Second Sunday of Advent

In the 15^th year of Tiberius Caesar

Luke 3:1-6

It was a bad time for everybody, not that people were unhappy with the occupation forces. The invaders had brought all kinds of entertainment and revelry to the land. They’d even established equitable laws. What made it bad was that the fabric of moral behavior was steadily wearing down.  Lurid lifestyles of corrupt Caesars like Tiberius, and the examples of promiscuous governors like Agrippa and his brother Philip upped the statistics on premarital sex, multiple partnerships, and divorce. Killing of unborn and unwanted infants became the norm. Even temple high priests like Annas and Caiphas merely looked out for themselves. They’d wormed themselves into high positions with appointments approved by the Roman prefects. God fearing folks prayed for a change. Their prayers were answered.

An angel came to Zacharia’s boy, John, while he was in the desert adjacent to his home. He’d been living in the dusty outback for years relishing its purity, its silence, its emptiness. Except for some fellow hermits nearby, the sandy tracks were devoid of crowds. John avoided the crowds that came searching for a spiritual leader. They were too quick to canonize any new prophet who came their way, and he fit their conception of a holy man, what with his scruffy half-starved bony appearance. They came to him in droves.  Their incessant hunger for religion drew him to answer the call to reshape God’s people, to snatch them from the clutches of the evil one and the pervasive immorality of the day. He stood at the banks of the muddy trickle of water called the Jordan where women were slapping the dirt out of their clothing on the rocks. Downstream, a caravan’s camels were slurping up the precious fluid. Upstream, children were throwing pebbles into the stream.

The children reminded him of the angel, pure and innocent. John mulled over the words the angel had impressed on his psyche. They were straight from the prophet Isaiah:  Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight his paths.

            Raising his eyes to the motley folks who had heard of him and had come out to meet him, he began to teach.

Annunciation

Luke 1:26-38

     The angel didn't frighten her. Her prayer had always been contemplative. Spiritual realities were quite real to her, so when he appeared she bowed in reverence. She knew his name was Gabriel, the same angel that had once visited Daniel. She didn't know how she knew. The name was simply impressed on her mind.

     His unspoken greeting gave her concern, because it was more than a greeting. It was as if he desired to humble himself before her. She returned his greeting eyes downcast as he continued. The words, “You will conceive and bear a son,” flooded her soul with confusion. The message of future motherhood encompassed a prophetic vision. She looked up to search the angel’s countenance. Seeking to understand, her mind formed a question about her virginity.

       Gabriel responded before words could escape her lips. Even as the clarification impressed itself on her soul, her giving nature caused her to answer, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. “

Before her response formed on her lips, the angel informed, “Your cousin Elizabeth is in her sixth month.”

     News that her elderly cousin was with child brought a tear to her eye. If old Elizabeth could conceive, she trusted that her own virginity would remain inviolate. In answer to the angel Mary opened her arms and dropped them to her side, palms open. “Be it done to me according to your word.”

Immaculate Conception

This week Catholics celebrate two events. Saturday is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Mary will again be honored for her sinlessness. She is the only woman, other than Eve, wholly preserved from sin from her conception. It is a holy day of obligation because the Immaculate Conception is our nation's patroness.
Catholics will also celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. As was published last week, the Gospels for each of these days will be highlighted in story form.

First Sunday of Advent

Inside the Gospels 1986

In 1986 a number of fictional short shorts under the title Inside the Gospel was published in the hope of renewing interest in Christ's message. The stories that appear here follow the same format, exploring the emotions of people seeking the divine healer.  

There will be signs . . .

His best friend wasn’t like other doomsday prophets who gave people dates and times. The bite of his words was usually mitigated by a contrasting promise of hope. Looking around the unkempt crowd, Bart wondered at the sudden downturn of his leader’s preaching. Even the Pharisees avoided discussions of the world's.

He realized that people were eager for the words, as if they had a sense of justice only calamity could answer. Perhaps the miseries that had fallen upon them needed to end, and they looked forward to that end. All the cures in the world couldn’t take away the daily drudgery humanity was consigned to. These listeners hungered for some sign that would end the boredom.

Another fellow preaching in the Northern provinces had offered hope. That smooth talker promised a quick fix and talked about doomsday happening during Tiberius’ reign, the monarch who had oppressed them far too long. Folks had followed him to the caves to hide out from the coming destruction. Took their whole families, even their flocks. Bart figured they’d have to wait forever or until the authorities rousted them. 

Bart worried about his friend’s preaching. There was hardly any difference between it and the crazy fellow’s offerings. He too spoke of the lights going out and weird happenings in the sky. Bart wasn’t into astronomy, but he knew when the sun darkened or the moon turned orange, it wasn’t a good thing. He had seen people terrified by such events, and his prophet was talking of people dying of fright.

He nudged his partner Matt, “Did I miss something?”

Matt, looking confused mumbled, “Hey, we’re all in the same boat.”

“You’re a fisherman, too,” Bart quipped, trying to ease the tension?

Matt shushed him, “Listen; just Listen!

“Raise up your heads and stand erect,” said their leader over the heads of the crowd of the beggars. Then, as if speaking only to them Jesus added, "Your redemption is at hand.”

Luke 21:25-28

Cruising

If you’re a boat person (immigrant), you might wonder if cruising is something you want to get involved in. The answer is a resounding yes, provided the boat’s a modern stable monster like the Norwegian Epic pictured above. Not a touch of seasickness, and thank goodness, not a ripple on the Atlantic or was it the Gulf?

Our grand Caribbean cruise began with the usual airport glitches: little plastic bags of lotions, an oversized suitcase that almost had to be booked at cost, and baggage that went to Dallas instead of Miami, not to mention bare feet. (Lately, we hate to fly).

Thanks to friends, we had a buffet breakfast at their Miami hotel, a ride back to the airport to pick up the re-routed bags, and a shuttle to the cruise ship. She was a beauty, taller and longer than any other ships berthed beside her, but her days on the sea would have been boring were it not for the family of friends that shared the journey.

 

If you wonder why everyone on the ship dressed in white, the cruise captain had announced a “white” event. The real reason we dressed up, though, was for a wedding--the wedding of a favored “daughter” to take place on St Thomas. It's a three day journey at sea that gave us ample opportunity to explore the ship, join scheduled entertainment, or just laze around in our cabin with our towel pets.

 

Loosening the purse strings is easy when you’re on vacation. Booking costly shore excursions to St. Martin’s, also called St. Maarten on the Dutch half of the island, and then the Everglades was worth every penny, or should we say $$$? But the wedding on St. Thomas would take priority. The couple glowed with that rosey-eyed desire every couple in love wears. 

And . . There’s no better place to tie the knot than the beach, right?

 And so we beached . . .

and toured . . .

and beached some more.

Of course all good things must come to an end, but not before a final tour of the Everglades with its tropical birds . . .

and gators.