A Great Light by Jim and Diane Bayne
The
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in
the land of gloom a light has shone. You
have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing. (Is 9:1)
Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless
ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this
age,
(Ti 2:11)
And
Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city
of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of
David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While
they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to
her firstborn son. She wrapped him in
swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because
there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:4-7)
Piety
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Study
Looking around our world
today, one could easily get the impression that we are still a people who walk
in darkness: wars and threats of wars, immense poverty, millions of refugees,
polarized peoples everywhere.
Yet in the midst of the
darkness there is plenty of light. As
Paul tells us in the second reading, Jesus came to train us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately,
justly, and devoutly in this age. Thousands of organizations like SOME,
Starfish, and Fish4Hope have learned the ways of Jesus and are feeding and
training the poor and needy all around the globe every day of the year.
Today we celebrate the
birth of Jesus, the Cosmic Christ who became man for the purpose of teaching us
how to discover and grow in our call to union with the Divine by serving
others. In his letter to the
Philippians, Paul tells us how:
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He
had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to
cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the
time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a
slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly
humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a
selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst
kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (Phil 2:5-8 - The Message)
To follow Jesus‛ example
and Paul‛s direction to live temperately,
justly, and devoutly, means to live with our focus on serving others. As the late Fr. Paul Wynants used to ask during every
celebration of the Mass, ‟What have you done for the other this week?” It is in
doing for others that we learn to Sing to the Lord.
Action
Over the past couple of
months, our mailboxes have been filled with begging letters and we know how
important it is to give money to these great charities. But what have you done to actually be Christ to others this month? How have you been the hands of Christ in your
little piece of the world? It‛s never
too late and New Year‛s resolutions are coming up fast. Merry Christmas to ALL!!
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