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PAGE 5—December 18,1975
Christmas:
God’s
Vote Of Confidence
In U
BY RUSSELL SHAW
Christmas is a permanent antidote to human
self-hatred. It marks God’s own resounding,
lasting vote of confidence in the human race.
At Christmas we celebrate the mystery of the
Incarnation - the union of the human and the
divine in Jesus Christ. Christmas and what it
stands for are the conclusive answer to the
— _ \
Know
Your
Faith
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted
1974 by N.C. News Service)
i -- — -J
age-old temptation to devaluate and degrade
what is human.
It may at first seem out of place today to
emphasize this matter of human dignity. After
all, many people regard this as an era of
humanism run rampant. To them it appears
that the spiritual and religious crisis of our
times lies precisely in excessive exaltation of
the human: the insistence that human beings
are sufficient unto themselves and have no real
need of God.
But the appearances are deceiving. It is a
paradoxical fact that the characteristic
humanism of our times amounts to a deadly
attack on human dignity. By emptying human
life of ultimate meaning, secular humanism
condemns human beings to self-hatred and
despair. The rhetoric of secular humanism
makqs men and women gods, but its reality
reduces them to the level of animals.
We do not have to look far to see the results.
Many persons today struggle to avoid their
sense of futility' and meaninglessness by frantic
activity. This is the root cause of our rat-race
society in which sheer “busy work” substitutes
for genuinely meaningful forms of human
endeavor.
Others try to find meaning in materialism.
They strive endlessly for wealth and
possessions. Those who achieve them learn soon
enough that they are incapable of giving real
meaning and purpose to life.
Others fall back on the escapism of
sensuality - alcohol, drugs, casual sex. The
evidence is overwhelming that this is not the
way of lasting fulfillment but leads only to
frustration and deeper despair.
Most alarming of all is the devaluation of the
human through direct assaults on life. We live in
a violent age, an era of diminished respect for
life. Violence has even become socially
acceptable for some people when it takes such
forms as abortion and euthanasia. Human life,
in this persepctive, is not truly sacred. Rather it
is a commodity to be measured on the scale of
convenience and sacrificed when necessary to
achieve other, more highly valued objectives.
Christmas stands in stark repudiation of all
this. In celebrating the Incarnation, Christmas
celebrates the dignity and sacredness of what is
human.
True, the Incarnation is the mystery of the
redemption of “fallen” humanity. But that is
just the point. We have been rescued and raised
by the action of God. Indeed, human beings are
raised to the status of God’s adopted sons and
daughters. In a real sense our destiny now is to
be godlike — not “little gods” absorbed in the
futility of self-worship, but persons capable of
sharing, by reason of God’s action, in the divine
life itself.
Christmas tells us something essential about
the value God assigns to human nature. And it
is also something startling: in Jesus Christ not
only did the Word become flesh, as truly
human as any of us, but humanity became
capable of sharing in the divine life.
The Incarnation is often described as God’s
stooping to the level of the human. That is one
valid way of looking at it. Certainly the gulf
between God and human beings is immense.
Human effort cannot close it. Only God can do
that.
But the Incarnation also signifies the
elevation of the human to almost incredible
heights of dignity. It is not just that God
became man in Jesus Christ. As a result of the
Incarnation, human beings have a destiny to
become godlike. More than anything else, that
is why Christmas is the final, definitive answer
to the curse of human self-hatred in our day
and always. At Christmas we truly receive
“tidings of great joy.”
BY REV. CARL J. PFEIFER, S.J.
“I’ve tried to read the Bible several times,”
Margie told me. “But I never get very far. The
creation stories in Genesis are interesting. So is
the story of how Adam and Eve sinned. But
then everything gets so dull and complicated. I
just lose interest and stop. I must have started
the Bible four or five times, but hardly ever get
past the first book, Genesis.”
Several others shared similar experiences as
we chatted after dinner at Margie and George’s
home. “The language is so strange,” Harry
added. “There are so many odd names of
people and places. I just find it hard to keep
interested.”
They asked me what I thought about reading
the Bible. I had to admit that I had had the
same experience they had. Five or six times I
started with the first book of the Bible, the
Book of Genesis. I did so with real enthusiasm.
But I soon gave up with a rather lost feeling. It
wasn’t until I had an opportunity to study the
Bible later on, and lead a discussion group of
five couples who wanted to learn about the
Bible, that I began to feel comfortable with it.
After sharing my own experience, I suggested
that there was one book of the Bible that might
be a better starting place than the book of
Genesis. One book is a kind of whole Bible in
miniature. It contains most of the major themes
of the Bible, and does kin a way that is more
obviously related to daily experience. This
book has the further advantage because it is a
book of prayers.
I suggested that they try looking at the Book
of Psalms, which is usually found near the
middle of most Bibles. It contains 150 psalms
or prayers. They are not arranged in any
particularly logical order. Most are shorter than
a page in length. But they touch down on and
arise out of the kinds of experiences we all
have: suffering, joy, anxiety, loneliness, success
and failure, doubt, love, frustration.
The Psalms are about the kinds of experience
we all share. The writers of the Psalms interpret
these day-to-day experiences in the light of
their experience of God within their religious
tradition. As a result the Book of Psalms
condenses much of the rest of the Bible and
relates the biblical, traditional themes to daily
living.
“WE CAN EVEN BOAST about our
sufferings. These sufferings bring
patience as we know, and patience
brings perserverance, and perserverance
brings hope, and this hope is not
deceptive because the love of God has
BY SISTER MARY THERESE HARRINGTON
Christmas is a time for hope and expectation.
When Ann was born she was the first child in
the family and her arrival into this world was
surrounded by dreams and plans. And all was
going smoothly in her happy world. She arrived
safely and well. But after about a year a shadow
fell over h&r. Ann developed a very high fever
that would not break and by the time it did.
there were many shattered hopes, dreams and
expectations.
Now Ann is 11 years old, the oldest of nine
children. Five of them are natural brothers and
sisters and four are adopted family members.
Ann has learned to welcome all the children
into the family, to play with them, amuse
them, feed them and comfort them. And they
have learned to trust her gentleness, concern
and fun. There are times when she gets tired
easily, and needs to be able to do things at her
own slower pace but no one makes a fuss over
it. Each one in the family has an unique place.
Each one belongs. Each one has something to
share with the others.
And what has happened to the hopes and
expectations? They have een altered, and
shifted, and adjusted > various diagnoses,
learning disabled, educably mentally retarded,
etc., etc. But hope is still alive and vibrant.
Hope is alive because of this one child’s
amazing capacity to absorb love and reflect it in
her quiet presence. Big brown eyes, alive with
trust, and a radiant smile full of good humor,
speak of the mystery of her courage and her
will to live and love. Hope springs from her.
Strange that receiving love and reflecting it
should be so hard sometimes and yet that it can
be accomplished masterfully by a child like
been poured in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit.” Though confined to a
wheelchair, a woman finds the door to
hope in a New York chapel. (NC Photo
by Brian Triller)
Ann. Strange that those who are “helping” Ann
end up being helped and affected by her.
Some people can focus on all the problems
she has and could give to others, but other
people can enjoy the mystery 7 of her presence.
Some of the people who enjoy her almost as
much as her family does belong to her parish
religious education group. And on Sunday
mornings when the family walks to Church
together, eight children in two’s holding hands,
with parents in control, everyone is glad to
greet the whole family. They make a fine
entrance procession!
All the children get settled in the front pews
while both parents take their place in the song
group. Now Ann is the one who is keeping an
eye on the little group. All goes well. Then it is
her turn to bring the bread to the priest at the
time of the presentation of the gifts. Alive with
interest, jov and pride, she makes the long trip
to the altar with dignity and a sense of the
sacred.
Watching her we say, what a Christmas gift
we have been given. What a gift we offer. What
a gift we enjoy.
As there have been hard days and hard weeks
in the past, there will be hard times in the
future, but the real investment is being made in
the now, in the love that is shared among
people who trust one another. This is the firm
foundation for hope. ' \
We can even “boast about our sufferings.
These sufferings bring patience as we know, and
patience brings perseverance, and perseverance
brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive
because the love of God has been poured into
.our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been
given us” (Romans 5:3-5).
Millions of Jews and Christians have loved
the Psalms in the past and other millions
continue to pray them today. They are one of
the most accessible books in the Bible and a
good place to start one’s reading of the
Scriptures. There will still be many unfamiliar
names, strange expressions, and puzzling
statements. There will be some surprising
expressions and attitudes. After all, these
prayers were created 20 to 30 centuries ago in a
very different world than our own.
But they touch sensitive cords in the
experience of people in every age, because they
are about the basic experiences and questions
everyone has at some time or other. They are
about life. They are about God. They
constantly relate life and God.
In opening the Book of Psalms don’t expect
to read it like a novel. Read it slowly. The
psalms are prayers. Don’t read too many psalms
at any one time. When one strikes you, stay
with it. If a particular expression speaks
meaningfully to you, learn it by heart. Don’t
try to go through a lot, but try to appreciate
what strikes a cord in your heart. Don’t feel
compelled to read them in any order. Pick and
choose what appeals to you.
As a start here are a few of my favorites and
the biblical themes they grow out of:
Creation: Psalm 104; Psalm 65
God’s love: Psalm 103; Psalm 23; Psalm 107;
Psalm 136
God’s presence with us everywhere: Psalm
139
God’s involvement in history: Psalm 105;
Psalm 33; Psalm 78
The mystery of mankind; Psalm 8: Psalm 39
The mystery of sin: Psalm 106; Psalm 73;
Psalm 51
Trust in God: Psalm 91; Psalm 62
Old age: Psalm 71
Desire for God: Psalm 42; Psalm 63
You may find these helpful. You may find
others that are more meaningful to you. You
may find the Book of Psalms an attractive way
of getting into the Bible. Jesus went so far as to
say that the Psalms were about Him (Luke 24:
44-45). He knew them and prayed them. In fact
His last words on the cross were Psalm 22, a
profound exploration of the mystery of
suffering.
Hope And Expectation
which had been given to the
Menominee Indian Mission in Keshena,
Wis. (NC Photo)
“YOURS IS princely power in the
day of your birth.” The concept of the
newborn king is presented in a painting
by George Mower of London, England,
' —— ■ >
— Jesus King Of Israel —^
v - - - - «
BY REV. PETER KEARNEY
When the Virgin Mary praised God for the
great things He had done for her, she
proclaimed “He has deposed the mighty from
their thrones and raised the lowly to high
places” (Lk 1:52). In spirit, she was uniting
herself to the whole past experience of her
people Israel, which had known that its
lowliness throughout history had become a
vehicle for the expression of God’s power: “He
has upheld Israel his servant, ever mindful of his
mercy” (vs. 54).
What was true of Israel in general was
preeminently true of Israel’s king. The religious
attitude of the king before God was that of a
helpless little child; this royal expression of
humility was an act of trust that God would
once again show forth His power through the
helplessness of human means. Thus, on the day
of his coronation, the king heard the words of
Psalm 110, “Yours is princely power in the day
of your birth” (vs. 3) and Psalm 2 “You are my
son; this day I have begotten you” (vs. 7) The
newly-crowned king was like a new-born child
before God. This image is preserved for us in
the poetry of Isaiah, who proclaimed at the
coronation of the Davidic king in his own time”
... a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon
his shoulder dominion rests” (9:5).
For Isaiah, this “second birth” of royal
coronation includes the gift of the spirit of
wisdom for governing well: “The spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom
and understanding” (11:2). With such a gift,
the king will be able to restore peace and allow
the people an experience of paradise; he shall
be like a little child at the center of a restored
world: “The calf and the young lion shall
browse together, with a little child to guide
them” (vs. 6).
This hope for a share in paradise through the
wise exercise of kingship is even reflected in the
figure of Adam before his sin: He could name
all the animals (Gen 2:19-20) and, like a child,
was unashamed of his nakedness (vs. 25). But
Adam sought more wisdom than was proper to
man (3:5-6). In several psalms, the king himself
renounces such a fault, proclaiming that he will
not seek beyond his limits. Thus, in Psalm 139,
the king applies to himself the imagery of
Adam, who was fashioned from the earth: “nor
was my frame unknown to you when I was
made in secret, when I was fashioned in the
depths of the earth” (vs. 15); but, unlike Adam,
he rests humbly before the superior wisdom of
God: “Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to
attain” (vs. 5-6). And, again, bringing out the
imagery of his “childhood” even more clearly,
the king prays in Psalm 131: “O Lord, my heart
is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy
not myself with great things, nor with things
too sublime for me. Nay rather, I have stilled
and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a
weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul
within me” (vss. 1-2).
The imagery of royalty would emerge in a
new way once Jesus came. His baptism is like a
coronation scene, accompanied by the voice of
the Father announcing “You are my Beloved
Son” (Mk 1:1) and by the gift of the
descending Spirit (vs. 10). But Jesus would
exercise His kingship by giving others a share in
royalty. In the beatitudes He taught that those
who were lowly in God’s presence would
partake of His reign: “ . . . they shall be called
sons of God . . . the reign of God is theirs” (mt
5:10-11). Thus, anyone who would want to
enter God’s reign must be like a little child (Mk
10:14-15); those who receive the fullness, of
wisdom hidden from generations past are “the
merest children” (Lk 10:21),
Applying such thought to Baptism, John’s
Gospel teaches that the royal Baptism of Jesus
in the synoptic Gospels must become to some
degree our own experience: “no one can enter
into God’s kingdom without being begotten of
water and Spirit” (3:5). The Epistle to the
Ephesians expresses this new
existence of Christians in terms that evoke our
share in royalty and even in the harmony of a
renewed creation, as paradise restored: God
showed power “in raising Christ from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in heaven”
(1:20). God so exalted Him that now Christ
“fills the universe in ail its parts (vs 23) . . .
both with and in Christ Jesus he raised us up
and gave us a place in the heavens” (.2:6).
Such themes of royal “childhood” and
universal peace, as found in both the Old and
New Testament, can illumine for us the
meaning of the Gospel portrayals of Jesus as
the King of Israel, even while a new-born
infant. In Matthew’s Gospel, the astrologers pay
Him homage as king and offer Him gifts
(2:2,11); there are indications that this king is
the source of peace for all creation, for even a
star from heaven has pointed the way to Him
(2:9), leading the astrologers “from the East”
(2:1), the place of Eden (Gen 2:8), as if to
indicate that paradise has been restored in
Bethlehem.
In a different way, Luke presents a similar
message. Since it is fitting that a king have a
messenger to announce his coronation (Isaiah
52:7), an angel announces to the shepherds that
the Messiah (that is. King) has been born in the
city of David. The king of Israel had been
regarded as a source of universal peace (Psalm
72:3,7); the angelic host, as if proclaiming that
heaven and earth have been brought together
through this child, sing of God’s “peace on
earth to those on whom his favor rests” (2:14).
Their song is a promise that the faithful will,
share the lot of royalty, that they will be with
Jesus, who at His “coronation” in the Jordan
heard the word: “You are my Beloved Son. On
you my favor rests” (Lk 3:22).