While I dislike having to listen to Christmas music as early as November 25th, I do like that once a year radio stations all over don’t seem to have a problem playing music that mentions the name of Jesus or that glorifies God.
This year, listening to Christmas music early in December I found myself thinking what it would be like if there was no Christmas. I have a Cuban friend who grew up in Cuba with no Christmas. She had never seen or heard of a Christmas tree. But had Christ never been born, the implications would be much worse than not having Christmas trees. Just think of the music we’d be missing!
Other than all the obvious religious Christmas songs that would not exist: O Come Emmanuel; Coventry Carol; Oh Little Town of Bethlehem; What Child is This?; Silent Night; Away In A Manger ; The First Noel; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; O Holy Night; Twelve Days Of Christmas; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Angels We Have Heard on High; Joy to the World; Here We Come A-Wassailing; Mary, Did You Know; the Carol of the Bells or We Three Kings, we also would not have these timeless Christmas recordings:
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My homily for the 1st Sunday, Advent C
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
If you’re asking “what’s up with all these readings about doom and destruction?” and, “didn’t we just hear this Gospel two weeks ago?” I’m glad you asked…
The prophet Jeremiah spent all his life telling the people of Israel that there was going to be doom and destruction if they didn’t change their ways. That’s not a popular message. Imagine if Obama instead of running his campaign on the promise of hope, had run it on a message of doom and destruction: “if you don’t shape up and stop spending money you don’t have, you’re going to lose your homes and the market is going to crash!” Not a popular message. Jeremiah didn’t want to proclaim it but those were the words that came out of his mouth. And the people of Israel did not listen and things were pretty disastrous. The Kingdom was again divided: The kingdom had been united under King David and it was still united under his son, Solomon, but after Solomon, it was a free-for-all. If you like TV shows like Camelot or HBO’s Rome, you should read the books of Kings and Chronicles. It was all power grabs and jealousies and murders and war, even among families. And so the Kingdom was again divided. There was the northern Kingdom of Israel, where Samaria is and the southern Kingdom of Judah, where Jerusalem is. And no one was following God’s commandments; in fact God’s commandments are completely forgotten. And to top it off, the Assyrians invade, take over the land, destroy the temple and exile everyone to Babylon. First the kingdom of Israel falls, and then the kingdom of Judah.
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A little out of focus, but the only photo I have with Hadeel.
A reflection for the 1st Sunday in Advent, year C. The readings are Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 and Luke 21:25-28, 34-36.
When I was in Jordan 5 years ago, I met Hadeel. She’s a young Iraqi refugee. She’d come to Jordan five years before with her family because of the war and persecution of Christians. She had finished highschool in Jordan and been accepted into dental school. She wanted to be a dentist. But refugees in Jordan can’t work and they can’t become citizens, so all they can do is wait. Wait for things to change back home so they can return or wait until the United Nations or Caritas or the Pontifical Mission Societies or some other organization can help them find refuge in another country. Hadeel thought maybe she could go to Sweden or Germany, or maybe Canada. I wonder whatever happened to her.
I was thinking about her because it seems that all we are talking about now here in Canada is refugees; how we must welcome refugees. But also because I think that our three readings today speak of this very issue. Bad things happen; war, persecution; people are displaced and they have to wait for things to get better.
Reflección para el 32º Domingo, tiempo ordinario B. Las lecturas son 1 Reyes 17:10-16; Salmo 146; Hebreos 9:24-28 y Marcos 12:28-44.
Las lecturas de hoy nos presentan a dos viudas que nos enseñan dos cosas – parecidas pero un poco distintas…
La primera es la viuda de la primera lectura del primer libro de Reyes. Esta historia comienza un poco antes, en el capítulo 7 cuando Dios llama a Elías y le dice, “levántate, ve y espera.” Y así es con nosotros también: Dios nos llama, nos dice, “levántate y ve,” y a veces nos dice “quédate ahí y espera.” Pero Dios no envía a Elías al mejor lugar – lo envía a Sarepta, en la tierra de Sidón – adonde no había judíos fieles – ese era el reino de Israel, pero bajo el rey Ajab, casado con la malévola Jezabel – quienes no seguían los mandamientos. Es más, en esa región había una sequía, como castigo de Dios, porque no seguían sus mandamientos.
deacon pedro 