Saturday, December 22, 2012

TAILORING JESUS 
TO FIT OUR AGENDA


Quote for Today - December 22, 2012

"In every decade we instruct Christ as to what He was and is, instead of allowing ourselves to be instructed by Him."

Amos N. Wilder [1895-1993], Theology and Modern Literature, [1958}


Book cover of a book about Thornton and Amos Wilder - brothers from a very fascinating family. Check them out on line!

Friday, December 21, 2012




  CHRISTMAS  SCENE 

The cow chewing her cud ….
The sheep eating her hay ….
The donkey resting after
that long journey from Nazareth ….
looking at the baby born of Mary,
not knowing her grand-donkey
will carry this same child
into Jerusalem some 33 years
from now - and into the lives
of billions of people to come.
Oh my God, you’re calling me
to be a donkey - to carry Jesus to
others. Oh come let us adore him.
O come let us adore him:
Christ the Lord. Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflection 2012

ADVENT  PRAYER 

          Watching and waiting 
                   for you, Lord Jesus,
          watching and waiting
                   for you in prayer.

          Jesus, you are the beginning
                   and the end of my everything. 
          You touch my life from A to Z.
          You are the Alpha and the Omega.
          You are the center around which
                   my life keeps spinning
                   from birth till death:
                   my Bethlehem to my Calvary.

          Watching and waiting
                   for you, Lord Jesus,
          watching and waiting
                   for you in prayer.
          Jesus, you stand there
                   on the shore of my life,
          calling me to drop everything,
                   and follow you.
          You are still the Story Teller,
                   telling me about the Kingdom.
          You are still the Healer,
                   ready to heal me
                   of bad memories and of my mistakes.
          You are still the Lover,
                   standing on the lake shore of my death,
                   ready to feed me,
                   ready to love me,
                   ready to bring me into eternity.


© Andy Costello, Prayers for Markings, December 1991
ON  THIN ICE 




Quote for Today  - December 21, 2012

"What a sea 
Of melting ice I walk on!"

Philip Massinger [1583-1646], The Maid of Honour, [1632], a Tragicomedy in 5 acts.

Comment: At some point in our life, we need to look at the foundations of our life - what we stand for - what our life is built on. We need to name our present platform. We ought to then name our dream platform - whether it's justice for all, listening, family, God, leaving the earth better than we found it or what have you.  We need to ask: "Am I standing on a sea of melting ice?"

Thursday, December 20, 2012

O 
NOW  - I GET CHRISTMAS



“Ero Cras!”
“Ero” - Latin future tense
for “I will be”.
“Cras” - Latin word
for “tomorrow”.
“ERO  CRAS”:
it's Latin phrase for
“I will be there tomorrow.”

Wait a minute!
Are you saying
the world is going to end
tomorrow, December 21, 2012?

No - I’m saying that Christ
will come again today, 
tomorrow and again 
and again and then at the End.

“ERO CRAS!”
An acrostic, an acronym -
each letter standing for
the first letter of a Latin word
describing “Christ”.

Way back before they
had TV and techy stuff,
that had time to write
things like “O Come,
O Come, Emmanuel” -
listing 7 titles for Jesus - 
with those 7 letters in Latin 
of “ERO CRAS.”

E -  Emmanuel - Jesus God is with us.
R -  Rex - Jesus is King of the Gentiles.
O - Oriens - Jesus is Orient - the morning light.
C - Clavis Jesus is the Key.
R - Radix - Jesus is the Root of Jesse.
A - Adonai - Jesus is Leader.  
S - Sapientia - Jesus is Wisdom.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012
THE GOD GROAN



Quote for Today - December 20,  2012

"God is an unutterable sigh, planted in the depths of the soul."

"Gott ist ein unaussprechlichter Seufzer, im Grunde der Seele gelegen."

Johann Paul Friedrich Richter [1763-1825] - German Romantic writer

Painting on top: Johann Paul Friedrich Richter

Check out 2 Corinthians 5: 1-5.  Then check out Romans 8: 26-27.  Johan's father was am organist who became a pastor. Did he hear his dad preach from these texts?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012



THE LORD BE WITH  YOU 

“The Lord be with you!”
Isn’t that a sweet blessing?
We say it at Mass - but not
on the street - yet I have
heard grandmothers saying,
“God be with you on your
way back to college. Drive
carefully now. Drive carefully!”
And I heard someone singing
in the parking lot on their way
to their car after Mass, “O come.
o come, Emmanuel.” It was one
of those many simple graces
that God gives at times - simply
to show: “The Lord is with us!”

© Andy Costello Reflections, 2012