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Thursday, December 14, 2000 Faith MIt®! The Southern Cross, Page 9 someone wrote it down! ik (thank OSod By Carole Norris Greene Catholic News Service "P — J—Jiblical writings are not simply the telling of an old, old story. If you look close enough, you’ll find that they help you to tell your own story right now. Let me share a story. Preserving it didn’t require a deadline, like getting to the cleaners before it closes, or buying that last Christmas gift by Dec. 24. It, like visiting my widowed aunts who’d love my company, has been at the mercy of my remembering. My friend Anne Wesson of Baltimore wasn’t prepared for her car breaking down a few blocks from her home. With only $4 in her purse, she uttered a desper ate prayer for help, then looked for the nearest pay-phone to call home and let her teen-age son know why she was de layed. Before reaching the phone, how ever, a woman jumped in front of her and began dialing her own call. Anne said later that she decided not to let it upset her. Mindful of the Lord who walks with her, she said silently: “Praise God. Lord, what are you up to here!” Anne regarded all things as being in God’s control, even the bad which he permits to underscore our helplessness apart from him. When the woman finished her call, she apologized to Anne, explaining that she had to catch her son before he left the house. Expecting God’s help in her own circumstance, Anne left no stone unturned. “Does your son work on cars?” Anne asked. “Why, yes, he does some tinkering,” the woman responded, a bit surprised at the question. “Do you think he could take a look at mine?” Anne continued. “It’s broken down over there.” “I can ask him.” To Anne’s great delight, the gentle man had the car running again within 20 minutes and graciously accepted her $4 as total payment due. Praise God indeed! How different Anne’s story could have turned out had she had a different atti tude, allowed her pride to rule, argued with the woman or not been receptive to aid coming from an unlikely source. To passersby on the street, nothing extraordinary was happening that day. They saw broken-down cars all the time. To Anne, however, more was at play. God was intervening in her story because she asked him to. Actually, Anne was the sort who fully expected that God would aid her. This Christmas season, the thing that makes these lofty words — “Jesus, the Lord of history” — take on personal meaning is as simple of being aware that “history” is, in fact, “his story,” “her story” and “my story” too! Jesus says that he desires to be involved in the day-to-day activities of our fives. It is our choice to invite him and to trust that he will act. When this article is published, I will put a copy in Anne’s Christmas card and tuck my copy in the back of my Bible, another reminder of the God who cares as much today as centuries ago when he sent his Son into the world. “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” (Luke 2:19-20). Thank God somebody wrote it down! (Greene is an associate editor for Catholic News Service.) FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE In 20 words or less, make an important statement about who Jesus is for you. “Jesus is my consoler when I’m troubled, my companion when I’m lonely and my listener when I need to talk.” — Betty Allen, Delphi, Ind. “Jesus is my best friend!” — Clark Z. Conway Jr., Evans ville, Ind. “Not left or right, conserva tive or liberal; not centrist, not far or near, yet all. Jesus is ineffable.” — Leonard O’Nan, Hendersonville, Ky. “Jesus is a companion for fife who promises forgiveness, his Father’s love and asks that we be faithful to him.” — Father Joseph Cahill, North Vassalboro, Maine An upcoming edition asks: Do you think of yourself as having a vocation? Why, or why not? And what makes your role in life a vocation? If you would like to respond for possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017- 1100. .Ancient (Christian hymn on the incarnation By Father Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS Catholic News Service hen we reflect on the in carnation, a few of us turn to the introduction of the letter to the He brews, which concludes with a hymn. A hymn? For the church, the 40s of the first century was a creative time — a time when Christians composed beautiful, poetic hymns. The words and expressions used in them to describe Jesus as the incarnation of God were found in the Psalms and in poetic Scriptural passages. Actually, we read Hebrews 1:1-6 as a second reading in the Christ mas Mass “during the day” — when we also read from the Pro logue of John’s Gospel. In the hymn at the conclusion of the introduction to Hebrews, we hear how — as the heir of all things and as the creative instru ment of God (1:2) — the Son of God is the refulgence of God’s glory, the very imprint of God’s be ing, sustaining all creation by his powerful word. Like other early hymns, this hymn refers to the whole life of Jesus, beginning from his birth to his glorification, paralleling very closely the hymns in Colossians 1:15-20 and Philippians 2:6-11, as well as the hymn in John’s Prologue (1:1-5, 10-11, 14, 16). After its introduction (1:1-4), the first section of the Letter to the He brews (1:5-2:18) is a homily based on the Christological hymn, interpreting the Old Testament, especially the Psalms, through the lens of the Chris tian faith. We could entitle the homily “The Firstborn of God, Higher Than the Angels.” We will read only Hebrews 1:5-6 in the liturgy of Christmas. But these verses include Psalm 2:7, “You are my son; this day I have begotten you,” and 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me,” which are applied to the mystery of the incarnation. The reading will conclude with Verse 6: “Again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship him’” lna Nutshell For John’s Gospel, the incarnation was a re-creation. Who has not looked at a new baby without thinking of humanity’s renewal and the promise of the future? At the birth of Jesus we instinctively think of new hope. At the heart of Christmas is a paradox: The helpless child is also the one through whom the world was made and who shows us God’s face. (see Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalm 97:7). In the Old Testament, the firstborn of God was the Israelite people. In the New Testament, Jesus was the first born of God. Mary gave birth to her he heavenly host with the angel of the good news praised God for the incar nation of the Son of God with a new hymn: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests 1 ' 1 (ICuke 2:14). son, the firstborn of God (see Luke 2:7). When God leads his firstborn into the world, we are told, “all the angels of God” will worship him (Hebrews 1:6). According to Luke, the heavenly host with the angel of the good news praised God for the incarnation of the Son of God with a new hymn: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). (Father LaVerdiere, a Blessed Sac rament priest, is a Scripture scholar and senior editor of Emmanuel magazine.) All contents copy right ©2000by CNS