Thoughts and opinions from a Priest in the PNCC
Wednesday One-Liners Say It, But They Don’t Really Mean It
Dude on cell: I didn’t know you wanted to become priest… What?! You have to go through all that shit just to be a deacon?! My god! … Sorry man, I didn’t mean it like that…
–Union Square
via Overheard in New York, Dec 27, 2006
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My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: His Highness Deacon Jim the Subservient of Herring-le-hole Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
I like the subservient part, I love herring (śledź) in sour cream, but I’m not sure about the hole part…
A thank you to Fr. Martin Fox for the link to this.
My warmest wishes to all of you. May the new year bring you health, happiness, and every blessing.
Coptic Icon of the Nativity: The icon of the Nativity tells the story of Christ’s birth from the Scriptures. It also shows that all creation is taking part in Christ’s birth. The angels give thanks with their song; the heavens give the star; the Wise Men give their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The poor, humble shepherds give their praise and amazement; the earth gives the cave, and humanity gives the Virgin.
Solemnity of the Nativity—”2006
To all my readers and fellow bloggers,
The Advent fast is past,
the time of preparation is over.
The universe rejoices,
the glorious hosts of heaven process forth
proclaiming the good news.
All creation is renewed
and our hearts rejoice
in the birth of our Savior.
May our dearest Lord find a home in your hearts now and always.
May the Blessed Virgin hold you in her tender embrace,
and intercede on your behalf.
May the goodly St. Joseph watch over and protect you.
And, may the joy of this season only be surpassed
by the joy of our promised life together in heaven.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers throughout this Holy Season and the year ahead, most especially as I serve the Lord at the altar.
—” Deacon Jim
Back in early November Huw Raphael invited fellow bloggers to join him in writing reflection on the Great —O— Antiphons used in the Western Church in the days preceding Christmas.
To see all my reflections for 2006 follow the links below:
O Virgo virginum,
quomodo fiet istud?
Quia nec primam similem visa es
nec habere sequentem.
Filiae Ierusalem,
quid me admiramini?
Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.O Virgin of virgins,
how shall this be?
For neither before was any like thee,
nor shall there be after.
Daughters of Jerusalem,
why marvel ye at me?
That which ye behold is a divine mystery.
Mary drags us to her Son, Jesus. Yet we resist her.
She points to Him. She disappears into the background for Him. She gives up the ‘normal’ life she could have had, for Him. She suffers for Him. She follows Him and serves Him —“ not as the glorified maiden, but as a maidservant.
I am the handmaid of the Lord.
Her action, work, love, and dedication are theologized to such an extent so as to miss her humanity. Her simple humanity submitted itself fully to the Lord. Trusting, not knowing. Hearing, not debating. Serving, not bemoaning honorifics.
Would that we take her at her word: Why marvel ye at me? Would that we follow her example all the more closely. Would that we allow ourselves to be carried away, subsumed fully by the mystery of the Incarnation. Would that we say with her,
Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
A tipsy Geordie Vicar explains Christmas and his pagan family. There’s a surprise at the end, pretty funny and somehow appropriate. It’s a little off color so be forewarned….
O Emmanuel,
Rex et legifer noster,
expectatio gentium,
et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos,
Domine, Deus noster.O Emmanuel,
our King and Lawgiver,
the one awaited by the gentiles,
and their Savior:
come to save us,
Lord our God.O Emmanuelu,
nasz Królu i Prawodawco,
oczekiwany zbawicielu narodów,
przyjdź, aby nas wybawić
nasz Panie i Boże
Come thou long expected Jesus! Come, O come, Emmanuel —“ God with us.
You are with us indeed, ever present on the altar and in the tabernacle. You are present in our coming together and in our work. You are present in our solitude and in our pain.
Lord, you are with us. Not just as a man, or as a spirit, but as the God-man. You are the perfection to which we are drawn. Yours is the kingdom which is now, but not yet. We are part of it, still striving toward it, and fully acknowledging that which is unfulfilled. Our thirst remains.
The vision of You is what we long for, not in the accidents of bread, but You in all Your reality and power, face to face. You, as Moses saw You. You, who swept across the waters and breathed life into the nostrils of the first man. You, for Whom we are sorely unprepared.
Lord, our God, Emmanuel, we cannot quench our thirst. We know we can only be complete in You, in Your totality and your reality.
Come to save us. Come Lord Jesus come!
I received the following in the E-mail a few days ago. It speaks, in a humorous way, to the issues raised in my previous post.
Dedicated to those born between 1930 and 1979!
To the survivors:
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts, or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, and real butter and we drank Kool-Aid made with sugar, but we weren’t overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have a Sony Playstation, Nintendo, X-box, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound , CD’s or iPods, no cell phones!, no personal computers , no Internet or chat rooms…….
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good
And while you are at it, share this with your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!
O Rex Gentium,
et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis,
qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.O King of the Nations,
and the one they desired,
keystone,
who makes both peoples one,
come and save mankind,
whom you shaped from the mud.O Królu narodów
przez nie upragniony,
kamieniu węgielny Kościoła,
przyjdź zbaw człowieka,
którego utworzyłeś z prochu ziemi.
You have fashioned and created us, formed us in the womb. You are our beginning and our ending, yet we reject You.
You are the keystone, the cornerstone, the stone the builders rejected. Because of that rejection You have made us co-heirs, adopted sons and daughters, yet for all this generosity we know You not.
You come to us weak and vulnerable, God in the flesh, we nailed You to a tree. You come again and again, in word and in food, word that flies by our ears and food we eat without an afterthought.
Come and save us indeed, save us from ourselves. Save us from the pull of the world which longs to return us to the mud.
You have fashioned and created us, formed us in the womb. You are our beginning and our ending, You know us best, and that is why You come, over and over, to save us.