TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
Advent calendars appear now in many homes, and new-fangled formats are even available on line. Children have fun opening the doors and windows keyed to the days counting down to Christmas. Behind each door is a picture related to the Christmas mystery, perhaps a scripture verse or saying, but more and more these days something totally unconnected to religious life, like a small toy or a chocolate treat, appears instead. The Advent calendar is not very old as traditions go. We can trace it back to German-speaking Christians, both Protestant and Catholic. Lutherans might have originated the custom by placing chalk marks on doors starting December 1, lighting candles every day, or placing a new religious picture on the wall each day during Advent. The oldest known hand-made calendar goes back to 1851, and the first printed ones appeared in 1908 in Germany with Bible verses behind the doors. By far the most interesting calendar is a building, the town hall (Rathaus) of Gengenbach in Germany’s Black Forest. Every year the townspeople invite an illustrator of children’s books to create twenty-four paintings or motifs for each of the twenty-four main windows of the building. Every night the people gather to see a new window opened and illuminated.
Very few commercial Advent calendars pay much attention to the core values of our liturgical calendar: the pivotal place of Sunday, the importance of Advent feasts like Saint Lucy and Saint Nicholas, and the clear shift in tone on December 17 from Advent longing and preparation toward imminent hope in Christ’s coming. That kind of creativity is left up to you!
Take Five for Faith
 |
Invest just five minutes a day, and your faith will deepen and grow - a day at a time. Look up the daily passages from the New American Bible online at www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.html. Download Take Five for Faith by clicking on the date below: Sunday now available in Spanish! DOMINGO, 30 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2008 |
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2008
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Wake-up call
At a time when people are setting up manger scenes to depict the scene of the infant Jesus’ birth, it seems strange to look ahead—as this Sunday’s gospel does—to the return of a very adult Lord Jesus to gather his people at the end of time. “Keep awake,” he told the disciples, “for you do not know when the master of the house will come.” While these two pictures look very different, what connects them is watchfulness. Advent is the season of our long wait for the coming of Christ at Christmas. And as followers of the risen Lord, we wait for Jesus to come again in the last days. Watch for him; he will come.
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37
"You are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ."
DOMINGO, 30 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2008
PRIMER DOMINGO DE ADVIENTO
Llamada de Advertencia
En un tiempo en que la gente está poniendo nacimientos para representar la escena del nacimiento del niño Jesús, parece extraño ver hacia delante—como lo hace el evangelio de este Domingo—al regreso de un Señor Jesús muy adulto que reúne a su gente al final del tiempo. “Manténganse alerta, les dijo a los discípulos, “porque ustedes no saben cuándo vendrá el dueño de la casa.” Aunque estas dos imágenes se ven muy diferentes, lo que las conecta es la vigilancia. El Adviento es la temporada de nuestra larga espera para la llegada de Cristo en Navidad. Y como seguidores del Señor elevado, esperamos a Jesús para que venga una vez más en los últimos días. Mantente alerta, él vendrá.
LECTURAS DE HOY: Isaías 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; 1 Corintios 1:3-9; Marcos 13:33-37
"No les falta ningún don mientras esperan la revelación de nuestro Señor Jesucristo."
MONDAY, DECEMBER 1
ADVENT WEEKDAY
School’s out forever
In the satirical movie Lord of War, Nicholas Cage is the dark lord who gleefully sponsors—and profits from—violence the world over. While certain industries do make a grim profit on war, most of us hope fervently for the day when no one learns the art of war anymore, as Isaiah beautifully puts it. How do we close the school of war? We begin by closing the door to the impulse for retaliation when someone does us wrong. When it comes to violence, school’s out forever only when we learn the rare art of forgiveness.
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 8:5-11
"Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Our life in Christmas cards
’Tis the season when scenes of peace and serenity start arriving in our mailboxes daily. Every Christmas card is a bid for a more hopeful world. A star shines against the darkness of a fearful nation. A child is born into a culture sadly given over to ways of death and destruction. Wild animals learn to live together as people never do. Even Saint Nick, sliding down the chimney, brings gifts through a spirit of generosity as wide as his belly. This year let’s bring those Christmas cards to life in us!
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24
"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid."
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Let there be abundant peace
The Book of Isaiah promises abundance for nations that live in peace. With the U.S. engaged in two long-running wars, we do well to ask: What is the economic outcome of not being at peace? Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates the ultimate price tag for the war in Iraq alone will reach $3 trillion or higher, when factors such as the cost of health care for disabled veterans, surging oil prices, and the economic impact on families who have lost breadwinners are considered. Let us pray this Advent for the coming of the Prince of Peace.
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 25:6-10a; Matthew 15:29-37
"He will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces."
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4
FEAST OF JOHN OF DAMASCUS, PRIEST, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
Imagine a nation that is just
It’s very hard to get somewhere if you don’t know where it is you’re going. It’s true not only in travel but in the larger destination of life goals as well. For many, contemplation of religious images helps to focus on the inward journey toward holiness. Such images can even aid in establishing relationships with a spiritual guide in the person of the saint. John of Damascus championed the use of images to ignite the religious imagination. This season let’s imagine together what a just nation should look like.
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 26:1-6; Matthew 7:21, 24-27
"Open up the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in."
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5
ADVENT WEEKDAY
To see thee more clearly
At First Sight is a movie that tells the true story of a blind man who, at the urging of a friend, undergoes experimental surgery to restore his sight. The operation is successful; his retina works and he can see. Or at least his eyes function. But he finds he must still finger objects to “know” what they are. He can “see” a cheese grater, for example, but he doesn’t know what it is until he has felt it with his hands. Seeing is a function of light striking the retina, but it takes the mind to interpret what we are looking at. Sight is one thing; understanding what we see is another. Do you understand what you see?
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 29:17-24; Matthew 9:27-31
"Out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see."
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6
FEAST OF NICHOLAS, BISHOP
The path of generosity
On St. Nicholas Day this year let’s consider not what goes into those stockings “hung by the chimney with care” but the socks themselves. Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in Ode to My Socks celebrates a gift of hand-knit socks and the love that produced them. He receives the gift in a way that any true gift-giver wants: He uses the gift. His ode concludes: “I stretched out my feet and pulled on / the magnificent socks and then my shoes. / The moral of my ode is this: / beauty is twice beauty / and what is good is doubly good / when it is a matter of two socks / made of wool in winter.” Even as we hope that our family and friends will accept, use, and find joy in the tokens we give to bless and warm the body and spirit this season, so also God desires that we will accept and use the gift God gives us in the Christ.
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26; Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8
"You received without payment; give without payment."
Contributors: Father Paul Boudreau, Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Father Larry Janowski, Ann O'Connor, Sean Reynolds, Joel Schorn, and Patrice J. Tuohy
©2008 by TrueQuest Communications, L.L.C. PHONE: 800-942-2811; E-MAIL: mail@takefiveforfaith.com; WEBSITE: www.takefiveforfaith.com. Licensed for noncommercial use. All rights reserved. Scripture quotes come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
