Advent season

Advent Day 22 ~ The Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ Joseph’s dream

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a_fourthsundayofadvent-josephs-dreamThe Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ December 22, 2019

We’re quite used to hearing St. Luke’s version of the Annunciation story. But we’re in the A-cycle of readings this year that features the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew’s Annunciation story is less known, so I’ve placed the entire text here for us to look at, because it’s a bit convoluted for our western mindset. With the help of our Scripture-scholar William Barclay and Bishop Robert Barron, I’ll try to help unpack this for us.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

Here’s where the confusion lies.  

First, the text says that “Mary was betrothed to Joseph but before they were living together she was found with child.”  Then it says, “since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.  Then after the angel makes his Announcement that Mary will bear a son and told him not to be afraid of taking Mary into his home.

 Barclay indicates that in Jewish marriage procedure there were three steps.

1) There was the engagement, which was often made when the couple were only children, usually through the parents or through a professional matchmaker.

2) There was the betrothal, or the ratification of the betrothal. Once the betrothal was entered into it was absolutely binding. It lasted for one year. During that year the couple were known as man and wife. It was at this stage that Mary and Joseph were. And Joseph wanted to end the betrothal, which could happen in no other way than by divorce.  Mary was legally known as his wife during that year.  

3) The third stage was the marriage proper.  (Barclay/ The Gospel of Matthew – Volume 1 p.18.

Now let’s take a deeper look at the meaning of Matthew’s Annunciation story.

Bishop Robert Baron offers a beautiful commentary for us . . . .

When Moses asked God for his name, the Lord obscurely responds  “I am who am.”  Hebrew scholars tells us that the root sense of the [Hebrew word] is ” I will be with you.” God identifies himself as the one who had pledged his solidarity with his suffering people Israel.  

Writing during a time of particular trial in the history of the chosen people God will send a sign:

The virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,

which carries the sense that God is with us.  

And as he wrestles with the terrible dilemma of what to do with his betrothed who had become pregnant, Joseph dreams of an angel who tells him to take Mary as his wife.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”  

God’s truest name and most distinctive quality is he will be with us. In good times and in bad, during periods of light and darkness, when we are rejoicing or grieving, God is stubbornly with us, EMMANUEL!  

And here’s one more thought for you about our dear St. Joseph . . . .

When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home. 

The word awoke has the greater meaning of “to arise, to get up.”  Gospel awakening / arising marks the beginning of a graced, personal transformation. One is struck by the rapid succession of these five verbs [he rose, he did, he took, he did not know, he called], indicating a sense of swiftness in everything Joseph did following his dream.

Joseph is the obedient man of action whose every move is attentive to the will of God.

He is the man called upon to love, cherish, nurture and protect the Mother and the Child while at the same time having to accomplish a profound renunciation of natural instincts.    

His vocation is to be the visible fatherhood of God on earth. 

O dear St. Joseph,  

My own dad was silent and hard-working too.

And I seldom think of you or pray to you, St. Joseph,

but I’ve come to love you even more

while preparing this blog.

What a wonderful story St. Matthew weaves for us!

Help us, then, prepare for Jesus’ coming into our hearts.

And help me to be more like you. 

Strong. Silent. Caring. Always there.  

Thank you for what I’ve learned about you today. 

What a grace! 

And what about you, dear friends?

What do you take away from this story?

We only have two more days to prepare our hearts to receive our Lord and Savior.  

Are you ready?   

And here are today’s Mass readings. Click here. 

With love, 

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer 

Bishop Robert Baron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a regular contributor to the Magnificat  monthly liturgical magazine from which this article was selected for December 18th. p. 266

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent Day 19 ~ Depressed or lonely at Christmastime?

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St. Augustine Beach Florida

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

Thursday of the third week of Advent  

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

Some of among us can feel lonelier because we’re expected to be cheerful and we may just not feel any Christmas joy, but instead may feel plain down in the dumps or like drowning themselves in a bottle.

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

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

Let’s also remember kids who are shuffled back from one parent to another to “celebrate” the holidays; that’s got to be a terrible thing to do to children.

And what about service men and women away from their families and others who have to work long hours and come home to an empty house.

And so, may we pray:

There are sometimes dark clouds in our lives, Jesus.
Pierce the gloominess of our lives with Your very own Light.
May we allow You to dawn in us this day.
May we be ready for Your dawning in a new way in our lives this Christmas.
May this celebration of Your 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 too, Lord.
Pierce our greed and hate, fear and complacency and violence with hope, Lord.
May we pray earnestly for a new dawn for our beloved country and our world.
May we BE the dawning of your light, your love and your justice in our land.

Lord Jesus, come!
We need Your Light and Your Love now more than ever.

And before you go, here’s ~ “Comfort ye my people ” from Handel’s Messiah.  Click here. Be sure to turn up your  speakers and enter full screen. 

And here are today’s Mass readings. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 18 – The Burning Bush of the World

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st. augustine beach, florida

Advent Day 18 ~ Wednesday of the third week of Advent

Advent themes are all about waiting for light to shine in our darkness.
For we who are Christians we 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.

During Hanukkah later this month we will honor our Jewish brothers and sisters with these words
that appear in the Catholic liturgy just before Christmas, one of the magnificent O Antiphons:

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 over the ocean when I lived some  years ago on St. Augustine Beach, Florida.

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

into our homes,

our workplace and marketplace,

our neighborhoods

and, most especially into our beloved country that so badly needs You right now,

and our waiting world!

Come Lord Jesus!

I have a couple of notes for you as we make our countdown toward Christmas. Hanukkah begins at Nightfall on Sunday, December 22nd and goes through sundown on December 30th.

Hanukkah, which is Hebrew for “dedication,” is the Jewish Festival of Lights.

It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent miracle of rededicating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and restoring its menorah, or lamp.

The miracle of Hanukkah is that only one vial of oil was found with just enough oil to illuminate the Temple lamp for one day, and yet it lasted for eight full days.  Jewish children usually receive a new gift each day of Hanukkah.

May we pray for our Hebrew sisters and brothers who have suffered so much violence and fear in our country and abroad these past few years.

The other important event that we won’t be able to cover this year directly in this blog this year is the Winter Solstice that is observed in ritual form my our pagan sisters and brothers in places like Stonehenge in Great Britain and the Easter Islands in the Pacific. I don’t use the term “pagan” here pejoratively, as we actually got our date of Christmas from their celebrations of the Winter Solstice!

Actually, we haven’t the slightest idea when Jesus was born. We only celebrate it liturgically. On the Winter Solstice, the sun in the northern hemisphere is beginning to ascend again, connoting the phrase of John the Baptist about Jesus: “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). This year the Winter Solstice is on Saturday, December, 21st. (My last post before Christmas will be on Friday, December 20th, since many of you may be taking advantage of the long weekend for travel.

And before you go, Here’s another prayerful rendition of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Click here.

And here are today’s Mass Readings. Click here.

* Adonai is one of the names the Jewish people use for God, meaning “Lord God Almighty.”

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 17 ~ The shaking reality of Advent

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Tuesday of Third 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

Father Alfred Delp, S.J. aptly wrote two years after I was born about being shaken up, as so many of us feel in our world today, unsettled as we are by political events in our own country at times. 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.

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. He goes on . . . .

Here is the message of Advent:

faced with him who is the Last,

the world will begin to shake.

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 in recent years, 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,

the DREAMERS who it looks like will be deported,

and migrants all over the world in search of safe harbor.

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, I want to tell you a bit about the ancient O-Antiphons that lead us through the eight days (the octave) to Christmas Eve next Tuesday at Morning and Evening Prayer.

What are  the “O” Antiphons?”

They are one of the most cherished collections of our ancient liturgical chants, consisting of seven Antiphons that begin with an embellished “O” that are sung each of the seven nights before Christmas at Vespers. They have beautiful chant melodies.  I am using three of them on the next three days before I offer you the Fourth Sunday of Advent and My Christmas blog on Friday.

Here’s the hymn that’s best known as the English translation of the O-Antiphons “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” If you pay attention to the lyrics as the song is sung you’ll hear all seven of the O-Antiphons. Click here. 

Here is a web site that has information and  recordings of the chant melodies of all seven. (Skip the first half and scroll ALL the way down to the bottom for the O Antiphons themselves.  You will notice little speaker signs next to each one. If you click on that little music note it will play for you the actual chant melody for each O Antiphon, if you’re curious about them.

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 16 ~ What’s it all about?

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Downtown Ft. Lauderdale
Downtown Fort Lauderdale

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

Dear friends,

We’ll take a deeper turn in this Advent blog beginning today.

Christmas Eve is one week from tomorrow.

As I get closer to Christmas, my prayer is opening up and enriching from the reading I’ve been doing. I pulled an old favorite book off my shelf and reading it again after nearly fifty years was sort of like a mini-retreat.

 It’s bringing me a deeper realization of my sinfulness and frail human nature.

Also an ongoing surrender to the process of transformation that’s occurring in me as I turn my life and my will over to God once again.

That, ongoing dual process ~  “a kind of coincidence of opposites” ~ sin and grace ~ dear friends, is always what gives meaning and joy to my life.

The Church invites us to enter into that process of ongoing repentance and conversion each year during Advent ( and Lent as well, of course).

Advent is counter-cultural. A time to step out of the rat race. To take a look at our maneuvering ~ scheming ~ elbowing for status or power or success or prestige. Or any of the things American society tells us we’re supposed to “have or or possess ” to make us happy.

The wise person realizes they won’t!

Let’s reflect a little more on what we can learn from John the Baptist tell us it’s all about . . .

He was a pretty successful preacher.  People were streaming out into the desert to listen to him; he was persuasive.  People were willing to change their lives after listening to him.

But he didn’t let it go to his head.  He realized what his role was.  He was just the “advance man” ~ the Messenger of the Son of God.  And he was content with that.

He knew who he was.   He didn’t want to be the star.  Even though many thought he was “The Man.”

The saying of John that I love and pray often myself is:

       “He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

My spiritual director at the time reminded me to stay focused on Jesus. To make all my plans provisional.

I was a young, cool, creative priest.  I was a rising star.  I thought I was pretty hot stuff.

A bishop once told my father, “He’ll be a bishop someday.”

But God had other plans.

Today, I’m just a little guy, content  with a tiny flock to care for, and to write a little blog few know about.

Arrogance was my greatest character defect and it has taken till recently to whittle that away.

And so today I pray inspired by the one who was content to live in the wilderness . . .

Jesus, You are the light of my life.

Without You I would be nowhere.  Nada. Nothing.

And that’s okay with me.

I want You to be in all my relationships,

in all of my writing,

You help me to be humble, Lord. 

You cast me down and raised me up again.

You chastise me; You heal me.

With St. Paul, You’ve helped me realize in the midst of my brokenness,

it was ~ and is ~ You who make me strong.

Whatever flows from my relationship with You will be good

if I allow You more and more to increase

and  allow my false self, my little (Big) ego to fall away.

To  be humble is to be close to the “humus” — “muck”.

So, I’ve finally learned to be content with the muckiness of my life.

And You have surprised me ~ delighted me ~  ravished me with Your love.

And you know what? 

It’s there that I found You!

You raised me up!  You drew me to Yourself!

You bound up my wounds!  You clothed me with Your LOVE!

What a joy!

And now I’m eager once again to share Your Love.

To help others know that You love each and everyone ~ no matter what.

Yes, Lord Jesus, You must increase; I must decrease.

Let me never ever forget that.  No matter what.

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!

In this last week before Christmas I’d like to have us take a deeper look at  the mystery of the Incarnation — God’s love affair with our messy ~ mucky ~ crazy  human race, as it appears in Matthew’s and Luke’s stories of how God came into our world as a vulnerable, homeless baby who cooed and pooped in his pants like the rest of us.  That story ~ even if you just accept as a story ~ has much to teach us.  Let’s take a fresh look at it and go down to a deeper level.

Before you go, here’s an inspiring YouTube orchestral and voice arrangement of J. S. Bach’s lovely Advent piece sung by Josh Groban.     Click here.  Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen. Prepare to be goosebubbed!

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

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 15 ~ Rejoice! The Lord is near!

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IMG_0151The Third Sunday of Advent ~ December 15, 2019

In our Catholic liturgical calendar this is “Gaudete Sunday — the Sunday of Joy.    We’re halfway through Advent and the vestment color is Rose, rather than purple, the color of penitence.  So, we may see the celebrant wearing rose vestments.

This is supposed to be a joyful time of year but . . . some us don’t see things clearly, or can’t speak up for ourselves or are disabled.  Some of us are afraid or disillusioned; confused or depressed; lonely or weak-kneed or just plain in need of an infusion of hope and joy, so . . .

today’s first reading from Isaiah 35:1-6,10  sums up the joyful, hopeful mood of this third Advent Sunday:

The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.

Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
they will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.

And in last Sunday’s gospel, we found John the Baptist preaching and baptizing along the Jordan River to great crowds of people. But in today’s gospel, however, we find him in prison.

Our Presbyterian scripture scholar William Barclay commented that John’s career ended in disaster. It wasn’t John’s habit to soften the truth. Herod Antipas had paid a visit to his brother in Rome and seduced his brother’s wife. He came home again, dismissed his own wife, and married the sister-in-law Herodias whom he lured away from her husband. Publicly and sternly, John rebuked Herod. Consequently, John was thrown into the dungeons of the fortress of Machaerus in the mountains near the Dead Sea.

For a man who lived in the wild open spaces with the sky above and the wind blowing through his hair, this was surely agony.  So he may have had some doubts, and sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask . . . .

Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?

Jesus said to them in reply,

Go and tell John what you see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear [ . . .] and the poor have the good news preached to them.  

John’s joy was to witness the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation and to play his assigned role within it. The way of fidelity to God and cooperation with God’s gift of himself to the world often leads through the dungeons of human injustice and cruelty . . . . John always acted with every fiber of his being oriented to serving a greater good than himself.  John’s humility took the form of an ability to wait without end for God to act. Hence, he sent a message to Jesus to ask him what he should do.

And you probably know how John’s story ended: Herodias hated John, even though Herod wanted him alive. She kept looking for a way to get rid of him. The time finally came at a birthday party for the ruler at which her daughter danced so much to Herod’s delight that he promised her“half of his kingdom.” And Herodias got her daughter to demand Herod  John’s head on a platter in front of his guests (Mt. 14) .

The world is filled with despots, even today. St. Paul exhorts us in the second reading today to be patient. (I suppose that means, even with the despots!) We should take heart in the wonderful message of Isaiah:

“Be strong, fear not!” Do you hear the echoes of Saint John Paul II who was always exhorting people all over the world not to be afraid!

Dear Heavenly Father,

the despots of our world will not win. 

Your Son has already brought us the victory!

We are not afraid!

The hands of the feeble will become strong, 

the knees of the weak will become firm.

The eyes of the blind will be opened!

The ears of the deaf will be cleared!

The tongues of the silenced will be loosened!

The desert and the parched land will exult!

The rivers will run fresh and clear again!

The forests will be free for wildlife again!

The oceans will be free for whales and fishes again!

Here is your God, he comes with divine recompense to save you.

We will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God!

This we ask as we ask all things, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

 Before you go, Here’s a song that follows the Scripture texts for today. Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

And here are all the of the Readings for today’s Mass, if you’d like those as well. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

William Barclay / The Daily Study Bible Series / The Gospel of Matthew – Volume 2 / Revised Edition                                        The Westminster Press / Philadelphia Pa 1975

 

Advent Day 12 ~ The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ God prefers the poor

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Thursday of the Second Week of Advent ~

THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

imagen_pic_300w

Today,we honor our sister and brothers in Mexico as they celebrate the appearance of the Mother of Jesus to a poor peasant native Mexican nearly five hundred years ago.

Today, may we unite ourselves in solidarity with all the peoples of North and South and Central America who rejoice in this feast day; indeed may we unite ourselves in solidarity with all the world’s poor.

Half way down is an interpretation of the symbolism of the image that of the woman who appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak.  That’s  truly amazing.  Be sure to check it out  It converted a whole culture.

Here’s the charming story; it’s well worth the read:

An elderly Indian man named Chuauhtlatoczin (“Juan Diego” in Spanish) had a vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus, at Tepeyac, a squalid Indian village outside of Mexico City, 470 years ago. Mary directed Juan Diego to tell the bishop to build the church in Tepeyac. The Spanish bishop, however, dismissed the Indian’s tale as mere superstition. He asked that he bring some sort of proof, if he wanted to be taken seriously. Three days later, the Virgin Mary appeared again and told Juan Diego to pick the exquisitely beautiful roses that had miraculously bloomed amidst December snows, and take them as a sign to the bishop. When the Indian opened his poncho to present the roses to the bishop, the flowers poured out from his poncho to reveal an image of the Virgin Mary painted on the inside of the poncho.

That image hangs today in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City and is venerated by millions of pilgrims from all over the world.

Significantly, Mary appeared not as a white-skinned, blue-eyed, blond-haired European Madonna but as a dark-skinned, brown-eyed, black-haired “Tonantzin,” the revered Indian Mother, and she spoke to Juan Diego not in cultured Castillian but in his own Nahuatal language. She spoke in the language of the powerless, disenfranchised, and despised Indians. She was then and is today, “La Morenita” – the Brown One. Her message to the bishop was that God’s church should be built out on the fringes of society, amidst the poor and the downtrodden. The vision challenged the powerful conquerors, the Spaniards of Mexico City, to change their way of thinking and acting. It challenged them to move out from their position of power and influence to the periphery; to leave their magnificent cathedral and build God’s house in Tepeyac – among the poor and the despised, away from the center of power and culture and education and the arts.

Guadalupe is a “vision” story and, like all such stories, tells us something about God and something about ourselves. More precisely, it tells us how God wants to be among us. St. Juan Diego’s vision of where God wants to be or whom we should listen to should come as no surprise to us. Throughout history, God has consistently chosen to be with poor people. In that respect, the Blessed Virgin Mary’s message to St. Juan Diego at Guadalupe is a restatement of Jesus’ mission: That God is in those who are hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, naked, sick, stranger, and suffering. The challenge for us is to heed the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the message of Christ’s Gospel, and reach out to those who belong to the margins of our society.  – Source: The Manila Bulletin online.

O God, Father of mercies,

who placed your people under the singular protection

of your Son’s most holy Mother,

grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe

may seek with ever more lively faith

the progress of peoples in the way of justice and peace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~ The official prayer for the Feast

(May we lift up in prayer today those persons in our country ~ and certain media outlets ~ who have been known to demean the Mexican peoples that they would be uplifted by the Virgin’s message. And may we who celebrate this glorious feast today and attend holy Mass would pray for those who demean and cause hatred toward brown and black people everywhere. It truly IS the VISION message that Our Lady came to give us five hundred years ago through a simple Mexican native man, overruling the Spanish Conquistadors and the Bishops: GOD PREFERS THE POOR!

Now here’s an explanation of the image . . . 

The image of Our Lady is actually an Aztec Pictograph

that was read and understood quickly by the Aztec Indians.

1.    THE LADY STOOD IN FRONT OF THE SUN

She was greater than the dreaded Huitzilopochtli, their
sun-god of war.
2.    HER FOOT RESTED ON THE CRESCENT
MOON
She had clearly crushed Quetzalcoatl,
the feathered serpent moon-god.
3.   THE STARS STREWN ACROSS THE MANTLE
She was greater than the stars of heaven which they worshiped.
She was a virgin and the Queen of the heavens for Virgo rests over her womb and the northern crown upon her head.
She appeared on December 12, 1531 and the stars that she wore are the constellations of the stars that appeared in the sky that day!
4.   THE BLUE‑GREEN HUE OF HER MANTLE
She was a Queen because she wears the color of royalty.
5.   THE BLACK CROSS ON THE BROOCH AT HER NECK
Her God was that of the Spanish Missionaries, Jesus Christ her son who died
on the cross for all mankind.
6.   THE BLACK BELT
She was with child because she wore the Aztec Maternity Belt.
7.   THE FOUR PETAL FLOWER OVER THE WOMB
She was the Mother of God because the flower was a special symbol of
life, movement and deity-the center of the universe.
8. HER HANDS ARE JOINED IN PRAYER
She was not God but clearly there was one greater than Her and she
pointed her finger to the cross on her brooch.
9. THE DESIGN ON HER ROSE COLORED GARMENT
She is the Queen of the Earth because she is wearing a contour map of
Mexico telling the Indians exactly where the apparition took place.

ABOUT THIS IMAGE . . .

1.   The image to this date, cannot be explained by science.

2.  The image shows no sign of deterioration after 450 years!
The tilma or cloak of Saint Juan Diego on which the image of Our Lady has
been imprinted, is a coarse fabric made from the threads of the maguey
cactus. This fiber disintegrates within 20-60 years!

3. There is no under sketch, no sizing and no protective over-varnish on the
image.

4.  Microscopic examination revealed that there were no brush strokes.

5.  The image seems to increase in size and change colors due to an unknown
property of the surface and substance of which it is made.

6.  According to Kodak of Mexico, the image is smooth and feels like a
modern-day photograph.  (Produced 300 years before the invention of
photography.)

7. The image has consistently defied exact reproduction, whether by brush or
camera.

8.  Several images can be seen reflected in the eyes of the Virgin. It is
believed to be the images of Juan Diego, Bishop Juan de Zummaraga, Juan
Gonzales, the interpreter and others.

9.  The distortion and place of the images are identical to what is produced in
the normal eye which is impossible to obtain on a flat surface.

10. The stars on Our Lady’s Mantle coincide with the constellations in the sky on
December 12, 1531. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our
Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique
and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural!

NOW, IN SEARCH OF A SONG TO HELP CELEBRATE THE FEAST THE ONE I GOOGLED WAS “MANANITAS  GUADALUPE,” WHICH MEANS.”BREAK OF DAY”.  YOU’LL FIND THEM, STILL AT NIGHT, WATCHING AND WAITING. BE PATIENT. THE VIDEOGRAPHER WILL EVENTUALLY TAKE YOU INSIDE THE CHURCH TO WITNESS SOMETHING AMAZING TO US GRINGOS. ENJOY.

 BE SURE TO TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERS AND ENTER FOR SCREEN. 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

 

Advent Day 11 ~ Soar like an eagle!

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The symbol for St. John is the eagle because he soars to the heights of mystical love

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

Isaiah is so amazing.    He offers hope. He sees imminent possibilities for the human race.

At times, he also warns and sometimes chastises.

I’ve always loved this scripture that appear in the Advent Mass texts:

God gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

– Isaiah 40:30-31.  

So many of us become discouraged by life. We may lose our job or are told that we no longer have the health benefits we once had for our family. We grow older and have more aches and pains and worry more. Some of us are couch potatoes and don’t exercise enough and get more depressed.  And are, indeed, in need of  an infusion of renewed strength.

In these latter days of Advent, think about the ways you can restore your vigor ~ or better ask the Lord to renew your strength! He will!  As he has done for me again and again and again! I’ve been down many times; but he never ceases to raise me up again.

And you might note that the symbol for John the evangelist is the eagle, because he soars to the heights of mystical glory in his writings. 

And today’s Gospel is a familiar one . . .

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” 

The Advent season provides many texts to comfort us and offer us hope. God know we need hope in our land today! and throughout the world.

I praise you, Lord, because you’ve restored my vigor in marvelous.  

You have renewed my strength again and again.  

Please allow our young people to soar as if with eagle’s wings, 

and our older folk to dive into the depths of the ocean of Your love, Lord.  

Yes, as I grow older, I’m ready to renew my priestly service to You, Lord

as long as you grant me the grace, the vigor and the strength.  

Whatever You will, Lord. Whatever you will – for all of us! Amen.

Now, before you go, here is one of our great Catholic liturgical songs ~ “On Eagles’ Wings” Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen. Click here.  

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

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

 

Advent Day 10 ~ Where are you going? Do ya know?

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Advent Day 10 ~ Tuesday, December 10, 2019

“Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!”  Isaiah 40:3

This image was taken on I-95 between St. Augustine and Jacksonville one misty December Sunday morning about 2 AM.  I was living in St. Augustine at the time.

On my way home from “Father Bob’s night out,” I was so taken by the magic of the vista before me I had to pull off and capture it on my Canon Power Shot.

For me, even the Interstate can be a place for reflection. . .

I was thinking of John the Baptist’s message that also appeared in this past Sunday’s gospel:

“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his paths.”

And this was what I wrote back then, inspired by that moment on the side of a highway at 2 AM on a magical, mystical Sunday morning.

Where are we going, Lord?

Every day we’re on a journey that will not be complete until we meet You.

In our daily commutes, stuck in traffic, are we making progress in our spiritual journey, Lord?

Are we making a straight highway in the spiritual wasteland I sometimes think America is today, Lord?

John’s message was one of repentance.

When he said, “make straight his paths,” he meant to clear a way for the coming of God into our hearts and souls.

  Are we getting rid of the roadblocks that stop us from making progress.  Our addictions.  Our                        resentments. Our selfishness.

If we don’t make an effort to do that, our Christmas will be hollow, empty, Lord.

In all of our pre-Christmas hustle and bustle are we preparing a straight path for you to come
into our hearts, our homes, our workplace, our land, our world this Christmas?

What are we doing, Lord ~ really doing with our lives?

Where is our life’s journey taking us?

What is life really  all about?

I-95 at 2 AM can help us ponder that question.

I realized that was a special moment for me; a moment I seized.

Or rather seized me.

Carpe diem.

Thank you, Lord.

On Monday morning many commuters would return to their frenzied  ~  furied  ~ hurried ~ unaware ~ unreflected lives going hither and yither, and not know really where they’re going or what they were doing or why.

Time for a change, dear friend?  Time for a change?

Now before you go,here’s another video from Godspell: Where are You Going? Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

And here are today’s Mass readings. Click here.

 With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 9 ~ Our Lady’s Song of Justice

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THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Monday, December 9, 2019

This is a feast of Mary for us Catholics.  In today’s gospel, we read the story of Mary’s Yes to God, her consent to bring Jesus into our world.

I offer for your reflection the Song of Mary that Luke places upon her lips ~ the Magnificat, sung or recited everywhere in the church throughout the world each evening of the year.

And as you’ll see, it has a pretty radical message ~ if you allow yourself to think about it.

And Mary said:  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

His mercy on those who fear him in every generation

He has shown might with his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast  down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

for he has remembered the promise of his mercy,

       the promise he made to our fathers [and mothers]

to Abraham [and Sarah and Hagar] and [their] children for ever.

+ + + +

The song speaks of lowliness ~ humility. Yet it recognizes what God does in our lives.

Look with favor on US too, Lord.

Please ~ We need Your favor ~Your grace.

May we see (and accept) that You do good things for us!

May we cry out every day:  Holy is Your name, my God!

Let Your mercy be on us and our world!

Show Your strength, Lord ~ the strength of Your justice!

Scatter the proud, the arrogant ones who control so much of our world.

Cast down the mighty!

Lift up the lowly!

Fill the hungry!

Send the rich empty away as the ones in Power often do to the poor, Lord.

Come to the help of Your people now, Lord!

We, too, are All descendants of Abraham ~ Jew ~ Muslim ~Christian~ non-believer.

We are all Your children, dear God,

To You be glory and honor and praise for ever.  Amen!

Dear Reader,

The Evangelist Luke places these words in the mouth of Mary at the very beginning of the story of Jesus.  It is the “Magnificat,” the Canticle of Mary, sung or recited by priests and nuns and monks and many more believing Christians all over the world every day of the year at Evensong.  So, it’s a pretty important text to reflect upon.

I would like you to notice how radical this message is: “Cast down the mighty.” “Raise up the lowly.”  “Send the rich away empty.”

Sounds like a pretty political message, doesn’t it?

People have been thrown into prison for saying things like that.

But these words are two thousand years old!

They’re an essential and enduring part of the Christmas story as told by Luke.

It’s a Song about Justice from the lips of Mary, the Mother of God as told by Luke. About Justice entering our world.

I have sung Mary’s Song every evening for 30 years with spontaneous melodies arising from the mood of my soul of the moment.

And in that, I try to live the song!

How do you respond, dear friend?

How do you respond? 

There are political messages buried in this song that are pretty obvious for us right now ~ or at any age or in any country.  If the shoe fits, wear it!

Now to thrill you and inspire you, here’s introduction to Bach’s Magnificat on You Tube.  If you scroll down the right side of the page, you will find other segments of the concert as well.  Or you can Google “Magnificat videos” and have an amazing choice, including Shubert and Mozart and John Michael Talbot Be sure to enter FULL SCREEN.  ENJOY!

And here are all of today’s Mass readings: Click here

A special note for you:   The image above is a copy of the famous Vladimir icon. It hangs upon the wall in my living room opposite my chair where I pray and write.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer