Unto Us a Child is Born

For the week of December 25-31: 
Unto Us a Child is Born 

Theme: We who have walked in deep darkness have seen a great light! For unto us a child is born, one who will bring eternal peace. We celebrate Christ's birth because he became what we are, giving his life freely that through his grace we might have the hope of salvation. Because of Jesus, we praise God and declare his glory.

Opening Prayer: Bless, O Lord, the worship of your church this day, and bless our endeavors to glorify your name. Let not our hearts be unduly set on earthly things, but incline us to love things heavenly that even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, we may cling to those that shall abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. The Leonine Sacramentary 

OT Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7 

Reflection from Church Fathers: "Today was born the child, and his name was called Wonderful! For a wonder it is that God should reveal himself as a baby." Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on the Nativity

Psalm of Response: Psalm 96 

NT Reading: Titus 2:11-14 

Reflections from the Church Fathers: "Worldly passions are directed toward things that perish with the present life. Let us then have nothing to do with these." Chrysostom, Homilies on Titus 5 

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:1-20 

Reflections from Church Fathers: "He was a baby and a child, so that you may be a perfect human. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you maybe in the stars. He had no other place in the inn, so that you may have many mansions in the heavens. He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich. Therefore his poverty is our inheritance, and the Lord's weakness is our virtue. He chose to lack for himself, that he may abound for all. The sobs of that appalling infancy cleanse me, those tears wash away my sins. Therefore, Lord Jesus, I owe more to your sufferings because I was redeemed than I do to works for which I was created." Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.41-42.

For Further Reflection and Prayer: 
1. Jesus came as a baby. He was once as helpless and silly as my little Liam is.  Imagine God as a helpless babe. What does this say to you?
2. What worldly passions are you clinging to? Ask God to help you to abide with that which remains.
3. Re-read Ambrose's exposition. His statements are beautiful and true. How do they affect you?  How do you think they should affect you? What is stopping you from feeling that way?

Closing Prayer: "Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no one free from sin, came to free us all." Leo the Great.

Taken from Ancient Christian Devotional by ed. by Thomas C. Oden and Cindy Crosby

Commemoration of the Holy Innocents

"December 28: Commemoration of the Holy Innocents. These were the infant boys slaughtered in Bethlehem on Herod's paranoid orders (Matthew 2). With Stephen and John they are called comites Christi, or "companions of Christ," a medieval designation that recognizes their suffering. The above three days correspond, in order, to three types of martyrdom: voluntary and executed (Stephen), voluntary but not executed (John) and executed by not voluntary (the Bethlehem children). To remember Herod's atrocity is to strip sentimentality from the birth of Christ. On this day we confront the evil in our world, the violence of the powerful against the weak, the sorrow of those who suffer injustice and the very real darkness into which the light shines." Living the Christian Year, Bobby Gross.

"Today we commemorate and remember those first martyrs of the New Testament era, the Holy Innocents slaughtered by wicked King Herod in Bethlehem. We may wonder why, in this “season of joy and happiness” we have in the Church Year the commemoration of the murder of St. Stephen, and then, a couple days later, the murder of young children. What a gloomy note to strike during this happy time! But one thing the Christian Faith is not, it is not unrealistic. It does not “make believe” that we can simply wish away evil, or ignore it. No, we deal with it, head-on, in all its brutal tragedy. These little children were slaughtered, while the Son of God, went free. Such it always is with the ways of Satan. He wants nothing more than to destroy and mar what God has declared good. And so, even at a very young age, the agents of Satan were coming after our dear Lord, but His time had not yet come, and God provided a way of escape. His Son escaped, in high divine irony, back to the land where God’s people had been enslaved so long before, and out of Egypt, God called his Son (Hosea 11:1). He called His son forth to come back to the land where He was born, in order to continue His divine mission of the salvation of the world. The ancient hymn by Prudentius sings well what this commemoration of the Holy Innocents means for us:

Sweet flow’rets of the martyr’s band
Plucked by the tyrant’s ruthless hand
Upon the threshold of the morn,
Like rosebuds by a tempest torn;

First victims for the incarnate Lord,
A tender flock to feel the sword;
Beside the altar’s ruddy ray,
With palm and crown you seem to play.

Ah, what availed King Herod’s wrath?
He could not stop the Savior’s path.
Alone, while others murdered lay,
In safety Christ is borne away.

O Lord, the virgin-born, we sing
Eternal praise to You, our King,
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Spirit evermore.

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348-c. 413)
LSB 969

And we pray:

Almighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying. Put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will that our lives may bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen." The Holy Innocents, Martyrs. Paul T. McCain

The Feast of St. John

"December 27: The Feast of St. John: On December 27th we remember the Apostle who wrote of the Word become flesh, the disciple "beloved" by Jesus, the Evangelist who, according to tradition, received the revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos." Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross

Watch: Word and Pictures from Urbana '09.

Christ is the Word of Life: Made Visible. Feast of Saint John the Evangelist, December 27-The Third Day of Christmas. by St. Augustine of Hippo, Early Church Father and Doctor of the Church

This excerpt from the tractitates on the first letter of John by St. Augustine (Tract 1, 1.3: PL 35, 1978, 1980), one of the Early Church Fathers, is used in the Roman Office of readings for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, on December 27, the third of the twelve days of Christmas.

'Our message is the Word of life. We announce what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have touched with our own hands. Who could touch the Word with his hands unless the Word was made flesh and lived among us?

Now this Word, whose flesh was so real that he could be touched by human hands, began to be flesh in the Virgin Mary’s womb; but he did not begin to exist at that moment. We know this from what John says: What existed from the beginning. Notice how John’s letter bears witness to his Gospel, which you just heard a moment ago: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

Someone might interpret the phrase the Word of life to mean a word about Christ, rather than Christ’s body itself which was touched by human hands. But consider what comes next: and life itself was revealed. Christ therefore is himself the Word of life.

And how was this life revealed? It existed from the beginning, but was not revealed to men, only to angels, who looked upon it and feasted upon it as their own spiritual bread. But what does Scripture say? Mankind ate the bread of angels.

Life itself was therefore revealed in the flesh. In this way what was visible to the heart alone could become visible also to the eye, and so heal men’s hearts. For the Word is visible to the heart alone, while flesh is visible to bodily eyes as well. We already possessed the means to see the flesh, but we had no means of seeing the Word. The Word was made flesh so that we could see it, to heal the part of us by which we could see the Word.

John continues: And we are witnesses and we proclaim to you that eternal life which was with the Father and has been revealed among us – one might say more simply “revealed to us”.

We proclaim to you what we have heard and seen. Make sure that you grasp the meaning of these words. The disciples saw our Lord in the flesh, face to face; they heard the words he spoke, and in turn they proclaimed the message to us. So we also have heard, although we have not seen.

Are we then less favoured than those who both saw and heard? If that were so, why should John add: so that you too may have fellowship with us? They saw, and we have not seen; yet we have fellowship with them, because we and they share the same faith.

And our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son. And we write this to you to make your joy complete – complete in that fellowship, in that love and in that unity.

This reading is featured in the Early Church Fathers, Advent & Christmas and Incarnation sections of The Crossroads Initiative Library.

The Feast of St. Stephen

"December 26: Feast of St. Stephen. It may come as a surprise that the church remembers the first Christian martyr immediately after Christmas day. But the connection reminds us that the baby in the crib will one day die on the cross, and that many who have followed him have given their lives in witness to his light." Bobby Gross, Living the Christian Year.

"All that we know about Stephen the Protomartyr (that is, the first martyr of the Christian Church) is found in chapters 6 and 7 of the Book of Acts.  The early Christian congregations, like the Jewish synagogues, had a program of assistance for needy widows, and some of the Greek-speaking Jews in the Jerusalem congregation complained that their widows were being neglected. The apostles replied: "We cannot both preach and administer financial matters. Choose seven men from among yourselves, respected, Spirit-filled, and of sound judgement, and let them be in charge of the accounts, and we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word." The people accordingly chose seven men, including Stephen, and the apostles laid their hands on them. They are traditionally considered to be the first deacons, although the Scriptures do not use the word to describe them. (The Scriptures do refer to officials called deacons in the local congregations, without being very specific about their duties; and a century or more later, we find the organized charities of each local congregation in the hands of its deacons.)

Stephen was an eloquent and fiery speaker, and a provocative one. (Some readers have speculated that some of his fellow Christians wanted to put him in charge of alms in the hope that he would administer more and talk less.) His blunt declarations that the Temple service was no longer the means by which penitent sinners should seek reconciliation with God enraged the Temple leaders, who caused him to be stoned to death. As he died, he said, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." One of those who saw the stoning and approved of it was Saul (or Paul) of Tarsus, who took an active part in the general persecution of Christians that followed the death of Stephen, but who was later led to become a Christian himself.

We remember Stephen on December 26, the day after Christmas. Hence the song

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen,

describes an action of the king on the day after Christmas Day. The tune used with this song is older than the words and was previously used with a hymn often sung on the feasts of Stephen and other martyrs. It begins:

Christian friends, your voices raise.
Wake the day with gladness.
God himself to joy and praise
turns our human sadness:
Joy that martyrs won their crown,
opened heaven's bright portal,
when they laid the mortal down
for the life immortal.

"We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand: where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen." James Kiefer, Stephen, Deacon and Protomartyr 

Wait for the Lord: The 3rd Week of Advent

{Instead of mailing this out bit by bit over the course of the week, I am sending it all in one chunk. I recommend taking an hour this weekend and giving it to the Lord. Take time to read through these Scriptures, pray, journal, etc.}

Theme: The Lord is faithful forever and offers hope to those in difficult circumstances. Because God came in the flesh to save us, we can experience great joy. Jesus is the long expected Savior of the world, and following the example of the prophets, who patiently awaited the Lord's coming, we must also patiently await the time of his reappearance.

Opening Prayer: "Through him he has called us out of darkness and into the light, out of ignorance into the knowledge of his glory, so that we might hope, Lord, in your name, for it is the foundation of all creation." Clement of Rome

OT Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10 

Reflections: "For it is clear that it is not without soul or sense that he proclaims the good tidings of joy, but he speaks, by the figure of the desert, of the soul that is parched and unadorned." On the Baptism of the Christ, Gregory of Nyssa

Psalm of Response: Psalm 146:5-10 

NT Reading: James 5:7-10 

Reflections: "If God delays the punishment of sinners, waiting for them to repent, it is not because his character has changed, so that now he loves sin. Rather, he is giving them time to repent." Catena, Cyril of Alexandria

Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:2-11 

For Further Reflection and Prayer:
1. Some people do not believe that a good God would punish sinners by sending them to hell; but, would a good God allow sin to go unpunished?  Think about minor ways you've been wronged. Think about people who traffic humans. Should these acts go unpunished?
2. We often want people to "get theirs" and want to punish them ourselves, but we must be patient for the Lord and his timing.  Even though he must punish their sin, he is good in that he wants them to repent, and so he delays his coming. This is good news.  Think about this.
3. In what way has God called your out of darkness and into light?  What has this really looked like in your life? What does it mean to have knowledge of His glory and to hope in His name?
4. What is dark at Penn? Where is His light?  How can you bring the light into the darkness like John the Baptist?  {As a follower of Christ, this is your calling.}

Closing Prayer: "We ask you, Almighty God, let our souls enjoy this their desire, to be enkindled by your Spirit, that being filled as lamps by your divine gift, we may shine like burning lights before the presence of your Son Christ at his coming; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." The Gelasian Sacramentary


See also Charlie Hall's Into Marvelous Light. {Song on YouTube.)    

The Hope of the World: Day 3

McCrimmons

Gospel Reading: Matthew 3:1-12 
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[a]
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.  7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Reflections from the Church Fathers: Chromatius of Aquileia

"Hence John prepared these ways of mercy and truth, faith and justice. Concerning them, Jeremiah also declared, 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.' Because the heavenly kingdom is found along these ways, not without good reason John adds, 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' So do you want the kingdom of heaven to also be near for you? Prepare these ways in your heart, in your senses and in your soul. Pave within you the way of chastity, the way of faith and the way of holiness. Build roads of justice. Remove ever scandal of offense from your heart. For it is written: 'Remove the stones from the road.' And then, indeed, through the thoughts of your heart and the very movements of your soul, Christ the King will enter along certain paths." Tractate on Matthew 8.1 

For Further Thought and Prayer

1. How can you "prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him" at Penn? 

2. John wasn't afraid of being set apart and standing out from the crowd for the Lord's sake.  Are you afraid of standing apart from the crowd? Are you running from God's calling for you?  Talk to him about. Confess if necessary. Ask for grace to obey. 

3. Are you producing fruit in keeping with repentance? If not, why not?

4. Have you been baptized, with water and with the Holy Spirit (this happens when you receive Christ as your savior)? How has this changed you? 

5. Take time to reflect on what Christ has done in you and your walk with Him.  Thank Him and praise Him.  Pray for more...more boldness, more grace, more love...to be His ambassador at Penn.  

Closing Prayer

"O you who are everywhere present, filling yet transcending all things; ever acting, ever at rest; you who teach the hearts of the faithful without noise of words: teach us, we pray you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Augustine

{Once again, this devotional was found in Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings by Thomas C. Oden.} 

The Hope of the World: Day 2

Episcopal Cafe

Psalm of Response: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
5 May he endure[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.
18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.

NT Reading: Romans 5:4-13

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”[c]
10 Again, it says,
“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”[d]
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”[e]
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”[f]
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Reflections from the Church Fathers: Chrysostom

"In other words, may you get rid of your heartlessness toward one another and not be cast down by temptations. You will achieve this by abounding in hope, which is the cause of all good things and comes from the Holy Spirit. It is not just from the Spirit, though, because you must do your part also. That is why Paul adds the words 'in believing.'" Homilies on Romans 28

For Further Prayer and Reflection:

1. How do you praise God among those who aren't yet members of His family? How do you draw them into praising Him?  

2. Do you have trouble accepting a fellow brother or sister in Christ? Remedy that situation so that you may praise God together in one mind and one voice.

3. Are you filled with joy and peace from the God of hope? Do you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit? If yes, what does that look like tangibly in your life? If not, why not?  

The Hope of the World: Day 1

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Theme:
The prophet Isaiah foretells the coming of the Christ, who will defend the afflicted and crush the oppressor. In light of the Savior's arrival, John the Baptist calls us to repentance. We praise God for his marvelous deeds. Because of Christ, the root of Jesse, we have hope for the future through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Opening Prayer:
"O God, who did look on humanity when they had fallen down into death and resolve to redeem them by the advent of your only-begotten Son, grant, we ask you, that they who confess his glorious incarnation may also be admitted to the fellowship of him their Redeemer; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen" Ambrose.


OT Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
1A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

Reflections from the Church Fathers: Bede

"The prophet Isaiah testified that it was necessary that our Redeemer be conceived in Nazareth when he said, 'There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a nazareus will go up from his root.' Nazareus can be translated either as 'flower' or 'pure.' The Son of God who was made flesh for us can rightly be called by these names because he assumed a human nature which was pure of every vice and because he is the font and source of spiritual fruit for all who believe in him, to whom he also both showed an example and granted the gift of righteous and blessed living. Homilies on the Gospels 1.6 

For Further Reflection and Prayer:

1. Re-read verses 2-5. How have you tangibly, in your life, seen Jesus be true to these prophecies about him?

2. Take time to thank Him who He is and what He has done in your life.

3. In verse 10 it says "the nations will rally to him."  Pray now for your friends, brothers and sisters that they would be a part of the peoples who rally to Jesus.  

Ten Things to Do During Advent/On Christmas

I've recently discovered a wonderful little blog that is probably mostly written for mamas like me, but I enjoyed today's post so much that I wanted to share it with you! The author, Ann Voskamp, proposes ten ideas of what you can do on Christmas morning if you decide not to exchange gifts with one another. Now, that's not my family- we will DEFINITELY exchange gifts with each other; however, I do love how she puts the focus on Christ, as Christmas truly is a celebration of His birth. So check out her blog post, and decide for yourself: which of these things can you do this advent/Christmas season as you prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth? 

{Some of these suggestions are clearly geared towards small children; however, many of them are things that you could do and enjoy -OR- if they do seem appropriate only for small children, perhaps you could engage your small cousins with these acts of kindness!}

Ten Things to Do on Christmas Morning: When all the Gifts are for Him
by ANN VOSKAMP on DECEMBER 3, 2010
in CHRISTMAS CHANGE

So for over ten years now, we have nothing under the Christmas tree here, and I tell that crazy story and people have to ask and it’s a good question:

So if you don’t exchange gifts, what do you do then on Christmas morning?

Ten Things to Do on Christmas Morning When all the Gifts are for Him

1. Birthday for Breakfast

Serve Birthday Cake for Breakfast — with ice cream and an arch of balloons and birthday hats and light the candles and sing of wondrous grace! He has come! And for us!

Our tradition is angel food cake for the birthday cake — made with freshly ground wheat — and I think of the wheat that fell to the ground, died for us and the harvest of the many.

2. Sup with Him — Feast Fit for a King

And we make breakfast a feast fit for a king. One of our best meals of the year is reserved for Christmas breakfast — recipes we serve only for Christmas Morning Breakfast —- Victorian French Toast with whip cream and fresh fruit and a cranberry raspberry slushy drink and Sausage bake and orange juice and pineapple and we decorate with floating candles and and a nativity scene center piece and our best linens.

He’s invited us to His table, adopted us, made us one of His own— and we have time to come, to say yes to His invitation!

3. Gifts for Him, the Birthday Child

After breakfast, we gather together to give gifts to the birthday babe, the King Come —- and these are all gifts to the least of these, because Jesus Himself said, when you give to the least of these, you give to me, so we pick out more gifts from His catalogues. We don’t open presents but we open a far deeper joy.

One family writes of their creative Christmas mornings of giving Christmas gifts only to Jesus:

On Christmas morning this year, we had our oldest dress up as a wise man, and he went around the house, finding tin foil stars and taking the gifts he found there to the baby Jesus that we had in the living room. It was great! We plan to give the same kinds of gifts that you have to Jesus this year…

What a creative way for kids, the whole family, to celebrate Christmas morning– tinfoil stars that have notes of donation to the least of these, a boy dressed up as a wise man, really worshipping!

It sounds, yes, terrifying, to not exchange gifts on Christmas morning, it did to me —- but the utter and unadulterated joy we unwrapped in giving away to those Jesus says He’s with, the poor.And we discovered all that He is absolutely true to His word: it is always better to give than to receive.

And when we give to them we are giving to Him, it leaves us filled and satisfied in the realest sense.

Satisfied that everything fits and nothing will be returned and no batteries are needed for we have done the one thing that is needful — touched the hem of God, murmured adoration and offered up gifts to Him.

4. Serve Him a Meal

A loaf of fresh bread to an elderly neighbor spending his first Christmas alone, a still-in-the-dark cup of coffee and an egg sandwich delivered downtown to a homeless person, ladling bowls in a soup kitchen at lunch time, delivering sticky buns and a hug to the family who buried a child this year, gifting all the neighborhood with cookies and a card rejoicing in Christ come —- serve Christ a meal this Christmas, bread of heaven come down for all the hungry.

5. Invite Him In

It may be a single relative in need of a welcoming hearth, a lonely person from your faith community, a widow from down the road, a grieving friend, a lonely stranger, but to invite someone in need to His party because Christ who came to a world that had no room in the inn now calls all to come and He calls us to His kind of hospitality.

We have done this and this is His party and this is who He wants to come — the one who feels as unwanted as He did when He came to us. So we open the door and say come and celebrate with those He came for…

6. Give Yourself Talent Show

We know a family who gives the only gift we ever can really give, the gift of ourselves, by offering a little Christmas Day Talent Show. He does a crazy little tap dance — and everyone laughs —- and she joins him —- and everyone howls. What can you give of yourself to offer to Jesus, your family, on Christmas morning?

7. Join all of Creation

We spend hours outdoors on Christmas day, joining all of Creation and the heavenly throng in giving Him praise. We walk through the bush and sing Christmas carols, we go sledding down the back hills, we play in the snow and we laugh. We’ve decorated trees outside with treats, strings of popcorn and cranberry, suet and peanut butter and, if the conditions are right, it’s the one day of the year that we pour maple syrup over snow and eat taffy — we taste and see that the Lord is good!

8. Tell the Story

Over the years, we’ve told the Christmas story on Christmas morning with cousins and kids getting dressed up and re-enacting it for us, with kids written-performed-directed puppet show, with blankets and spotlight and silhouettes. Old men have been Joseph and toddlers have been Mary and this is the story that we love to tell — to remember the gift who came.

9. Sing the Hallelujah Chorus

Sing it in the woods, on the streets, in a nursing home, a hospital hall, a prison lounge, around the piano with the family, for the next door neighbors, a shut in across town. We join the angels this day and we fill the world with the music of the Messiah here. Find a way, somewhere, to sing because isn’t this the day of all days, we need to sing?

10. Follow the Light

And come Christmas night, we follow the light and some years it’s outside in the woods, luminaries, candles in jars, lighting a path to a nativity scene and we sing worship in the deepening dark, and some windy years, its filling the house with candles and spending the last hours of Christmas day singing glory, glory, glory, glory to God in the Highest.

Slow Down. Quiet. It's Advent!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out and bookmark Slow Down. Quiet. It's Advent!  It's a quick & cute Advent Calendar.  No, you don't get a piece of chocolate when you read it, but it sure does give you something to chew on.

So tell me: What is Jesus' mission for your life?

Keep Watch: Day 3

Gospel Reading: Matthew 24:36-44 

"36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.  42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Reflections from the Church Fathers: Origen

"All who listen to the depths of the gospel and live it so completely that none of it remains veiled from them care very little about whether the end of the world will come suddenly and all at once or gradually and little by little. Instead, they bear in mind only that each individual's end or death will arrive on a day and hour unknown to him and that upon each one of us "the day of the Lord will come like a thief." Commentary on Matthew 56

For Further Reflection and Prayer:

1. Are you keeping watch? Are you ready? What must you do to be ready?
2. Will your friends and family be caught off guard when the Lord comes like a thief? What can you do to ensure that they are not surprised, but are instead ready and waiting expectantly?