December 2012 – The Noontimes

Refuge and Cover

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Isaiah 4:2-6 – Refuge and Cover

We hear from the prophet Isaiah frequently during Advent and Christmastide; he tells us the story we long to hear when trouble stalks us. Isaiah reminds us of the smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night. The pillar of smoke and flame was both guide and protector during the Hebrews’ desert journey. We humans need frequent assurance that someone is looking out and looking over us. We can never hear this news too often that we are a part of the Messianic branch of Jesse, a small twig on the flourishing stem that grows from the remnant root of God’s people. This is our history. It is also our salvation.

Perhaps your family has researched its ancestry. Maybe you have sat with elders and listened to stories and then passed them along to the youngster generation. Oral stories and written accounts are valuable to us as they bind us together and remind us of all that we hold in common for the good of the whole. Humans are destined to function in groups both for good and for evil. The tradition of the Jesse Tree is one that connects us not only with our heritage but with one another as well. Its symbols serve as reminders of who we are and the common journey we make no matter the time and place of our existence.

We may from time to time lose track of our destination point; our common compass begins to spin in confusion as we struggle to push and pull one another into our own idea of our joined journeys. Political and religious discussions are always minefields that threaten to endanger our joint pilgrimage for in the heat of the debate we forget that our origin and our destiny are the same; and that we make this pilgrimage together or not at all. And we also forget that no matter how complex our plan to protect ourselves and no matter how strenuous our effort to stay on course, we are not in control of our surrounding circumstances. We struggle to be our own best protection and guide but ultimately we learn – if we allow ourselves – that it is God who is our best shield against misfortune; it is God who serves as our best compass. The difficulty in trusting God so deeply is, of course, that we must engender and nurture a solid relationship with God. This is something we believe we do not have time for . . . we are so busy protecting and controlling ourselves and sometimes others.

As we move through these first days of Christmas, we ought not to leave behind the message of the season too quickly. Let us linger for a time to allow the mystery of our inheritance to take hold of us. Let us reflect on our legacy and its impact on our lives. And let us ask the Spirit to remind us of the power of our traditions that rise from the root of Jesse and flow through the Messianic Branch to nourish us.

Isaiah reminds us today that we ought not move too quickly through the Christmas season. The prophet tells us that we have much to treasure and much to consider. He recalls our heritage and predicts our future. He tells us that we are Jesus people. He explains to us that God is our best protector and guide. He reminds us to follow the pillar of smoke by day and to abide close by the column of fire by night. Isaiah gives us our best roadmap for life. Let us take heed . . . let us respond well . . . and let us allow God to be our only compass for this most important journey.

For more information on the tradition of the Jesse Tree, go to: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Christmas/What-is-the-Jesse-Tree.aspx

To read about how a compass functions and to find links to NASA’s Earth Observatory and other NASA information, click on the image or go to: http://www.universetoday.com/77072/how-does-a-compass-work/

December 27, 2012

compass, Jesse Tree, journey, pillar of smoke and fire, remnant

Poignant Grief and Unquenchable Hope

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Lamentations – Poignant Grief and Unquenchable Hope

The seeming conflict between human weakness and divine power is one we humans constantly explore; we can never quite understand the inversion of logic that Jesus brings to the world much less put this inversion of thought into action ourselves. When we experience dreadful times we must turn to the truth that we are made whole in our emptiness, that sorrow always carries with it joy, and that God resides with those who are broken and forgotten. In our deepest grief transformation lies in the outrageous hope God offers us . . . in this hope beyond hope that the incredible promise of Christmas is indeed true. The Book of Lamentations may seem like as unusual point of reflection as we enter fully enter the Christmastide but we find something here today that speaks to our human circumstance. We discover that grief is always a subtle presence at any celebration . . . and that restoration accompanies all loss when we remain in the Spirit.

The five laments found in this book of the Bible “combine confession of sin, grief over the suffering and humiliation of Zion, submission to merited chastisement, and strong faith in the constancy of Yahweh’s love and power to restore. The union of poignant grief and unquenchable hope reflects the constant prophetic vision of the weakness of man and the strength of God’s love; it also shows how Israel’s faith in Yahweh could survive the shattering experience of national ruin”. (Senior 1017) The inversion the Christ Child brings to the world is the same conversion of the Old Testament Yahweh.

A few weeks ago we studied Psalm 90 and reflected on its truth. In this sacred poem we find our human limitations compared with God’s infinite goodness; we are told that God transforms even our most crushing suffering when we hand over our pain. It remains for us to act on this knowledge. It is for us to see the connection between the deep heartache of human distress and the nativity of inestimable hope in the person of Jesus. Why reflect on a centuries-old lament when we celebrate happiness? Because Christ represents the only true passage from the inconsolable grief we experience to the indescribable joy we say we seek.

And so we might spend a bit of time today reflecting.

Do we really want to be happy or do we sabotage our chance to know true delight? Each of us must make this journey to uncover our hidden plots against ourselves and others.

Do we honestly want to experience true gladness or do we dwell in the lamentation of our lives refusing to step into the joy fearing that the promise of Christ is yet another disappointment? Each of us must be willing to hand ourselves over to God and to give a full and candid accounting of our days.

Do we truly believe in the conversion of poignant grief through the transforming power of unquenchable hope? If so, and if we honestly wish to live in true Christmas joy promised by the Christ Child, we must plumb our own depths of lamentation and ask: What do we prefer, a life of frustration and illusion or a life filled with promise, trust, and joy?

It is for each of us to pause today. What is the true message of the Christ Child?

It is for each of us to decide today. Do we believe in the message of Jesus’ Nativity?

It is for each of us to act today. Are we prepared to carry God’s unquenchable Christmas hope into the world for the conversion of our most poignant grief?

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.1017. Print.

For a reflection on Psalm 90, go to: https://thenoontimes.com/2012/12/10/gods-eternity-our-fraility/

For more on the Book of Lamentations – Surviving Ruin go to: https://thenoontimes.com/the-book-of-our-life/the-old-testament/the-prophets/lamentations-surviving-ruin/

December 26, 2012

Christ Child, Christmas, grief, hope, inversion, lament, promise, Psalm 90, sorrow, Spirit, trust, Yahweh

God as Promise

Tuesday, Christmas Day, December 25, 2012

The Infancy and Childhood Narrative – Luke 1:5-2:52

El Greco: The Adoration of the Shepherds

God as Promise

From the HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY: “To speak of God keeping promises is to be reminded that the central characters in Luke-Acts is God. Some Christian writings are so Christocentric that in reading them one tends to forget what Luke does not forget: the story of salvation is God’s story. God led Israel; God inspired prophets; God sent John the Baptist; God sent Jesus; God raised up Jesus; and God sends the Holy Spirit. God is at work through persons, nations, political leaders, laws and institutions. Since God continues to lead and to work the divine purpose, Luke neither longs for nor looks for nor calls the church back to a golden age of Jesus or of the early church, but shows that each time and place has its own appropriateness in the plan of God”. (Mays 928)

On this Christmas Day as we celebrate the arrival of God’s visible sign of promise in our midst . . .

Let us remember to thank God for all that we have, for all that we wish to be and for all that we are.

Let us praise God for all that we hope, all that we believe and for all that we find the courage to do in the Spirit.

Let us continue to follow where God leads, let us continue to do as God asks, and let us continue to work the divine purpose.

Mays, James L., ed. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 928. Print.

For more on this painting go the Background Image page on this blog at: https://thenoontimes.com/background-image/

December 25, 2012

celebrate, divine purpose, following God, praise, The Infancy and Childhood Narrative

Birthplace

Monday, Christmas Eve, December 24, 2012

Psalm 87 – Birthplace

Pontormo: The Visitation — Detail from “The Visitation” by Jacopo Pontormo

Within you is my true birthplace.

In yesterday’s Gospel reading of Mary’s visitation (Luke 1:39-45) with her cousin Elizabeth we heard again the familiar story of how the child John leapt for joy in his mother’s womb, knowing that the Redeemer was near. The pre-Messiah era was drawing to a close and these two women alone knew what the rest of the world would in time discover. The old way was about to be swept into a raw newness. The present laws of the One God with whom these people lived in covenant were about to be superseded by the Law of Love. These two women greeted one another; one was quite young and at the beginning of her life, the other was beyond child-bearing years and yet heavily pregnant. These two women shared the Good News that would be shunned by some and believed by many. Elizabeth would bring to life the child John who would announce the great coming. Mary had become the New Ark of the New Covenant.

Within you is my true birthplace.

The Jewish people into whose traditions and customs the young Jesus was born believed that God dwelt in the great Temple in the holy city of Jerusalem. Today’s Noontime reflection reminds us of how much God loves his holy city the gates of Zion, more than any dwelling in Jacob (Israel). And from this city the people of God were divided and sent into exile. As this Diaspora lived for centuries in scattered places they mourned the loss of their center, their core. When the city and Temple were later restored they made long pilgrimages to this holiest of places. The entire focus of this people rested in this one sacred site. This people saw their origin and their destiny as rising from this one hallowed place: the Jerusalem Temple.

Within you is my true birthplace.

When the angel Gabriel announces to Mary the coming of the Spirit upon her he also announces the changing of all the world knew and understood about God, and yet this change had been predicted by Judaism’s own prophets. When Mary agrees to become the Ark of the New Covenant she knows that the world will never be the same. We might wonder how much she understood the scope of this change. From her humble smallness, did she fully comprehend the effect her son would have on the history of the world? Might she have completely grasped the depth and breadth of his coming? Did she know that her simple acquiescence was a remarkable response to a complex question? Did she entirely recognize that in her singular act she had become the one true birthplace of not only the Messiah but the New Covenant as well?

Within you is my true birthplace.

Except for those who do not believe, the world holds its collective breath as it awaits the arrival of the Christ child. Within you is my true birthplace.

Except for those who refuse to follow, the world waits to burst into celebration the arrival of Healing and Redemption. Within you is my true birthplace.

Except for those who reject this new birthplace within, the world makes ready each heart for the in-dwelling of the Spirit. Within you is my true birthplace.

As this Nativity so ardently predicted and so eagerly awaited draws near, let us remember Mary’s fiat – her simple answer of Let your will be done to me – and let us celebrate this new birthplace of Salvation. Let us be glad and sing out in one accord with shepherds and kings and angels that we see and welcome this new, this true, this one . . . birthplace of Peace.

To learn more about The Visitation by Pontormo, click on the images or go to: http://mydailyartdisplay.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/the-visitation-by-jacopo-pontormo/

December 24, 2012

Diaspora, Elizabeth and Mary, Jerusalem, Luke 1:39-45, Nativity, The Temple, The Visitation

Destruction – Conspiracy – Resurrection

Saturday, December 22, 2012 – Mark 13-16

Destruction – Conspiracy – Resurrection

New Line Cinema: The Nativity Story (2006)

We usually spend time with this portion of Mark’s Gospel in the spring as we near Easter; but it is also fitting to spend time with this quickly paced, action-packed Gospel as we approach the last, brief week of Advent that 2012 offers to us. In Mark’s portrayal of Jesus we see a leader who warns his follows of the coming destruction that will look like the end. We might need to hear these words today as we look at local and world events.

So often we see that life is dangerous and destructive. It seems that the promise of goodness is overshadowed by the power of darkness. Frequently we witness the victimization of the innocent who suffer at the hands of the wicked. It appears to us that those who practice corruption and betrayal with such swift precision escape any negative consequences of their actions. They squirm away from justice and delight in the evil they have wrought. Sometimes bad news arrives with a loud chorus of alarm; at other times it whispers into our lives on cat-like feet of murmuring insinuation. It announces itself with pride or glides into our lives almost unnoticed and before we know what to say or how to act we are overtaken; and yet . . . this malevolence is repeatedly drowned out by the Good News of revivification. This is what we witness as we read these final chapters of Mark. We are assured that despite gloomy forebodings and dire predictions we do constantly experience renaissance and restoration in the promise of Christ . . . the promise of the Nativity of the Prince of Peace and Light.

Today we might be swept away by the treachery of those close to Jesus; we read about the coming ruin of the Temple; we struggle with the Lesson of the Fig Tree. But we must see that we are also anointed with Christ; we prepare for the Passover with Christ; and we shudder with the miracle of the risen Christ. If we might place ourselves in Christ when evil approaches, we will marvel at the transforming power of the empty tomb. We will climb from the pit of despair to the height of salvation. When we read Mark’s rapid, sweeping, final description of the torture, the death and the annihilation of Christ . . . we are also shown the healing . . . the renewal . . . and the guarantee of God’s promised love for us.

As the earth transits its orbit around the sun and moves through times of darkness and cold to return to the warmth and light, so do we journey through shadow and bitterness to come back to God’s mercy and security. With Christ, let us travel through our agony to arrive at our own restoration. Let us stand boldly against conspiracy to secure unity with all. And let us not fear the threat of death and division for hidden in all of this suffering . . . is Christ who leads us to life everlasting.

This is the Promise of Advent. This is the Promise of Death. This is the Promise of Resurrection.

To learn more about the film The Nativity Story, click on the image above or go to: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/ or http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2007/12/18/works-for-me-wednesday-the-nativity-story/

December 22, 2012

betrayal, darkness, light, renewal, restoration, resurrection, The Promise, the wicked

Contemplating the Absent Master

Friday, December 21, 2012 – Matthew 24

Contemplating the Absent Master

Again today we have the theme of faith . . . enough faith that we keep constant watch for the coming of Jesus, the healer of all wounds and sadness, the bringer of life and light.

Today is the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere, summer in the southern. It seems appropriate that somewhere on the globe there is always light to counter the dark, warmth to counter the cold, bright colors and lush growth to balance the starkness of winter with its chorus of browns and grays. In the tropics there is a different kind of seasonal variation. Change is indicated by a greater or lesser amount of rain, by the kinds of plants that bloom and spread tendrils, by the animals that migrate. Nature is constantly changing, yet remaining in faithful cyclic return.

Today’s citation gives us something to think about . . . constancy amid a whirl of change and distraction. The destruction of a temple that everyone thought so sacred and so certain that it could not crumble, wars and reports of wars, desolating abomination, a fig tree that sprouts blossoms to bear fruit, the faithful and unfaithful servant, the coming of the Son of Man as predicted by the prophet Daniel. We are to be in a constant anticipation of these signs . . . for they will be harbingers of the New City when time and space are infinite.

The Master will come on an unknown day and at an unknown hour. We have been put in charge of his household until his return.

How do we remain in close contact with the Master who is away from home? In this age of cellphones and satellite communication it seems quite simple really: we spend time in contemplative prayer, in sharing our thoughts with God, in seeking the one we love, in recollecting what we know to be true, in imagining how our impossible dreams might be fulfilled. The Catechism tells us (CCC 2712) that contemplative prayer is the act of a “child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more”. Contemplative prayer is “a gift, a grace; it can be accepted in only humility and poverty . . . [It] is a covenant relationship established by God within our hearts”. (CCC 2713) “Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus . . . a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart”. (CCC 2715) Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the ‘Yes’ of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God’s lowly handmaid . . . Contemplative prayer is silence . . . a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. [It] . . . consents to abide in the night of faith . . . [and] The Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb . . . [where] we must be willing to ‘keep watch with [him] one hour”. (CCC 2716-2719)

How do we remain faithful to the absent Master? We demonstrate constancy . . . and we awaken our inmost heart, asking it to sing willingly in the darkness, asking it to cling trustingly to the words we know to be true. We set our house in order, we commit to a constant communion with God, and we begin our interior quest for that place where silence reigns . . . and only The Word is heard. Then we can begin to confront our fears and doubts. We can keep our gaze fixed firmly on the one who redeems and saves . . . we can await with joyful patience the coming of the Lord . . . and we can sing in full anticipation of his promises fulfilled.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 2nd ed. Vatican: Libreria Editice Vaticana. Print.

Written on December 21, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.

December 21, 2012

awaiting the master, constancy, contemplative prayer, faith, The Word

Purchasing the Field

Thursday, December 20, 2012 – Jeremiah 32 – Purchasing the Field

Here is something I have read and understood before but have never fully felt. I am looking particularly at verses 24 to 27. What you threatened has happened, you see it yourself; and yet you tell me, O Lord God: Buy the field with money, go call in witnesses. But the city has already been handed over to the Chaldeans! Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: I am the Lord, the God of all mankind! Is anything impossible to me?

Jeremiah has predicted the fall of Jerusalem and the city is about to be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar; yet God has asked the prophet to buy a particular field for a particular amount of money with particular witnesses for a deed written under particular circumstances. Jeremiah knows he will obey this directive . . . yet it does not make sense to him. Why ought he to invest himself in a place which is in the process of falling to the enemy? In verses 37 to 43 explain more . . . and then we read verse 44. Fields shall be bought with money, deeds written and sealed, and witnesses shall be used in the land of Benjamin, in the suburbs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah and of the hill country, in the cities of the foothills and the Negeb, when I change their lot, says the Lord.

The faithful who live in exile . . . those who turn their faces to God and not their backs, those who follow the counsels of the Lord . . . these seekers of light and life . . . have shown their fidelity with the deeds they have drawn up and sealed under the eyes of witnesses. They make their commitment to the promise of Yahweh public, even at the expense of being mocked for the act of purchasing a field in a land from which they are about to be deported.

God asks us to invest ourselves . . . even when days are darkest . . . in the places and people through which we have known him . . . but from which we are about to be separated.

God asks us to make our commitment to these people and places official . . . before witnesses . . . even when it appears that this might be a fruitless expenditure of our spiritual resources.

God asks us to believe so much in the power of the impossible . . . in his power to call order out chaos, light out of darkness . . . restoration out of separation . . . that we purchase the particular field which he has designated for us . . . even in the face of mockery . . . even as we go into exile.

God promises to restore the dream we once had that we find him in and through others who are likewise faithful . . . and who honor him and worship him in constant, authentic praise.

God promises that the light will come again.

God promises that this restoration lies in our act of faith in his ability to keep this impossible promise.

God loves us so much that he wants to grants our heart’s desire. When we purchase the field . . . before witnesses . . . and keep that sealed deed in the earthen jar of our hearts . . . to be opened at the time of Restoration . . . we demonstrate to God our desire is to be with him. And so we pray . . .

God in heaven, God on earth, God in our hearts and minds, accompany us as we seek the witnesses you indicate, abide with us as we place our names upon the deeds for the fields you have asked us to purchase . . . and keep these covenants in our hearts. In this Advent time we wait for your coming in hope-filled joy. Amen.

Written on December 20, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.

December 20, 2012

commitment, exile, faith, fields, God’s impossible promise, witness

The Path

Wednesday, December 19, 2012 – Proverbs 2 – The Path

Wisdom

Understanding

Intelligence

Fear of the Lord

Love of the Lord

Counsel

Justice

Rectitude

Discretion

Who would seek a God who offers anything less than this? Who would follow the crooked paths and perverse speech? Who will walk in darkness rather than the light? Who will leave the straight path to follow the one that sinks down to death?

Thus you may walk in the way of good men, and keep to the paths of the just. For the upright will dwell in the land, the honest will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, the faithless will be rooted out of it.

As we prepare to move into the last week of Advent, let us seek what is good . . . what is just . . . what is wise. Let us stay to the straight path that leads to the light.

Written on December 19, 2008, re-written and posted today as a Favorite.

December 19, 2012

God’s precepts, straight path

Cause for Joy

Monday, December 17, 2012 – Philippians 4 – Cause for Joy

If we observe the lighting of an Advent wreath, we know that the third candle celebrates the coming of joy. Yesterday was Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday. I can remember as a child anticipating this special day with almost as much delight as Christmas – salvation is nearly upon us! And there are precious few days between now and the day we celebrate Christ’s birth. There is very little time to prepare the way of the Lord. So despite any turmoil or grief or chaos we might be experiencing in our lives . . . still we pause to rejoice as St. Paul writes to the Philippians as we heard read out to us today: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. 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. Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Verses 4 through 9 of this Chapter of Paul’s letter to the faithful in Philippi form a beautiful anthem to joy. He told the Philippians, and he tells us today, that no matter our circumstances there is cause for joy. We have only to acknowledge that God is with us.

God created each of us beautiful in his image; yet life can degenerate quickly and seemingly without cause. Even in the darkest of times, there is cause for joy in that God abides and does not abandon the faithful. Paul gives us a formula for peace and joy.

When we find ourselves amidst lies and liars, let us remain true.

When we find ourselves in difficult situations, let us remain honorable.

When we find ourselves in an unholy environment, let us remain pure.

When things around us have become ugly and dangerous, let us remain lovely.

When people around us are demeaning and cruel, let us remain gracious.

When others encourage us to get by with little, let us strive for excellence.

When the world appears to embody all that is bleak, let us praise God for his abiding presence in all circumstances.

When the remnant gathers to huddle in a small ray of light that speaks to the darkness, let us persevere with the faithful.

In doing all of this, we will find peace and have cause for joy. And this peace and joy will be with us as they are with God.

Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

To read more about the third, or pink candle on the Advent Wreath, click on the image above or go to: http://frtim.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/whats-up-with-the-pink-candle/

Written on March 5, 2010. Re-written and posted today as a Favorite.

December 17, 2012

excellence, God’s peace, graciousness, joy, loveliness, praise, purity

Month: December 2012

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