God’s Christmas Wish

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God’s Christmas Wish

Finding myself deep in the throes of holiday madness recently, a short phrase spoken by a house guest caused me to stop and think about where my focus is this Christmas Season.

“We want as much as we can get. All dogs want are the crumbs.”

Among the busyness that comes with the holidays are many suggestions for the gift-giving season. As a child, I recall giving my parents my gift wishes in not-so-subtle ways. I circled toys in catalogs and newspaper ads, as a blatant way of letting them know all I hoped for that Christmas. I have lovely memories of how my children voiced their wish lists, and I am enjoying how creativity is growing with each new generation.

Fixing our eyes on the birth of Christ becomes complicated when the commercialization of Christmas is all around us. Somewhere, at some point, there needs to be a balance. After all, God gave us the best Christmas gift ever, and doing the same for our families is good. Keeping our hearts aligned with God in the process is even better.

I never imagined such a profound statement coming from giving our dog apple pie crumbs. The truth in those words echoes in my heart days later. At this time of year especially, we do want as much as we can get, and if you think about it, the little dog considers the crumbs a full-course meal. I don’t think I will ever look at a piece of apple pie the same, and if my little dog plays her cards right, she may end up with a whole slice!

What would this look like if we flipped the circumstances just a little? Would crumbs be enough in everything we pray for or desire from God? If God’s will for our lives is not to receive the wish list in our minds but to receive only a portion, can we be as content as the dog receiving scraps? Taking it even one step further, let’s imagine that we are holding the meal, and God is patiently waiting for us to give Him a portion—how much are you willing to give God? Are you offering only crumbs or the entire piece?

A relationship with God requires opening your heart and giving God your time and energy. We put forth all of these things to the multitudes during the holidays. I never think twice about making time for shopping, baking cookies, and attending holiday gatherings. However, there are times when my prayer life suffers amidst the holiday madness. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, God’s one and only Son, given to us as a gift. It is a beautiful gift for you and me to offer our time, energy, and focus to the God who gave us life.

So how do we find that balance, the sweet spot where we can check off the holiday to-do list while staying true to our commitment to the intimacy of prayer? The obvious would be to put God first. This is easier said than done when our minds focus on everything else. Perhaps a written wish list between you and God might do the trick. Consider what God might wish for you, and then offer your requests prayerfully each day. Actions such as these will help to keep your heart and mind focused on involving God in the holiday preparations.

As you wrap presents and tie beautiful bows this holiday season, offer a prayer or two for God’s children who are happy and content with what little they have. Pray for the desire and grace to be satisfied with what God has given you, and perhaps drop a crumb or two to the little dog waiting at your side; God is right there with them.

Copyright 2023 text and dog photo: Kimberly Novak
Other Images: Canva

 

Navigating through darkness to the Season of Light

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Navigating through darkness to the Season of Light

My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
—John 14:27

The Lord spoke these words to disciples before the crucifixion. By the end of the discourse, it would be understandable that their anxiety was rising. He concluded: “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (John 17:33). He knew what the earthly powers planned for them as his followers, and they needed to be reminded that no matter what the world dished out, his was not simply a better way, but the best way. He also sent this message before his birth. In reflecting upon the readings throughout Advent, we can quell the turbulent stirrings rousted during the holidays.

Living in the world is a hard contact sport, and only a fool would play a rough game without proper conditioning and back-up. Yet so many go through life without the support that faith gives. Our society has record numbers of people living with anxiety and depression, and plummeting numbers in church attendance and religious affiliation. The culture is identified by the disturbingly accepted phrase, “post-Christian society.”

Even believers can be shadowed by the unrest that balloons during the Advent and Christmas seasons. The constant pressure to spend, eat, socialize, and “be of good cheer” causes angst for many, even those who enjoy the hustle and bustle. The Devil, that slobbering, panting mongrel of darkness, dispatches four of his best henchmen to squeeze the vulnerable. These days, that applies to most of us. Anxiety, Panic, Fear, and Depression are among his supreme lieutenants because they are excellent collaborators of opportunism. He recruits limitless holiday help to brew botheration through the urgent and endless “best sale of the year” deals, the “get it or forget it” Christmas lists, and social engagements (or lack thereof).

For others, the season stirs up grief over deep loss. The reasons for the unease outnumber the people experiencing them. The pace of keeping up with the season triggers everything from dread to disappointment to despondency. It’s enough to make Santa’s elves want the holiday season to be done. How sad to want such a beloved and beautiful time—Advent and Christmas—to be over with a big sigh of relief. For the beast of the underworld, it’s pure delight, like fresh, bloody meat.

Scripture is always the balm for sufferings of the world, but the readings this Advent—including those from morning and evening prayer and daily Mass—penetrate the fog that can become ever so dense. We began Advent with the command to “watch.” Listen also to the messages of the season. Perhaps commit to memory a passage to push out the anxiety whenever it begins to bubble. “I will listen for what God, the Lord has to say; surely he will speak of peace to his people and the faithful” (Psalm 85:9).

During Advent, we encounter the faceless and the nameless that Jesus healed, proving that God sees us all—no matter how invisible we may feel—and wants to make us whole. “Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them” (Matthew 15:30). Matthew recounts in 9:36: “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” He even healed those not physically present as we hear the centurion’s pleas for his suffering, paralyzed servant (cf. Matthew 8:5-13).

We meet people this month who, with great trials, embraced the rays of the Son. December 13 is the feast of the fourth century martyr, St. Lucy, whose name means light. She chose a hideous torture that blinded her because she would not betray her Savior. Isaiah 40:29 fortifies us: “He gives power to the faint, abundant strength to the weak.” The following day, December 14, we remember St. John of the Cross who, more than five centuries later, continues to enlighten with his Dark Night of the Soul.

The Advent readings are a treasury of fortitude to battle distress: “… you shall no longer weep; He will be most gracious to you when you cry out; as soon as he hears, he will answer you” (Isaiah 30:19). And others: Psalm 121:5, 7-8; Isaiah 25:8; Wisdom 18:14-16; Song of Songs 2:10-11 to name a few. Throughout Advent, God sends us messages of hope and encouragement. We are assured in Philippians 4:6-7: “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Peace be with you.

Copyright 2023 Mary McWilliams

Feature Image by Rúben Gál from Pixabay
Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay

Watch!

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Watch!

Despite a bit of concern that I might start to be viewed as a presumptuous would-be-homilist, I’m reflecting about the upcoming gospel reading again, on this December First Saturday of 2023.

But as a writer, I’ve always been intrigued by diction, the word choices we make to convey what we want to say.

While we have no way of easily confirming the accuracy of transcription or translation in any of the traditional readings for the First Sunday of Advent, the customary gospel uses one word, “watch,” four different times, in three different ways, within a 98-word passage.

Any word used every 24.5 words in a single brief teaching monologue must surely be significant, especially when that teacher was Jesus. So, I feel it’s a worth a little bit of dissection, to consider why Our Lord placed so much emphasis on this one concept.

“Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

— Mark 13: 33-37 (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120323.cfm)

Our first encounter with the word “watch” is as part of an adjective, “watchful,” and we’re immediately given a synonym, “alert.” Jesus seems to be describing a habitual condition that he would like his disciples to inhabit. That condition could also be described as “paying attention.” Attentiveness appears to be an internal quality that we are encouraged to develop.

Then, we are introduced to two nouns, a “gatekeeper” who is “on the watch.”

Lovingly-preserved Medieval house in a contemporary Medieval neighborhood, viewed from the city wall, Rothenburg, Germany. Photo Credit Fr. Lawrence Hoffmann, published with permission.

From paleolithic times, there have been lookouts on hills overlooking valleys, guardians on mountain peaks above passages between cliffs, gatekeepers in watchtowers embedded in city walls, who have served to help keep their communities safe.

The noun “a watch” has most often described a defined a unit of time with specific limits — “I’ll take the first watch, and you can take the second” — during which the person on duty was expected to provide vigilance for all.

So now, a dimension of community responsibility has been added to the internal personal quality of alertness.

And immediately, it is repeated, for the first time as an imperative verb, “Watch.”

“Watch me!” Children shout as they wave going by, up-and-down, round-and-round, on a carousel.

We “watch” the sky for incoming storms, traffic on the freeway for wayward drivers, the bathtub filling, so it won’t overflow.

We “watch” our cakes and Christmas cookies baking in the oven, often while others in the family are “watching” a parade or football game on television.

As writers, we are always “watching” our budgets, and our word counts. 

The Cambridge English Dictionary offers this definition for the action verb “watch”: “to look at something for a period of time, especially something that is changing or moving.”  (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/watch)

There are two important elements here.

The first is “a period of time.” The verb “to watch” does not mean a brief glance; it means focused attention for long enough to take in the nature, conditions, and dimensions of what is being watched.

The second is “something that is changing or moving.” “Watching” involves engaging in, and recognizing, a process of change and a direction of movement.

Christmas Market Square, Rothenburg, Germany. Photo by Margaret Zacharias, published with permission.

The Christmas markets in Europe, of which Rothenburg is one of the most famous, do offer material goods for purchase as gifts. But their most memorable value is in the experience itself — a satisfying bite into a hot brat on a bitterly cold day; the comfort of a hot cup of chocolate or gluhwein; live musical notes, floating with ephemeral snowflakes in the air.

Do we want broken budgets from too much online shopping this Advent? Do we want morose, unhappy households from endless consumption of ugly world news? Do we want stressed out children from too much sugar, and too many toys?

Or do we want the peace of gratitude for our blessings, the warmth of a simple, unhurried family meal, and the grace of acknowledging that we have enough?

Our Lord’s words speak directly to our authentic needs as human beings, and to the world as it really is.

There have always been wise servants “watching” — and there have always been thieves.

In this new Advent Season that we are about to embark on together, may we be the disciples of Christ who can look into the eyes of our children and grandchildren, our neighbors and friends, with awareness of who they really are, and who they are striving to become.

May faith, hope, and love fill our hearts, and theirs.

Watch.

Featured Photo: Watchtower in the Medieval City Walls, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany, on the plateau overlooking Tauber River ravine.  Author’s personal photo, published with permission.

© Copyright 2023 by Margaret King Zacharias

Little Sundays

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Little Sundays

Every Sunday is a Holy day of obligation, a day set aside to gather with community and worship Our Father in heaven. This day can also be observed by attending a Sunday Vigil celebrated on Saturday evening. Catholic teaching instructs us to refrain from engaging in work or activities that deter the worship owed to God. Recently I took a day away and referred to it as my “Sabbath,” and I pondered whether or not, in today’s society, these teachings are being honored.

I can admit that I have worked on Sundays in the past. Whether it be writing, cooking, or cleaning, these all take on the energy of work and direct my attention away from worshiping God. I could argue that my writing is spiritual and for the Glory of God, so perhaps that is allowed. I’ve yet to answer that thought. However, I know that engaging in writing on the Lord’s Day is different than attending church, coming home, and reflecting on the readings, sermon, and worship music.
It would be lovely to come home from Mass and simply enjoy celebrating God with my family and friends over a meal. My husband and I like to watch old black-and-white television programs, where families are often depicted attending church service on Sundays and then relax on their front porch, carelessly and effortlessly enjoying the day of rest. I guess observing the Lord’s Day in past generations proved a little easier to do. I wonder what it would feel like if, in today’s culture, we made a considerable effort to set this day aside for the one who created us.

“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord.”
Exodus 31:15 NKJV

My sabbath day away showed me how much my heart and mind craved one-on-one attention with God. I promised myself more of these days away from my routine to enjoy a full day of prayer and spiritual activities. I’m a little nervous about the holidays approaching if I will be able to honor the time I have set aside. I am organized and a good planner, but we all know how life intervenes and takes us off course. Because of that, I began thinking about other ways to honor God ahead of Sundays and days of spiritual enlightenment. I hope that by creating Little Sunday moments, my heart will be ignited and thirsting for more of God. All the while effortlessly easing me into honoring the seventh day of rest.

I have a few ideas based on my individual preferences. However, you can all devise your own Little Sunday moments. Each day, our local Christian Radio station, 95.5 The Fish, invites listeners to pray The Lord’s Prayer. Engaging in those few minutes is enough to draw the Lord into my day and close to my heart. Another opportunity is praying the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. Many Catholic prayer apps and online tools can help you get started.

If you want to keep your focus on Jesus, honor the day of rest, and grow closer to God, then consider praying about how God is calling you toward Him. From this, devise your plan for Little Sundays throughout your week. Engage in conversations with your family and friends, inviting them to participate. For the time being, when I feel called to write on the Lord’s Day, I will first engage in prayer and allow God to guide my thoughts. If they end up on the page, I know it was because God designed it for His Greater Glory. God calls us to be set apart or different from ordinary things and turn our focus toward Him. I pray that your Little Sundays become stepping stones toward your complete surrender to the Sabbath day of rest, holy to the Lord.

Copyright 2023 Kimberly Novak
Images: Canva

Book Review: Dining with the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Righteous Feast

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Review: Dining with the Saints:

The Sinner’s Guide to a Righteous Feast

Viewers of the long-running tv drama, Blue Bloods, have created a popular culture undercurrent of anticipation for the program’s Sunday supper scenes. In it, four generations of Reagans, New York-based Irish American Catholics dedicated to law and service, gather to pray, argue, commiserate, laugh, and reminisce over a family-prepared meal. There, they remind one another from whence and whom they came and where they are going. The elders, Gramps and Dad, preside from each end of the dining table like two Solomons, maintaining order and reason. Regardless of the strife and animosity that may have come between siblings or parent and child during the week, they now sit for a meal among kin. All ages participate in an unspoken understanding that the place is sacred and together they join in a reverent act.

What the fictional Reagans play out exemplifies “theology of food,” the concept behind Fr. Leo Patalinghug’s ministry, Plating Grace. In Dining with the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Righteous Feast, he and co-author, Michael P. Foley, help diners create their own family altar and a feast for the body, mind, and spirit that recalls Psalm 34:8: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Countless studies have documented increased depression, loneliness, and poor health habits in this country. We are paying for the lack of tradition, family, and faith. Twenty-first century Americans starve not only for nutritious meals but an “encounter experience” with one another. The authors are keenly aware that the canceling of thanking God for His gifts and sacrifices, for which we hunger, and asking Him to bless our meals before digging in leaves a void within. “We fear that the loss of the family dinner will also have a bad effect on the very source and summit of our worship (page x).”

More than a cookbook, Dining with the Saints provides a framework upon which folks may fortify their bodies, relationships with one another, and with God. The volume packs ideas for meals, conversation, and prayer in its 353 pages. Most of the 140 recipes, designed by Fr. Leo to be tasty, convenient, and nutritious, require few ingredients and little prep and cook time to afford a nourishing homemade repast.

Father Leo is known for his affability and humor. His experiences include penning the book Saving the Family and Spicing Up Married Life, an EWTN cooking show, and a memorable “beat down” of Bobby Flay on the Food Network, all of which showcase the means and methods by which he evangelizes. His fans will want this latest. This work, however, is just as much Mr. Foley’s. The hardcover’s title, clever cover design, and organization all parallel his other books, Drinking with the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Holy Happy Hour and the smaller Drinking with your Patron Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to Honoring Namesakes and Protectors. The Baylor University professor with expertise in the early church, charmingly and theologically contributes Food for Thought portions and saints and seasons and with the recipes. “Whenever possible, Dining with the Saints presents what a saint actually ate or a piece of advice he or she gave about eating and drinking.” (page x). Mr. Foley’s knowledge of hagiography (the lives of the saints) presents some twists and turns, even for saint devotees.

It’s well known that St. Padre Pio bore the stigmata, but how many could correctly name his favorite vegetable or how it reflects of his personality? Another curiosity is the Chicken Tikka Masala (April 21) that many would assume would be attributed St. Thomas who was “hailed as the apostle of India,” but not so. That honor goes to Italian-born St. Anselm. For our Doubting Thomas, the authors chose a German sweet bread, Saint Thomas’s Kletzenbrot (Dec. 21). Some dishes have rather straightforward names such as Angel Food Cupcakes (Oct. 2, Feast of Guardian Angels), but the intriguing gelatin mold made with fresh raspberries may be lost for the evening’s dessert because it’s called Blancmange (December 29, Feast of the Holy Innocents). Candlemas, also known as the Presentation of Jesus Christ (Feb. 2), offers the ever-delectable Lemon Meringue Pie.

The authors deliver a delightful glimpse into Catholic church past using the 1962 Roman calendar which has more feast days, many unknown to post-Vatican II generations. Even the most catechized Catholic will appreciate discovering some long-forgotten days, such as Drunkard’s Thursday and Quinquagesima Sunday. Part One of the book ties recipe selections with the Feasts of Saints calendar. Part Two addresses the Liturgical Seasons. A five-page reference shows a side-by-side comparison of the “new” date with the traditional. A practical index based on course or main ingredient helps the culinarian find a recipe more quickly. The authors, however, encourage preparing the dishes any time. Enjoy the savory Sausage with Onion Gravy dedicated to Gregory the Great on the “old” date of March 12, the “new” date of September 3, or whenever the occasion fits. St. Gregory’s Food for Thought reminds that “evangelizing requires fellowship with people . . .becoming a part of other people’s lives. . . . Breaking bread together creates a sense of communion . . .” (page 40).  Share it with those close to you and those you want to know. Download some Gregorian chants and enjoy food, fellowship, and God’s blessings upon you.

Copyright 2023 Mary McWilliams
Images and quotes used with permission, copyright 2023, Regency House

Continuing Christmas Giving – All Year Long

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Continuing Christmas Giving – All Year Long

 

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  John 15:12

 

Somewhere between youth and golden years, I began spending more than I could afford around the holidays. I thought that was the way my gifts would reflect my love and care for the recipients. Then, over ten years ago, a few months before Christmas, I announced that there would be no “presents.” After reading about creating memories rather than accumulating possessions, I yearned for a return to simplicity, sharing more time together and remembering God’s true Christmas gift, His love manifested through Jesus. I promised my family the gift of a book, Journey to Love.

As has happened so many times, God gave me words to share. Journey to Love began as a collection of my poems from childhood through marriage, but while transferring them from tattered notebooks and paper scraps, I remembered the circumstances surrounding the poems and added personal reflections. I often typed after long work days, late at night and into the early hours of morning, but the Holy Spirit saw me through. I kept up the hectic schedule for three months – just in time to self-publish the book.

I realized then the true Christmas Gift – Christ and his love – is meant to be celebrated all year long. We are meant to love one another, give of ourselves, and strive every day to love as Christ did. That was it! Love one another – and I am blessed to have a family that tries to do exactly that.

For instance, my Persian family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but they know what it is, and they understand the gift of love. My sister-in-law lived with us many years, caring for her son with special needs. She practiced Christmas giving every day. She came to Mass with me on Sundays because she wanted to be in “God’s house”. She would touch our picture of the Sacred Heart and ask for his help.  And, every day, she cared for us – baking bread, keeping the house in order while we worked and loving each of us even when it was tiring for her. That’s Christmas love.

But it really began with my parents, whom I wrote about last month. They also practiced Christmas giving daily. Daddy loved gardening and brought my mum a fragrant rose every day, which she placed on the ledge above the kitchen sink or at the little altar beneath the picture of the Sacred Heart.

When we were teens, Daddy always listened to us, waited for us to come home from dates and prepared us before Mass to receive the Eucharist. My mother faithfully cared for us. Even when tired, Mum made our home pleasant and sparkling, so that after work my father could spend time in his garden. In the years before he died, he called her his “guardian angel.” Daddy’s doctor remarked, if not for my mother’s care, he would not have survived for as long as he did; that’s Christmas giving.

Every shred of faith I have is a gift from God, and my parents first shared their gift as loving role models. Their daily Christmas giving permeated my life. I didn’t know then, but I saw it when I wrote Journey to Love – they infused in me a natural sense of Christmas love.

When I was fourteen and money was tight for our family, I did something which seemed ordinary to me, but which was really a result of my parents’ example. I had just received two dollars for a four-hour babysitting job. My parents rarely went out, reserving every spare penny to provide Catholic schooling for my sisters and me.

It was Saturday after chores when I saw an old Indian proverb while flipping through the “Reader’s Digest”: “If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft, and to thee alone two loaves of bread are left; take one, and sell it – and with the dole, buy hyacinths to feed the soul.” After reading the accompanying short story, I knew what I wanted to do with my two dollars. Putting them in an envelope with the words of the proverb, I penned a note to my parents to enjoy an evening at the movie theater a few blocks away.

I share this memory to tell you why – over a decade ago – I rediscovered God’s Christmas love. I had lost that insight during my materialistic years. Looking back at my parents, remembering simpler times, and family life, I know for sure God’s love, through Christ, is ours to give each other every day; Christmas giving – all year long.

Copyright 2023, Paula Veloso Babadi

Getting Ready for the Season!

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Getting Ready for the Season!

Christmas is near! The stores are filled with activity. People are buying gifts, candy, food, and other supplies. Everyone is getting ready for the season. Joy and excitement are in the air. The decorations are up. Most of the kids are staring anxiously at the fireplace, waiting… impatiently for Santa to arrive.

A little story

I, however, did not have a fireplace as a child. This concern was very important to me. How was Santa Claus going to get into my house? This question bugged me. I wanted Santa Claus to bring me presents. I didn’t want him to forget me just because I did not have a fireplace.

Thankfully, on Christmas Eve, the bottom of the tree was filled with presents. I knew, later on, that it was actually my parents and extended family members that gave me presents. I was not forgotten.

Sharing the excitement

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Not because of the presents (although that part is fun, too) but because it reminds me of the birth of Jesus. Thinking about him coming into the world fills me with joy. It’s the perfect reminder of what Christmas is all about. Without Jesus, Christmas would not exist.

A sweet memory

My grandpa used to dress up as Santa Claus. He had this special tradition of handing out gifts to me and my cousins. After doing this little event, grandpa sat down on a piano. My cousins, Aunts, and Uncles sang Christmas songs.

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

Is it reading the book of Matthew out loud together as a family? Traveling on Christmas Day to extended relatives? Eating summer sausage, crackers and cheese? Ham and mashed potatoes? How about eggnog? Watching

A Christmas Carol or It’s A Wonderful Life?

As you gather around the Christmas tree, think about how God has blessed you and your family this year. Write down the graces that you have received on a piece of paper.

In the meantime, enjoy celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, on Christmas Eve with friends and loved ones. May God bless you!

 

Copyright 2022 – Angela Lano

Journey to Bethlehem

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Scripture and our imaginations give us an image of Joseph and a pregnant Mary setting out on foot from Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem. Perhaps they brought a donkey along for Mary to ride as the road became more treacherous.

In fact, that road winds for considerable distance around dusty mountains as it ascends into the Judean highlands, where the town of Bethlehem stands perched on a cliffside. (I sure hope Mary did have that donkey.)

Today pilgrims ride the bus. In 1997, when I made my first visit to the Church of the Nativity, we traveled urban highways without obstacle, straight to an underground parking garage in Bethlehem.

In 2012, when I made my last visit, we were stopped at a passport checkpoint for almost an hour, while armed soldiers determined whether we should be permitted to pass into Palestine. This ritual was repeated as we returned to Jerusalem in Israel.

The journey to Bethlehem has never been easy.

Consider the Three Kings who traveled for months to pay their homage to the Christ Child. They did have animal transport, of course: camels, creatures that are reputed to be even more stubborn than donkeys.

Perhaps the most important journey to Bethlehem involves a sometimes-frightening walk down a church aisle with “everybody watching.” This trip is performed annually by small children dressed in outlandish costumes; a few of them might manage to enjoy the experience, but I suspect those are probably the exceptions. No, it’s us, their parents and grandparents who relish—in fact, insist upon—this yearly spectacle.

For more than a decade my fellow catechists and I joined forces to organize a typical extravaganza specifically for our public-school religious education children. Our students were not going to suffer because, for a variety of reasons, they did not attend Catholic schools! We would present our own Christmas pageant for the parish, no matter what it required.

In Matthew’s Nativity story, there is little mention of Mary; his focus is on Joseph. Aside from speaking to Joseph in his dreams, angels don’t appear, either (certainly not to shepherds in the fields). Joseph’s vital decisions, and important conversations the Three Kings hold with King Herod, drive the action in Matthew’s Gospel.

We know the angelic chorus and the shepherds from Luke’s Gospel, written much later in historical time. The Annunciation, the Visitation, a heavenly host of angels, and shepherds who keep watch over their flocks appear only in the Gospel of Luke. In Luke’s narrative, the Three Kings are notably absent. Neither Mark nor John offers a comparable birth narrative.

But the tradition endures.

At the Church of the Nativity, they tell pilgrims that there were once pictures of the Three Kings painted on its exterior walls. When Ottoman Turks swept through the Holy Land destroying Christian holy sites, this birthplace of Jesus was not razed. The invaders recognized their own faces in those mural portraits and spared the shrine.

For that reason, the precise site of Jesus’ birth is relatively more certain than many other Christian monuments in the Holy Land.

We often were told, “This may not be the exact spot where it happened. But it was somewhere very close by. These stories have been handed down, generation after generation, by families who still live right here today.” That’s the reason we love our Christmas pageants, too. They’ve been passed down in our families as part of our religious heritage. They may mingle different gospel stories; they may create a lot of extra work; they may drive sensitive elderly pastors crazy with their noise and chaos; but they are metaphors for something sacred that we all cherish.

One Advent, several years ago, I stood in a crowded church with a long line of people. We were all waiting to see a popular confessor when, ahead of me, I noticed three energetic teenage boys. They bounced on their feet as they waited and traded playful punches in the shoulder. Behind them, right in front of me, stood a teenage girl who had brought the boys with her into the church. I had watched her organize them into their current semblance of order with a charming personality that matched her physical beauty.

I kept thinking, “She looks so familiar.”

Finally, I touched her arm. “Forgive me. I think I might know you, but I don’t remember your name.”

She gave me a sweet smile and said, “I remember you. I’ll never forget the person who gave me my first Rosary. You cast me as Mary for the Christmas pageant in second grade.”

It matters how we travel.

May your journey to Bethlehem this Advent be blessed.

 

Copyright 2022, Margaret Zacharias

Who Are the “Scribes and Pharisees?”

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Who Are the “Scribes and Pharisees?”

By the grace of God, I was able to travel to Germany and attend the 2022 Oberammergau Passion Play. I learned why most people blessed with this opportunity can afterwards only murmur, “It was a privilege.”

The experience was truly beyond words. Try, for example, to describe what you feel at the moment of Eucharistic consecration?

But there are a few insights that I think I can articulate. I’ll pass over the incredible chill of an outdoor theater high in the Alps. I won’t waste words to confirm that every villager in Oberammergau, from babes in arms to tottering elders, has indeed been focused on this reenactment of the Passion of Christ, as their personal act of worship, for the past 388 years.

It was like stepping into a time travel machine. In the audience, we felt almost a part of the action, 2,000 years ago on the surging streets of Jerusalem.

But who were “the scribes and the pharisees?”

When we hear this phrase read from scripture at mass, it’s all too easy to think, “Jesus, good. Scribes and pharisees, bad.”

At the 2022 performance, these gentlemen were portrayed as dignified representatives of an ancient religious tradition, caught in an impossible trap by politics of the Roman Empire.

Yes, a few simply dismissed Jesus’ words. But many tried to listen and understand. They stood in groups gathered all across the stage, discussing the new ideas with one another, getting angry, shrugging, stomping away, and returning to debate some more. I couldn’t help but feel that’s really the way it must have been.

Jesus was a 33-year-old man, trying to articulate a new revelation in human language. The scribes and pharisees, who were attempting to take it in, did not share one understanding, nor were they of one mind about what they should do.

The brilliant actor who portrayed Jesus also found the fine edge. I was fully aware of him as our Divine Savior, and that he knew exactly what the consequences of his words and actions would be. But he was also a young man debating theology with his elders in exactly the tempestuous manner that impassioned young human adults tend to use. As our faith teaches us, he was God and human, at the same time in one person.

We live in an era when we are called to raise our consciousness about the different ways we assign people into categories, and then speak as though a category label describes every individual.

This was my third trip to the country of Germany. I’ve admired their religious monuments in cities, villages, and fields; prayed with the people at mass; felt awe and wonder at their abiding faith. That faith has sustained generation after generation of German Catholics through all that they have endured.

We speak too easily in North America about “Germans” as synonymous with “Nazis.”

What if fate had placed you in 20th century Germany, to live the most important stages of your life through two world wars, and under the sway of the Third Reich? How would you have faced the moral challenges? What destiny would you have chosen within a fate you could not escape?

We’ve forgotten that Adolph Hitler hated Catholics as much as he hated the Jewish people; forgotten the martyrs who died terrible deaths to defend their vision of Germany.

Contemporary literary fiction is replete with tales of Nazi-resistance movements in France, England, Denmark, Italy, and Holland.

But the full depth and breadth of Nazi-resistance movements within Germany itself – encompassing laborers, mothers, altar boys, laundresses, aristocrats, Protestant clergy, Catholic priests, members of religious orders, and even rebel German Air Force officers — have been brought forward only in the 21st century.

On this first Saturday of November, I offer a short list of good books about the German resistance to the Third Reich.

  • Von Moltke, Helmuth and Freya, translated by Shelley Frisch, Last Letters: The Prison Correspondence, September 1944-January 1945, New York: New York Review of Books, 2019; Editors’ Introduction copyright 2019 by Helmuth Caspar von Moltke, Dorothea von Moltke, and Johannes von Moltke.
  • Utrecht, Daniel of the Oratory, The Lion of Munster: The Bishop Who Roared Against Hitler, Charlotte, N.C.: Tan Books, 2016.
  • Riebling, Mark, Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler, New York: Basic Books, 2015.
  • Zeller, Guillaume, translated by Michael J. Miller, The Priest Barracks: Dachau, 1938-1945,San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2015
  • Rychlak, Ronald J., Hitler, the War, and the Pope, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2010.
  • Rabbi David G. Dalin, The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis, Washington, D.C.: Regnery Press, 2005.
  • Lapomarda, Vincent A., The Jesuits and the Third Reich, Second Edition, Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, United Kingdom: The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd, 2005.
  • Anonymous, The Persecution of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich: Facts and Documents, Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2003.
  • Coady, Mary Frances, With Bound Hands, A Jesuit in Nazi Germany: The Life and Prison Letters of Alfred Delp, Chicago: Loyola Press, 2003.
  • Goldmann, O.F.M., Gereon Karl, The Shadow of His Wings, translated by Benedict Leutenegger, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.
  • Koerbling, Anton, Father Rupert Mayer: Modern Priest and Witness for Christ, Munich, Germany: Schnell & Steiner, 1950.

Copyright 2022 by Margaret Zacharias

Tending The Garden of Your Heart

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Kimberly Novak shares heartfelt lessons she learned through the blooming of a Christmas Cactus. 

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt within the heart.” Helen Keller

Many instances in our lives make a good argument for Helen Keller’s quote. Take, for example, a baby’s first smile and the soft touch of their little hand in yours. If we go deeper into those connections, we will find that the most intimate emotions are within the heart. In an unexpected example, I considered the many ways we can tend to the garden of our heart and produce a thriving relationship with God.

My mom texted me recently, celebrating that her Christmas Cactus had bloomed. After more than a year with no emerging flowers. Taking notice that the plant was not thriving in its environment, Mom moved it to a different room. “It is happy,” she shared.  I wondered why a Christmas plant would be blooming now in May. The weather is warmer though not quite yet spring-like. Also, this is a “Christmas Plant,” and we are in Easter Season. Intrigued, I powered up the laptop and searched all there was to know about the Christmas Cactus. 

There’s no shortage of information about this unique plant; for example, it is known for endurance and loyalty. Also, I read a Christmas Cactus Legend which goes deeper into what the plant represents. After all of this research, I still couldn’t find out why an adjustment in its environment made the plant happy.

The event and the beautiful change the cactus experienced gave me pause to look at how this relates to a nurturing relationship with God. Plants need specific growing environments, soil consistencies, and various levels of sunlight to achieve their full potential.  As children of God, we can relate. There are multiple ways to measure the growing conditions of our spiritual life, all leading to happiness of the heart.

Temperature plays a significant role in our walk with God. When we are consistent in prayer and our spiritual practices, our longing for God runs hot! Spirituality thrives in this environment.  The rising passion for God then needs to be watered frequently.  It is important not to get to a point where we are dry or overwatered in prayer life.  One can never pray too much; however, it is possible to pray without a feeling of genuine love for God in our hearts. Praying with sincerity from the heart will safeguard your level of spiritual hydration.

Life throws a lot our way, and there will come a day when you don’t feel like spending time with God. Much like a plant with halted growth, this is considered dormancy. A great way to combat this is through spiritual stillness. Prayer, without conscious words, yet in the presence of God. Eucharistic adoration is a beautiful place for worship of this nature and is an excellent preparatory phase for the next step on this journey, making conditions ripe for growth.

Recognizing your prayerful habits and patterns will keep your prayer life lush and abundant. Also, journaling is a great way to chart changes and emotions during your prayerful encounters. Find a way to highlight or mark days of consolation and go back to them when something has you down.  These moments will act as nourishment for your spirit.  

Now, it is time for the light to shine!  With plants, indirect or direct sunlight plays a prominent role in the plant’s growth, texture, and lifespan. It is not much different in our relationship with God when considering God’s light and love as our source. Living in a way that glorifies our Lord allows His light to shine outwardly from us and onto others. It is in God’s light and love where the happiness in our hearts takes hold.  Loving God and feeding on His love is a true expression of Helen Keller’s quote. When we nurture our spirituality before, during, and after blooming, it results in feeling the best and most beautiful things God is offering.

Spring is here, and soon, all will be shopping for the prettiest flowers, blooming plants, and preparing the soil for planting.  I might suggest that in this time, we also consider where we can allow for spiritual growth and how God is calling us to plant the seeds He has given us to share. 

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