[Sundaycommunity] Christmas Eve Liturgy and Zoom link

[Brian Shaughnessy]

THE ADORATION OF THE WISE MEN
________

One was from Ethiopia.  One from Persia.  One from Mongolia.  All 3 were
rich and astronomers and austere and humble and reverent.

All 3 saw the Star of Bethlehem appear in the sky over their locale at the
time of His December birth, and it seems to have remained visible to them
continually until it disappeared over Jerusalem because that city was no
longer worthy of seeing it.  All 3 after intense study recognized the Star
as meaning that the Messiah had come into the world, and they set out with
their entourages to worship Him.

By a miracle of God, the Star led all 3 of them to a meeting place "beyond
the Dead Sea", and by a further miracle that foreshadowed the Pentecost
Wisdom they could understand and be understood by each other, and they
journeyed together to Jerusalem and then on to Bethlehem, arriving when the
Christ Child looked about 9-to-12 months old, and the Holy Family was
staying with a woman in her little house on the main square where was also
the hotel.

Jesus praised them after the vision with these words:

"Now what shall I tell you, o souls who feel your faith is dying?  Those
Wise Men from the East had nothing to assure them of the truth.  All they
had was an astronomic calculation and their own considerations made perfect
by a strictly honest life.  And yet they had faith.  Faith in everything:
in science, in their own conscience, in God's goodness.

Science made them believe in the sign of the new star, which could only be
"the one" expected by mankind for centuries.  They believed that God would
not deceive them.  He would help them in every way to reach their aim.

And they were successful.  Among so many people fond of studying signs,
they were the only ones who understood that sign.  Because only their souls
were anxious to know the words of God for an honest purpose, the main care
of which was to praise and honour God immediately.

They did not seek any personal advantage.  On the contrary, they have to
face hardships and meet expenses but they do not ask for any human reward.
They only ask God to remember them and save them for eternal life.

As they have no desire for any future human rewards, so they have no human
worry when they decide on their journey.  You would have had hundreds of
problems:  "How will I be able to make such a long journey in countries and
among peoples speaking different languages?  Will they believe me or will
they put me in prison as a spy?  What help will they give me to cross
deserts, rivers and mountains?   And the heat?  And the winds of the
highlands?  And the malarial fever along stagnant marshes?  And the floods
and heavy rains?  And the different food?  And... and... and..."

That is how you reason.  But they did not reason like that.  With sincere,
holy daring, they say:  "You, o God can read our hearts and You see the
purpose we are aiming at.  We trust to Your hands.  Grant us the superhuman
joy of adoring Your Second Person, Who has become Flesh to save the world."
________

aptYLJC,Twbd,ttM

[image: image.png]



On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 1:56 PM Brian Shaughnessy <bshaughn43 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> VISION OF THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS
> ________
> A very wide country. The moon is at its zenith and is sailing smoothly in
> a sky filled with stars. Very bright moonlight increasing more and more.
> A shepherd looks out the door of an enclosure, and shields his eyes, and
> calls his companions. Men of various ages. Some teenagers. Some already
> white-haired. A boy of about 12 [Levi] starts crying, and the older
> shepherds jeer at him.
> But the little shepherd is no longer listening to them. He goes out like a
> sleepwalker or one hypnotized. "Above the trees. Look at the light that is
> coming. How beautiful it is."
> "I see something like a body," says a shepherd I recognize as the one who
> gave milk to Mary on the outskirts of Bethlehem. [Elias]
> "It's an angel", shouts the boy. "Down! On your knees before the angel of
> God!"
> The older they are, the more crushed, as the angel stops mid-air above the
> enclosure wall, waving his large wings.
> He speaks to them as in the Gospel, and then a ladder of angels -- oh how
> many angels --fluttering their wings, exhaling perfumes, singing.
> The singing slowly fades away, as well as the light, and the angels ascend
> to Heaven.
> The shepherds, deciding what to do next:
> "Shall we go and see?"
> "What about the animals?"
> Elias: "Nothing will happen to them. We are going to obey God's word!"
> "But where shall we go?"
> Elias: "I know where He is. I told them where to go. Let us go and get
> some milk and cheese and lambs and tanned hides.
> How cold must be Whose name I dare not mention! I am taking them a sheep.
> She lambed a month ago. Her milk is very good."
> They go round Bethlehem, and reach the stables from the opposite
> direction, reaching first the one they are in.
> They go near the hole.
> "You, Levi, who saw the angel first, obviously because you are better than
> we are, look in."
> The boy pulls the mantle to one side and looks in, but he wants Elias to
> call them, because they know him.
> Elias opens his mouth but only a faint moan comes out.
> Joseph comes to the door: "Who are you?"
> "Shepherds. We brought you some food and some wool. We have come to
> worship the Saviour."
> Joseph: "Come in." Mary, turning around and smiling: "Come."
> They recognize Elias. "It's you," says Joseph, and Mary smiles at him,
> saying: "You are good."
> Elias: "You can't stay here. It's cold and damp. And there is too strong
> the smell of animals. It is not good for the Saviour."
> "I know," replies Mary with a deep sigh. "But there is no room for us in
> Bethlehem."
> Elias: "I will tell my mistress. She is good. Her house is full of people,
> but she will receive You, even if she has to give You her own room."
> Mary: "For My Child, at least. Joseph and I can lie also on the floor."
> --
> aptYLJC,Twbd,ttM
>
> [image: image.png]
>
> On Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 10:56 AM Elizabeth Whelan via Sundaycommunity <
> sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>
>> The Christmas Eve Liturgy is attached in Word and PDF. The Zoom link is
>> below.
>>
>> We have tried to make the Christmas Eve liturgy, as similar to our
>> traditional liturgy, as zoom will allow, so there are some visual additions.
>>
>> *We ask people to gather by 6:45 PM *for community greetings, and we
>> will begin the liturgy at 7 PM. Microphones will be muted during the
>> liturgy.
>>
>> There will not be a shared homily, but there is time for brief intentions
>> to be shared at the prayers of the faithful. We welcome everyone to
>> introduce
>>  friends, meet and greet after the mass.
>>
>> The link for sunday community zoom is the same each week, as follows
>>
>> Look forward to seeing you at 6:45 PM!
>> Elizabeth
>> Liz
>>
>>
>> Join Zoom Meeting
>> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83018087848?pwd=Yjh4VnV6QXE2MFRzbEZwWUpacmJ5UT09
>>
>> Meeting ID: 830 1808 7848
>> Passcode: 333
>>
>> One tap mobile
>> +15873281099,,83018087848#,,,,,,0#,,333# Canada
>> +16473744685,,83018087848#,,,,,,0#,,333# Canada
>>
>> Dial by your location
>>         +1 587 328 1099 Canada
>>         +1 647 374 4685 Canada
>>         +1 647 558 0588 Canada
>>         +1 778 907 2071 Canada
>>         +1 204 272 7920 Canada
>>         +1 438 809 7799 Canada
>> Meeting ID: 830 1808 7848
>> Passcode: 333
>> Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kLVKQmbYj
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sundaycommunity mailing list
>> Sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca
>>
>> http://lists.integralshift.ca/listinfo.cgi/sundaycommunity-integralshift.ca
>>
>
>
> --
> aptYLJC,Twbd,ttM
>


-- 
aptYLJC,Twbd,ttM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integralshift.ca/private.cgi/sundaycommunity-integralshift.ca/attachments/20201226/c36f606f/attachment-0003.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1951487 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.integralshift.ca/private.cgi/sundaycommunity-integralshift.ca/attachments/20201226/c36f606f/attachment-0006.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2618209 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.integralshift.ca/private.cgi/sundaycommunity-integralshift.ca/attachments/20201226/c36f606f/attachment-0007.png>