I just re-read last year’s blog about Christmas Eve 2020 which made me consider the changes and the challenges we have faced in 2021 and, it appears, will continue to face in 2022. You can find the blog here: https://wordpress.com/post/scotsirishpadre.blog/16234 It is Christmas Eve once again and, sadly, my heart is troubled. My friend Paul Pyncoski shared some beautiful images of an “alternative Christmas Eve” scene. He also shared the words of Thomas Merton from his book Raids On the Unspeakable. The reading came from the chapter “The Time of the End Is the Time of No Room.”
In this particular chapter, Merton shared his own inner wrestling about the spirit of Christmas in difficult times. Merton honestly strikes pretty close to home for me. This past year has held many challenges for Denise, for me, and for our families. We have wrestled with so much death, dying, division, grieving, and exhaustion this year and much of it is still in my own heart as we approach this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day observance. It (life) is haunted by the demons of emptiness. And out of this unutterable void come the armies, the missiles, the weapons, the bombs, the concentration camps, the race riots, the racist murders, and all the other crimes of mass society. (p. 72)
As Merton struggled, so I struggle to make sense of it all on a personal and national/international level. I know that isn’t possible… there are no quick and easy formulas or answers. However, as I seek out moments of silence in the midst of it all, I do see the glimmer of the light of hope in the midst of this mess called life.
Merton revisited the scene from the birth narrative of Jesus from the gospel of Luke. Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because He cannot be at home in it, because He is out of place in it, and yet He must be in it, His place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems be nothing but the world at its worst. (p. 72)
In the Celtic cycle of the year, the time of darkness which is marked by the longest night of the year (Winter Solstice). The time of Winter has been described as a time of waiting and a time of preparation for new life. In the womb of the earth, in the darkness, new life is growing and waiting to be born. Out of the darkness comes hope and new life. Christ is present in this world as Merton said. Christ is even in the darkness.
As the sun goes down on this Christmas Eve, may we look for the presence of Christ in the unusual places. As Merton said, He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst. May you, dear reader, find that presence, that hope, that light in the darkness. A blessed holy season to each one of you. I am truly thankful for each one of you who takes the time to sit with me in the midst of this thing called life!
Verse of the day
The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
– Romans 13:12
Voice of the day
Let our hearts be open like a cradle so that Christ can be born in each soul tonight and from there flood every heart with light.
– St. Oscar Romero, “Today a Saviour is Born to You”
Prayer of the day Open our hearts as we carry your light, illuminating the darkness.
“Once they saw a star that pointed to a promised land, to a land of peace. Peacemakers set out to follow that star. It is both a joyful and arduous journey. Sometimes the star shines brightly, the promise seems certain, and, the pilgrims can sing. ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring God’s peace.’ Often the star disappears, clouded over, hidden from view, and the pilgrims grope blindly, grow discouraged, get weary, give thought to settling down, to forgetting the promise of peace. . . . An occasional oasis for the spirit is essential, a time to feast on the refreshing waters, the rich food of the spirit in order to get strength to continue the pilgrimage through darkness, star-shine or not.”—Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
Verse of the day
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
– Luke 2:6-7
Voice of the day
Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited.
– Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable (1966)
Prayer of the day May we follow your example of radical welcome, making room for those who have been uninvited.
As Advent 2021 winds down and the Christmas season approaches, I have been contemplating what is going on in this nation and world. If you focus on the sensationalized headlines or the clickbait, you would almost expect the four horsemen of the apocalypse to come charging out of the mist. Yet if you ignore all that is going on and prefer to hide from it all, that is a huge mistake.
James Finley, who was a novice at Our Lady of Gethsemani and studied under Thomas Merton spoke about the difference between escaping the world and taking on the world’s pain. Finley was complaining to Merton about something at the monastery when Merton challenged him. In essence, Merton told him that one did not join the monastery to breathe the rarified air and escape from the world. Rather one was called to take on the pain of the world in prayer as a monk. (A very rough paraphrase from Alana Levandoski’s (Home Page) album “Point Vierge”)
I find myself increasingly at that point between wishing to escape and seeking how to make a difference in this world. As Christmas approaches, I wonder and I pray. Perhaps the following words from Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ speak to that desire to be a positive influence in the world. The gift we can offer others is so simple a thing as hope. — Daniel Berrigan
I invite you, dear reader, to join me in this activity and prayer. Then perhaps the closing of my regular evening prayer might be fulfilled: Dona Nobis Pacem, Grant Us Peace.
Verse of the day
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
– John 14:27
Voice of the day
When I find myself rendered distraught by the world around me, as I imagine Mary must have been, I remind myself that God works in and through chaos.
– Valerie Bridgeman, “Building the Commonwealth of God”
Prayer of the day So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ — the life of the world.
– Daniel Berrigan, “Advent”
Blue Christmas offers us a chance to share our burdens with the Lord and with each other. Dear reader, as you reflect on the longest night, may “the light that shines in the darkness” (John 1:5 NRSV) guide you through this season, and every day and night of the year…
Read further at — Blue Christmas 2021
“I raise up my voice, not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. . . . We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”—Malala Yousafzai
“One of the great gifts [of the season]is watching the sun make her pilgrimage across the horizon from summer solstice to winter solstice. It is quite a long journey, and on December 21st she will rest at her point furthest south, appearing to stand still for three days before making the return journey again . . . It is a rhythm of journey, pause, and return, again and again.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year – A Self-Study Online Retreat
Which rhythm of the seasons are you in? How does it help guide your journey?
Verse of the day
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
– 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
Voice of the day
The Christian challenge of Christmas is this: justice is what happens when all receive a fair share of God’s world and only such distributive justice can establish peace on earth.
– John Dominic Crossan, “The Challenge of Christmas”
Prayer of the day May we usher in restorative justice, honoring the message of your radical birth.
