Another Year, Another "Auld Lang Syne"

"Auld Lang Syne" is a song that is traditional to the New Year and has been sung and toasted at midnight on New Year's Eve for generations. The song began as a poem written in 1778 by Robert Burns, which he set to folk melody.

The message of "Auld Lang Syne" is that we should not forget our friends from times past, and the song sings of two old friends who haven't seen each other for a while, meet and share a reminiscing of past memories. To me, the song signifies letting go of the last year and what it represented. Often, good friends or family move away, which leaves us with a sense of a loss and void that is not easy to fill. Out with the old and in with the new can sometimes be tough. New situations are sometimes faced with ambiguous feelings, with more than a little anxiety lagging behind. Healing is not easy. The truth is that healing is a powerful choice, and the commitment to heal is the first step in recovery and wellness. As the year 2019 ends and the New Year 2020 begins, let us hope all our endings lead us to a healthier, happier, and a blessed future.

Humility

Our Mirror

Change your Perspective

“Every time I get worried about something I say my prayers more.” – Jim Burns

Whether we grew up in religious families or not, most of us seek help from some Greater Power when we're faced with terrifying situations. Often it's at an unconscious level that we ask for extra help. But the fact that we do elicit strength from some source comforts us, and this enables us to walk through the experience that appears so daunting.

We never outgrow the need for strength and comfort. That's good news. It's too awesome to think that we need to know all now, to understand how every detail of living should unfold. It's quite enough to limit our focus on the details of the next twenty-four hours.

Let's be vigilant about our search for guidance and comfort. And let's not forget that we have to listen for the response. If our minds are filled with worrying, there will be no space for the answers to enter.

Praying for solutions or comfort or just a moment of peace will change my perspective today. When my perspective changes, so do my experiences.

Feast of the Holy Family

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family.  Pope Leo XIII established this Feast to promote the sacredness of family life and to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian Families.  Many people struggle with the notion that all families should model themselves on the Holy Family.  After all, Angles communicated with Joseph quite a lot,  Mary, our Blessed Mother was conceived without sin and Jesus is the Son of God.  No other family on earth has members who achieve this level of perfection.

We can, however, strive for holiness within our families.  The key to achieving the ideal modeled by the Holy Family is found in our second reading from Colossians 3:12-21.  In this reading St. Paul provides the Christian community of Colossae in Asia Minor with some guidelines for living the ideal Christian life in the world:  “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.”

If each one of us follows St. Paul’s guidelines for Christian living, and applies them to our own lives and to our families, then we might come close to achieving the holiness modeled by the Holy Family.  St. Paul certainly gives us great material for making our New Year’s resolutions.  Happy New Year!   

God our Father,
we give you all thanks and praise
that you chose for your Son a human family.
Through the prayers and example
of Mary and Joseph,
may we too learn
to make room for Jesus in our lives,
that he may grow up in us day after day
and make us more like him.

Teach us to rely on your word,
that in our trials as in our joys
we may be clothed in gentleness and patience
and united in love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen

Awakening the Christ Child

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son, from the Father, full of grace and truth.   ~ John 1:14

The power of Christmas is not automatic. It can't be taken for granted. It has to be given birth, nursed, coaxed, and lovingly cajoled into effectiveness. The baby Jesus doesn't save the world, the adult Christ does and our task is to turn the baby Jesus into the adult Christ. We need to do that in our own bodies and with our own lives.

As Annie Dillard once put it, the Christ we find in our lives is always found as he was found at the first Christmas, a helpless infant, lying in the straw, someone who needs to be picked up and coaxed into adulthood. To make Christ effective, we need, ourselves, to become "the body of Christ".

To put it metaphorically, the Christ-child has to be awakened by us. We need to go to the manger and awaken the child.

We awaken the child by inducing it to smile. How's that done? Where is the Christ-child? In terms of an icon, the Christ-child is in the crib, but, in terms of spirituality, the Christ-child appears in our lives in a different way.

When Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit - defined as charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, longsuffering, fidelity, gentleness, and chastity - then obviously the child she gestated will radiate those qualities. We awaken the Christ-child when we smile at charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, longsuffering, fidelity, gentleness, and chastity until they begin to smile back. What comes back is the power of Christmas, a baby's power to transform a heart, divine power hidden in human weakness.

We have to help make Christmas happen.

Merry Christmas!

What Are You Looking For?

If you look for me at Christmas,

you won't need a special star -
I'm no longer just in Bethlehem,
I'm right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me
Amid the celebrations -
You'll have to look beyond the stores
and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment
from your list of things to do
And listen to your heart, you'll find
I'm waiting there for you.

You're the one I want to be with,
you're the reason that I came,
And you'll find Me in the stillness
as I'm whispering your name,

Love,

Jesus

Who Started Christmas

This morning I heard a story on the radio of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year. Overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, getting that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, making sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way in and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff.

When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up, and shot."

From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't worry we already crucified him."

For the rest of the trip down the elevator it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Don't forget this year to keep the One who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word. If we all did it, just think of how different this whole world would be.

In Search of Our Kneeling Places

In Search of Our Kneeling Places
by Ann Weems

In each heart lies a Bethlehem,
an inn where we must ultimately answer

whether there is room or not.
When we are Bethlehem-bound
we experience our own advent in his.
When we are Bethlehem-bound
we can no longer look the other way
conveniently not seeing stars
not hearing angel voices.
We can no longer excuse ourselves by busily
tending our sheep or our kingdoms.

This Advent let's go to Bethlehem
and see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.
In the midst of shopping sprees
let's ponder in our hearts the Gift of Gifts.
Through the tinsel
let's look for the gold of the Christmas Star.
In the excitement and confusion, in the merry chaos,
let's listen for the brush of angels' wings.
This Advent, let's go to Bethlehem
and find our kneeling places.

Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer has comforted millions of people who strive to cope with change, disappointments, chemical dependency, and all sorts of other problems. The prayer can comfort us as we deal with the realities of chronic illness.

When we're overcome with pain or disappointed about slow or little progress, this prayer can help us put our lives into focus. It helps us see if we're wasting time and energy on things we can't change, such as the chronic conditions we live with, how others feel, and the past. And just as important, this prayer points us toward the things that we can control -- our attitude, our willingness to change, and the outcome of this day.

Let us pray for the wisdom to recognize the difference between things we can and cannot change

4th Sunday of Advent

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Today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent. In the three weeks leading up to today many of us have worked hard to prepare for Christmas.  The cards are sent.  The decorations are up.  Hopefully, most of the shopping is finished.  The gifts are wrapped and under the tree or stored in a safe place.  Now it's time to stop and reflect on what we are celebrating.  We are celebrating God's incredible gift to us - the gift of His son, Jesus who came to "save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).  We are celebrating the birth of Emmanuel - God is with us.

The Gospel for today and for the Christmas Vigil Mass, Matthew 1: 18-24, focuses our attention on St. Joseph.  The birth of Jesus posed a serious problem for Joseph.  Although he was betrothed to Mary, they were not officially married.  Joseph must have felt very hurt and betrayed when he discovered that Mary was pregnant with a child that was not his.  He could have divorced her, an act that would destroy her life and possibly the life of the child.  But he didn't.  Joseph listened to God and did what was just and honorable.  He took Mary and the baby Jesus into his home and into his heart.  Joseph trusted God and God entrusted His son to Joseph.

Joseph is our very human model of faith, compassion and mercy.  He also is the perfect example of a strong and caring parent.  Joseph protected Jesus from the murderous wrath of Herod.  He provided a safe and secure home in which Jesus could grow and develop.  Most importantly, Joseph was responsive to the Spirit of God.  In these last few days before Christmas, please take some time to reflect on St. Joseph.  And remember that all of us are called to be like Joseph.  We are called to make room for Jesus in our hearts, in our spirits, in our homes and in our community.  We are called to welcome Emmanuel, God is with us right here in Peachtree City

Eternal God,
in the psalms of David,
in the words of the prophets,
in the dream of Joseph
your promise is spoken.
At last, in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
your Word takes flesh.
Teach us to welcome Jesus, the promised Emmanuel,
and to preach the good news of his coming,
that every age may know him
as the source of redemption and grace.
Grant this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

The Christmas Scout

In spite of the fun and laughter, 13-yr.-old Frank Wilson was not happy. It was true, he had received all the presents he wanted, and he enjoyed the traditional Christmas Eve reunions with relatives for the purpose of exchanging gifts and good wishes but Frank was not happy because this was his first Christmas without his brother, Steve, who during the year, had been killed by a reckless driver. Frank missed his brother and the close companionship they had together.

He said good-bye to this relatives, and explained to his parents that he was leaving a little early to see a friend, and from there he could walk home. Since it was cold outside, Frank put on his new plaid jacket. It was his FAVORITE gift. He placed the other presents on his new sled, then headed out, hoping to find the patrol leader of his Boy Scout troop. Frank always felt understood by him.

Tho’ rich in wisdom, his leader lived in the Flats, the section of town where most of the poor lived. His patrol leader did odd jobs to help support his family. To Frank’s disappointment, his friend was not home.

As Frank hiked down the street toward home, he caught glimpses of trees and decorations in many of the small houses. Then, thru one front window, he glimpsed a shabby room with limp stockings hanging over an empty fireplace. A woman was seated nearby….weeping.

The stockings reminded him of the way he and his brother had always hung theirs side by side. The next morning, they would be bursting with presents. A sudden tho’t struck Frank–he had not done his “good deed” for the day. Before the impulse passed, he knocked on the door. “Yes?” the sad voice of a woman asked. Seeing his sled full of gifts, and assuming he was making a collection, she said, “I have no food or gifts for you. I have nothing for my own children.”

“That’s not why I am here, ” Frank replied. “Please choose whatever presents you would like for your children from the sled.”

“Why, God bless you!” the amazed woman answered gratefully. She selected some candies, a game, a toy airplane and a puzzle. When she took the Scout flashlight, Frank almost protested. Finally, the stockings were full.

“Won’t you tell me your name?” she asked, as Frank was leaving.

“Just call me the Christmas Scout,” he replied.

The visit left Frank touched, and with an unexpected flicker of joy in his heart. He understood that his sorrow wasn’t the only sorrow in the world.

Before he left the Flats, he had given away the rest of his gifts. His plaid jacket had gone to a shivering boy. Now, Frank trudged toward home, cold and uneasy. How could he explain to his parents that he had given his presents away?

“Where are your presents, son? asked his father as Frank entered the house. “I gave them away,” he answered in a small voice.

“The airplane from Aunt Susan? Your new coat from Grandma? Your flashlight?? We tho’t you were happy with your gifts.”

“I was ….. very happy,” Frank said quietly.

“But, Frank, how could you be so impulsive?” his mother asked. “How will we explain to the relatives who spent so much time and gave so much love shopping for you?”

His father was firm. “You made your choice, Frank. We cannot afford any more presents.”

With his brother gone, and his family disappointed in him, Frank suddenly felt dreadfully alone. He had not expected a reward for his generosity, for he knew that a good deed always should be its own reward. It would be tarnished otherwise. So he did not want his gifts back. However, he wondered if he would ever again recapture joy in his life. He tho’t he had this evening ….. but it had been fleeting. He thought of his brother ….. and sobbed himself to sleep.

The next morning, he came downstairs to find his parents listening to Christmas music on the radio. Then the announcer spoke:

“Merry Christmas, everyone! The nicest Christmas story we have this morning comes from the Flats. A crippled boy down there has a new sled this morning left at his house by an anonymous teenage boy. Another youngster has a fine plaid jacket, and several families report that their children were made happy last night by gifts from a teenage lad who simply called himself the ‘Christmas Scout’."

No one could identify him, but the children of the Flats claim that the Christmas Scout was a personal representative of old Santa Claus himself.

Frank felt his father’s arms go around his shoulders, and he saw his mother smiling thru her tears.

“Why didn’t you tell us, son? We didn’t understand. We are so proud of you.”

The carols came over the air again, filling the room with music – "Praises sing to God the King, and peace on Earth goodwill to men.”

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 tells us: “If there are poor among you in one of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be selfish or greedy toward them. But give freely to them, and freely lend them whatever they need.”

LET US FOLLOW FRANK’S EXAMPLE.

—- by Sam Bogan

Hope

Life Lessons Learned from Noah's Ark

1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don't listen to critics, just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety's sake travel in pairs.
8. Take care of your animals as if they were the last ones on earth.
9. If you have to start over, have a friend by your side.
10. No matter the storm, when you are with God there's always a rainbow waiting.

Be Still

I have noticed that the best way for me to get a few minutes of solitude at the end of the day is to start washing the dishes. And a few minutes of solitude is something I need frequently. A time to be alone. A time to reflect.

There is a difference between alone-ness and loneliness. Aloneness is necessary for the soul to thrive -- even to come alive!

German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and eventually hanged for opposing Hitler. While in prison, he wrote letters to his fiancée. The last letter she received was dated Christmas 1944. 

Speaking of the war that separated them, Bonhoeffer wrote this:

"These will be quiet days in our homes, but I have had the experience over and over again that the quieter it is around me, the clearer do I feel a connection to you. It is as though in solitude the soul develops senses which we hardly know in everyday life. Therefore I have not felt lonely or abandoned for one moment."

We can be alone without being lonely. In fact, those times of solitude are necessary respite for our beleaguered souls, set upon by the pressures of life. We need to take those moments to "get away" and just be still. "Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted," says Hans Margolius. "Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."

Be still....

Honor the Beginning

Beginnings can be delicate or explosive. They can start almost invisibly or arrive with a big bang. Beginnings hold the promise of new lessons to be learned, new territory to be explored, and old lessons to be recalled, practiced, and appreciated. Beginnings hold ambiguity, promise, fear, and hope.

Don’t let the lessons, the experiences of the past, dampen your enthusiasm for beginnings. Just because it’s been hard doesn’t mean it will always be that difficult. Don’t let the heartbreaks of the past cause you to become cynical, close you off to life’s magic and promise. Open yourself wide to all that the universe has to say.

Let yourself begin anew. Pack your bags. Choose carefully what you bring, because packing is an important ritual. Take along some humility and the lessons of the past. Toss in some curiosity and excitement about what you haven’t yet learned. Say your good-byes to those you’re leaving behind. Don’t worry who you will meet or where you will go. The way has been prepared. The people you are to meet will be expecting you. A new journey has begun. Let it be magical. Let it unfold. Let it be a new beginning as you prepare to meet the Christ child anew.

3rd Sunday of Advent

The 3rd Sunday of Advent traditionally is known as Gaudete Sunday.  The term Gaudete means rejoice in Latin, a word that appears in the entrance antiphon of Masses held today: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.  The rose-colored Advent candle we light reminds us that our time of waiting is almost over – there are only nine days left in Advent.

REJOICE!  Isaiah tells us because “those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy” (Is. 35:10).  REJOICE!  Jesus tells John the Baptist’s disciples because “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Matt.11:5).  REJOICE!  St. James tells the waiting Christians “because the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).  REJOICE!  Because Jesus Christ tells us that although “among those born of women  there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11:11).

REJOICE, because we are the people who inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.  We are greater than John the Baptist because we have seen the full revelation of God’s love through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  John the Baptist came to direct us to a greatness he would never experience.  Jesus, the Messiah, came to save us.  REJOICE!  

God of peace,

Whose word is
   good news for the oppressed,
   healing for the brokenhearted,
   and freedom for all who are held bound;
gladden our hearts
and fashion the earth into a garden of righteousness and praise.
    Sanctify us in spirit, soul and body,
so that we may generously prepare the way
for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who was, who is and who is to come,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN

Christmas Trees and Strawberry Summers

What I'd really like is a life of Christmas trees
and strawberry summers,
A walk through the zoo with a pocketful of bubble gum
and a string of balloons.

I'd say "yes" to blueberry mornings
and carefree days with rainbow endings.
I'd keep the world in springtime
and the morning glories blooming.

But life is more than birthday parties;
life is more than candied apples.

I'd rather hear the singing than the weeping.
I'd rather see the healing than the violence.
I'd rather feel the pleasure than the pain.
I'd rather know security than fear.

I'd like to keep the cotton candy coming.
But life is more than fingers crossed;
life is more than wishing.

Christ said, "Follow me."
And of course I'd rather not.

I'd rather pretend that doesn't include me.
I'd rather sit by the fire and make my excuses.
I'd rather look the other way,
not answer the phone,
and be much too busy to read the paper.

But I said, yes and
that means risk-
it means, Here I am, ready or not!
O Christmas tree and strawberry summers,
you're what I like and you are real.

But so are hunger
and misery
and hate-filled red faces.
So is confrontation.
So is injustice.

Discipleship means sometimes it's going to rain on my face.
But when you've been blind and now you see,
when you've been deaf and now you hear,
when you've never understood and now you know,
once you know who God calls you to be,
you're not content with sitting in corners.

There's got to be some alleluia shouting,
some speaking out
some standing up
some caring
some sharing
some community
some risk.

Discipleship means living what you know.
Discipleship means "Thank you, Lord"
for Christmas trees and strawberry summers
and even for rain in my face.

The author is Ann Weems and the poem can be found in her anthology, "Kneeling in Bethlehem" (Westminster Press: 1980).

Real Meaning of Christmas

To catch the real meaning of the "Spirit of Christmas," we need only to drop the last syllable of the word, and it becomes the "Spirit of Christ." It beckons us to follow him, and become worthy of the blessedness which he promised to the most unlikely people-the poor in spirit, the sorrowful, the meek, the seekers after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and even the persecuted and the oppressed.

A Soldier's Poem

Twas the night before Christmas,

He lived all alone,

In a one bedroom house made of

Plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney
With presents to give,
And to see just who
In this home did live.

I looked all about,
A strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents,
Not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle,
Just boots filled with sand,
On the wall hung pictures
Of far distant lands.

With medals and badges,
Awards of all kinds,
A sober thought
Came through my mind.

For this house was different,
It was dark and dreary,
I found the home of a soldier,
Once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping,
Silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor
In this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle,
The room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured
A United States soldier.

Was this the hero
Of whom I'd just read?
Curled up on a poncho,
The floor for a bed?

I realized the families
That I saw this night,
Owed their lives to these soldiers
Who were willing to fight.

Soon round the world,
The children would play,
And grownups would celebrate
A bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed freedom
Each month of the year,
Because of the soldiers,
Like the one lying here.

I couldn't help wonder
How many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas eve
In a land far from home.

The very thought
Brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees
And started to cry.

The soldier awakened
and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don't cry,
This life is my choice;

I fight for freedom,
I don't ask for more,
My life is my god,
My country, my corps."

The soldier rolled over
And drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it,
I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours,
So silent and still
And we both shivered
From the cold night's chill.

I didn't want to leave
On that cold, dark, night,
This guardian of honor
So willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over,
With a voice soft and pure,
Whispered, "carry on Santa,
It's Christmas day, all is secure."

One look at my watch,
And I knew he was right.
"Merry Christmas my friend,
And to all a good night."