to it, click on it and it will give you the recording for each O Antiphon you want.

Here is an audio slide show of O come,O Come. O Come Emmanuel for your reflection. Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

And finally, here are today’s Mass readings, if you would like to reflect on them. Click here.

* Adonai is one of the names the Jewish people use for God.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

New Year’s Day 2017 ~ The World Day of Peace

(the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God,

the last day of Hanukkah and the last day of Kwanzaa.)

Where are we, this New Year’s Day 2017, my friends?

Are we better off than we were a year ago?

What will 2017 bring for us?

Are we prepared for whatever the year will bring?

Will the economy get better or worse?

Will I keep my job? Get a raise? Get sick? Be able to pay my mortgage and bills?

Will some crisis happen that will affect our country, our state? Or some blessing?

Do we realize that “We never know” . . . what the next moment will bring?

We will elect a new President in our country in 20 days. What will he bring upon us?

We await his inauguration ~ some with welcome ~ others with fear and anxiety.

Here is Pope Francis’ message . . . .

While the last century knew the devastation of two deadly World Wars, the threat of nuclear war and a great number of other conflicts, today, sadly, we find ourselves engaged in a horrifying world war fought piecemeal.

The Good News

From the Vatican, December 8, 2016

Franciscus

Well, anyway, here’s my New Year’s prayer, followed by the Prayer of St. Francis and the same in song.

Give us hope, Lord, this New Year’s Day.

A realistic hope that we might be a little kinder,

a little less self-centered,

a little more willing to go the extra mile for someone, even for a stranger.

Give us the strength to be ready for whatever may come.

May we have enough good health, enough for our needs.

and a little happiness with our sorrows.

Help us to bring together members of our family

and resolve difficulties when they arise with respect and love.

And, Lord, we hope our President-elect would heed the words of Pope Francis.

And please watch over the pope on his eightieth birthday.

And finally, give us the grace to be truly thankful, truly humble this New Year’s morning.

This is my prayer, Lord, for me, for our country, for our world.

And now, may we pray as St. Francis taught us . . .

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury,pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen!

May it be so! may it be so!

And now here’s this prayer sung by Angelina at Assisi. CLICK HERE. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen. And here are today’s Mass readings, if you’d like to reflect on them. Click here.

A Happy and Blessed New Year overflowing with good health

~ and many good things for you and your family!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

The sixth day of Christmas December 30th — the Feast of the Holy Family

(and the sixth day of Hanukkah and the fifth day of Kwanzaa.)

But for many of us, our family life can be very dysfunctional. I think of those families today, Lord. Children (some of them friends of mine) who grew up with alcoholic parents and were in favor one moment and cast aside the next, had little normalcy, little stability.

Be with all families that struggle, Lord. Be with us who are imperfect, weak and selfish and perhaps capable of little love because we may not have received it ourselves as children.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis wrote an important document that arose from the two Synods of Bishops dedicated to discussing the issue of family life. It was entitled Amoris Laetitia ~ The Joy of Love.

Here are a few quotes or quips of Pope Francis himself from the document. You’ll note his often down home folksy style.

Every family should be an icon of the family of Nazareth.

The Christian ideal, especially in families, is a love that never gives up.

When we have been offended or let down, forgiveness is possible and desirable, but no one can say it is easy.

The Joy of Love experienced by families is also the joy experienced by the Church.

Just as a good wine begins to ‘breathe’ with time, so too the daily experience of fidelity gives married life richness and ‘body’.

Young love needs to keep dancing towards the future with immense hope.

I thank God that many families, which are far from considering themselves perfect, live in love, fulfill their calling and keep moving forward, even if they fall many times along the way.

We have to realize that all of us are a complex mixture of light and shadows. The other person is much more than the sum of the little things that annoy me.

In family life, we need to cultivate that strength of love, which can help us fight every evil threatening it. Love does not yield to resentment, scorn for others or the desire to hurt or to gain some advantage. The Christian ideal, especially in families, is a love that never gives up.

Dialogue is essential for experiencing, expressing and fostering love in marriage and family life.

Take time, quality time. This means being ready to listen patiently and attentively to everything the other person wants to say. It requires the self-discipline of not speaking until the time is right.

And so, on this Feast of the Holy Family may we honor you, Jesus and Mary and Joseph. as I honor this young couple whose name I do not even know because I saw in them an image of God in their simple, ordinary love. Lord, keep us all in your loving care.

And now before you go, here’s a hymn to Mary that tells us about Nazareth. Click here. And here are the Mass readings for this feast. Click here.

(Below, I’ve included some information from America magazine that describes some of the important points of this document if you’re interested that goes beyond the spiritual interests of this blog. I do suggest you look it over.)

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

From America magazine on Amoris Laetitia

~ excerpted and simplified from America magazine “Top Ten Takeaways from Amoris Laetitia by James Martin, S.J. April 5. 2016

The Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs ~ Wednesday, December 28, 2016

(and Day 4 of Hanukkah and Day 3 of Kwanzaa)

And because of Herod’s act of terrorism among his own people, Joseph had to fly by night to Egypt with Mary and the young child Jesus. Thus, Jesus himself became a political refugee.

Today we think of other innocent children ~ some killed as the unborn are or have been. We also think of those innocent ones so tragically gunned down two years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.

Then there are children who are trafficked as boy soldiers or as prostitutes or as child laborers.

And what of the horror of children caught in war as in Aleppo as the rescue of the five-year-old child Omran Dagneesh went viral, while thousands ~ millions of others remain nameless.

And what of the child immigrants in our own country who are held in overcrowded, unhealthy detention camp for years without legal representation.

In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning,

of bitter weeping!

Rachel mourns her children

she refuses to be consoled

because her children are no more

~ (Jer 31:15).

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen!