jim henson

John draws an obvious parallel in this weekend's Gospel between Jesus and Wisdom from Ecclesiasticus.

In the first reading, the Old Testament writer tells us that  Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people, she glorifies in herself.

God told Wisdom to pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance and Wisdom says that in the beginning He created me, for eternity, I shall remain.

At the start of his Gospel, John tells us

In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.


The Word was made flesh,
and pitched his tent among us,
and we saw his glory.

Ecclesiasticus, by the way, is one of the so-called "apocryphal" books of the Bible, that were removed by Protestant groups after the Reformation because they include such teachings as praying for deceased persons.  It is also objected to because they believe that Jesus and the disciples do not quote from those books, but as we have seen, that is obviously false.

Ecclesiasticus is also called Sirach or The Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, or The Wisdom of Sirach,
not to be confused with either Ecclesiastes or The Book of Wisdom.

If you have a Catholic Bible, peruse Ecclesiasticus and partake of its wisdom.

The illustration, above, is a portion of Ecclesiasticus in Hebrew.

I must admit I cringe every time I change my sidebar virtue each January.

Perfection, Lord?  Really?!  I'm supposed to be perfect?!?!  I can't imagine...which, of course, is the point.  Spiritual perfection, I learned from a Carmelite article (also linked via the image of God the Father on the sidebar) is nothing more than love (also called charity).

Love, unprejudiced by selfishness, is the message of Christ.  Agape love, is love as Jesus loves--total self-giving.  This "giving till it hurts" is difficult, but it is what we are all called to.  Crying out to God for help and strength is the only way to accomplish this.

Quite a resolution for the New Year!

Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His
well-belov'd imprisonment,
There He hath made Himself to His intent
Weak enough, now into the
world to come;
But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn
no room?
~From Nativity by John Donne

I love how this poem talks about Christ being "cloistered" and "imprisoned" in the womb, like He will be imprisoned in the grave.  But He has broken through both types of imprisonment and, in so doing, freed us.

I've had chocolate tea before, but this one does not live up to its chocolate promise.  Perhaps it is the hazelnut flavoring, but Stash Chocolate Hazelnut Tea has a distinctive chemical aftertaste as well as a strong chemical odor.

I will finish the box, but I'll be on the lookout for a chocolate tea that does not taste so man-made.

Icons of the Eastern Church go a long way in explaining the theology behind a particular Feast Day.  The Feast of the Nativity has become so commercialized that even when we think we know about the theology behind Christmas, there is always more to explore.

In the center we see a star.  I think we know innately from the representation, that this is *the* star.  It seems to encompass many stars together, which, interestingly, is one theory on how the star of Bethlehem occurred. The sky is gold, showing the Divinity that is present.  We see the angels guiding both the magi and the shepherds, for it is God who sent the star and God who sends His messengers to each person in the Nativity story.

We notice in the center, that Jesus was born in a cave, not a barn the way we think of it today.  These caves were the home of the livestock and animals.  The inns were often built over the caves, using the heat of the animals to heat the building above.

Two things are apparent about St. Joseph.  The first is, he is shown on the lower left of the picture, away from Mary and Jesus, who are the true center of the Nativity story. Joseph is shown "entertaining doubt", represented by an old man.  Joseph has a halo.  He is holy and ultimately listens to God's direction.  But he doubts.  He has difficulty accepting what is occurring.  His position away from the Mother and Child also shows that he is not the biological father of Christ.  That is the Holy Spirit.

Joseph is also shown as a grey haired older man.  It has been known from ancient times that Joseph and Mary were not a "couple" in the traditional sense.  Tradition, both in the East and West, says that Joseph was an older man, possibly a widower, who may have been Mary's guardian. When Mary was too old to serve in the Temple, [i.e., after the ritual impurity associated with menstruation] Joseph was said to have become betrothed to her as a means of continuing that legal guardianship.  His concern and doubts regarding her pregnancy take on a new urgency in light of this type of relationship.

On the bottom right of the icon, we see midwives bathing the newly born Christ.  This reminds us that Jesus was born as all men are and needed care as any helpless infant would.

If we peel back another layer, we see an even deeper symbolism in the Nativity Icon.  The cave in which Christ is born is the same type of location as the cave from which He is resurrected.  Jesus was wrapped "in swaddling cloths" which echo the burial cloths that He is wrapped in after death.

The washing of the infant Christ from the midwives is a reminder that He will submit to baptism by John the Baptist at the beginning of His earthly ministry.

So many of us have lost so much of the Christmas Story--in fact, of the entire story of Christ.  So many of us have forgotten, or have never been taught, the endless richness that is in Scripture.

Let us never stop searching for continued meaning in our spiritual tradition.

I was blessed enough to be able to sing this song in high school and it remains one of my favorites.  The entire Ceremony of Carols, from which this is taken, is beautiful and worth listening to. 

I run around every December 26th singing this song. It is one of my favorites of the season. 

Let us never forget what Christmas is all about.

The Fountain


How well I know that flowing spring
     in black of night.

The eternal fountain is unseen.
How well I know where she has been
     in black of night.

I do not know her origin.
None. Yet in her all things begin
     in black of night.

I know that nothing is so fair
and earth and firmament drink there
     in black of night.

I know that none can wade inside
to find her bright bottomless tide
     in black of night.

Her shining never has a blur;
I know that all light comes from her
     in black of night.

I know her streams converge and swell
and nourish people, skies and hell
     in black of night.

The stream whose birth is in this source
I know has a gigantic force
     in black of night.

The stream from but these two proceeds
yet neither one, I know, precedes
     in black of night.

The eternal fountain is unseen
in living bread that gives us being
     in black of night.

She calls on all mankind to start
to drink her water, though in dark,
     for black is night.

O living fountain that I crave,
in bread of life I see her flame
     in black of night.

When I was in High School, a fellow classmate was studying piano and would practice this piece before class because she didn't have a piano at home. Little did I know at the time that Knecht Rupert (see illustration at left) was a legendary character who accompanies St. Nicholas in Germany. Bearded and hooded, he carries a sack in which he puts naughty children. Quite a bit scarier than coal in one's stocking!

Here is the Advent Calendar for the final time.

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.This week's Music Monday was Rejoice Greatly from Handel's Messiah.  Art and Beauty Tuesday's painting was another one from Gerhartz called Dawn of Hope.  Poetry Wednesday featured Emily Dickinson's Hope is a Thing with Feathers. 

Scripture Saturday was a meditation on the fact that God is with us.  This week, we also featured a fascinating trip back into time to a vintage Christmas photo website featuring pictures from Christmases past.

Have a wonderful final week of Advent everyone!!!

Sunday's first reading is from the seventh chapter of Isaiah when he prophesies about the coming of Christ.

The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means “God-is-with-us."

I was struck, when I read it, with the everyday-ness of the text. The sign from Heaven is a maiden giving birth to a son--a common occurrence every day.

Isaiah says His name will be Immanuel, meaning God is with us.

Jesus proclaimed that The Kingdom of God is within you--the Kingdom of God is at hand. This is the message of the Messiah. No more waiting. No more striving after things that do not satisfy.

Jesus was born of a simple maiden in a feeding trough. He is our food. That is the Good News.

God is with us.

I wanted to share with you all this Vintage Christmas photo website that includes pics from prior to the 1920's to post World War II, and much more.

Worth a look down the lens of history.

The picture shown here is of my own Christmas Past circa the 1960's.

Emily Dickinson's birthday was December 10th.  I think her "Hope is the thing with feathers" is an apt poem for the third week of Advent.

Today, during this third week of Advent, we see a painting called Dawn of Hope by Daniel Gerhartz.  We have seen his work before--two weeks ago, actually, with Journey Home.

Today we see a poignant painting where a little girl in white with a white daisy wreath in her blond hair, cups a flaming candle in a bowl.  We see the light reflecting off her peaceful face as she gazes at the fire.

Behind her, a woman lies almost in a fetal position, clutching her head in despair.    Her dark hair and neutral color dress add to her depressed demeanor.  Behind her in the upper left of the painting, is a ballerina with a similar looking flame-like light next to her.  

I wonder if the woman is mourning the loss of her dancing career.  Or, perhaps the dancer is a symbol of the joy she once had in life. It seems very far away. She feels alone, not seeming to realize the little girl is there, and not having any conscious memory of whatever the dancer once meant to her.

In spite of all this, the title of the painting lets us know that Hope has come.

That is what the third week of Advent is about.

Hope.

The third week of Advent is all about rejoicing.  Handel's Rejoice Greatly Oh Daughter of Zion is perfect for this week that follows Gaudete Sunday.

Here is the Advent Calendar. Dymphna's Well was featured on December 10th. Check it out!

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.This week, we featured Christmas Dinner by Paul Stokey, a montage of St. Nicholas art, poetry by Hildegarde of Bingen, and a scripture about being healed.  We also featured a tea review, a Serenity Prayer contest, and the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar Slide show.

I hope everyone has a great Gaudete Sunday and third week of Advent!

When I was reading the Gospel for this Sunday, I realized something I hadn't before.

Jesus is answering a question put to him by John the Baptist's disciples.  They ask him if he is "the one to come, or shall we look for another."   Here is His answer:

Go and tell John what you see and hear.
The blind regain their sight,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
 ~Matthew 11

I never realized before that Christ puts hearing the good news on par with being cured of leprosy, or deafness.  There are so many times in our lives when we wonder why we have not been healed, or why a loved one was not healed.

It seems that Jesus tells us here that hearing the good news, which was the Kingdom of God is among you *is* being healed on par with being cured of a physical illness.

The purpose of Jesus' healing ministry was not to heal everyone who needed physical healing.  His physical healing ministry was born, of course, out of His deep compassion for all he encountered, but also, it was to fulfill the ancient prophecy of Isaiah (which is this Sunday's first reading):

The eyes of the blind shall be opened
the ears of the deaf unstopped.
The lame will leap like a stag
and the tongue of the mute shall sing.
~Isaiah 35

and to show the world that the Messiah had come.

Even John the Baptist seemed perplexed that Jesus, perhaps, was not fitting his preconceived notion of what the Messiah would be.  Many in Israel expected Him to be powerful in a  political sense.  But Jesus was called, and calls us, to something much deeper than political "freedom" or physical healing.  He calls us to a deep oneness with the Father.

As promised, I have drawn a name for our Serenity Prayer contest from our three entrants, and TACParent has won our contest!

She tells us that to her, the Serenity Prayer means "Acceptance, courage, and wisdom. If I can live by this then I will suffer less." I think that sums it up nicely.

Congratulations!

Welcome to all who access this post from Catholic Roundup's Advent Calendar! It is a privilege to be able to contribute to this Catholic New Media effort!

Antiphon to the Trinity
(Laus Trinitati)

To the Trinity be praise!
     God is music, God is life
     that nurtures every creature in its kind.
Our God is the song of the angel throng
and the splendor of secret ways
     hid from all humankind,
But God our life is the life of all.


~Hildegarde of Bingen (1098-1179)

I'm excited to bring you a fascinating St. Nicholas Day edition of Art and Beauty Tuesday!

The Saint Nicholas Center reports that the real St. Nicholas may have looked very much like many of the icons of the saint.  When the remains of the saint were removed while the basilica in which they were kept was being renovated, the Vatican requested that a forensic anthropologist reconstruct what St. Nicholas may have looked like based on his remains.  The picture in the middle of the top row is the result.  The others are icons of St. Nicholas.

I think the fact that they do look strikingly close to the real thing is no accident.  Icons are passed down throughout the generations and change very little over the centuries.

Happy Saint Nicholas Day from Dymphna's Well!

I purchased Twinings English Afternoon tea after searching in vain for a palatable English Afternoon tea that is packaged on its own.

Almost a year ago, I reviewed the Dilmah  variety pack and have been on the lookout for their English Afternoon to no avail.

Twinings just doesn't come anywhere near the standard of Dilmah, in my opinion.  There seems to be less tea per bag and what is there is of lesser quality. The aroma of Twinings isn't as good as Dilmah either.

I'm going to have to expand my search for Dilmah English Afternoon to my neighboring state to the south!

I learned this song more than 30 years ago and had no idea at the time that Paul Stokey of Peter, Paul and Mary had written it.  It was taught to me by a dear friend who passed away last fall.

I think the sentiments expressed in this song point us to what Christmas is really about--loving each other as Jesus loved us and is an appropriate way to celebrate today's Feast of St. Nicholas. (More on him tomorrow.)

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing.This week began with Chanticleer singing In the Bleak Midwinter.  Our Advent journey continued with The Journey Home by Daniel Gerhartz.  Poetry Wednesday featured one of my own creations, Journey in Winter and Scripture Saturday talked about Thinking Outside the Box.

In between we talked about Addictive Beans, communicating with dementia patients, our first ever give-away contest sponsored by The Catholic Company, Dorothy Day and Odds and Ends from the blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

As promised, here, once again, is the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar. This week, I recommend visiting December 2 for an invigorating rendition of Carol of the Bells, reminiscent of Mannheim Steamroller. Click daily on the link on my sidebar to access the calendar each day during Advent.

This Sunday's readings from Isaiah and Matthew are about acting with a bold integrity. Isaiah tells us the Messiah will possess certain characteristics.

He does not judge by appearances,

he gives no verdict on hearsay,

but judges the wretched with integrity,

and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.

His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,

his sentences bring death to the wicked.

Integrity is the loincloth round his waist,

faithfulness the belt about his hips.

In the same reading, he tells us that

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the panther lies down with the kid,

calf and lion feed together,

with a little child to lead them.

God judges with integrity and wants us to do the same.  The only way Isaiah's prophesy of peace can be fulfilled is if we begin acting as Jesus did.  Jesus was constantly challenging the religious power structure of his day to act with integrity.  Intriguingly, he did nothing about the Roman occupation, telling people instead to "give to Cesar what is Cesar's and give to God what is God's". Money and temporal things all belong to Cesar and are not to be hoarded or worried about.

But, if you profess to be a believer in the Father, then your values must always come into play and be consistent, no matter who you may be dealing with--friends, family, employers, believers, those in power and those who are powerless.Sometimes this involves challenging those in power over you in order to maintain your own integrity.

Human dignity comes first.  Jesus healed on the Sabbath and remonstrated with those who thought that following the rule against work on that day was the most important thing. His disciples gathered wheat to eat on the Sabbath.  Jesus was more concerned with their hunger than with blind obedience to the law.
Laws and customs that came from a place of hospitality, though, were to be followed. He challenged the Pharisee when he failed to wash Jesus' feet during a visit to his home.  This Middle Eastern custom was a sign of respect and hospitality to a guest who had walked a long way in the dust and heat.

Jesus' task was to get us to think outside the box of blindly following after authority with no thought for each other.  Far from a faith of ignorant sheep, ours is a faith of thinking, loving human beings bringing the Kingdom of God to each other.

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the death of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

An early radical, Day became a socialist, dropped out of college, married and had an abortion before converting to Catholicism as an adult.   As this article by Andrew Hamilton says, Dorothy's was "a gospel with teeth."  She founded Catholic Worker Houses that helped (and still help) the poor--alcoholics, drug addicts and street people.

Her theology was all about pacifism, hospitality and human dignity. The poor who came to her were treated with dignity and non-violence--the first many had ever known.  Even when involved in political passive resistance (think, Gandhi and Martin Luther King) the innate human dignity of one's opponent was at the forefront.

*This* is Christianity.  This is what Jesus wants us to do.

Moving through the crisp cold 
I can see my breath.
The frozen air 
is hypnotic and 
oddly peaceful. 

As though gently warming, 
it belies the temperature
and creeping darkness. 
My senses awaken 
to the screaming quiet
and satisfying aloneness
of a winter afternoon.   

I wrote this poem to go with this week's theme of journey.