Handel’s Messiah

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 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 as we did yesterday.

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 Serengeti 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 (of happy memory) was curious about his 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 this . . .

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.

Bring, Lord, your better world to birth, 

Your kingdom, love’s domain,

Where peace with God and peace on earth,

And peace eternal reign. 

         ~ Timothy Dudley Smith / 1985

If you’re new to this Advent blog,  I recommend reading my Understanding the Seven Advent Themes to get a sense of why we want to spend four weeks preparing for our Christmas celebration and how it can help you deepen your spirituality whether you are a Catholic or even a Christian. Click here

I will be posting each day of Advent, (God willin’ n’ the creek don’t rise.

You can make yourself  mini-retreat for five minutes a day and have the best and most meaningful Christmas ever!
It’ll relieve your stress.  Calm your nerves.  Put a bounce in your step and a smile on your face.  And it’s free! 
So, what are you waiting for?  

And now, for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here’s “And thou that tellest.” Click here. Be sure to enter full screen and turn up your speakers.

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

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

 

 

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Advent Day 13 ~ In the Midst of the Mist of our Lives

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photo (c) bob traupman 2007. all rights reseved

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

Misty mornings can be cool, Lord.

They can teach us about You, about us.

There’s lots of misty-ness in our lives, Lord.

We often don’t see anything very clearly.

But You are still there, our sun, the Son,
somehow, some way, penetrating  the fog, the mist.

Help us realize that mist is OK, Lord.
Misty-ness has its own beauty.

Thank You, Lord, for what it teaches us about You, about us.

Teach us to be patient, Lord, to wait.
To wait for the light, our light, Your light.
Come Lord, Jesus this Christmas
in our lives and in our world.

Your light will come, Jerusalem;
Your light will come, dear people of God;
the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
You will see his glory within you.
       – the Advent liturgy.

And now before you go, here is more from Handel’s Messiah. Click on this link >>> Rejoice Greatly O Daughter Zion!  ‘Tis Awesome! Be sure to enter full screen. 

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

photo bob traupman 2007.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 3 – The wolf and the lamb – the owl and the lion (And Hanukkah Day 2)

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Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Dear Friends,

Isaiah dreams of a bright future for us. 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 Serengeti 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 (of happy memory) demonstrated his 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 this . . .

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.

Bring, Lord, your better world to birth, 

Your kingdom, love’s domain,

Where peace with God and peace on earth,

And peace eternal reign. 

         ~ Timothy Dudley Smith / 1985

If you’re new to this Advent blog,  I recommend reading my Understanding the Seven Advent Themes to get a sense of why we want to spend four weeks preparing for our Christmas celebration and how it can help you deepen your spirituality whether you are a Catholic or even a Christian. Click here

I will be posting each day of Advent, (God willin’ n’ the creek don’t rise.

You can make yourself  mini-retreat for five minutes a day and have the best and most meaningful Christmas ever!
It’ll relieve your stress.  Calm your nerves.  Put a bounce in your step and a smile on your face.  And it’s free! 
So, what are you waiting for?  

And now, for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here’s “And the Glory of the Lord”  from Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony.  Be sure to enter full screen and turn up your speakers.

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

And one more thing. Our Jewish Sisters and Brothers began their Hanukkah celebration last evening and much to my chagrin, I missed it!  So please be sure to wish your Jewish friends a blessed and a happy holiday!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

 

 

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The Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ Mary’s Dilemma

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The Fourth Sunday of Advent~ December 24, 2017

Well, in Luke’s Annunciation story, the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive a child who will be the Son of God. She questions the angel, he reassures her and then she goes off to visit her cousin Elizabeth who’s with child in her old age whom the same angel had appeared to her husband Zack (for short).  Now Zack was struck dumb (couldn’t speak) till the baby was born because he, unlike Mary, did not believe.

Sounds like a soap opera, eh?

Well,  there’s more.  The angel left Mary and Joseph with quite a dilemma. you see.  She lived in a small village  (Nazareth) and her belly was growing and a small scandal was growing even bigger!

Now Joseph her husband, according to the Gospel of Matthew (1:18-24) was greatly troubled. And “since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”

But voila! . . . enter an angel who appears to Joseph one night in a dream and tells Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary his wife into his home.

And as we know the angel, (probably ol’ Gabe again) said his piece and off he went and didn’t help with the dilemmas and hardships for this couple.  ( Some good he was, eh?)

+ They had to travel to Bethlehem while Mary was pregnant, apparently on a donkey ~ not exactly in comfort on rough Palestinian roads.

+  And when they got there, as you remember, there was no room for them in the inn and so we have the Christmas story that children have re-enacted year-after-year ever since.

+  And according to Matthew, they had to flee for their lives into exile into Egypt to escape the violent designs of Herod.

O Joseph, gentle, silent Joseph,

what was it like in your home at Nazareth?

We know you taught Jesus your trade as a carpenter.

Was he a good one?  Where you proud of his work?

Were you able to put good food on the table?

Have a nice party with friends and family once in a while?

Were you and Mary very affectionate?

Was Jesus at all mischievous?

Did you live long enough to see Jesus go out into his ministry?

We honor you, dear Joseph, as our Protector and friend!

Pray for us!

And now, before you go, here’s the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with a glorious rendition of Handel’s “And the Glory of the Lord. Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

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

Advent Day 11 ~ Our God becomes flesh (and Hanukkah Day 2)

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Wednesday of the Second week of Advent

Our God Becomes Flesh (and Hanukkah Day 2)

Dear Friends,

Today, let’s reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation — the Christmas portion of our faith.  (If you do not accept this as an article of faith, then just consider it as a beautiful story; it still has power; it still can have real meaning for you.)

St. John says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus saves us as man.  Incarnation: Carnal: meat, flesh.  Our God became flesh. “He emptied himself of his equality with God and became as humans are” (Philippians 2). The Father sent his Son into our world to identify with us. To become one of us and with us.  God likes the human race!  In Jesus, a marriage is made between God and the human race.

But this article of our Christian faith often doesn’t dawn on folks.  Many think he was just play-acting – pretending to be human.

I offer this passage  (excerpted) from St. Gregory Nazianzen, bishop and doctor of the church in the fourth century from the Advent Office of Readings:

“He [Jesus] takes to himself all that is human, except sin (unfaithfulness) .

He comes forth as God, in the human nature he has taken, one being, made of two contrary elements, flesh and spirit.

Spirit gave divinity, flesh receives it.

He who makes rich is made poor;

he takes on the poverty of my flesh, that I may gain the riches of divinity.

He who was full is made empty;

he is emptied for a brief space of glory, that I may share in his fullness.

We need God to become one of us and with us.

To help us like and love ourselves.

To realize that Love and Beauty and all good things are our destiny.

We need God to invite us to our future instead of destroying ourselves.

If only we believed.

If only we believed.

Take time today to allow this story of God’s love affair with the human race to touch you,

embrace you, and heal your heart, and transform your life as it has mine.

And continues to do so, day after day after day

because I, for one, really, really, really like being caught up in Love!

And for your listening pleasure here’s a selection from Handel’s Messiah: “Rejoice, Greatly, O Daughter Zion!” Click here.  Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

And here are today’s Mass readings for the Feast of St. Lucy. Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

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

bobtraupmanLeave a comment

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 encourages us to be our best selves.

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 (Isaiah 11:5-10.)

Let’s muse about peace and harmony today.

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 Serengeti  Plain in Africa leading the way to peace.

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

My puppy Shivvy (of happy memory) demonstrated 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. 

What is so new about the promised “mountain of the Lord” is not that the wolf and the lamb are there, but that the wolf remains a wolf and the lamb remains a lamb and yet they dwell together without hurt in God’s kingdom. Under God’s rule, conversion and obedience do not mean the loss of identity, but the discovery of our true identity as one in Christ.

Think about it.

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

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

In America today, we are so polarized and torn apart, this story can be an inspiration to us to help bring us together. Maybe this week you and I can make a little effort to reach out to someone across a divide and make a new acquaintance.

Behold a broken world, we pray,

Where want and war increase,

And grant us, Lord, in this our day,

The ancient dream of peace.

Bring, Lord, your better world to birth, 

Your kingdom, love’s domain,

Where peace with God and peace on earth,

And peace eternal reign. 

         ~ Timothy Dudley Smith / 1985

 

If you’re new to this Advent blog,  I recommend reading Welcome to Advent 2009 to get a sense of why we want to spend four weeks preparing for our Christmas celebration and how it can help you deepen your spirituality whether you are a Catholic or even a Christian.

I will be posting each day of Advent, (God willin’ n’ the creek don’t rise.

You can make yourself  mini-retreat for five minutes a day and have the best and most meaningful Christmas ever!
It’ll relieve your stress.  Calm your nerves.  Put a bounce in your step and a smile on your face.  And it’s free!
So, what are you waiting for?  Come on board!  Put your email address in the hopper and you won’t have to think about it again.

And now, for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here’s “And the Glory of the Lord”  from Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony.  Be sure to enter full screen and turn up your speakers.

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

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer



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The wolf and the lamb ~ the owl and the lion

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IMGTuesday of the First Week of Advent

Dear Friends,

Isaiah dreams of a bright future for us.

In the first reading of today’s Mass, 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 – Isaiah 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 Serengeti in Africa leading the way to peace.

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

 (If you’re not tech savvy, go to the top left corner of your computer and click on the < “back arrow” and it will bring you back to this screen.)

My puppy Shivvy (of happy memory) was quite curious of his  fellow creatures.

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

Think about this . . .

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.

If you’re new to this Advent blog,  I recommend reading Welcome to Advent 2009 to get a sense of why we want to spend four weeks preparing for our Christmas celebration and how it can help you deepen your (our) spirituality whether or not you are a Catholic or even a Christian.

And for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here is And the Glory of the Lord ~ from Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony ~ Click here.  Be sure to turn up your speakers

And here are today’s Mass readings, if you’d enjoy reflecting on them.  Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

 

bobtraupmanLeave a comment

 

img_00442
photo (c) bob traupman 2007. all rights reseved

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Misty mornings can be cool, Lord.
They can teach us about You, about us.

There is lots of misty-ness in our lives, Lord.

We often don’t see anything clearly.

But You are still there, our sun, the Son.
somehow, some way, penetrating  the fog, the mist.

Help us realize that mist is OK, Lord.
Misty-ness has its own beauty.

Thank You, Lord, for what it teaches us about You, about us.

Teach us to be patient, Lord, to wait.
For the light, our light, Your light.
Come Lord, Jesus this Christmas
in our lives and in our world.

Your light will come, Jerusalem;
Your light will come, dear people of God;
the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
You will see his glory within you.
       – the Advent liturgy.

And now before you go, here is more from Handel’s Messiah. Click here >>> Rejoice Greatly O Daughter Zion!  ‘Tis Awesome! Be sure to enter full screen. 

And here are today’s Mass readings for your reflection: It’s the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, one of the founding members of the Jesuit order and preached the gospel in the far east in the early 16th century.  Click here.

photo (c) bob traupman 2007. all rights reserved

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

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

bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Advent Day 3

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Dear Friends,

Isaiah dreams of a bright future for us.

In the first reading of today’s Mass, 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 – Isaiah 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 Serengeti in Africa leading the way to peace.

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

 (But, if you’re not tech savvy, go to the top left corner of your computer and click on the < “back arrow” and it will bring you back to this screen.)

My puppy Shivvy (of happy memory) was quite curious of his  fellow creatures.

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 this . . .

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.

If you’re new to this Advent blog,  I recommend reading Welcome to Advent 2009 to get a sense of why we want to spend four weeks preparing for our Christmas celebration and how it can help you deepen your (our) spirituality whether you are a Catholic or even a Christian.

And for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here is And the Glory of the Lord ~ from Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony ~ 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 meditate upon them.  Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Merry Christmas, everyone!

bobtraupman2 Comments

Quantcasth

 

The Birthday of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

While all things were

      in quiet silence,

And that night was

      in the midst of

   her swift course,

Thine Almighty Word,

     O Lord,

Leaped down out

of thy royal throne,

      Alleluia!

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

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              WE Christians tend to sentimentalize the Christmas story. 

And yet the whole message is there beneath the charming Christmas pageants with the cute little girls holding baby dolls and boys dressed up in bathrobes as St. Joseph.  Yes, it’s all there. Now let’s think about what it means.

John sums the whole story in one sentence(!) saying “the Word became flesh and lived (dwelt) among us” or as the Greek word actually translates as “pitched his tent among us.” Thus, he intended to move with us and stay with us a while!

He is Emmanuel ~ God  with us!

Now there are two words here that Christians generally don’t like.  One is “flesh” as in “the world, the flesh and the devil.”  And the other is in the middle of the Christmas part of our faith story in theology. That theological word is “Incarnation. The “carn” part is carnal.  We don’t like that word, do we? We think it ~ um ~refers to sin!

But there you are, folks “flesh” and “carnal” referring to what our God has taken upon himself.

 Let’s look at what this charming Christmas story means ~ what its implications mean for your life today:

If God accepted our “fleshiness” (by becoming flesh, by taking on a human body) – then so should (must) we accept our own bodies and, yes, our sexuality, our “fleshiness.” This was the reason he became Man: to throw his lot with the human race and show us how to  become fully human, fully alive!

Dear Friends,

Our waiting is over.

Christmas is here.

I have the peace and satisfaction that I have poured my love into my writings.

I think I’m ready to receive the special gift Jesus wants to give me this Christmas.

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

Cleanse your heart of resentments / of preoccupations with unnecessary things.

Ask yourself what really is the 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  my own crosses I’ve carried over the years.

But it’s all gift!

So, I hope you have received something nourishing and sweet in the 23 posts I’ve been able to create this Advent.

They are my gift to you.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your family.

And if your Christmas is lonely with no one really special to share it with,

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.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Glory to God in the highest and peace to people of good will!

If you would like the Scripture readings for the Scripture readings for any of the several Masses for Christmas Click here. 

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

 

And, before you go,here’s another one, if you would like,  of  Handel’s glorious GLORY TO GOD ~ PEACE ON EARTH ~ GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer  

P. S. We’ll be back again on December 26th ~ The Feast of  St. Stephen and the Twelve Days of Christmas!