Tag: Christ

Golden

Although many of the trees in our neighborhood are almost bare, our ash trees have only begun to shed their golden leaves. Soon the ground will be covered with a golden carpet. I am reminded of two of my favorite ‘golden’ quotes:

“All that is gold does not glitter…” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)

“…I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest….” (Rev. 1:13, NRSV, Catholic ed.)

Advent is a time of expectation, a time of waiting for all that is good and beautiful. Here’s to the once, present, and future King!

The Annunciation Revisited

“The Annunciation” by Lynn Miyake (Egg Tempera with 23K Gold Halos)

(This post was originally published back in March. Here it is again for the Christmas Season.)

Have you ever heard that the date for Christmas (December 25) was selected to coincide with a pagan holiday? Don’t believe it. The calculation is actually based on Scripture.

Every year on March 25, the Church celebrates the day when the Angel Gabriel announced the conception of the Christ to Mary. March 25 is exactly nine months prior to December 25. To see how the date for Christmas was calculated, first we need to go back to September 25, when the Angel Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah. (Remember, during the Annunciation to Mary, Gabriel tells Mary that her cousin Elizabeth has also conceived, and Elizabeth is in her sixth month. See Luke 1:36. September 25 is six months prior to March 25.)

September 25 fell at the end of the Jewish season of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. (The date for the Day of Atonement falls on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It varies from year to year, falling in September or October.) During the ten day period prior to the Day of Atonement, Jews amended their behavior, prayed, repented, and gave to charity, in order to seek forgiveness from God.

According to Luke 1:9, Zechariah was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary to burn incense. The Jewish priests could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. (See Ex. 30:7-10.) Gabriel says to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.” (Luke 1:13)

So, here is the timeline:

  • September 25 – Gabriel announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah.
  • March 25 (six months from September 25) – Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary.
  • June 24 (nine months from September 25) – the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist.
  • December 25 (nine months from March 25) – the Church celebrates the birth of Jesus.

There you have it, Gentle Reader.

Quiet Water

Gazing at a pond of calm water instantly gives me a sense of peace and well-being. It reminds me of the blessings of contemplative prayer. There is quiet goodness in gazing at the Peace that is Christ. If you look closely at the picture above, you will see the beginnings of a fountain near the center of the pond. That too reminds me of Christ:

“The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (Jn 4:14b)

Eyes Not His

This week I stopped at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in Southern New Mexico. The mission was originally established by the Franciscans in 1887, and the current church was built in 1920. It rises on a hill half way up and set against the backdrop of the Sacramento Mountains. I love the icon of Christ above the altar and the depiction of the Last Supper on the altar, both with images that represent the Mescalero Apache Nation. The images remind me of some lines from another one of my favorite poems:

"...Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces."

From “As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame” by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Open and Closed

The blossoms on our ice plant, like those on many other plants, open to the sun and close when the sun passes. As human beings, we are so like that. We open to warmth and light and close in on ourselves when we don’t feel it from others. We are the light of the world, Christ said. How can I be warmth and light to someone today? How can I help someone blossom and grow today?