Advent Calendar - Christmas Day

John 1: 1-18

Reflection by Sister Rose Mary Rexing
Director of Mission Integration, Memorial Hospital, Jasper, Indiana

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The Christmas Gospel from John, chapter one, shares radical Good News — the WORD was made flesh and made his dwelling among us. We live in a world filled with words and more words. Texting has become a main way of communicating. Do our words build up and give life or tear down and destroy?

Today we celebrate the WORD, this WORD that was God, and the WORD was God. The phrase, “In the beginning” parallels the creation story in Genesis 1:1. At Christmas a new creation is happening. “Because of God’s great love for us, he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation.”

The “WORD” (Logos) is present in the Old Testament as the creative energy of God. The Greek term, logos, means order, reason, or harmony. The WORD, in the Gospel of John, is the one through whom all things were created and who was with God and turned toward God even before creation.

Let our words cease for some quiet moments this Christmas Day and may we become interiorly still to welcome the WORD. Let us invite the WORD into our hearts where the WORD lives and thrives and longs to be spoken. May the WORD influence every word we utter now and into the future.

God has spoken to us for all time in this WORD made visible, this God made a human being, this Jesus our brother. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

No mere human words can describe the magnificent gift God has given to us. “From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” May the brightness and sound of the WORD shine in our hearts and our lives so that all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. Amen.

Advent Calendar - December 24 (Evening Mass)

Isaiah 9:1-6, Titus 2:11-14, and Luke 2:1-14

Reflection by Sister Jennifer Miller
VNA Chaplain, Hospice Program, Evansville, Indiana

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In a faraway land in a hovel of a house, two brothers were flush with excitement because they had decided to visit the cathedral on the hill for Midnight Mass. Besides giving thanks to God, they entertained the hope that the bells might ring…

Far up into the base of the highest spire were what was rumored to be the most beautiful-sounding chimes in the world. Alas, they were seldom heard. The legend of the bells asserted that the chimes would ring only when someone offered a worthy gift at the altar. Crowns and intricate jewels and crafts had elicited no sound.

The boys walked fast to keep warm in their threadbare clothing. As it snowed, they sang carols to pass the time. Only a mile or so from their destination, they stumbled over an object in the snow. A woman lay dying. The older brother took out the dime they had saved as their gift and urged his brother on while he stayed with the woman.

The liturgy had begun as the little one edged his body into the massive doors and slipped unobtrusively to the lowest step of the altar to place their dime. Momentarily the bells began to chime.

As in that long-ago age, the night is sometimes bleak. Poverty is humbling. Violence is close. Bad news is disseminated like lightning. Fear and worry are near neighbors. Loneliness is rampant.

Isaiah’s words break into that gloom. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…the yoke that burdened them… has been smashed… for a child is born to us, a son given us… He shall be called Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Price of Peace.”

Just as the older brother offered a dying woman the gift of his presence, so our God offers a faltering people the gift of his Son. We celebrate Christmas tonight because our God chooses to spend time with us. Jesus chooses to be our brother and friend — to bring love to us who are afraid to trust, peace to counteract our violence, reconciliation in the midst of our conflicts, light in our darkness, food to feed our hungers, adoption to still our loneliness, the promise of eternal life to offer us endless hope.

“Glory to God in the highest!”

Advent Calendar - December 24 (Morning Mass)

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Luke 1:67-79

Reflection by Sister Kimberly Mandelkow
Minister of Music and Liturgy, Sts. Joseph and Paul Catholic Church, Owensboro, Kentucky

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Music helps me get into the Christmas season. I love Christmas music — "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Once in Royal David’s City," "Joy to the World." I also love the secular Christmas songs — "I’ll be Home for Christmas." I think of the movie White Christmas with all those soldiers longing to be home. I think of those, like myself, having to be away from home at Christmas because of jobs and long-distance travel.

I think Luke the evangelist liked music too! Have you ever noticed that Luke’s stories of Advent and Christmas are full of music? Read the beginning of Luke’s gospel and you can almost hear the singing: Mary sings…Elizabeth sings… Angels sing…Anna sings…Simeon sings…everybody is singing in Luke! In today’s gospel passage we hear Zechariah sing.

Before we can appreciate the power of the song, we must first understand the story behind the song. It’s the story of an old couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, living more than 2000 years ago in the hill country of Judea. They have no children, which during that time and place was an embarrassment and even grounds for divorce. Yet they love each other and have stayed together over the years, learning to live with their loss and accept their fate. I wonder if they ever asked God, “Why?” Yet they remain faithful. In fact, Zechariah is a priest and still does his priestly duties.

One day an angel comes to Zechariah and says what angels seem to always say: Fear not! Don’t be afraid! Something new and wonderful is about to happen: Elizabeth will conceive and bear you a son and he shall be named John. I can only imagine that Zechariah was stunned. He and Elizabeth gave up that dream long ago! Then the angel strikes him mute! Speechless! He can’t even proclaim the good news to his neighbors and friends.

Now fast-forward nine months. Nine months of silence and finally the child is born and they name him John, which means God is gracious. John is born as a sign of the great mercy of God and the power of God to do new things even in the life of an elderly and barren couple — even in the life of a barren nation, a barren people who had given up hope for redemption. Maybe they had even given up God a long time ago as they suffered through Assyrian, Babylonian, and now Roman occupation.

And what are the first words out of Zechariah’s mouth? Not, “It’s a boy!” but instead, praise and gratitude! Zechariah praises God for what God has done and is about to do for God’s people through the coming of the Messiah. Zechariah is celebrating what God has done in the birth of John who will prepare us for what God is about to do. John is preparing us to receive a gift by giving us the knowledge of our salvation through the tender and loving mercy of God which will shine upon us and shine upon our darkness and confusion.

Advent Calendar - December 23, 2012

Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45

Reflection by Sister Marilyn Market
Prayer Ministry

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We find ourselves one week from Christmas standing at the door of the greatest story ever told. A very simple love story. But how did we get here? We have been so busy… and we still need to do more. Have we even thought about the real meaning of Christmas?

But, let’s not worry; we know God still loves us. He told us many times, “Don’t be afraid, peace be with you.” So let’s rest and listen to the readings for today.

Let’s push the door open further and listen with our hearts. We see two women attending to each other and marveling at the life in their wombs. In the meeting of the two women, generations meet. The older woman of autumn grace and the younger woman of salvation grace need each other. Both women are weavers of new life. All seems very ordinary. But what is God up to? Why does God choose the ordinary to be carriers of the Divine?

Whatever the case may be, God’s choices in today’s reading should encourage all of us. Salvation comes on a quiet street or a bustling apartment in a big city. It can happen to a shepherd, a mechanic repairing a car, a person attending to another’s needs, a young woman having a baby. What appears at first glance to be very ordinary is Divine!

Advent Calendar - December 22, 2012

Luke 1:38-56

Reflection by Sister Jolinda Naas
Monastery Services, Switchboard

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Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me.” (Luke 1:38) Did she really know what this meant? She trusted God because she was not in control. Waiting open-endedly is a radical attitude toward life. That is a radical stance in a world preoccupied with control.

One of the most beautiful passages in Scripture – Luke 1:39-56 – tells of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and their waiting together. They enabled each other through the wait. They created space for each other to wait. They knew something precious was about to happen and it was worth waiting for. This is a model for a Christian community, a community of support, celebration, and affirmation. From this visit we have received the beautiful Liturgical Prayer, “The Magnificat.”

This waiting is waiting with a sense of promise. A waiting person is a patient person. Patience means the willingness to stay where we are with a situation. Patient living means living in the present. Waiting is a waiting together.

Are we waiting with patience?

Are we enabling others as we wait for the Promised One?

Crèches of the Monastery

A crèche can invoke special memories, or continue a seasonal tradition. It can reflect a culture, or an artistic talent, and have a wide variety of sizes and shapes. The collection of crèches at the monastery reflects all those qualities, and all are a special part of the archives collection.
 

Ms. Melody Mazuk recently donated several crèches to Sister Rebecca Abel and Sister Norma Fultz. Collected by Mazuk’s mother in her world travels, the entire collection was dispersed to several entities. A few of those donated are shown.

 

The donation included 11 miniature crèches, the smallest of which was housed in a walnut.

 

This display is constructed of thin metal, as shown with the piece on the far right. It folds flat and is stored in a decorative metal box with a poinsettia engraved on the lid.

 

 

 

The monastery’s crèche collection is dispersed throughout the house for the Christmas season. Here’s a peak at just a few of them.

 

Brought to the monastery in 1867 by Mother Alexia Lechner, Prioress of St. Walburg Monastery of Covington, Kentucky, this crèche was the first at the monastery in Ferdinand. Made of solid marble, it is now displayed throughout the year.

Given to the archives in 1974, Sisters Bertilla Burger and Antoinette Fischer of Ferdinand, made these crèches in the Academy Immaculate Conception Art Department using scrap materials from the Ferdinand Furniture Factories.

 

Another one of our sisters, Sister Francesca Broggin, made this depiction of the holy family. A very talented artist in various media, Sister Francesca made several characters displayed at the monastery during Christmas utilizing a similar technique .

 

Julie Ubelhor, an alum and former teacher at Marian Heights Academy, gifted this set to the sisters in 1984.

 

Josef Bachlechner of Austria carved this three piece display in 1960.

 

 

This Precious Moments crèche is the most recent addition to the monastery’s collection, donated by Sister Linda Bittner’s mother, Julian, in 2010.

Advent Calendar - December 21, 2012

Song of Songs 2:8-14; Luke 1:39-45

Reflection by Sister Linda Bittner
Instructional Assistant, Ferdinand Elementary School, Ferdinand, Indiana

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“Arise my beautiful one and come. The winter is past – the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, . . .” Songs 2:10-12

This reading reminds us that the time is right to rejoice in the coming of new life, to see things in their renewed beauty – the rain has ceased and flowers bloom. It is also a time to let go of that which distracts us from living fully and allows conversion to envelop our being and outlook – the time of pruning the vines has come.

Springtime, the setting in Songs, is also when Mary receives the announcement of Gabriel which transforms her life and the life of the world. Upon hearing of her cousin being with child, Mary goes in haste to be present to Elizabeth, who in turn affirms the God-mystery dwelling within her – “The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leapt in my womb for joy.” Mary’s awareness of her special role of Christ-bearer unfolds and is more fully revealed as she listens within, to others, to life circumstances, and attends to the dailiness of her existence – being pruned so that new life may grow. Aren’t we also called to do the same – to be present to our daily reality and take the opportunities provided us to birth Christ among us? Let us take these waning days of Advent to listen, to grow in awareness of what needs pruning, that we, like Mary, may be Christ-bearers for others.

Advent Calendar - December 20, 2012

Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38

Reflection by Sister Mary Claude Croteau
Monastery Services

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As happens occasionally in the liturgical readings for the day, the two selections complement one another — in this case the second reading is a fulfillment of the first. In today’s first reading, Israel is in dire straits and in need of God’s help, but King Ahaz refuses to accept help — he refuses to obey the prophet’s command from God. In response, Isaiah foretells that Israel will suffer much. In spite of Ahaz’s stubbornness, however, Isaiah goes on to promise that eventually a son will be born to Ahaz — born of a virgin (in this case a virgin because she is still a child) who will save his people from their enemies. This does come to pass — Ahaz’s wife, the former virgin, bears a son who does save his people.

In the Gospel reading, Luke seems to see in the announcement of Gabriel to Mary, that she, a virgin, would bear a son, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise to Ahaz that a virgin would conceive and bare a son who would lead his people to salvation — in our case, to the glories of eternity with God.

Mary, like Ahaz, has trouble with this news. She is, after all, a virgin. But once Gabriel convinces her that becoming a mother is God’s will for her, she says, “May it be done to me according to God’s word.”

One lesson here for us, is to be open to God’s will even in the hardest of times — to believe that good will result if we are sincerely trying to live as we believe God wants us to live.