Today's word

pococurante \POH-koh-kyoo-RAN-tee\ - indifferent, nonchalant

And every now and then I look at a word and know beyond a doubt that I have never seen it before.

On that day . . .

Had to deal with a Blue Screen of Death this morning, first thing, so couldn't take time to reflect. But today's readings were full of that day when we come to our fulfillment in him.

I can't wait.

This is, of course, the true meaning of Christmas which we celebrate. The birth of Christ would be meaningless 2000 years later were it not for the new nature he has brought us.

Today's words

saponaceous \sap-uh-NAY-shus\ - resembling or having the qualities of soap

A word I looked at with a "Huh?"  A definition I looked at with an "Oh, yeah, that's right."

imbricate \IM-brih-kut\ - lying lapped over each other in regular order

And another word I think I've probably at least seen once before; this one I don't think I could have pronounced, let alone defined. If I can remember its pronunciation when I see it, I'll probably be more likely to remember its meaning. (I remember thinking before, though, that this would be the key, and it didn't work this time.)

Lessons from Nazareth

I'm not going to quote Pope Paul VI directly here, but in today's Office of Readings he mentions three things we should learn from Nazareth. I'm paraphrasing, and maybe referring to others (certainly there's a Matthew Kelly reference here):

1. God speaks many lessons to us and gives us growth and maturity in the school of silence, which we cannot receive if we do not come away from the clamoring cacaphony of the world. This is even more true today than it was in the 1960s and '70s when Paul was our holy father. No matter the size of our domestic church, it is too easy for us to become distracted by the noise of daily life. But in that life's rhythm, if we are careful to carve out time for it, there is a quiet transformation that can take place in the midst of the routine, a daily living in love that undergirds and gives context and new meaning to all of it. This will not happen without our conscious participation, if we fail to actively listen for the voice of the Father.
2. Family is central to God's plan for each of us.
3. Work is valuable, not for its own sake but for its effect on us and in context with the first two lessons. It is not a mere drudgery that we cannot avoid, but a gift God gives us. 

St. John the Apostle

On this feast day, again so close to Christmas Day, we at least get a taste of the eternal perspective with which St. John begins both his gospel and his first epistle. Though I like the development and the context of the former more than the latter, I am happy that the first reading of the Office of Readings today is brings us a good chunk of the first chapter from this letter. For a moment I felt chagrined, as I misunderstood the beloved apostle as chastising me for still having emotional darkness, but then I saw that he was referring to the darkness of unacknowledged sin.

And I took great encouragement from St. Augustine's reflection on this epistle. What a great work God did in the conversion of this brilliant man's mind from lesser philosophical pursuits to the unfathomable depths of God in Christ Jesus!

     Someone might interpret the phrase the Word of life to mean a word about Christ, rather than Christ’s body itself which was touched by human hands. But consider what comes next: and life itself was revealed. Christ therefore is himself the Word of life.
     And how was this life revealed? It existed from the beginning, but was not revealed to men, only to angels, who looked upon it and feasted upon it as their own spiritual bread. But what does Scripture say? Mankind ate the bread of angels.
     Life itself was therefore revealed in the flesh. In this way what was visible to the heart alone could become visible also to the eye, and so heal men’s hearts. For the Word is visible to the heart alone, while flesh is visible to bodily eyes as well. We already possessed the means to see the flesh, but we had no means of seeing the Word. The Word was made flesh so that we could see it, to heal the part of us by which we could see the Word. - from a treatise by St. Augustine on the (first) epistle of St. John

The story of our Advent wreath

I forgot that our guest had been through our RCIA program, so I was unprepared for her observation that she had the same Advent wreath, and had similarly adorned it with something sparse yet decorative to dress it up a little. I didn't want to digress into the story of how we came to have ours. It still hurts to have misread someone so badly, especially someone who ended up so callously hurting our daughter..

We were so glad when she had found someone with whom she seemed to have a good relationship, and though he wasn't Catholic he seemed open to learning about God and our faith. They were married, and not long thereafter he started inquiring about our faith, attending the inquirer's group at Rita's house, and soon decided to enter the RCIA process. I was honored when he asked me to sponsor him, and tried to support him well. I had answers for most of the questions he had along the way, but of course that is all head stuff.

And it turns out he probably never had a heart encounter with Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Within a year after he was baptized at Easter vigil, he broke up with our daughter and left the church. He did agree to meet with me soon thereafter to talk about things, and I think he really resented himself for being even momentarily influenced to think differently about things from how he had made up his mind. But his heart was already hardened; he was determined to file for divorce and would brook no consideration of any other course of action.

A couple of years later he sought a reconciliation with our daughter. My wife and I recognized as a result of their past experiences that they would probably benefit from some counseling so that they didn't repeat their mistakes, and recommended this to our daughter, but he was not open to the suggestion and she was determined to try to work things out anyway. The most telling indicator we had was that he was secretive with his family about resuming their relationship. Too, he seemed different: more jaded, I suppose, not as open. He didn't share himself as freely, or laugh as easily; though we weren't the first to notice it, he was often caustic and his humor was biting. She acceded when he asked her to move into an apartment with him, but within a week he moved back out, sticking her with the lease, practically boasting to the rental office that he didn't care when they  pointed out the adverse effect this would have on her credit. Fortunately they recognized the predicament he had placed her in - there was no way she could afford the place on just her own income - and didn't rake her over the coals with penalties.

On the one hand, I recognize that he treated her terribly, and that he has his own issues to deal with that were at work in their relationship all along. I'm glad he can't hurt her anymore. His subsequent pursuit of our next-door neighbor's friendship (and he wanted more) was in poor judgment. And yet every time I get out this wreath that he received in the RCIA program, as his sponsor in the faith I am reminded of his hurting soul. I pray for him to return to the faith that he never truly embraced the first time around, and for his brokenness to be healed. Lord, please be at work in his life and transform his heart into a place where your Spirit abides.

Maybe it's the sugar crash and lack of sleep . . .

I know the link between Christmas and St. Stephen's day, and I know I should be able to celebrate the latter more ebulliently. Yet I inevitably find myself a little disappointed in today's reflection, even though Stephen's martyrdom is the very sort of victory which the Babe was born to win for us.

And I also know this says more about my own lack of spiritual maturity than of anything lacking in the Church's calendar during the Christmas season.