The Manger Story

This was Pope John Paul II's Christmas Card for 2004

Mary descends from the donkey – not an easy task when you’re due any minute. Joseph stopped looking for a place for them to stay partly because everyplace was full but also because his new wife was beginning to feel labor pains and they both knew it was almost time. Mary, helped by her husband, stands on wobbly legs. She tries to adjust her large body to be able to walk into their temporary home. Two would enter but three would emerge from the stable. Both parents knew the new addition to their little family was to be the world’s – and their – Messiah. But for right now they could only deal with the situation at hand. Joseph looks around to see how he would arrange the new accommodations. There are cows, goats, a couple of horses and camels with a few sheep loitering near the doorway. Joseph sees a pile of hay, a manger and a woolen blanket draped on a mail…but that’s all. He removes his cloak and covers the hay he has smoothed into a place for Mary to lie down upon. He helps her walk slowly and carefully to the makeshift bed, the throne upon which the Savior, the long awaited Messiah would emerge.
Mary felt momentary relief from the long donkey ride but the contractions began almost as soon as Joseph gently placed the woolen blanket over her distended body. Mary couldn’t help but wonder what her first-born would look like. So far it had all been normal –except for his conception of course. Mary had back pain, fatigue, cravings and now the intermittent spasms of pain. As one contraction relaxed she heard Joseph say he was going inside the inn to look for help. Mary tried to stay calm and glanced around. The cows and horses were stirring and making sounds she hadn’t expected to hear while her child was being delivered. They were confused by all the commotion and about their new resident companions. They must sense something, Mary thought.
Joseph returned with a maid from the inn who saw Mary and realized her delivery was imminent…Mary’s deliverance and ours.
A few moments later – between the maiden’s last words of encouragement, Mary’s groans, between the baas of the sheep and the bleats of the goats, and Joseph’s ‘oh my, oh my’
He arrived.
He: the King of Kings.
The Savior of the world.
The Redeemer and Messiah.
Arrived: came forth from Mary needing to be wiped clean and uttering tiny cries.
Maiden and father, who had been kneeling beside Mary, sat back on their legs and stared at the infant. Like us, the maiden did not recognize Jesus to be other than an innocent little newborn with good strong lungs. Joseph, however, was utterly amazed. His smiling face moved from Mary to the baby boy and back again. Mary was smiling too, finally, once she saw her baby.
The long awaited Messiah was cleaned up. Our King of Kings was wrapped in a blanket brought along on the long journey from Nazareth specifically for him. His grandmother made it for him while Mary was visiting her cousin Elizabeth. And now the Savior of the world was warm and quiet lying with Mary. The helpful maiden now slipped away from the family, promising to return later to check on them.
Alone now in a stable Mary and Joseph kissed and held their tiny son. The animals were quiet again so Joseph’s prayer over his new wife and foster son could be heard.
“O Holy God, I thank you for the good health of our new son. He is a beautiful son – a gift to Mary and me from You, the God of the universe. As You instructed his name will be Jesus and his mother and I will love him, protect him and care for him everyday of our lives. This is a miracle O God; my wife and I can barely utter this prayer of praise and thanks to You. But we want to please You in all ways. Our baby Jesus will get the best I can offer him. I will work hard to provide for him and for Mary. We pray Father God only for your continued blessings.” Joseph then reached over to hold the baby. Still on his knees, Joseph raised Jesus high in the air. Through this gesture he offered the child to His real Father. “Look at your Son! Bless him and us. Amen.”

Silent all this while, a single tear fell from Mary’s eye along the side of her face. “Amen” she said.

Newsboys

l I love the Newsboys new album: Go
Everywhere We Go, Like a Child, and I Dunno are 3 GREAT songs.

I Feel Chosen and Special

A dumb animal they call me.
They mock and use my name as a curse.
But I was the one grazing in the field that day when Joseph came.
He traded a carpentry tool for me and we began our long journey.
They were very kind to me on that trip to Bethlehem.
I didn't realize who the child in Mary's womb was.
But I felt chosen and so very special.

Three walls and a simple roof were all I had to offer.
No heat, no light, not even a door to protect them from the cold
But they seemed to be glad to find me and to rest here.
And I felt chosen and so very special.

All I really am is a container for food.
My name means "to eat".
Cows, horses, lambs - their mouths push into my center while they eat.
I wasn't clean. And I'm not very sturdy.
I had never carried so precious a bundle!
People were calling the baby boy an Infant King.
And I was his first throne: a manger.
I felt chosen and so very special.

None of them felt as unworthy as I.
I am the hay -course, cold and damp.
I am only good for animals to eat.
I was not the soft pillow or bed that a baby should have.
This infant has a rough beginning.
I wish I was softer, more supple and I smelled sweeter.
But I was the closest to his skin.
I felt chosen and so very special

He could have chosen a smarter, more faithful person.
He could have chosen a wiser, calmer, more loving soul than mine.
But I am the one he calls the apple of his eye.
I am the one he holds in the palm of his hand.
I am the reason that his last throne was a crucifix.
I feel chosen and so very special.

Love is Born

A cold world you enter
The coldest time: December
At this time you’re needed
Her Lord’s voice Mary heeded
And so Love is born!

Loneliness, pain and sorrow
They’ll all be gone tomorrow
Our lives feeling lost
You came – at great cost
And then Love is born!

Who can stand in the face of such love?
How will peace come? Only from above
Little child please show us
That you love us and know us
That’s how Love is born!

Jesus, Messiah, the Holy One
Prince of Peace. God’s only Son
I invite you into my heart
I promise my life will start to show
Love is born!

Psalm Of An Emerging Emmanuel

O Come O Come Emmanuel
I pray with upraised eyes.
Drop down, O Dew of Heaven,
that God might walk and talk on earth
might heal and feed our sin-soaked world.

O Come O Come Emmanuel
my prayers like searchlights
comb the starry winter skies.
Descend from the black hole of some neighboring galaxy
to green with your grace
our barren earth.

Such an Advent waiting prayer
can be a lifelong profession of patient longing
unless I know, with all my heart
that Emmanuel not only comes down
but also comes forth and emerges.

O Come O Come Emmanuel
come forth from deep within me
with Christmas luminous beauty.
For my heart has become the sacred crib,
the birthing place of God-among us.

Peace on earth and justice for all
will only become manifest in our lives
when enough of your sons and daughters
awaken to your divine design
that has made each of us
and emerging Emmanuel.

Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim by Ed Hays. copyright 1988. Forest of Peace Books, Inc. Route one Box 248 Easton Kansas 66020

You're Welcome! from Jesus

So today I shall give you flowers
and tomorrow just for you -
I will bend and bow the fields of wheat
and waltz the daisies across the meadows.
I will tickle the bubbling brook
to make it laugh, and float sunbeams
across the waters to make them dance.
I will gently touch each blade of grass
with dew and whisper secrets
to each leaf upon the tree.
I shall throw stars across the sky
and drape darkness over the hillsides
and then at night...
just before you close your eyes...
I will smile as I hear your loving prayer
of thanks
And I will say quietly so that only you will hear -
"You are very welcome."
copyright 1996 S. Patricia Proctor, OSC

...what she said....

I see more Pharisees among Christians than there were around Pilate.
– St. Margaret of Cortona

A Thank You Card to God

I’m bound by human words but they are so limited and useless for expressing thanks to You, my Savior. Lord I’ve used many of those words before like a 4 yr old who doesn’t grasp the degree of sacrificial parental love. That child will go into the garden her mother planted, break off a beautiful blooming rose and present it to her parent along with a big smile.
But it wasn’t the child’s work that produced the rose. And mom may even have preferred it to remain exactly where it was planted. Like that child I use your gift of speech and give it back to you. Thank you God, I say repeatedly. I praise you God. While a nice gesture, better thanks would be more active: a life of love, an attitude of gratitude. In all humility and with apprehension about my own ability to follow through I say simply, “Watch me. I’ll show you my thanks. “

Parable of the Talents cont'd

God knows what talents and potential He gave you.

• what are those talents/gifts ?(please don't deny them!) He gave me faith, family and friends. A healthy body and good mind and a decent income. He gave me staff to work with and an agency to help grow.
• how can you increase what God blessed you with? I can improve the quality of my relationship with Him and help others to do the same. I can develop the potential I see in my staff and complete the work done in our non profit agency to the best of my ability, expanding it where possible.
• what will the effect of that increase look like? I will praise and thank God more for His generosity. I understand that God, rightfully, expects a just return on His gifts. I will try to be more detached and less possessive appreciating that I am completely dependent on God.

To whom much is given, much is expected. The lazy servant only returned back to the Master what was given to him. For that the servant was condemned. What will your choice be?

Parable of the Talents

Reflect on this as a means to prepare to offer appropriate thanks to God on Thanksgiving Day!

Parable of the Talents
The Parable of the Talents is a parable of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew Matthew 25:14-30
The parable is apparently the origin of the use of the word "talent" to use a skill or ability, from the common interpretation of the story to teach that we are under a moral obligation to use our abilities rather than bury them.
1. The real point of the Bible Study is to recognize that we are renters and not owners of anything we have. God gave us gifts to use for HIS purpose. Based on that reflect on the the loss of each of the following:
+ Your reputation is not your own. Imagine it’s loss.
+ Your parents and/or kids are not your own.
+ Your mental health
+ Your physical health
+ Your friends
+ Scripture
+ Eucharist
+ Your financial security
+ What if God decided not to offer Reconciliation and mercy
+ What if God’s love was conditional
What do you think God wants back from you out of all the talents and gifts He gave you?
2. God was not required to give us anything at all be He gave us all of the above listed items simply out of His generosity. How do you plan to show God your gratitude in the future?

God's Garden

St. Therese of Lisieux said that in God’s garden everyone can’t be a rose. That would simply be boring. For God to be truly delighted with His creations variety is needed. Some are beautiful roses while others are pure lilies. Yet some are like fragrant violets while others have the simplicity of the daisy.

Daisies can’t wish themselves into roses. First, that’s impossible to do and second, the wasted effort would eventually wear down and destroy the daisy.

The Little Flower also said that perfection doesn’t come in doing God’s will but in being God’s will.

So, if I am only a tiny buttercup or a mum that is what I must joyfully be to the best of my ability. Sure I can see the beauty of the regal rose but all the wishing in the world will not make me that. For my own salvation and humility God allowed me to be the lowly buttercup. Neither must I become a weed in God’s garden, giving bad example and destroying others in my path with my negativity. Dandelions trick the eye into thinking it has seen a flower when in truth it too is a weed. I cannot deceive others into believing I am (or the truth is) different from what I am. To give God true joy ~ and I’ve just defined that as my life’s purpose~ I must be the buttercup that reflects it’s beauty back to the Creator.

Why Me

Trace Balin is a Christian singer and she wrote and sang a song in 1989 called “Why Me.” I was reflecting on that song and wondered why the Lord would indeed choose to watch over, bless and save me. I’ve done nothing to deserve that. I’m average and the Book of Revelations says, “ I wish you were either hot or cold but you are not. You are lukewarm and therefore I vomit you from my mouth.” I’ve prayed a lot of words about my desire to do better and to please God. I’ve talked, written and sung about it. But the truth is I’ve lived an adequate life only. I’m not the saint I wanted to be. I haven’t saved hundreds of souls. I can’t even keep 10 Commandments. I’ve begged for forgiveness and promised the Lord I’ll try harder – which I do temporarily. But over time He can’t count on my. I’ll return to average. My life is about me and my schedule and my needs rather than living a life of reflective gratitude. And I do that over and over again. So the question remains. Why me?
I’m old enough now to know that the answer has nothing to do with me. It’s all about you, Jesus. 1Cor 13 says God is Love. You can’t be resentful or angry with me. I know you are a just God and you expect back the fruits of the seeds you’ve sown in me and everyone else. I know I’m only a tenant on this earth. You are the Owner and Creator of it all.
But I know b/c of the way your eyes beheld the widow who gave her last dime that you are Love. I know b/c you cried when your friend Lazarus died. I know b/c you lived with and helped your Mother Mary for 30 years before your public ministry. I also know you are kind and merciful b/c of my own life experiences. When I was very sick you provided the right doctors. When I lost my job You provided the contacts to get me a new one. When I attend Mass you more than generously share Your Body and Blood to feed me.
So I don’t need to focus on the question Why Me. I only need to focus on and praise you for the answer~ God Is Love.

To You from Jesus as you prepare to pray together

This is something Jesus wants to say to you as you prepare to spend time together with Him in prayer and reflection~

Before you were born, I knew we would be sharing this time together. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time and I am so happy that it is finally happening. There are so many things I have wanted to tell you about my love for you. I needed this moment to gather you all together so I could have your full attention. Please listen to what I have to say to you. I have asked my Father, the Holy Spirit and many of my angels to be in this room with me to help you understand my message. I want to speak to your heart and to your heart alone. I am waiting at the entrance to your heart. I am at the door. It is up to you to let Me in.
Can you remember the time you took your first two steps? I can because I was with you. Oh, you were scared all right. With your baby way of thinking it was much safer to crawl than to try to walk. It was a lot faster, too. When you crawled, you could visit every room in your house. But trying to get to one place from another on just two legs...how could you manage such a stupendous achievement? And what if you fall down and break your nose? And what if your family laughs at your clumsiness? And what if you never learn to do it right? Such was the beginning of your fears, remember? Even so--even with all those anxieties hovering over you--you set your face steadfastly toward the arms that were waiting for you and you mastered the most difficult art of walking on your own two legs. See how well it turned out! You still know how to do it! Aren't you glad you trusted life? Aren't you glad you tried--even though you were frightened at the same time?
Then came other challenges. Can you remember how you met them? Do you remember the people I sent into your life to help you? Think about all of the good things that have happened to you. It is the story of your life at its best.
There were other times too. No one in all of creation has ever said life would be fair. I know and I understand and I still feel what it's like when your world turns against you. In the Garden of Gethsemane, everyone turned against me that night. Everyone. All of my followers left me and ran away. Peter did exactly what he said he wouldn't do. I called Judas, friend, when he approached Me.
That night, I looked to my friends, and my friends did not look back. Where there is opportunity for love, there is opportunity for hurt. I know you have been hurt. That's why I so deeply desire to speak to your heart. I love you more than you will ever understand on this earth. Your mind and your heart cannot contain the depth of my love for you. Please believe me, I love you. I chose to die for you because I love you. I was surrounded by enemies and betrayed by friends, because I love you. I was abandoned on this earth because I love you. Are you slowly beginning to understand when I say to you, I love you? All I ask is that you love me too. I want you to keep your eyes on me when all of earth begins to turn against you. My father's loyalty to me is my Father's loyalty to you. When all of earth turns against you, all of heaven turns toward you. You are not walking alone. I promised you that I would always be with you. Stand on that promise. I have given you myself in the Eucharist. Please allow me to enter your heart. I left you my body and my blood. It is my most precious gift to you. Please do not reject me again. I want to live within you and help you to trust me and have confidence in me. You cannot do that on your own. I am here to help you. I am begging you to love me. There is nothing more that I can do. It is your choice to put me first in your life. And until you make that decision, I will wait and I will wait. And my friend, I will never stop loving you...
Jesus

Book of Job

“Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, I should save Job.” (Victor Hugo)
I copied this section from the Internet….
While Job’s questions and complaints often come close to charging God with wrong, he never crosses the line and humbly submits to God when told that the answers to his questions are beyond his ability to understand. Thus the book shows us how the righteous should bear up under suffering (“You have heard of the perseverance of Job” - Ja 5:11).

Man is unable to subject the painful experiences of human existence to a
meaningful analysis - God’s workings are beyond man’s ability to fathom. Man simply cannot tie all the “loose ends” of the Lord’s purposes together. We must learn to trust in God, no matter the circumstances.

Suffering may be allowed as a compliment to one’s spirituality - God allowed Job to suffer to prove to Satan what kind of man he really was. What confidence God had in Job!

Why did I choose this Book?
1. We will learn more about God’s omnipotence and artistry so we can offer an awed and grateful response
2. We can examine the relationship between God and Job as insight into our own relationship with God.
3. We can understand our need for humility when considering how we fit into Gods’ Big Picture

Relationship Issues Job was a sound and honest man who revered God and shunned evil. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters. When his kids had parties Job would get them up at dawn the next day and pray for their purification and then offer up a sacrifice.

God really believed Job would never turn on Him and that Job would continue to lead a good life no matter how he was tempted. God bragged about Job. He felt so strongly about it that God allowed Satan to test Job.
Would God have as much confidence in your faithfulness? Would you like God to brag about you? What would you like Him to say? What can He truthfully say now?

In Job 42:7 God gets really angry with Job because He thought Job knew better. God saw Job’s potential and believed in him.
What could your potential produce?

In the beginning of the story (2:10) Job says: “If we accept happiness from God’s hand must we not take sorrow too? Job uttered no sinful word.” Then by Chapter 3 vs 1, Job curses the day of his birth.
Job is 42 chapters long and much of that is filled with complaints and arguments from Job. What percentage of your life have complaints been?
Job had a choice and responded by moaning with his friends and answering God back saying things like: “Not for nothing, but…” and “ With all due respect…”
Job thought he could speak as honestly as he wanted with God… and did. Job’s complaining was described as “long-winded blustering” in 8:2. Would you want God to describe your conversations with Him that way? Have you ever been this honest in your conversations with God? What’s your normal choice about how to deal with extreme frustration or suffering?

(Ch 7 vs 20) Job moans to God: “What have I done to you, you tireless watcher of humanity? Can’t you overlook my fault?” and in Ch 10 vs 1 Job goes on, “I will let my embittered soul speak out and say to God ‘Is it right for You to injure me? You know very well that I am innocent.’ “
When did you ever doubt God’s actions and question Him about it?
The people of the times thought that suffering was punishment for guilt.
(Ch 13:15) “I have no other hope but to justify my conduct in God’s eyes.”
Do you perform this practice? Does it work for you? (It didn’t seem to do so well for poor ole Job.)
Job pushes on in 16: 12 “I was at peace until God shattered me. He took me by the neck and tore me to pieces. He made me a target for His archery and shot arrows at me from every direction.”
Are you thinking:
That’s right Job! Speak on the issue! Right is right!
OR
Ooooohhhh you’re gonna be in soooo much trouble! You’d better shuttup Job and take it like a man!

True friends aren’t necessarily people who moan with you (as Job discovered). Give an example from your own life.

God’s Creative Artistry as Described in Book of Job
1. He shakes the earth and moves mountains (Job 9:6)
2. The sun rises at His command. (9:7)
3. He set the stars and stretched out the skies (9:8)
4. God keeps the raindrops back from spilling over in floods onto humankind. (36:27)
5. The nations are filled with food. (36:31)
6. His thunder gives warning of the lightening in His hands. (36:33)
7. He says to the snow, “Fall on the earth.” (37:6)
8. God breathes and ice is there. (37:10)
9. He Himself directs the seasonal changes. (37:12)
10. God says “Who decided the dimensions of the earth?” (38:5)
11. What pillars support the earth? (38:6)
12. Who keeps the sea pent up behind closed doors? (37:8)
13. Have you ever given orders to the morning? (37:12)
14. Have you an inkling of the extent of the world? (37:18)
15. From which direction does lightening fork when it scatters sparks over the earth? (37:24)
16. Have you seen where snow is kept or hail is stored up? (37:22)
17. Can you guide the morning star season by season and show the Bear and its cubs which way to go? (37:32)
18. Is the wild ox willing to serve you or spend a night beside your manger? (39:9)
19. Are you the one who made the horse so brave and covered his back with flowing hair? (39:19)
20. Does the eagle soar at your command? (39:27)
21. Has your arm the strength of God’s? Can your voice thunder? (40:4)


6. Are you committing cosmic plagiarism, i.e., taking responsibility and accepting thanks for work God did through you during the day? How can you rectify that? (or do you want a repeat of Job Ch 38 that starts out with God saying “Who is this obscuring my designs with his empty headed words?”)

7. Spend some reflection time appreciating God’s artistry. List your favorites from among all of God’s creative marvels.

8. What things has God done in your life or the lives of your immediate family that show his omnipotence?

9. A grateful heart is a heart that is humble and can say WOW. It can be awed at the wonders beyond itself. From all that you know about the person of God, what gives you awe?

10. What did Job teach you?

For more info on the Book Of Job~ (very easy reading)
http://www.ccel.org/contrib/exec_outlines/job/job_sg.pdf

Are You Awed?

A grateful heart is a humble heart. It's a heart that can say WOW! It can be awed at the wonders beyond itself. Of all God's wonders what gives me awe?

• His unconditional love despite my ingratitude
• His constant mercy
• His hope and confidence in each of us
• His Body and Blood in Eucharist.

What makes you say "WOW, God! Great work" ?

Mary and Cinderella

If God had asked me to be the Mother of God (I'm just making a comparison between my own weaknesses and Mary's fiat) it would have gone something like the story of Cinderella and her mean, ugly stepsisters. Mary is Cinderella, of course. She is the quiet gentle one whom the Prince of Eternal Life embraced. She is hidden, humble and self sacrificing.
I, like the stepsisters, am selfish. I am concerned about my own needs and wishes. Example: I'd not have settled in giving birth to God's Son in a manger for animals. I'd have pushed Joseph to find something more befitting. But that would have been more about my desire to do a good job than acquiescing to God's will. God wanted the manger so as to display Jesus' glory and co-inciding humility.
In every Bible story Mary responds gently and gracefully. Indeed she was gracefilled. Like Cinderella she was obedient and willing to let her own will go. And in the end she lived with the Prince of Eternal Life happily ever after.
I have much to learn if I'm ever going to change from my self-appointed role....

Surrender and be at peace

My heart is pained and shriveled. It is dry and crusty. I feel like I've been walked over by hiking boots. Emptiness within except for the heaviness of my heart. To work is a struggle. To smile is great effort. Calm and peacefulness seem like far away dreams. I accept that sometimes life on earth is hard. So I go to my Jesus for strength.

Lord, I need to be infused with your grace. I need to be surrounded with your protection. Like a child's toy tossed around in the ocean I feel lost and useless. Jesus, I know you love me and that you see my pain. I've tried to heal myself. I've tried to control and not be so needy. But I recognize finally that I am nothing on my own. I am useless and empty without your love and grace. It's OK to be dependent on You. And so at this moment, my Lord Jesus I surrender. I submit my all to you.

Jesus responds: When you submit you allow me to help you and you offer no resistance. My daughter I want to love you and hold you in my protective arms. Can you believe that? I really want to support you. So rest here daughter. Just put your head on my shoulder and rest peacefully. I promised my unconditional love when we began our relationship and I will keep my promise. Let me do that for you. Surrender and find your rest in Me.

An Astonishing Offer

I quiet myself and relax in the presence of God.
I declare my dependency on God.
Grace:
I ask for the gift of experiencing God's care, goodness, kindness and faithfulness to me.
Method:
"God called me before I was born. From my mother's womb God pronounced my name." (Isa 49:1)

• I reflect how, in my life history, I have been carried and sustained by the love I have received.
• I recall the many ways in which this love was made visible e.g. thru provision for my physical needs, thru supportive relationships, thru the enjoyment of life and a sense of purpose.
• I become aware that these gifts have been a part of God's plan for me. I allow myself to experience the security and freedom of God's particular care and choice of me.
• In light of this experience of all God has done for me, I imagine and record in my journal how the contract/commitment God has offered to me might appear if written
  

I, God, as your creator, do hereby agree to love you ____ unconditionally. I will manifest this love within the circumstances and reality of your life.

I will support you by ________________.

I will nourish you __________________.

I will give you ____________________.

I will __________________________.

The conditions of this commitment have been effective from the moment of my first thought of you. This offer is exempt from ever being terminated.

Love, God.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I ____________ as your creature and beloved, do promise to respond to your love and generosity. I will manifest this generosity to you within the circumstances and reality of my life.

I will support you by _____________________.

I will nourish you ______________________.

I will give you ________________________.

I will _____________________________.

The conditions of this commitment are totally dependent upon your grace in my life. This commitment is conditioned by the discernment of Your will in my life.

Signed _________________________

From Jesus on the day you were born

On the day I breathed life into you, when you first began, I smiled. You were special, I knew. You were mine. The seed of my love was planted in your heart tho you may not have known. There was a stirring in my heart that sychronized with your own on the day you were born. And I have never left you.
I remain within your heart at this moment. Today I renew my love for you and celebrate you. I am in the breath you take. Become aware of my presence surrounding you. Feel your own heartbeat. I am there in your center. I am within you. I am a part of you. We share your breath, your heart and your soul.
We are one.
(dedicated to Barbara on her birthday)