Opening Prayer
Lord, we come into this place, and into your presence to rest for a while amid the busyness of this Christmas season.
So minister to us Lord in these moments of quietness, in our times of sharing, in our meditations, in our thoughts.
As we return again to the wonder of the Nativity, the wonder of “The word made Flesh,” fill us again with the joy and the certainty of Christ’s coming into the world.
Like Mary, may we Ponder all these things in our hearts. Amen
Janet’s Reflections
Christmas is coming…and everyone you meet starts saying “Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?” or even worse, “Are you all ready for Christmas then?”
Preparing for Christmas is not one of my favourite jobs…that is wrapping presents, making mince pies, writing cards….
BUT PREPARING MY HEART AND MIND ONCE AGAIN TO CONTEMPLATE THE WONDER AND MYSTERY OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THAT IS JUST WONDERFUL.
Isn’t it almost beyond belief to even dream that the Creator of the whole universe would visit our world as one of us? Yet, this is exactly what happened.
At a given point in human history, the second person of the Trinity of God left the timelessness of eternity and the vastness of the universe to enter our world. And history was changed for ever.
I wonder what it must have been like for Mary…to know that she was carrying the Messiah? We think it must have been overwhelming, terrifying, beyond comprehension….and yet she accepted the reality of it, the consequences of it, the significance of it.
What must it have been like to know that you had been CHOSEN from among all women to carry the son of God?
I wonder what it must have been like for Joseph, to understand what was happening, to cope with what people were saying, and yet to completely accept the message from God that he was to be a part of this divine calling.
And as if that was not enough, to be told that they had to travel to Bethlehem to register their credentials…walking for between 4 days and a week. Yet Joseph was always obedient to the message of the angel both before the birth of Jesus, and at the escape to Egypt. What an amazing man of trust.
Readings
What kind of greatness can this be?
What kind of greatness can this be
That chose to be made small?
Exchanging untold majesty
For a world so pitiful
That God should come as one of us
I’ll never understand
The more I hear the story told
The more amazed I am
Oh what else can I do
But kneel and worship you
And come just as I am
My whole life an offering
The One in whom we live and move
In swaddling cloths lies bound
The voice that cried “let there be light”
Asleep without a sound
The One who strode among the stars
And called each one by name
Lies helpless in a mother’s arms
And must learn to walk again
Oh what else can I do
But kneel and worship you
And come just as I am
My whole life an offering
What greater love could he have shown
To shamed humanity
Yet human pride hates to believe
In such deep humility
But nations now may see his grace
And know that he is near
When his meek heart, his words, his works
Are incarnate in us here
Oh what else can I do
But kneel and worship you
And come just as I am
My whole life an offering
Graham Kendrick from “Rumours of Angels”
Henri Nouwen wrote extensively about Mary and Joseph, viewing them as models of radical trust, vulnerability, and obedient waiting for God’s plan, especially during Advent, emphasizing their simple lives as a path to holiness and seeing their relationship as a “Divine Romance,” a profound example of God’s love and presence in the ordinary. Writing in the book “Jesus and Mary – Finding our Sacred Centre,” Nouwen observes:
“Jesus has to be and become ever more the centre of my life… Jesus must become the heart of my heart, the fire of my life, the love of my soul, the bridegroom of my spirit. He must become my only thought, my only concern, my only desire.”
Mary is described as a “gentle guide” who leads to a deeper union with Jesus and calls us back to “the heart of God which… is also the heart of the world.”
Reflection from Janet
“What child is this?”
The Shepherds must have asked
Mary and Joseph must have wondered
Everyone asked and no one had an answer.
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart
What child is this?
From Hebrews 1
· He through whom God created the world —–PAST
· Sustaining all things —-PRESENT
· The heir of all things —-FUTURE
· The radiance of God’s Glory
· The Representation of God’s beings
· The fulfilment of the Old Testament prophesies
What child is this?
From Revelation
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
What child is this who laid to rest
on Mary’s lap is sleeping?Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
while shepherds watch are keeping.This, this is Christ the King
whom shepherds guard and angels sing.Haste, haste to bring Him laud.The babe, the son of Mary.
