Readings: Sirach: 3:2-6, 12-14; Ps 128: 1-5; Col 3: 12-21; Mt 2: 13-15, 19-23

kindness

to a father

comfort

to a mother

will not be

forgotten

a wife

a fruitful vine

children a blessing

our family

clothed in heartfelt

mercy

kindness

humility

patience

we bear

with one another

forgive

one another

we put on

love

Christ’s peace

the prayer

of our heart

dedicated to

thankfulness

we sing

and give thanks

to God

and one another

in a world

of desperate need

Does Christ’s peace live in your heart?

Is God’s love the root of your family?

Isaiah 62: 11-12;  Psalm 97: 1, 6, 11-12;  Titus 3: 4-7;  Luke 2:15-20

a city

not forsaken

where

light dawns

and

we rejoice

for nothing

we have done

but for the mercy

shown us

by a woman

who knew

her life

her seed

and

gave birth

to

 God’s

Treasure-

Spirit

lavished

upon us

through

the kindness

and love

of God

a Savior

is born

Do you feel the light of His dawning?

Do you hold all of God’s treasure in your heart?

Have you felt God’s mercy born in your life?

imagine…from reflections on the gospel of Matthew

imagine

a world where we followed stars

and women knew

that they carried 

the sons and daughters of God

where God’s word was so alive

it conversed with our heart every moment

telling us when to flee 

and when to stay

imagine

knowing that Jesus was coming

knowing him when he came

and welcoming him

without hesitation….

Readings: Isaiah 7: 1-14; Psalm 24: 1-6; Romans 1:1-7; Mt 1: 18-24

have no fear

for our God

is with us

founder of seas

and rivers

we come to see

the face of God

 promised in dreams

born to woman

He came

that hearts

may be pure

our hands sinless

drawing us

from the dead

we speak

His name

His truth

God made flesh

risen above

our sin

to new

life

Questions

Do you let go of your fear?

Do you know that God is with us?

Do you feel God in your breath?

May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
—Romans 15:13

Hope expresses all the “not-yet” in us
as we wait for the world
to catch up with the speed of His light….

“Patience is hope in action.”  Fr. Thomas Keating

Isaiah 35: 1-6; Psalm 146: 6-10; James 5: 7-10; Mt 11: 2-11

be patient

steady

your hearts

for we

shall see

and hear

and walk

and be raised

from the dead…

our Lord is coming

to save us

strengthening

our feeble knees

offering

firm hands

we rise…

the desert

and parched land

within us

shall receive

his rain

and our soul

shall rejoice

and bloom

with justice

and love

and song

we have seen

the coming of the Lord

and know

peace

Do you see with His eyes?

Do you see and believe in His justice?

Are you patient in your suffering?

From her eulogy…

I sit here by my winter fire, hands wrapped around warm coffee watching thoughts of you arise—wondering how to say good-bye.  What feels so hard is to try and express the crystal clarity of the love and peace I witnessed at your death, while I am faced with the complexity, mystery and  confusion of your Life.  It is tempting to grab onto the image of you in your younger years—the Life of the party, filled with song and dance, a good laugh, a good time; an open door where crowds came and went; a haven for young people, where a never ending Yahtzee game was being played, and say that that was really you.  All of these would soothe our sentimental hearts in our human desire to run away from the shadows.  Yet to do that would be to diminish you somehow…to silence you as Life tried to when you cried out your questions of injustice and pain, as your spirit struggled against death and disease, aging and addiction, limited finances and limited bodies.

Your daughters, Cathy and Ilene, expressed how much they liked their long talks with you—that you had a sort of wisdom that they appreciated. I know that wisdom they spoke of.  It was an earthy wisdom that comes from the very real and human struggle, as spirit wrestles with our humanity.   It is as though it causes a friction that ignites fires of love and passion and even anger and rage when our image of how things should be falls short of how they are..

I see the crystal figures, the prisms and mirrors of your collection, and it is as though I look into your heart’s desire –the clarity and purity for which you longed for but could not find.  It was somehow buried deep within you, covered by the anger you wore to protect you from your sorrow.  And yet what is our sorrow but the weeping for what has been our joy…the clear crystal times lost.

Most of all you wanted Truth—demanded Truth—stood fast in the Truth you found.  You made hard decisions and you suffered your decisions.  Job was your best friend as you watched the loss around you and struggled for your own breath.  Yet in the end I know you stood with Job in his final moments, where he saw All Love, the Love of All as Truth, the Love of All as Justice, the Love of All as Beauty and it is to that Truth that you surrendered.

Your final hours were a crystal moment—when those you had loved most dearly, were ready to drop everything,… jobs and families, hurts and confusions and fly across continents to gather around you and remember the love that was born through you,…to sing you songs,  to hold your hand,  stand by you, comfort you,  all that had been  impossible for so long.  And they remembered and remembered the love—love that pours from broken hearts to be renewed.

One might think it sad that you should die before Christmas, yet as your Godchild, I will hold it as a comfort and a gift that your spirit is free from its struggle to breathe, that your mind is at peace in the final Truth you have found—arms stretched out to embrace the good spirit that is you.

As we celebrate the light and love born to earth at Christmas, through the one who would know and heal our suffering, we will celebrate your love born to heaven and know that a great Christmas party has begun.  In my morning prayers I heard the echoes of your infectious laughter ……  We love you Janny and we will miss you.  We will sing your songs and laugh your laughter and not be afraid to speak the Truth found in crystal clear times.

Thank you for your life and the way your spirit continues to grace my life….

“At noon local time, a global wave of prayer will begin in Samoa and will sweep across the world for 24 hours, covering over 164 countries.”

Here is the prayer:

 O God, you entrusted to us the fruits of all creation so that we might care for the earth and be nourished with its bounty.

Thus we pray, O God, that when we present ourselves for Divine Judgment, we can proclaim ourselves as “One Human Family” with “Food for All”. AMEN.