Meditation: Where is Bethlehem? Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Where is Bethlehem? Did the Son of God come to be born in a tiny hamlet in far-away Palestine? Or was He born there that He might come to be born somewhere far closer? If Christmas is the time that God chose to come close to us, then Bethlehem must be somewhere very close to us. Where is Bethlehem? It is not far at
In more ways than one, we are waiting in darkness. Isaiah prophesied Jesus’ birth, saying, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). Yet, the darkness will never totally go away. I’ve worked long enough in ministry to know that moral evil isn’t going to disappear, but the Gospel offers something much more subtle and helpful: “the light shines on the inside of the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome
Meditation: You Shall Call His Name Jesus The Gospel of Matthew begins with a long list of Hebrew names that give the family tree of Jesus on the human side. As we read these names some two thousand years of history pass in review. At the end of the list we find the name above every name, the name of Jesus. The procession passes through the centuries and comes to rest at Bethlehem. “Joseph, son
Meditation: The Danger of Busyness When God came into the world at Christmas, people didn’t have time. They were too busy. There was no room for Him in the inn. “He came unto his own, and they that were his own people received him not.” And it seems that still today we have no room. We crowd Him out with so many things, especially with our busyness. In Luke 14:16-24, the Lord Jesus tells a
By Father John Parker Our journey to Bethlehem through the images in Andrei Rublev’s Nativity finishes at the center—a center which has two foci: Mary, the Virgin Mother, and the somewhat less obvious (because of His size) newborn Christ (who, biblically speaking, is not “Jesus” until He is named on the 8th day—see Luke 2:21.) Mary—the Theotokos, or God-bearer, as she is known in the Church—is the most noticeable figure in the icon. One’s eyes
Meditation: Why Did He Come? This Word who now becomes flesh is the very same God before Whom the Seraphim in the vision of Isaiah covered their faces with their wings and exclaimed in fear and trembling: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Sabaoth!” The creature did not dare to look up. Such was the overpowering greatness of God. No man could see God and live. It is this transcendent, unapproachable, unfathomable, mysterious Word who
God’s revelations are always pointed, concrete, and specific. They are not a Platonic world of ideas and theories about which you can be right or wrong, or observe from a distance. Divine Revelation is not something you measure or critique. It is not an ideology but a Presence you intuit and meet! It is more Someone than something. All of this is called the “mystery of incarnation”—enfleshment or embodiment if you prefer—and for Christians it
Meditation: Why Did He Come? Charlotte Adelsperger explained what the coming of Jesus meant to her: Christmas came for me when I allowed Jesus to outgrow swaddling clothes and wrap me in God’s love. Christmas came for me when I discovered that I am part of the flock God is watching over-even at night. Christmas came for me when I rejoiced, knowing Christ’s tidings of great joy were to all people-and I’m a messenger. Christmas
Saint Barbara was born in the 3rd century A.D. in the city of Heliopolis in Phoenicia, which was then under the rule of the Roman Emperor Maximian – a vicious persecutor of Christians. St. Barbara’s father was a wealthy and powerful pagan named Dioscorus. Her mother died early, and after his wife’s death Dioscorus began to guard his only daughter, who was a rare beauty. He said: “People are unworthy to look upon my daughter’s
Meditation: Why Did He Come? Christmas means that there are two births of Christ: one into the world at Bethlehem; the other into the soul when it is spiritually reborn. Through the Holy Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist, Christ is born in the second Bethlehem. i.e., our hearts and minds, our souls and bodies. He that is the pre-eternal God becomes a newborn babe that we might be converted and become babes in Christ.
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