A Triple Mystery

Behold a triple mystery: The wise men come with precious gifts; Christ comes to the waters of Jordan; and water is changed into wine.

- Epiphanytide Antiphon on the Magnificat at Evening Prayer

This Sunday completes the three-fold set of Theophanies or manifestations of Christ’s divine nature which begin this season in the Liturgical Year. The above antiphon neatly places them together, each one telling us in a different way the marvelous news that God has come into the world to redeem it.

This “season of Theophanies” has several themes: the showing forth of Christ’s divinity, the message of salvation going out into the Gentile world, the importance of our ministries in delivering the Gospel to near hearers, and the great spiritual significance of created matter.

This Sunday we read the Gospel account of Christ’s first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana in John 2 (the only time in the three-year cycle we do so, sadly). Here we learn once again that God chooses to show his redeeming power and love through material things (weddings, water-pots, water & wine). Among other things, we see the power of faithful intercession (Mary’s words to Christ and the servants), and the fact that “only the servants” know how it is that God can turn the ordinary stuff of life into the extraordinary gift of God.

As we say farewell to this time of the “triple mystery,” we are bidden in the Collect to “shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory,” something that is far more attractive and interesting to the world at large than cleverly-devised ad campaigns or door-prizes for lucky contestants.

Perhaps we all need to journey to Cana once again, being careful to note that the miracle of changing water into wine was not just an action lost in history. It is something that continues in myriad ways in the authentic Church today, where stony hearts are softened and clinched fists are made into loving hands of service.

Behold, a mystery most profound!

What's in a (Holy) Name?

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Feast of the Holy Name is listed in the Calendar as one of the Feasts of Our Lord (BCP p. 16). When this Feast falls on a Sunday it is given a special privilege: it takes precedence over that Sunday’s readings. This is because the Holy Name (along with the Presentation on February 2^nd and the Transfiguration on August 6^th) is considered such an important event in the life of Christ that it deserves this honor. This is one of the many times the Prayer Book Calendar helps us understand the key elements of our Faith by ranking and by providing a collect (special prayer for the day) and appropriate lessons from Scripture through which we might learn more about the teaching of the Gospel.

This celebration was called the Feast of the Circumcision in previous Prayer Books. The 1979 BCP adopted the new designation as a way of putting the emphasis on the Name given "by the angel before [Jesus] was conceived in the womb" (Luke 2:21), rather than on the ritual action of circumcision.

This day commemorates the Jewish naming ceremony eight days after the birth of a child. In addition, boys were circumcised (in accordance with the covenant with Abraham found in Genesis 17), thus being subject to the Old Testament Law. As such, it forms the Octave Day (eighth day) of the Feast of the Nativity, eight being a number of Christian perfection (being one more than seven, an Old Testament number of perfection). Many commentators have found the paradox of the Son of God's obedience to the ritual Law a foreshadowing of His complete humility later on the Cross. Thus, like our civil New Year’s celebrations, this day looks back to the past (Christ’s Nativity) and forwards into the yet-to-be of the Church Year. Like Advent, Christmastide has a distinct element of contemplating the mystery of time and eternity.

Today's feast day also reminds us that Jesus' name means "salvation." It is a name of strength, yet also of mercy. The secular year has begun; we in the Catholic Faith commemorate the giving of the Name of Our Lord, a name that puts the focus not on ourselves or on the often wearying cycle of events beginning again each year. The name of Jesus tells us that we are part of a message of salvation, redemption, dignity, compassion, purpose, mercy. For, as many as have been baptized into Christ Jesus, have put on Christ Jesus. We are marked by His Name, washed in His Blood, nourished in His Sacred Mysteries. By His Name we are saved. Let His message be our message – living lives of holiness, joy, strength, and mercy so that every heart may come to know, love, and serve the True and Living God.

The right way to observe Christmas

No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God—for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit, there can be no abundance of God.

--Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)

In Darkest Night, a New Beginning

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

The Icon of the Nativity is a treasure of spiritual learning and insight. All around the edges swirl the events surrounding the birth of Christ: St. Joseph wrestling with the temptation to “put Mary away,” the angels adoring, shepherds tending their sheep, the infant Jesus being given his bath, the Magi bringing their gifts… a kaleidoscopic festival of the Incarnation. Yet, at the still center of this storm of holiness is found the reason for it all: the newborn Christ-child attended by the Blessed Virgin, and those most-privileged animals. The cave in which they reside is a silent, inky black.

This shadowy background stands for the darkness cast over humanity by sin and death. It is this fundamental dis-ease Christ comes into the world to heal. He is the Light of God, and that Light shows forth brightly at the first Christmas, and in every Christmas since. In a few days we will once again gather in the darkness of night to sing the praises of “God-with-us,” Emmanuel. From there we will go forth renewed in the Truth about God and ourselves: God has dispelled the darkness of sin and doubt and we are recipients and messengers of this Good News.

The birth of Christ in the night has another meaning to consider: for the Jews (and for the Church, as well), nightfall is not only the ending of one day: it is the beginning of another. When Jesus was born, it marked the ending of one era – that of humanity’s alienation from God – and the beginning of a New Day of reconciliation. The darkness of this world has been shattered by the Light of Christ. That light resides in each of us through Holy Baptism: cherish it, tend it, and share it this Christmastide and always.

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To all who read this blog:

May you dig more deeply into the mystery of the Word-made-flesh this Christmas, and may you find the stillness at the center all the activity; a stillness inviting us into the silence of God's perfect Being-at-Love, shown forth in the Holy Nativity of Christ.

Blessings on this Christmastide,

Brandon+

O Radix Jesse

O root of Jesse, you stand as an ensign to the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, and nations bow in worship: Come and deliver us, and tarry not.

Some years ago when my wife and I were on pilgrimage to Northumberland, we had a unique privilege. At the tomb of St. Bede (patron of the mission church I then served), we held a service whereby, at the prayers of the Venerable Bede, we asked God’s blessing on the fabric used to make the Processional Banner. At that service was read the passage from Isaiah referred to by part of this evening’s Great O Antiphon: “On that day, the root of Jesse shall stand, as a signal (ensign) to the peoples: The nations shall enquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.” (Isaiah: 11: 10). The direct connection between Jesse, Christ, and us was re-affirmed, as was the direct companionship between an eighth-century monk and those modern-day pilgrims gathered around his tomb.

There, in the midst of that “glorious dwelling,” the Nations – literally, the Gentiles – have bowed in worship, and at least one king (Henry VIII) had to “shut his mouth” and decided not to desecrate St. Cuthbert’s incorrupt body, nor the bones of St. Bede.

The banner made from that fabric is a conscious “ensign” of Christ’s coming to be with us, his triumph on the Cross and through the Empty Tomb, and in the lives of his saints – especially that “winsome example,” Bede.

Tonight’s antiphon was, by the time it had become a Christian liturgical offering, already seen as fulfilled. Yet, it continues to go on being fulfilled. Every time a person hears the Gospel, meets Jesus, and answers the call: “Follow me!,” each time a reconciliation with God and neighbor triumphs over human sin and alienation, whenever failed disciples pick themselves and follow Brother Lawrence-like in the steps of the “Lover of Souls” who bears the burden no one else can – each time, the ensign of God is raised up and his victory signaled.

O Root of Jesse, come to us your frail servants again!

O Adonai!

O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, you appeared in the bush to Moses in a flame of fire, and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Strength. When a tiny virus – something too small to see except through the aid of the most advanced microscopes – can lay a person low, it becomes evident that our supposed strength as humans is truly fragile. Yet, we labor so hard to keep the mask of our invulnerability from slipping that we come to believe our own propaganda. When the “crash” comes – in whatever physical, spiritual, or relational form it takes – we often lose our entire sense of faith. This is the final payment on an “Existential Adjustable Rate Mortgage” we should never have entered in the first place.

Today’s “O Antiphon” calls upon God in his strength, as revealed in that burning bush and in the awesome majesty upon Sinai, to come and redeem us. It is an open invitation to us, as individuals and as a Body, to admit our frailty and or absolute dependence on God -- the God who burns with truth, love, energy -- but does not consume in destructive delusions! When we do this, we find that God does not come in punishing wrath, but with “an outstretched arm” of compassion, mercy, and hope. When we make this move from delusion to humility and reality personally, we are then given the capacity to live and share the Gospel with authenticity and lasting strength.

O Adonai, Come!

O Wisdom!

O Wisdom, you came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and reach from one end of the earth to the other, rightly and sweetly ordering all things: Com and teach us the way of prudence.

Tonight is the first of the “Great O Antiphons.” These are short verses drawn from the prophet Isaiah said before and after the Song of Mary at Evening Prayer the week before Christmas. Each verse uses a different image or name for the Messiah, and each verse calls upon the Messiah to come and dwell with us. This yearning is fulfilled with Christmas.

The Latin version of the first antiphon (“O Sapientia”) is available for solo voice here, and as sung by a choir here. A link to an expanded study of these antiphons from an early 20^th century Anglican author may be found here.

The First 'O Antiphon' is sung in praise of Christ as the Wisdom of God. This is often how the Early Church (and Eastern Christianity still) refers to Christ: as God’s Holy Wisdom for the world. Christ is the unique medicine for the illness of sin and alienation.

How much the world needs wisdom, as opposed to only more knowledge or – most especially in our day – more information! The accumulation of data has come to replace the acquisition of wisdom today, resulting in a loss of meaning, context, and coherence in contemporary life. Christ is the Wisdom of God, and by becoming part of his Body and living his Gospel, we enter into that Wisdom and experience his peace.

Try using these antiphons through the coming week as a spiritual preparation for the gift we are to receive at Christmas, and as an opportunity to go more deeply into the Advent season’s rich treasury of resources for prayer and hope.